- PowerScore Staff
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- Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:56 am
#72689
Complete Question Explanation
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (D).
For Justify questions, we want to 1) identify the conclusion and premises, 2) find the "gap" between conclusion and premises, 3) Pre-Phrase an answer choice that will hurdle that "gap" in order to 100% logically guarantee the conclusion, and then 4) find the answer choice that best matches that Pre-Phrase.
Step 1
Premise 1: Tailors alter manufactured patterns to accomodate future distortion
Premise 2: Pattern not match measurements of wearer exactly
tailor alters pattern to fit wearer
Conclusion: Professional tailor always alters the pattern to fit wearer
Step 2
Do the premises 100% logically lead us to the conclusion? Or is there a "gap"? Here, the conclusion is similar to our second premise. (The first premise is essentially a distraction and has nothing to do with the conclusion). But the second premise doesn't get us all the way to our conclusion, since the conclusion 1) introduces the idea of a professional tailor and 2) excludes the possibility of the pattern matching the measurements of the wearer exactly. So there is a gap between how far the premises get us and what the conclusion says.
Step 3
Since this is a Justify question, we want our answer choice to completely hurdle over the gap in the argument between conclusion and premises. The correct answer, when taken in combination with the premises, will allow us to arrive 100% logically at our conclusion. So I take a second before looking at the answer choices to Pre-Phrase an answer that will get us over the "gap" of the differences between the second premise and our conclusion (i.e. it will explain the presence of the word "professional" and explain the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer exactly). My Pre-Phrase here would look something like: "Professional tailors don't service wearers who exactly match the pattern measurements." This gets us over the "gap" in our stimulus's argument and allows the conclusion to follow logically. We want to look for the answer choice that best matches that Pre-Phrase.
Now, a quick aside - you said that you picked Answer Choice (B) because it seemed like the "softest" answer to justify the conclusion. If I'm understanding that correctly, you were looking for an answer choice that didn't sound "too strong". While that is a good instinct to have for Assumption questions, that's actually the wrong move for Justify questions! For Assumption questions, we're looking for something that absolutely needs to be true in order for the argument to make sense. But for Justify questions, we are interested in one thing: completely closing the gap between premises and conclusion to ensure our conclusion 100% follows logically, at any cost!
Take this simple argument for example: "My roommate is cranky when it's hot. It's always hot everywhere in Texas. Therefore my roommate is always cranky whenever she's in the city of Austin." The major gap in that argument is that the stimulus talks about Texas, while the conclusion switches it up and talks about Austin. So a good answer for an Assumption question regarding that argument would play it safe with something like: "There's at least one city of Austin in Texas". But a Justify answer just needs to get us to the conclusion. It can be strong, it can be outlandish, it can be over the top. So something like, "Cities named Austin are in Texas and nowhere else", or even something silly like "Every city whose name starts with the letter A is in Texas" would function as a correct Justify answer! So don't be afraid of strong answer choices for Justify questions. If they get us to our conclusion, strong Justify answers are just what the doctor ordered.
Step 4
Answer Choice (A): This choice is incorrect because it doesn't explain the presence of the word "professional" in the conclusion or the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer.
Answer Choice (B): This choice explains the presence of "professional" in the conclusion, but doesn't explain the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer (and therefore the tailor would not have to alter the pattern to fit). In other words we still don't know why professional tailors always adjust the pattern, according to the stimulus's conclusion.
Answer Choice (C): This probably strengthens our stimulus's conclusion, but it doesn't 100% get us there. "Best" is not necessarily the same as "professional", and this still doesn't rule out that professional tailors sometime service clients whose measurements exactly match those of the pattern.
Answer Choice (D): This is the correct answer. It accomplishes what we wanted out of our Pre-Phrase: it addresses the idea of "professional tailors" and rules out the possibility of them sewing for a client whose measurements match the pattern. When combined with our second premise, it allows our conclusion to follow seamlessly, pun possibly intended.
Answer Choice (E): Again, this answer choice introduces the concept of the professional tailor but does not explain why they never serve clients whose measurements exactly match the pattern.
Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (D).
For Justify questions, we want to 1) identify the conclusion and premises, 2) find the "gap" between conclusion and premises, 3) Pre-Phrase an answer choice that will hurdle that "gap" in order to 100% logically guarantee the conclusion, and then 4) find the answer choice that best matches that Pre-Phrase.
Step 1
Premise 1: Tailors alter manufactured patterns to accomodate future distortion
Premise 2: Pattern not match measurements of wearer exactly
tailor alters pattern to fit wearerConclusion: Professional tailor always alters the pattern to fit wearer
Step 2
Do the premises 100% logically lead us to the conclusion? Or is there a "gap"? Here, the conclusion is similar to our second premise. (The first premise is essentially a distraction and has nothing to do with the conclusion). But the second premise doesn't get us all the way to our conclusion, since the conclusion 1) introduces the idea of a professional tailor and 2) excludes the possibility of the pattern matching the measurements of the wearer exactly. So there is a gap between how far the premises get us and what the conclusion says.
Step 3
Since this is a Justify question, we want our answer choice to completely hurdle over the gap in the argument between conclusion and premises. The correct answer, when taken in combination with the premises, will allow us to arrive 100% logically at our conclusion. So I take a second before looking at the answer choices to Pre-Phrase an answer that will get us over the "gap" of the differences between the second premise and our conclusion (i.e. it will explain the presence of the word "professional" and explain the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer exactly). My Pre-Phrase here would look something like: "Professional tailors don't service wearers who exactly match the pattern measurements." This gets us over the "gap" in our stimulus's argument and allows the conclusion to follow logically. We want to look for the answer choice that best matches that Pre-Phrase.
Now, a quick aside - you said that you picked Answer Choice (B) because it seemed like the "softest" answer to justify the conclusion. If I'm understanding that correctly, you were looking for an answer choice that didn't sound "too strong". While that is a good instinct to have for Assumption questions, that's actually the wrong move for Justify questions! For Assumption questions, we're looking for something that absolutely needs to be true in order for the argument to make sense. But for Justify questions, we are interested in one thing: completely closing the gap between premises and conclusion to ensure our conclusion 100% follows logically, at any cost!
Take this simple argument for example: "My roommate is cranky when it's hot. It's always hot everywhere in Texas. Therefore my roommate is always cranky whenever she's in the city of Austin." The major gap in that argument is that the stimulus talks about Texas, while the conclusion switches it up and talks about Austin. So a good answer for an Assumption question regarding that argument would play it safe with something like: "There's at least one city of Austin in Texas". But a Justify answer just needs to get us to the conclusion. It can be strong, it can be outlandish, it can be over the top. So something like, "Cities named Austin are in Texas and nowhere else", or even something silly like "Every city whose name starts with the letter A is in Texas" would function as a correct Justify answer! So don't be afraid of strong answer choices for Justify questions. If they get us to our conclusion, strong Justify answers are just what the doctor ordered.
Step 4
Answer Choice (A): This choice is incorrect because it doesn't explain the presence of the word "professional" in the conclusion or the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer.
Answer Choice (B): This choice explains the presence of "professional" in the conclusion, but doesn't explain the absence of the possibility of the pattern measurements matching those of the wearer (and therefore the tailor would not have to alter the pattern to fit). In other words we still don't know why professional tailors always adjust the pattern, according to the stimulus's conclusion.
Answer Choice (C): This probably strengthens our stimulus's conclusion, but it doesn't 100% get us there. "Best" is not necessarily the same as "professional", and this still doesn't rule out that professional tailors sometime service clients whose measurements exactly match those of the pattern.
Answer Choice (D): This is the correct answer. It accomplishes what we wanted out of our Pre-Phrase: it addresses the idea of "professional tailors" and rules out the possibility of them sewing for a client whose measurements match the pattern. When combined with our second premise, it allows our conclusion to follow seamlessly, pun possibly intended.
Answer Choice (E): Again, this answer choice introduces the concept of the professional tailor but does not explain why they never serve clients whose measurements exactly match the pattern.
