Logical reasoning PrepTest 147 · Section 4 · Question 24

Incorrect. It is a claim for which no support is provided (i.e., a premise), but it doesn't support only the main point—it's direct support for the intermediate conclusion that follows it.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
Democracy → Citizens freely share ideas without fear of reprisal
Therefore: Democracy → Private conversations without governmental monitoring
Therefore: Government monitors Internet conversations → Setback for democracy

Answer Anticipation:
This argument, for all the conditional statements provided, has a pretty straightforward argument structure (that's not necessarily easy to see).

The first statement is presented without any structure keywords, so we can't tell its role by itself. It is an opinion, so it might be a conclusion. However, the following statement starts with a conclusion indicator word ("Therefore") which means that it's a conclusion supported by the previous statement—making the first statement a premise. Then, the final statement also includes a conclusion indicator word ("thus"), albeit halfway through the sentence to confuse you. But it's still a conclusion indicator, and it must be built off of the previous statements, so that's an intermediate conclusion and the last sentence is the main point.

The statement in question is the first one, so it's a premise supporting the intermediate conclusion, which in turn supports the main point.

Answer Explanation:
It is a premise supporting an intermediate conclusion that supports the main point, so this answer is correct.

Key Takeaway:
Statements that start (or include) conclusion indicator words almost necessarily are supported by the previous statement.

Incorrect. It is a premise, but it's not used to support the main conclusion. Instead, it supports an intermediate conclusion which, in turn, supports the main conclusion.

Incorrect. The statement is immediately followed by a statement with a conclusion indicator word, so it can't be the main point—structurally, it must support that second statement. However, this answer at least describes the argument correctly as having an intermediate conclusion and main point . . .

Incorrect. . . . unlike this answer, which is the same as (D) and is thus wrong for the same reason, but additionally doesn't describe the argument correctly, and is thus doubly wrong.