Self-study
Veterinarian: A disease of purebred racehorses that is caused by a genetic defect prevents afflicted horses from racing and can cause paralysis and death. ████ █████ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ███████ █████████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██ █████ ███ ████ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ████ ███ ███████████ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ████ █████████
The Main Point: Let’s Breed Some Diseased Horses!
Here’s the main conclusion of the veterinarian’s response:
[The horse breeders] are wrong [when they say horses with [the genetic defect that causes disease] should not be bred].
The conclusion as it reads in the stimulus is just “they are wrong,” but it’s critical to puzzle out the full meaning of that phrase before heading into the answer choices.
Doing so means tracking down the various referentials. Who are they? What are they wrong about? Oh they’re wrong about horses with “this defect” – what defect?
Approaching Main Point Questions
Upon reading this question stem, a few important guidelines should come to mind. They are:
- As we read the stimulus, we’re just looking for the main point of the veterinarian’s response. Everything else is secondary.
- Wrong answer choices will either express that main point inaccurately, express a different claim (like a premise), or both.
This approach significantly narrows our focus in both the stimulus and the answer choices, saving a ton of time and mental energy.
2.
The point of the veterinarian's ████████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Racehorses that have ███ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ █████████ ████ ███████
(A) expresses the main point inaccurately. It reads great up until the word racing. Swap “racing” to “breeding” and (A) is right.
b
There should not ██ ██ ████████ ███ ██ ████████ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ███████
(B) matches our anticipation well. If the horse breeders are wrong when they say horses with the generic defect should not be bred, that means it’s sometimes okay to breed horses with the genetic defect.
c
Racehorses that are ████████ █████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ████ ███ ██████ █████
(C) inaccurately expresses a premise. You should probably spot the premise thing first – the vet’s claim about diet and whatnot acts as support for the conclusion.
But it’s inaccurate, too, because it’s so strongly worded: diet can control the disease in most cases, not all cases.
d
The best way ██ ███████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ██████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ███████
(D) inaccurately expresses a premise. You should probably spot the premise thing first – the vet’s claim about beauty and whatnot acts as support for the conclusion.
But it’s inaccurate, too, because of the part about how the best way to produce beautiful horses is through the defect. That “best” notion isn’t supported by the stimulus.
e
There should be ██ ███████████ ███████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ████ ███ █████████
(E) expresses the main point inaccurately. It reads great except for the phrase any disease, which creates a broad principle applying to diseases in general. The vet’s argument is just about this one disease.