Q23 - Toxicologist: Recent research has shown

[bbirdwell]

Start with identifying the core, and then we can decide what role the phrase plays.

Conclusion:
Dioxin should be banned
(the word "should" is an important conclusion indicator-word)

Premise:
Dioxin causes cancer in rats

How does the phrase function here? it supports the conclusion!

(A) Hmm. It seems that the author's concern goes beyond the cancer caused to rats.

(B) Definitely not a benefit.

(C) Close, but that's not the correct claim.

(D) Yes! "Motivates the action advocated in the conclusion" is another way of saying "supports the conclusion."

(E) It is presented as evidence, but not for that claim. note that (C) and (E) are essentially the same exact choice, which could help us avoid choosing them in the event that we have to guess.

[slimz89]

I was stuck between A and D and ultimately chose D because I felt the role of the sentence was of that of a premise and answer choice A made no mention of that, rather A was worded to indicate that it was general information of Fact.

Is this correct way of thinking?

[hezhiyongnanhua]

hi, I am very confused by (c) "it is presented as evidence...". (C) is wrong, is it because it is not evidence? or because of some other reasons else? Thanks!

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thanks for posting, hezhiyongnanhua!

So, first things first - even thought Brian laid out the core perfectly above, let's take it just one step further and see if we can't clear up some of the confusion here.

PREMISE: Dioxin causes cancer in rats.
CONCLUSION: We should ban dioxin.

Now, that's the core, but what the heck is the beginning of the second sentence doing? All that stuff about humans? It's not a premise, and it's not a conclusion. It's actually a bit of a counter point!

Now, we know that the first sentence is acting as a premise, but we're going to have to work a little harder than that! Notice that both (C) and (E) start with "It is presented as evidence for the claim that" - so far so good, this is definitely evidence for a claim (the conclusion)!

But this is evidence for the claim that we should ban dioxin.

(C) says this is evidence for the claim "that similar research will never be done on humans." That's wildly mischaracterizing the conclusion! In fact, this bit about similar research on humans was part of the counterpoint.

(E) does something almost identical, but switches out the conclusion for "similar research has never been done on humans" - and that's also a part of the counterpoint!

It's not enough to say that the statement is evidence - if the answer choice portrays it as evidence for something other than the conclusion, it's still wrong!

What do you think?

I was stuck between A and D and ultimately chose D because I felt the role of the sentence was of that of a premise and answer choice A made no mention of that, rather A was worded to indicate that it was general information of Fact.

Is this correct way of thinking?

This is a really dangerous idea. "General information" or "fact" is very often used as a premise in an argument, so you cannot really use a distinction like this to differentiate answers.

The real problem with (A) is that it suggests that the author is only interested in banning dioxin to protect rats from cancer. However, the counterpoint clues us in to the likely motivation here - protecting humans. (A) would be a solid answer if the argument had been written like this:

Recent research has shown that dioxin causes cancer in rats. In order to prevent this tragic outcome, dioxin should be banned completely.

In reality, while the author may not be that concerns with rats themselves, the discovery of cancer in rats does motivate the author to suggest banning it (likely for the protection of humans). And that's exactly what (D) indicates!

While we're here, I'll also point out that (B) essentially describes a counterpoint. This might appear in an argument like this (italicized part): "Although we'll get to sleep in if we skip class, we should still go to class today."

I hope this clears up a few things on this question!