Self-study
Policy analyst: Those concerned with safeguarding public health by reducing the risk of traffic fatalities typically focus their efforts on automotive safety measures such as increasing seat belt use, reducing distracted driving, and improving automotive technology. ███ ████ █████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ ████████████ ██████ ██████ ██ █ █████████ ██ █████ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ██ ██████ █ █████ ████ ███████
Argument Summary
The first sentence describes what other people typically do: those concerned with reducing traffic fatalities focus on automotive safety measures like seat belts, reducing distracted driving, and better technology. This is context that sets up the author's argument.
The word "But" signals a pivot. The author believes these people are focusing on the wrong thing. What would actually do the most to safeguard public health isn't any automotive safety measure. It's getting people to drive fewer total miles. That's the conclusion.
Why does the author believe this? Because driving itself is a major risk factor. The phrase "The fact is" introduces the premise. If simply being on the road creates significant risk, then the most effective way to reduce that risk is to reduce the amount of time people spend on the road, rather than just making the driving experience safer.
The argument structure:
- Context: People who want to reduce traffic fatalities typically focus on automotive safety measures.
- Conclusion: Reducing total miles traveled would contribute the most to safeguarding public health.
- Premise: Traveling by car is itself a major risk factor.
The Main Conclusion
The conclusion is the author's claim about what would contribute the most to safeguarding public health: reducing total miles traveled. Notice the comparative nature of this conclusion. The author isn't just saying reducing miles would help. She's saying it would help more than any automotive safety measure. We should look for an answer that captures this comparative claim.
2.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ █████████
a
Public health can ██ ███████████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ███████████
The author's argument takes for granted that reducing traffic fatalities would safeguard public health. That's a background assumption, not something the author is trying to prove. The author's conclusion is about which method would contribute the most to that goal.
b
Those concerned with ████████████ ██████ ██████ ██████ █████ █████ ███████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███████████
The author never tells anyone what they should focus on. Her conclusion is a claim about what would contribute the most to safeguarding public health. That's a subtle but important difference.
c
Increasing seat belt ████ ████████ ██████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██████████ ██████████ ███ █████████ ██████ ███████
This is part of the context. The author mentions seat belt use, distracted driving, and automotive technology as examples of what other people focus on. She doesn't argue for or against their effectiveness. Her point is that something else, reducing miles traveled, would contribute more.
d
A reduction in █████ █████ ████████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██ ████████████ ██████ ██████ ████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████████
This accurately restates the conclusion. The author's claim that reducing miles traveled would contribute "the most" to safeguarding public health means it would contribute more than any other measure, including the automotive safety measures mentioned in the first sentence. (D) captures exactly this comparative claim.
e
Traveling by car ██ ██████ █ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ███████████
This is the premise. The phrase "The fact is" introduces it as a factual claim offered in support of the conclusion. The author uses the risk inherent in driving to justify her claim that reducing total miles traveled would be the most impactful approach. To test this, ask: is there anything in the argument offered as a reason to believe that traveling by car is a major risk factor? No. The author just states it. But is it used as a reason to believe something else? Yes, it supports the conclusion about reducing miles traveled.