Argument Structure Passages

[ambikam08]

Hello Manhattan Prep,

I am still struggling on ASP questions despite reading the fantastic description and doing the practice problems in book #7. (MP was the first book that differentiated these types of passages from other RCs.)

In some tough questions, the conclusion is not easily differentiated with "Therefore," etc., so I may confuse a premise and conclusion (which is awful for strengthening/weakening questions). In structure questions which have two boldfaced statements, sometimes I know the function of the statements and jot it down on my scratch paper but the answer choices are so verbose and sound very similar (which sucks if the ASP comes at the end of the section and you are pressed for time!).

Any advice?

Thank you!!

[tommywallach]

Hey Ambikam,

Hmm. Your questions are tough to answer. Obviously, the book is meant to address those issues, so it's hard to say things above and beyond. But I'll do my best!

In some tough questions, the conclusion is not easily differentiated with "Therefore," etc., so I may confuse a premise and conclusion (which is awful for strengthening/weakening questions).

Try using THE THEREFORE TEST if you're confused about what's the premise and what's the conclusion. Take the two things you're confused about, and put the word therefore before them. Here's an example.

The mayor has just instituted a fee for driving in the city. The mayor believes this fee will reduce traffic. He reasons this way because the fee costs more than bus fare. Therefore, people will stop driving and start riding the bus.

First, take a second to see if you can work out what the conclusion/premises are.

It's very easy to get fooled into thinking that the last sentence is the conclusion. That's because it comes at the end and has the word therefore before it. But the actual conclusion comes earlier: "the mayor believes THAT" is a signal that you're about to get an OPINION, and all conclusions are opinions. So here are the two pieces you might get confused by:

The fee will reduce traffic AND people will switch cars-->buses

Here's the THEREFORE TEST:

1) The fee will reduce traffic, THEREFORE people will switch cars--> buses?

OR

2) People will switch cars --> buses, THEREFORE the fee will reduce traffic?

Clearly the latter makes sense and the former doesn't, so you can see what the actual conclusion is.

As for your second issue, with boldfaced statements, remember that no matter HOW verbose they get, all they will ever be doing is pointing out the conclusion, premise, or possibly counter-premise. So just try to keep your brain clear, and translate their obscurity!

Hope that helps!

-t