Facts: It deals with pieces of information that one has seen, read, or heard, and which are open to verification or discovery. Facts are those statements that involve natural phenomena, dates, events, etc. Facts can be verifiable, Universal truths, figures, statistics, or other data without an opinion.
Inferences: These are conclusions drawn about the unknown based on the known. Inferences check one’s ability to read between the lines. The known data in the sentence which is used to conclude an inference is called facts. So, we can say that all the inferences are based on facts and logic of deduction.
Judgments: These are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, occurrences in the past, present, or future, and, object situations. We can identify judgment from statements that imply approval or disapproval, impose compulsion, and predict using will or shall.
Facts, Inferences, and Judgments or “FIJ’s” are one of the simplest yet confusing critical reasoning topics that come in the entrance exams. For the past few years, FIJs have not been asked in CAT, but there are high chances of asking them again since the CAT does not have a well-defined syllabus. Many students often commit mistakes here assuming critical reasoning questions for CAT are catare simple.
Critical Reasoning questions in general cover around 30 percent of the verbal reasoning questions in GMAT, CLAT, and CAT and they can include any concept of critical reasoning in those questions. CAT critical reasoning questions are tricky to solve but can be mastered through practice.
Solving these types of basic reasoning questions is an important part of competitive exams and are often used as criteria to choose the best candidate. It is also a very important part of various government exams apart from critical reasoning for cat, international English examinations, and college entrance exams. Some college entrance exams and UPSC include a separate section for Critical Reasoning questions.
Question 1:
I: The minister said that the Midday meal is a wonderful initiative.
II: The schools of the city have adopted the project and made plans to launch a number of programs
III: With various segments of the society contributing towards it, the Midday Meal initiative is going to be a success
IV: The Midday meal initiative will go a long way towards a better and healthier India
1. JFIJ
2. JIJJ
3. FFIJ
4. FFJJ
Option 3 – FFIJ
Let us analyze all statements :
Statement 1: Here, we should concentrate on the part “ the minister said”. As the definition goes, all reported statements are facts. Hence, we can say that statement 1 is a fact.
Statement 2: We can verify the statement, so it is a fact.
Statement 3: This sentence shows approval for the Mid-day meal initiative by use of the word success. When we look at the first part of the sentence – with various segments of the society contributing towards it; this shows the reason for success. So, we can say that this is an unknown conclusion based on known facts and hence it is an Inference.
Statement 4: This statement gives approval, but there is no reason provided for it. Hence it is a Judgement.
Question 2:
I: We should not be hopelessly addicted to an erroneous belief that the corruption in India is caused by the crookedness of Indians.
II: The truth is that we have more red tape- we take eighty-nine days to start a small business, Australians take two.
III: Red tape leads to corruption and distorts a person’s character.
IV: Every red tape procedure is a point of contact with an official, and such contacts have the potential to become opportunities for money to change hands.
1.JFIF
2.JFJJ
3.FFIJ
4.IFJF
5.JFJI
Option 5 – JFJI
Let us analyze all statements :
This phrase indicates an opinion. So, this is clearly a judgment
The statement indicates that it is a fact.
It is clearly an opinion and not based on the facts provided. So, it is a judgment.
It is a verifiable statement. “Potential to become” indicates it is a conclusion. Based on the prior statement, the conclusion is drawn. So, it is an inference.
Question 3:
I: So much of our day to day focus seems to be on getting things done, trudging our way through the tasks of living – it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?
II: We are not doing the same things that make us happy; that which brings us joy; the things that we cannot do because we enjoy them so much
III: This is the stuff that joyful living is made of – identifying your calling and committing yourself wholeheartedly to it.
IV: When this happens, each moment becomes a celebration of you; there is a rush of energy that comes with feeling completely immersed in doing what you love the most.
1.IIIJ
2.IFIJ
3.JFJJ
4.JJJJ
5.JFII
Option 4 – JJJJ
Let us analyze all statements :
It implies that the statement is somebody’s opinion. So, it is a judgment.
The second statement is a person’s opinion. So, it is a judgment.
The third statement “this is the stuff joyful living is made of” again indicates an opinion.
The statement is an opinion. Hence, it is also a judgment.
Question 4:
I: Inequitable distribution of all kinds of resources is certainly one of the strongest and most sinister of conflict.
II: Even without war, we know that conflicts continue to trouble us – they only change in character.
III: Extensive disarmament is the only insurance of our future; imagine the number of resources that can be released and redeployed.
IV: The economies of the industrialized western world derive 20% of their income from the sale of all kinds of arms.
1.IJJI
2.JIJF
3.IIJF
4.JIIF
5.IJIF
Option 2 – JIJF
Let us check all the given statements.
The first statement “one of the strongest” indicates that there could be more reasons and this being the strongest is a person’s opinion. So, it is a judgment.
The second statement, “ we know that” implies that conflicts continue to trouble us, it is a fact which is, based on the conclusion that they only change in character. So, it is an inference.
The third statement is an opinion. So, it is a judgment.
In the fourth statement, the amount derived can be verified, so it is a fact.
Level 1:
• General critical reasoning questions carry 30 percent of the Verbal ability section in competitive exams like CAT, GMAT, etc. So, it is very important to get the correct to have a good score. MBAP CAT E-Book (Concept Theory) study material and MBAP Live Lecture Recording (Basic) on basic concepts can be referred for the best approach.
• Start by understanding what facts, Inferences, and Judgements are, by solving MBAP CAT E-Book (Practise Questions) and MBAP lecture Assignment. This would provide the basic platform to solve all the questions.
Level 2:
• Practice a lot of questions using MBAP Topic wise Previous Year CAT Question. with the help of the tricks mentioned above in solutions. This will help you to save time and attempt more questions
• There are no Easy, Moderate, or Hard type questions in this. It is all based on our understanding of the terms FIJ
• The easiest way for cracking Critical Reasoning problems is by dividing the problem into parts
• Once you are sure whether a sentence is a Fact, Inference, or Judgment, start cancelling out all incorrect answer choices as this will help increase your chances of choosing the right answer
Level 3:
• Try to rephrase the statement in simpler words as this will help in understanding the argument. Examples can be found in MBAP Previous year CAT paper.
• Read the whole statement at least twice before answering
• Underline important parts of the statement to save time in choosing the right answer. Then, go through MBAP CAT Advance E books for finishing up the preparation.
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