PrepTest 153

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
A business owner says allowing coal mining in their region would create some jobs, but would lead to a net loss in jobs overall. That's because a lot of local businesses depend on the region's natural beauty, so uglifying the countryside with a bunch of mines and mining equipment would force most of them to close.

Answer Anticipation:
Why will there be a net loss in jobs if coal mining is permitted? Because many businesses would close. Why would the businesses close? Because they rely on the region's natural beauty. That structure shows us that we've got a main conclusion, a subsidiary conclusion, and a premise. If you can answer "why" questions about a particular statement by pointing to another part of the argument, that statement is either a subsidiary or main conclusion. If the answer to "why?" is "because the author said so," it's a premise. Like so: why do businesses rely on the region's natural beauty? Because the author said so. Thus, our role statement is a premise that supports a subsidiary conclusion.

Answer Explanation:
This correctly describes a premise supporting a subsidiary conclusion, so it's correct.

Key Takeaway:
On Argument Structure questions, always break down the stimulus and figure out its structure before looking at the answer choices. Otherwise, you're left highly vulnerable to trap answers. Diagram the argument out, if you need to. With practice you'll get faster at this!

Incorrect. Close, but nope. The "natural beauty" premise can't be used to directly support "there will be a net loss of jobs."

Incorrect. It's a premise, not a conclusion at all. You can tell because nothing else supports it.

Incorrect. The overall conclusion is that there will be more jobs lost than gained if coal mining comes into the community.

Incorrect. Nonsense! The only hypothesis here is "there will be a net loss of jobs," and that's the conclusion of the argument, as supported by a subsidiary conclusion and its premise.