Question #502

Aren't A and C saying the same thing?

Started by Mazen · started 2021-12-12 22:08 · last activity 2022-01-23 16:08 · 3 replies

I always thought the verb "to purport" means "to pretend." Nevertheless, answer-choices A and C, despite using different verbs at the end of each choice, respectively, "to show" and "to explain," they (A and C) are essentially saying the same thing and should therefore be eliminated; we cannot have two correct answers! My question is: isn't the meaning of A identical to the meaning of C?

Replies

  1. Mazen · 2021-12-13 17:41

    bump

  2. jakennedy · 2022-01-17 15:30

    Hi @Mazen, Good question. A. “It is what the columnist’s argument purports to show” This is just another way of saying that it is the main conclusion of the argument. C. “It is what the columnist’s argument purports to explain” This is saying that the main conclusion is explaining the statement. Example: The rate of injury on ski slopes was greatly reduced from 1950 to 1980. This reduction was due to improvements in technology for ski boots and binding. Here, the first statement is the statement to be explained (like answer choice C above), and the second sentence is the explanation / main conclusion (like answer choice A above). Let me know if you have any other questions!

  3. Mazen · 2022-01-23 16:08

    Thank you Jacob.

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