Critical Thinking Questions for SSC CGL

Statement and Assumptions

An assumption is something that is already taken for granted in the statement. You do not need external proof. Ask yourself: if this assumption were false, would the statement even make sense? If not, it is implicit. The golden rule is that an assumption must be necessary for the statement to hold, not just possible or likely.

• An assumption is unstated but necessary background information.
• If the statement advertises a product, it assumes the product exists and people will read the ad.
• Do not assume what is already stated in the statement itself.
• Avoid assumptions that are too broad or go beyond the scope of the statement.
• Negative or doubtful language in a statement usually kills a positive assumption.
• Both assumptions can be implicit if each supports a different part of the statement.

Statement and Conclusions

A conclusion must directly follow from the given statement using pure logic. It should not require you to add extra facts from real life. If the conclusion can be derived purely from what is stated, it follows. If it requires a leap of faith or outside knowledge, it does not follow. Think of yourself as a robot who only knows what is written in the statement.

• Conclusion must be a logical outcome, not a guess or prediction.
• Conclusions that use extreme words like all, never, always are usually wrong unless the statement itself uses them.
• A conclusion that is weaker or narrower than the statement is more likely to follow.
• If two conclusions together cover all possibilities, at least one will follow (complementary pair rule).
• Do not let personal opinions or real-world knowledge influence your answer.
• Watch for questions that ask which conclusion does NOT follow.

Statement and Arguments

Here you judge whether an argument is strong or weak. A strong argument is directly related to the statement, logically valid, and practically important. A weak argument is vague, emotionally loaded, contains a counter-question as a reply, or is based on a very rare scenario. The question usually gives a policy statement and asks you to judge arguments for and against it.

• Strong argument must be relevant, logical, and significant.
• An argument that replies with another question is always weak.
• Ambiguous or overly emotional arguments are weak.
• An argument based on an extreme or hypothetical rare case is weak.
• Both arguments can be strong if each is well-reasoned on its side.
• Practical feasibility alone does not make an argument strong.

Course of Action

Given a problem situation, you must decide which suggested actions are practical and worth following. A course of action should directly address the problem stated, be administratively feasible, and follow logically. Do not choose actions that are punitive without reason, redundant, or address something not mentioned in the problem.

• Action must directly solve or reduce the stated problem.
• Avoid actions that are too extreme without justification in the statement.
• If two actions do the same thing, usually only one needs to follow.
• Government-type solutions like passing laws, conducting inquiries are common answers.
• An action that targets the root cause is preferred over symptomatic relief.
• Do not reject an action just because it seems difficult unless it is clearly impractical.

Cause and Effect

Two statements are given and you must decide if one causes the other, if both have a common cause, or if they are independent. A cause must happen before the effect and must logically lead to it. This question type tests temporal order (which came first) and logical connection (does one actually lead to the other).

• Cause always precedes the effect in time.
• A common third event can cause both statements independently.
• Coincidence is not causation, check for logical connection.
• If both events happen simultaneously without a clear link, they are independent.
• Statements about the same domain are more likely to be cause-effect related.
• Read the statements carefully for words like due to, because, as a result.

• Using real-world knowledge: Students accept conclusions or assumptions based on what they know about the world, not what the statement says. Stay inside the statement boundary always.
• Confusing assumption with conclusion: An assumption is already taken for granted before the statement is made. A conclusion is derived after reading the statement. They are not the same.
• Accepting extreme conclusions: Conclusions with words like all, none, always, never almost never follow unless the statement itself explicitly says so.
• Treating a weak argument as strong because it sounds reasonable: An argument that asks a counter-question or is very vague is weak, even if the underlying idea seems correct.
• Mixing up cause and effect order: Students sometimes reverse which event caused which. Always ask which event happened first and whether it logically leads to the other.

• ROBOT RULE for Conclusions: Imagine you are a robot who only knows the words written. No outside knowledge allowed. If the robot can derive it, the conclusion follows.
• STAR test for strong arguments: S for Significant, T for True to the statement, A for Actionable logic, R for Relevant. If all four apply, the argument is strong.
• 3C test for Assumptions: Is it Connected to the statement? Is it Crucial for the statement to make sense? Is it Concealed (unstated)? Yes to all three means it is implicit.
• CAUSE comes before COFFEE: Just like C-A-U-S-E comes before C-O-F-F-E-E alphabetically, cause always comes before effect in time. Use this to remember temporal order.

• In SSC CGL Tier-1, expect 3 to 5 questions from this area. Statement-Assumption and Statement-Conclusion are the most common. Course of Action and Cause-Effect appear less frequently but do show up.
• These questions are time traps. Students overthink them. Spend no more than 45 to 60 seconds per question. If you are unsure, mark and move on.
• SSC CGL frequently uses policy-based statements for Arguments and Course of Action questions, such as statements about government schemes, education policy, or urban infrastructure.
• In recent papers, complementary pair questions in Statement-Conclusion have appeared. Remember: if two conclusions together form a complete either-or pair covering all cases, at least one follows.
• Do not pre-judge based on the topic of the statement. A statement about something you disagree with in real life must still be evaluated neutrally. This is a logical exercise, not a debate.