Q3 - Near-Earth objects

[smiller]

Question Type:
Determine the Function

Stimulus Breakdown:
Premise: Governments fund NEO research for the same reason that people buy home insurance.
Premise: Buying home insurance makes good fiscal sense (is not a waste of money).
Conclusion: Government funding of NEO research is not a waste of money.

Answer Anticipation:
The statement mentioned in the question stem is one of the premises. We'll look for an answer that describes the role of a premise, and eliminate answers that describe a different function in an argument.

Correct answer:
(A)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Correct: One of the premises in the argument draws an analogy: it states that the funding of NEO research is like buying home insurance. The other premise—the one mentioned in the question stem—connects this analogy to the conclusion about NEO research not being a waste of money.

(B) Wrong Role: The statement in the question stem is not the conclusion.

(C) Wrong Role: The statement in the question stem doesn't define any key term.

(D) Wrong Role: The statement in the question stem doesn't contrast anything. It's part of a comparison that highlights a similarity.

(E) Wrong Role: This answer choice describes a conclusion, not a premise.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When answering an Identify the Conclusion question, be sure read the whole argument and identify the role played by every statement in the argument. If you do this, you'll know the role played by the statement in the question stem. Eliminate answer choices that describe a different role.

#officialexplanation

[LylaB685]

I'm still super confused. The sentence the question references IS an analogy - it doesn't connect the analogy. I was stuck between A and D for this reason, since neither seemed right. I could see how A would make perfect sense if the question was asking about the statement: "And governments fund NEO research for the same reason that people insure their homes" - but it's not. How do you make sense of this?

Thanks!
Lyla