Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
The author refutes the idea that market forces should determine the design of televisions, saying that it is too simple. Instead of market forces alone, some government control needs to be involved. Why? Television is important culturally and politically. Why? It is a major source of entertainment, the main source for many voters about current affairs, and it is on in the average home for more than 5 hours per day.
Identify Argument Part
This is a sub-conclusion. It supports the main conclusion that market forces alone are too simple, and that government control is needed. It is supported by the premises that follow it, which demonstrate exactly why it is politically and culturally important.
A
It states a view that the argument as a whole is designed to discredit.
The argument does not discredit this claim - it supports it and uses it as support for the main conclusion.
B
It is an intermediate conclusion that is offered in support of the claim that a television set should be thought of as nothing more than “a toaster with pictures” and for which the claim that we can let market forces determine what is seen on television is offered as support.
While it is an intermediate conclusion, this is not descriptively accurate because it is not supporting this claim. It instead supports the refutation of this claim.
C
It is a premise that is offered in support of the claim that we let market forces determine the design of kitchen appliances.
The argument is refuting the claim that we can let market forces determine TV design. This is just context, and it does not receive support from the premises.
D
It is an intermediate conclusion that is offered in support of the claim that some governmental control of television is needed and for which the claim that the television is on for more than five hours a day in the average home is offered as partial support.
This is descriptively accurate. The claim is a sub-conclusion, it supports the argument for some government control, and it is supported by premises including the frequency TV is on in the average home.
E
It is a premise that is offered in support of the claim that television is the primary medium through which many voters obtain information about current affairs.
This is flipped. That claim supports the sub-conclusion in question, not the other way around.
Summary
The stimulus presents several conditional statements that can be connected.
early urban society → large-scale farming
large-scale-farming → irrigation
irrigation → not far from rivers/lakes
Note that the second sentence of the stimulus tells us that other ways of acquiring food besides large-scale-farming can’t support an urban population. But this just repeats the relationship expressed in the first sentence, so it’s not important.
early urban society → large-scale farming
large-scale-farming → irrigation
irrigation → not far from rivers/lakes
Note that the second sentence of the stimulus tells us that other ways of acquiring food besides large-scale-farming can’t support an urban population. But this just repeats the relationship expressed in the first sentence, so it’s not important.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The three conditionals can be connected to produce the following inference:
early urban society → not far from rivers/lakes
In other words, early urban societies must not have been far from rivers/lakes.
early urban society → not far from rivers/lakes
In other words, early urban societies must not have been far from rivers/lakes.
A
Most peoples who lived in early times lived in areas near rivers or lakes.
Unsupported. Even though early urban societies couldn’t be far from rivers/lakes, most people could have lived in rural, non-urban societies far from rivers/lakes.
B
Only if farming is possible in the absence of irrigation can societies be maintained in areas far from rivers or lakes.
Unsupported. The stimulus only tells us about requirements for large-scale farming, not farming generally. Perhaps small-scale farming is possible through irrigation far from water. And we only know about what’s required for early urban societies, not for modern urban societies.
C
In early times it was not possible to maintain urban societies in areas far from rivers or lakes.
Strongly supported. This is the inference we could anticipate from connecting the conditionals in the stimulus. In diagram form it means “far from rivers/lakes → /early urban societies.” This is the contrapositive of the inference described in the summary above.
D
Urban societies with farms near rivers or lakes do not have to rely upon irrigation to meet their farming needs.
Unsupported. We can infer early urban societies had to have large-scale farming, which required irrigation. This doesn’t tell us what kind of society doesn’t require irrigation.
E
Early rural societies relied more on foraging than on agriculture for food.
Unsupported. We know early urban societies required large-scale farming. But early rural societies may have had small-scale farming and may have relied on it more than foraging. The stimulus doesn’t tell us anything about early rural societies.