Self-study
A newspaper article on Britain's unions argued that their strength was declining. ███ █████████ ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ██ ███ ██████ ███ ███ ███████ █████████ ███ ██ ████████ ████████ ███████ ██ █ ██████ ██████████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ████████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███████ ███████████
Summarize Argument
The author starts by introducing an argument made in a newspaper article, which claimed that Britain's unions were declining in strength. As evidence, the article cited the declining number and size of strikes. The author points out an assumption this use of evidence makes — that the purpose of unions is to organize strikes — and explains why this evidence doesn't support the article's conclusion. He argues that calling a strike is actually a sign that a union is in a weak position, whereas strong unions can focus on other goals.
Describe Method of Reasoning
Notice that the author doesn't offer a conclusion of his own. He doesn't explicitly say anything about what he believes about the strength or weakness of Britain's unions. While he is critical of the newspaper article's reasoning, he mainly criticizes the article's use of evidence to reach its conclusion, not the conclusion itself. He argues that the fact that strikes have been decreasing in number and size, far from indicating that unions are growing weaker, as the article claims, might be evidence that they are in a strong position.
Analysis by ArdaschirArguelles
24.
The argument criticizing the newspaper ███████ ███████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████
a
questioning the accuracy ██ ███ ███████████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███████ ████
b
detailing historical changes ████ ████ ███ █████████ █████████ ████████ ████████
c
reinterpreting evidence that ███ █████████ ███████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ███ █████████ █████████
d
arguing that the █████████ █████████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ █ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ██████
e
pointing to common █████████ █████ ██████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███ █████████ ███████ ███████