Logical reasoning PrepTest 142 · Section 1 · Question 14

Incorrect. This is a convoluted way of calling the statement in question a premise, but since it's a prediction backed up by a causal chain, it's not a premise—it's a conclusion.

Incorrect. This is a convoluted way of calling the statement in question a premise and bringing up that there's an intermediate conclusion. But, as we said in (A), the statement in question is a prediction that is backed up by a causal chain, so it can't be a premise.

Incorrect. This is the "intermediate conclusion" answer, and the statement in question doesn't support anything else in the argument, so it's incorrect.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
There are a lot of satellites and none have crashed into each other. Once two hit each other, the resulting debris will strike other satellites, and on an on. So the risk of a collision is going to dramatically go up.

Answer Anticipation:
The opening statement talks about what is currently true, which is likely background for the argument. That pans out when the argument immediately pivots ("but") to a prediction about a change in the future (this is the statement in question).

Predictions tend to be conclusions, as they need justification. And that's no different here—the statement is followed up with "After all," highlighting the rationale behind that prediction. The rest of the stimulus is a causal chain explaining why the likelihood of something will go up in the future, and so the statement in question is the main point of the argument.

Answer Explanation:
Direct. To the point. Correct. We love this in an answer.

Key Takeaway:
Predictions are generally conclusions. "After all" indicates that the previous statement was a conclusion that's about to be supported by a premise following that phrase.

Incorrect. The opening clause—not the statement after the pivot—serves as background, and it is essential to the argument since the conclusion is that the likelihood of a collision is going to "increase dramatically" in the future—that requires a baseline to be set.