#7 - Kevin: My barber shop sells an herbal supplement that

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[Juanq42]

While I correctly chose answer E, I am having trouble distinguishing it from answer D.

When comparing the two, both of them discuss Sabine questioning the barber's motives (earning money). Does D overextend when it states "...without providing evidence that any such claim was actually made" ?

I tried to make sense of its convoluted language:
Sabine's conclusion - it's not true that Kevin's barber sells the supplement to prevent baldness, instead its for him to make $.

[barber's] motives

particular claim - the barber's claim to help prevent baldness

evidence - I get lost here, does the evidence pertain to Sabine or the barber? What would this evidence look like? What additions to the stimulus would be required for this answer choice to be correct?

Because I had trouble even understanding D, and I fully understood E, I chose E and moved on.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Juan,

To better analyze answer choice D, first identify the parts of Sabine's argument in the stimulus. Her conclusion is her first sentence, which asserts that Kevin's argument is not true. To flesh that out, her conclusion is that the herbal supplement does NOT help to prevent baldness, and does not do what Kevin claims. Her premise is the second sentence, because the phrase "[t]he fact is" introduces that sentence as support for the first sentence. Sabine is using the barber's motive (to sell the supplement) as support for her conclusion that the supplement doesn't work.

Answer choice D's description of the argument is therefore inaccurate when it says that Sabine "draws a conclusion about someone's motives." Sabine does not "draw a conclusion" about the barber's motives. She draws a conclusion about the inefficacy of the herbal supplement with respect to baldness. Sabine's statement about the barber's motives is the premise that supports the conclusion she draws.

I hope this helps!

Jeremy