Logical reasoning PrepTest 136 · Section 2 · Question 18

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Main Point

Stimulus Summary:
Soon, digital money will be possible, but it gives the government too much power, and people are wary of that, so it won't be widely accepted.

Answer Anticipation:
The Columnist starts her argument with some background about the feasibility of digital currency, noting that it will soon be possible.

Then, she pivots—and she pivots to a prediction ("never be"). Predictions tend to be conclusions, and that this one is a conclusion is backed up by the following statement starting with "for." That's a premise indicator word that also lets us know the preceding statement is what it's supporting. That last statement builds off of the "for" statement, serving as an additional premise. These two statements explain why people would never willingly accept government-backed digital currency, thus serving as premises to the prediction/conclusion.

So the pivot statement—society will never accept digital currency—is our main point.

Answer Explanation:
This answer is a long-form version of the statement we identified as the conclusion—a prediction backed up by the reasoning in the rest of the argument.

Key Takeaway:
Note here that a couple wrong answers are in the ballpark of the conclusion, but they either feature a minor term shift or they take a step beyond what the conclusion itself states. Harder Main Point questions do tend to have more convoluted argument structures, but they also have answers that are close to the real conclusion except in one minor but crucial way. Be careful as you analyse the answers!

Incorrect. This is a premise that, along with digital currency giving the government too much power, builds to the conclusion that people won't accept government-backed digital currency.

Incorrect. This is background that sets up the argument about whether people would accept it.

Incorrect. This answer conflates the last premise, the conclusion, and some additional information, so it's incorrect.

Incorrect. This answer is never stated in the stimulus—it's a bit of a drift from the actual conclusion that people wouldn't accept a move to a digital-only economy run by the government.