#3 - Newspaper columnist: What caused the current recession is a hotly

[Hanin Abu Amara]

Complete Question Explanation

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

The newspaper columnist is laying out that what caused the current recession is hotly debated and then claims that it is wrong to assume that answering the question of what caused it would be essential to improving the economy. To support his claim he makes an analogy to corrective lenses being used before discovering what caused myopia.

This is a main point question that asks us to identify the conclusion of the argument.

The first sentence regarding what caused the recession is not the main point because the author goes on to discuss why answering that question is irrelevant to answering it. Since this sentence isn't supported by premises, it isn't the main point.

The second sentence about it being a mistake to assume we need the answer to the question is supported by the analogy of corrective lenses and as such is what the author is trying to argue.

The last sentence containing the analogy is a premise that is being used to support the second sentence.

Our prephrase is that the main point is that there is no need to figure out the cause of the recession in order to answer it.

Answer choice (A): The claim that solving a problem never requires finding the root cause was never made by the author and as such isn't the main point.

Answer choice (B): Author isn't arguing that knowing the cause wouldn't help. He is saying that there is no need to ascertain the cause in order to find a solution.

Answer choice (C): That is an unsupported assertion and as such can't be the main point.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. because this sentence is supported by the analogy given and as such is the conclusion

Answer choice (E): The myopia is referenced as an analogy to support the main point and as such isn't the main point.

[gwlsathelp]

The stimulus states that "it is a mistake, however, to assume that answering this question is essential to improving the economy".

answering question improving economy

The correct answer is D) "one need not ascertain the cause of the current recession in order to improve the economy".

improving economy answering question/ascertain cause

Is this correct diagramming? I have never seen a main point question like this. It's typically cut-and-dry, but this one has you do some logical calculations.

[Adam Tyson]

This question should not be diagrammed at all, gwlsathelp, because it is not conditional, and trying to express it in those terms will be more likely to cause confusion than to help. Instead, focus on the task at hand as given to you by the question stem: what is the conclusion? Which statement is the author trying to prove?

I'm not sure what you mean about not having seen a Main Point question like this one, as this is about as typical a Main Point question as you are ever going to see! No calculations should be needed, and especially no diagram. Just figure out which of the three statements in the stimulus was the conclusion of the argument, and then match that statement to the answer choice that best paraphrases it. The author here is trying to prove that "it is a mistake..." (the second sentence), because the author offers evidence (in the form of an analogy) in the last sentence to support the claim. Answer D is the best paraphrase of the second sentence, and is therefore the correct answer.

Don't overcomplicate these questions! Reserve conditional diagramming for arguments that use that type of reasoning. Instead, focus on identifying the conclusion, the premises, and any gaps in the argument (if the question is the sort that calls for that information, which this question does not). Answer the question presented without doing any more work than is required. Keep it simple in order to be efficient and accurate.

[JasminLys]

What's wrong with B?

[atierney]

This really comes down to B being the "wrong idea" type of answer choice. In other words, the point is that we don't need to know the cause of problem to solve it, not, as B says, that knowing the cause of the problem wouldn't help solve it. Let me know if you have any further questions on this.