PrepTest 120

Incorrect. Since the statement in question is written in the argument, it can't be an assumption.

Incorrect. There are no opposing views or concessions made in the stimulus, so nothing undermines the argument's main point. Also, the statement in question is the main point.

Incorrect. This answer describes an opposing point, but the statement in question is the main point. There is no opposing point here.

Incorrect. Information taken for granted is an assumption, so this answer is as wrong as is.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Valid

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
Phenomenon - Soldiers who respond to injury with relief requested less morphine than civilians who viewed surgery as depressing.
Explanation - The meaning attached to a wound affects pain perception
Implication - Pain perception depends only partly on biological stuff

Answer Anticipation:
This stimulus brings up a description of a phenomenon/an example of pain perception to lead to a conclusion about pain perception. The situation described about soldiers vs. civilians is definitely support, so the trick here is to determine between the first line and the last line which is the intermediate conclusion, and which is the main point.

The opening line is about pain perception depending only partly on physiology; the last line is about meaning attached to a wound affecting pain perception. In order to see which is the main point and which is subsidiary, we can read them back-to-back to see which makes more sense as support:
Pain perception depends only partly on physiology, so meaning attached to a wound can affect perceived pain
OR
Meaning attached to a wound can affect perceived pain, so pain perception depends only partly on physiology

Looking at this, the second makes more sense. Meaning affecting pain perception is an example of something other than physiology affecting pain perception, so the last line of the stimulus is an example of the first. That makes the ending line an intermediate conclusion that supports the opening line, and so we should look for an answer that says the statement in question is the main point of the argument.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects the statement in question's role as the main point of the argument, supported by an intermediate conclusion that itself is backed up by a specific example.

Key Takeaway:
Note here that there weren't really any tricky answers. There could easily have been an intermediate conclusion answer that would have been a lot harder to deal with, as you would have had to have been certain that the statement in question was the main point instead of the intermediate conclusion. Since you won't know what answers are provided until you look at them, it's important in Argument Structure questions to clearly identify the role of the statements in the stimulus so that you don't have to head back. It'll be faster to figure it out up front rather than spend time after looking at the answers, and this question is an outlier in having an intermediate conclusion but not an answer that puts that forward as an option.