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compulsory · CSS study notes

Bucket 12 — Logic, Reasoning & Evidence

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Best for: evaluating arguments and proving points in formal writing. 13 words (4 repeats).

1. AXIOM (n.) 🔁

  • Urdu: مسلمہ اصول · self-evident truth · Syn: truism · Ant: paradox · Full entry → Bucket 3

2. SPECIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: بظاہر درست مگر در حقیقت غلط، فریب نظر
  • Meaning: superficially plausible but actually wrong
  • Syn: misleading, deceptive, fallacious, plausible-sounding · Ant: valid, sound, genuine, well-founded
  • ✍️ Use: The argument that censorship protects national security is often specious.
  • 🧠 Hook: looks like suspicious: it looks good (Latin species = appearance) but hides a flaw.

3. FALLACIOUS (adj.) 🔁

  • Urdu: مغالطہ آمیز · based on faulty reasoning · Syn: unsound · Ant: valid · Full entry → Bucket 3

4. EMPIRICAL (adj.)

  • Urdu: تجربی، مشاہدے پر مبنی
  • Meaning: based on observation or experiment rather than theory
  • Syn: observed, experimental, evidence-based, factual · Ant: theoretical, speculative, hypothetical, abstract
  • ✍️ Use: Empirical evidence shows that girls' education lowers child mortality.
  • 🧠 Hook: Greek empeiria (experience) → what you have experienced, not imagined.

5. INDETERMINATE (adj.)

  • Urdu: غیر معین، غیر واضح
  • Meaning: not exactly known, established or defined
  • Syn: uncertain, undetermined, vague, indefinite · Ant: definite, fixed, known, certain
  • ✍️ Use: The talks were adjourned for an indeterminate period.
  • 🧠 Hook: in (not) + determine → cannot be determined.

6. PLAUSIBLE (adj.) 🔁

  • Urdu: قرینِ قیاس · seeming reasonable · Syn: credible · Ant: far-fetched · Full entry → Bucket 3

7. SUBSTANTIATE (v.)

  • Urdu: ثابت کرنا، دلیل سے تصدیق کرنا
  • Meaning: provide evidence to support or prove the truth of
  • Syn: prove, verify, corroborate, validate · Ant: disprove, refute, invalidate, rebut
  • ✍️ Use: Every claim in a CSS essay should be substantiated with data or a recognised authority.
  • 🧠 Hook: give the claim substance.

8. TENUOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: کمزور، باریک، بے بنیاد
  • Meaning: very weak or slight; thin
  • Syn: flimsy, weak, shaky, slender · Ant: strong, solid, substantial, firm
  • ✍️ Use: The link between the two events is tenuous at best.
  • 🧠 Hook: Latin tenuis (thin) → hanging by a thin thread.

9. CORROBORATE (v.) 🔁

  • Urdu: تصدیق کرنا · confirm with evidence · Syn: verify · Ant: contradict · Full entry → Bucket 3

10. CONUNDRUM (n.)

  • Urdu: پیچیدہ مسئلہ، معمہ
  • Meaning: a confusing and difficult problem or question
  • Syn: puzzle, riddle, dilemma, enigma · Ant: solution, answer, certainty
  • ✍️ Use: Balancing IMF austerity with public welfare is the central conundrum of economic policy.
  • 🧠 Hook: a cone-shaped drum: how do you even play it?

11. DUBIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: مشکوک، قابلِ اعتراض
  • Meaning: hesitating or doubting; not to be relied upon
  • Syn: doubtful, questionable, suspect, uncertain · Ant: certain, reliable, trustworthy, sure
  • ✍️ Use: The scheme rests on the dubious assumption that oil prices will stay low.
  • 🧠 Hook: dubius → doubt.

12. IMPLICATION (n.)

  • Urdu: مضمر مطلب، نتیجہ، ملوث ہونا
  • Meaning: a conclusion that can be drawn though not stated; a likely consequence; involvement
  • Syn: inference, suggestion, consequence, ramification · Ant: statement, declaration, explicitness
  • ✍️ Use: The implications of climate change for food security are only beginning to be understood.
  • 🧠 Hook: what you imply without saying it; im-plicare = folded in.

13. PRÉCIS (n.)

  • Urdu: خلاصہ، تلخیص
  • Meaning: a summary of the essential points of a text
  • Syn: summary, abstract, synopsis, digest · Ant: expansion, elaboration, amplification
  • ✍️ Use: A good précis keeps the author's argument and tone but drops examples and repetition.
  • 🧠 Hook: a précis must be precise.