Self-study
A large company has been convicted of engaging in monopolistic practices. ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ████████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ███████████ █████ ██ ████████ ██████ ███████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████ ████ ████ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████ ██████ ████████████ ███████ █████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ███ ██████ ████████ ██████ █████████ ███ ████████████
Summarize Argument
The trial of a large company was valuable despite the likely ineffectiveness of the penalty. The trial was valuable because it revealed information about the company’s practices. This new information empowered the company’s competitors, alerted potential rivals, and forced the company to moderate its unfair behavior.
Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the contention that the trial was worthwhile because it revealed information about the company, which led to positive outcomes.
13.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ █████ ██ ███ █████████
a
Even if the ███████ ███ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ████████ ██ ████████████ ██████████ ███ █████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████
This is not an argument made in the stimulus. The author does not speculate on what would have happened had the company not been convicted. While the author might agree with this claim, it is not part of the argument presented and therefore cannot be the main conclusion.
b
The light shed ██ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████████████ ███████ █████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ███ ██████ █████████
This premise supports the sub-conclusion that the trial “provided useful information.” It specifies that the trial exposed the company’s practices and explains the value of this revelation: it empowered competitors, alerted rivals, and forced the company to change its behavior.
c
The penalty imposed ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███ █████████
This is part of the stimulus’s context. This sentence explains why some may consider the trial a waste of time—because its penalty is unlikely to affect the company’s behavior—and sets the stage for the author to explain why the trial was valuable despite the ineffective penalty.
d
The company's trial ██ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ████████████ █████████ ███ ███████████
This answer restates the main conclusion (“the trial was worthwhile”) with context that describes the trial (“the company’s trial on charges of engaging in monopolistic practices”). The subsequent claims support this conclusion by explaining why the trial was valuable.
e
The penalty imposed ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████
This is not an argument made in the stimulus. The author argues that the penalty was inadequate to change the company’s behavior but does not claim the penalty should have been larger. While the author might agree, it is not part of the argument and cannot be the main conclusion.