Hey!
Can a mlsat instructor help me understand why answer choice A is wrong and B is right? The two premises in the last two sentences seem to be supporting answer (A) as the conclusion.
Thx!
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Re: Q11 - The mayor proposes that city
Sure thing! Let me put up a complete explanation and let me know if you have any remaining questions.
Question Type: Main Conclusion
Task:
Find the conclusion. Pick an answer that says the same thing. (Verify that your 'conclusion' is both an opinion and supported)
Tendencies:
They usually don't end with thus/therefore/hence, Conclusion.
2 main places to find the conclusion on this type of question:
- First sentence, rest of paragraph unpacks that claim
- In the middle, disagreeing with someone/something
ARGUMENT CORE
Conclusion
Surely there would be no problem accepting the lighting company's gift.
Why?
Acknowledging counterpoint - Sure, some people are worried the lighting company is giving the gift as a bribe for upcoming lighting contracts.
But ...
Evidence aimed at shooting down that counterpoint -
that's impossible. We use a competitive bidding procedure for those contracts. It prevents favoritism.
A stupid extra thought -
The only influence the lighting company would be seeking is getting some free publicity to mayors from other cities.
The dude is apparently assuming that THIS 2nd motive is a harmless / acceptable one. He's not offended by the idea that the lighting company is giving the mayor free samples in order to advertise to other cities.
PRE-PHRASE
Surely there would be no problem accepting the lighting company's gift
ANSWER CHOICES
(A) nothing about 'fear' in our conclusion
(B) sounds good. "there would be no problem" = "should not be considered problematic"
(C) our conclusion isn't about the convention.
(D) premise (last sentence trap)
(E) premise
======
We would definitely be tempted by (A) because it sounds like the latter half of the sentence that contains our conclusion.
This is a nerdy grammatical point, but you can tell which part of that sentence is the MAIN conclusion by asking yourself, "Grammatically, what is the main clause and what is the dependent idea?"
(A) is trying to reward a student's INFERENTIAL brain, but Main Conclusion is just an IDENTIFY task. Inferring can get you into trouble here. Try to only pick an answer that looks a heck of a lot like the single claim you bracketed off in the paragraph.
Hope this helps.
Question Type: Main Conclusion
Task:
Find the conclusion. Pick an answer that says the same thing. (Verify that your 'conclusion' is both an opinion and supported)
Tendencies:
They usually don't end with thus/therefore/hence, Conclusion.
2 main places to find the conclusion on this type of question:
- First sentence, rest of paragraph unpacks that claim
- In the middle, disagreeing with someone/something
ARGUMENT CORE
Conclusion
Surely there would be no problem accepting the lighting company's gift.
Why?
Acknowledging counterpoint - Sure, some people are worried the lighting company is giving the gift as a bribe for upcoming lighting contracts.
But ...
Evidence aimed at shooting down that counterpoint -
that's impossible. We use a competitive bidding procedure for those contracts. It prevents favoritism.
A stupid extra thought -
The only influence the lighting company would be seeking is getting some free publicity to mayors from other cities.
The dude is apparently assuming that THIS 2nd motive is a harmless / acceptable one. He's not offended by the idea that the lighting company is giving the mayor free samples in order to advertise to other cities.
PRE-PHRASE
Surely there would be no problem accepting the lighting company's gift
ANSWER CHOICES
(A) nothing about 'fear' in our conclusion
(B) sounds good. "there would be no problem" = "should not be considered problematic"
(C) our conclusion isn't about the convention.
(D) premise (last sentence trap)
(E) premise
======
We would definitely be tempted by (A) because it sounds like the latter half of the sentence that contains our conclusion.
This is a nerdy grammatical point, but you can tell which part of that sentence is the MAIN conclusion by asking yourself, "Grammatically, what is the main clause and what is the dependent idea?"
(A) is trying to reward a student's INFERENTIAL brain, but Main Conclusion is just an IDENTIFY task. Inferring can get you into trouble here. Try to only pick an answer that looks a heck of a lot like the single claim you bracketed off in the paragraph.
Hope this helps.
2 posts Page 1 of 1