Meteorologist: Conclusion Heavy downpours are likely to become more frequent if Earth's atmosphere becomes significantly warmer. █ ████ ██████████ █████ ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ██████ ████████████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ████ ████████ █ ██████ ██████████ ████ █████ ████ █████████ █████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ █████ ██ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ███████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███████
The meteorologist predicts that if Earth's atmosphere becomes significantly warmer, heavy downpours are likely to become more frequent. The rest of the stimulus explains why this prediction makes sense, by laying out a causal chain that connects a warmer atmosphere to heavier, more frequent downpours.
Here's how the chain works. A warm atmosphere heats the oceans, which speeds up evaporation, and the resulting water vapor forms rain clouds more quickly. Separately, a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which produces larger clouds. And when water vapor in those larger clouds condenses, heavier downpours are more likely.
faster
downpours
The right path shows how a warmer atmosphere leads to larger clouds, which lead to heavier downpours. The left path shows how a warmer atmosphere makes clouds form faster. Both feed into the conclusion: more frequent, heavier downpours.
This means the first sentence is the conclusion, and the last three sentences are all premises. Each premise is one link in the causal chain.
We're asked about the role of the last sentence: "in general, as water vapor in larger clouds condenses, heavier downpours are more likely to result." This is the final link in the right path of the causal chain. It connects "larger clouds" to "heavier downpours."
This sentence is a premise. It's one piece of the support for the prediction in the first sentence. It is not a conclusion of any kind, because no other sentence in the stimulus is offered to prove it. Yes, it connects to the other premises in the chain, but being part of a chain is not the same as being supported by the other links.
Think about it this way: if you asked the meteorologist, "Why should I believe that larger clouds lead to heavier downpours?" she couldn't point to either of the other premises as an answer. The claim that a warm atmosphere heats the oceans and speeds up evaporation doesn't help prove that larger clouds produce heavier rain. Neither does the claim that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and creates larger clouds. Those premises sit alongside the last sentence as separate links in the chain.
So we're looking for an answer that says the last sentence is a premise.
Analysis by Kevin_Lin
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