PrepTest 155

Incorrect. While it is offered as support, it undercuts the stereotype rather than supporting it.

Incorrect. The stereotype is brought up in the following statement—the one being asked about is a premise that undercuts that stereotype.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Argument Structure

Stimulus Summary:
Humanities raise less money than sciences (tuition/grants), but they cost less (teaching/research). Therefore, they make money while science loses money, and so contrary to the typical view humanities subsidize sciences. Thus, if making cuts because of budget issues, cutting humanities would be a mistake.

Answer Anticipation:
The statement in question here doesn't have support, so it's not a conclusion, but rather a premise. It also comes after a pivot ("but"), so it's part of the author's argument. Here, it leads to a conclusion that kicks off a chain of conclusions, so the correct answer should reflect that it's a premise supporting an intermediate conclusion that builds into the main conclusion.

Answer Explanation:
A "component of an explanation" is a fancy way of saying it's a premise supporting another piece of the author's argument, which it is. And while the rest of this answer mentions that it supports a premise of the argument, intermediate conclusion serve as both premises and conclusions to an argument, so this answer is correct.

Key Takeaway:
Intermediate conclusions are both premises and conclusions of an argument, so in an Argument Structure question, don't rule out an answer because it describes an intermediate conclusion as a premise.

Incorrect. While this argument does feature intermediate conclusions, the statement itself is a premise that doesn't have any support offered for it.

Incorrect. Since there are intermediate conclusions, this answer incorrectly characterizes the argument by stating that each claim is independent support—some of the claims support others.