Statement:

E-commerce transactions are expanding at a remarkable rate nationwide.

Assumptions:

I. Digital payment systems and internet infrastructure are becoming widely available.

II. Brick-and-mortar retail stores will cease to exist entirely in the near future.

Correct Answer: Only assumption I is implicit

Explanation:

An assumption is an unstated belief or premise that must be true for the given statement to hold logically.

Analyzing Assumption I: "Digital payment systems and internet infrastructure are becoming widely available."

For e-commerce transactions to expand rapidly nationwide, people need access to the internet and reliable payment mechanisms. Therefore, the statement implicitely assumes that the necessary digital infrastructure and payment systems are available and growing to support this expansion. Thus, Assumption I is implicit.

Analyzing Assumption II: "Brick-and-mortar retail stores will cease to exist entirely in the near future."

The growth of e-commerce does not necessarily imply the complete destruction or disappearance of traditional physical retail stores. Extreme words like "cease to exist entirely" make this assumption far-fetched and not logically required for the main statement to be true. Thus, Assumption II is not implicit.

Therefore, Only assumption I is implicit.