Logical reasoning PrepTest 137 · Section 3 · Question 5

Incorrect. Since the second statement uses premise indicator language and features a study, which will generally establish facts, that statement is the explicit premise of the argument.

Incorrect. If the statement is written in the argument, then it can't be an assumption of the argument since assumptions are unstated premises. Additionally, it's a conclusion, not a premise.

Incorrect. The study is used to back up the combo method of dog training as the best, so that first statement is a conclusion, not background.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
Study—Dogs trained with voice and hand commands were twice as likely to obey as dogs trained with just voice
Conclusion—Dogs learn best when trained with both voice and hand commands

Answer Anticipation:
There are only two statements here, so one must be a conclusion and the other a premise. The first is an opinion as to the "best" course of action, which will generally be a conclusion. The second starts with "After all" and brings up the results of a study, both of which establish the statement as a premise. Therefore, the statement in question—the first statement—is the argument's conclusion.

Answer Explanation:
A claim supported by a study is a conclusion, and this first statement is indeed a conclusion the argument claims is supported by the study. (It's not, however, which is why we noted this argument is flawed—it doesn't consider all training methods, including just using hand signals.)

Key Takeaway:
Opinions tend to be conclusions, so when you see a statement declaring something "best," there's a good chance you're seeing the main point. Additionally, studies are almost always premises.

Incorrect. There are only two statements, so it's hard to see how there would be an intermediate conclusion since that requires a premise supporting it (one statement) and a conclusion it supports (one statement), meaning there would need to be a minimum of three statements for there to be one (note we're talking statements, not sentences—a sentence can have multiple statements).