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Main Conclusion

jmarin5jmarin5 Member
edited May 2021 in Logical Reasoning 162 karma

Can the correct answer to a main conclusion question be something that was never explicitly stated in the stimulus? For example, if the stimulus says that we must reduce the gov deficit and in order to do so we must either reduce spending or increase taxes, and then goes on to say that for political reasons we can't reduce taxes, can the correct answer be that we must reduce spending? My concern here is that even though it was not explicitly stated in the stimulus, it is pretty much the conclusion of the argument.
Thanks in advance!

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  • tahurrrrrtahurrrrr Member
    1106 karma

    I think it that case, it's more likely going to be a 'must be true' or 'most strongly supported' question type. I've never seen a main conclusion question where it wasn't explicitly stated in the stimulus. Maybe the answer choices will rephrase what's in the stimulus, but it was explicitly stated nonetheless.

  • tahurrrrrtahurrrrr Member
    1106 karma

    It could also show up that way as a fill in the blank question.

  • puneetmotiwalapuneetmotiwala Member
    103 karma

    It could be a fill in the blank question, but then the question would ask "what conclusion would logically follow" or something along those lines. If the question simply asks to identify the main conclusion then it will be explicitly stated in the passage. However, in the more recent PTs the main conclusion answer choices paraphrase the MC, so be weary of that!

  • carlyvangstadboydcarlyvangstadboyd Member
    176 karma

    sometimes, correct answers to identify the conclusion type questions will be a deduction ish of some sort as long as it 1. has support and does not support any other part of the stimulus and 2. is at least some way shape or form represented in the stimulus (maybe the contrapositive/weird wording/etc)
    so if it says, Joe said that Betty eats too much cake but I never see her eat cake and she can't even bake and Betty's on a diet and blah blah blah. therefore, Joe is wrong.
    the correct answer could be something like Betty eats not enough cake or an okay amount of cake.
    because the main conclusion is just that Joe is wrong to say Betty eats too much cake = Betty does not eat too much cake = Betty eats normal amount or not enough cake. sorry, don't dig too deep into the details of my bad example but hopefully you see where I'm trying to go with that and someone please correct me if I'm totally off base

    sooo without exact question, I think what you're thinking is okay. like if it says, we have to pick A or B and then a bunch of reasons we absolutely cannot pick A, it should be a right answer if it's like, "we can pick B."

  • andrew.rsnandrew.rsn Alum Member
    edited May 2021 831 karma

    Jmarin5
    - what spurred this question? Did you encountered a Main point/ Main Conclusion question and feel like the main conclusion was not actually stated in the argument. I think sometimes these questions can be tricky when they don't use indicators, such as therefore, since, however, etc. but the conclusion is still lurking in there somewhere.

    But I agree with @tahurrrrr that the example you gave, seems more like an inference/MBT question.

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