Logical reasoning PrepTest 110 · Section 2 · Question 22

Incorrect. That claim was the initial viewpoint of [s]ome people whereas the Sociologist's statements are meant to rebut the Critics' response to that view.

Incorrect. Similar to (A), the Sociologist rebuts the critics of this view.

Incorrect. This gets a bit complicated, so bear with us. The claim in this answer is the initial view of "[s]ome people." While the Sociologist does rebut the Critics of this view that doesn't mean that she supports the initial view. You can disagree with the critics of a view while also disagreeing with the view they're criticizing. Here the Sociologist brings up a consideration that the Critics fail to consider but she never commits to therefore agreeing with the initial view.

Incorrect. It's specifically noted as something that the criticism overlooks, so it can't be a fact supporting those critics.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
Some people: Capital punishment for stealing was an essential part of British capitalism
Critics of that view: More people were executed in preindustrial Britain than post—industrial Britain

Sociologist: The critics overlook something important (capitalism and industrialization are different, and the former was around much earlier than the latter).

Answer Anticipation:
This Argument Structure question has three viewpoints, so keeping them straight is going to be key to figuring out the role of the statement in question.

The stimulus starts with the viewpoint of "[s]ome people," which is then rebutted by Critics. It's after these two viewpoints are established that the Sociologist hops in ("But"). We need to start by identifying which viewpoint she's addressing.

Here it's the view of the critics—"such a criticism." And she notes that the criticism "overlooks" a key fact—and that key fact is the statement in question.

So the role of that statement is to highlight a fact that the critics of the initial view overlook in their criticism. Yes that's a mouthful but let's find an answer that matches up with it!

Answer Explanation:
The claim in this answer is the view of "[s]ome people." The statement in question was a fact that the Sociologist points out the critics of that claim overlook. As such that statement is an attempt to undermine the critics and thus this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
For Argument Structure questions with multiple viewpoints be sure to keep all the viewpoints straight! Here just noting that the statement in question was a part of the Sociologist's argument and her argument was directed against the critics was enough to distinguish the right answer from the wrong ones.