#12 - For years scientists have been scanning the skies in the hope of finding life on other planets

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Main Point. The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[cargopants]

Hi, I'm having some difficulty with this question. On first glance, A, C, and E all look like contenders.

With a little bit of work, I can see why A, "there is no reason to believe that life exists on other planets" could be wrong - a reason is broad and could be a spiritual or personal belief - is that correct?

The author explicitly saying there is not a shred of evidence + no reason to believe scientists will be any more successful in the future = my mind jumps to them saying there is no reason to believe

As for E, the author mentions money twice and the conclusion of "its destined to remain a dream" almost sounds like an argument in favor of not spending money on equipment, although I was also very suspicious that the answer choice singled out "sophisticated" equipment instead of just saying we shouldn't spend money on it at all.

Is C correct because it is undeniable in regards to its truth in the stimulus, while the others have more contentious qualifiers? How can I interpret this better to move through this more clearly?

[Adam Tyson]

When you are asked for the main conclusion of an argument, cargopants, you should focus on something that author explicitly stated, rather than something implied or that you might infer from the facts. It helps if you just quote the test itself as your prephrase.

Answer A is incorrect because the author is not saying, or even implying, that there is no life on other planets. All they are saying is that we will never find that life. Answer A takes the argument on step further than the author went. Since they never said there is no life out there, this cannot be their conclusion.

Answer E is incorrect because, again, the author never said this. They probably believe it's true, but that isn't good enough to make it their conclusion. It's even possible that they don't agree with answer E - maybe they think we should keep spending that money just to keep hope alive, or to stimulate the economy, or because the technology has other useful applications that would not otherwise be developed? Whether they believe in what answer E says or not, though, is not the point. The point is that they didn't say it and didn't try to prove it. They only tried to prove that "The dream of finding extraterrestrial life is destined to remain a dream." In other words, we will not find it, as answer C nicely paraphrases.