A common question on the GMAT asks you to find the suppressed premise of an

　　argument. Finding the suppressed premise， or assumption， of an argument can

　　be difficult. However， on the GMAT you have an advantage——the suppressed pre

　　mise is listed as one of the five answer-choices. To test whether an answer-

　　choice is a suppressed premise， ask yourself whether it would make the argum

　　ent more plausible. If so， then it is very likely a suppressed premise.

　　Example：

　　American attitudes tend to be rather insular， but there is much we can learn

　　from other countries. In Japan， for example， workers set aside some time ea

　　ch day to exercise， and many corporations provide elaborate exercise facilit

　　ies for their employees. Few American corporations have such exercise progra

　　ms. Studies have shown that the Japanese worker is more productive than the

　　American worker. Thus it must be concluded that the productivity of American

　　workers will lag behind their Japanese counterparts， until mandatory exerci

　　se programs are introduced.

　　The conclusion of the argument is valid if which one of the following is ass

　　umed？

　　（A） Even if exercise programs do not increase productivity， they will improv

　　e the American worker's health.

　　（B） The productivity of all workers can be increased by exercise.

　　（C） Exercise is an essential factor in the Japanese worker's superior produc

　　tivity.

　　（D） American workers can adapt to the longer Japanese work week.

　　（E） American corporations don't have the funds to build elaborate exercise f

　　acilities.

　　The unstated essence of the argument is that exercise is an integral part of

　　productivity and that Japanese workers are more productive than American wo

　　rkers because they exercise more. The answer is （C）。

　　Counter-Premises

　　When presenting a position， you obviously don't want to argue against yourse

　　lf. However， it is often effective to concede certain minor points that weak

　　en your argument. This shows that you are open-minded and that your ideas ar

　　e well considered. It also disarms potential arguments against your position

　　…… For instance， in arguing for a strong， aggressive police department， you m

　　ay concede that in the past the police have at times acted too aggressively.

　　Of course， you will then need to state more convincing reasons to support y

　　our position.