A government ought to protect and encourage free speech, because free speech is an activity that is conducive to a healthy nation and thus is in the best interest of its people.
Conclusion
A government ought to protect and encourage free speech.
Intermediate Conclusion
Free speech is in the best interest of its people.
Evidence
Free speech is an activity that's conducive to a healthy nation.
Evaluate
The structure of this argument looks like this: Claim 1 because Claim 2 and thus Claim 3.
The "because" tells us, this is supporting the previous claim. The "thus" tells us, this is supported by the previous claim.
So, the last claim is a subsidiary conclusion, but the 2nd and 3rd claims together are meant to support the 1st claim.
We're trying to prove these words: a government ought to protect and encourage free speech
Is there any New Idea in the conclusion?
Yes! The idea of what a government "ought to protect and encourage" is only in the Conclusion. That means it must be in the correct answer.
The answer choice has to provide the "govt ought to protect and encourage" part of the Conclusion, since the Evidence didn't.
What did the Evidence tell us about "free speech"? - it's conducive to a healthy nation - it's in the best interest of its people
Goal
We'll look for a Linking idea that takes us from either of those Premise ideas, to the "government ought to protect and encourage".
- If it's conducive to a healthy nation, the government should protect and encourage it.
or
- If it's in the best interest of its people, the government should protect and encourage it.