Logical Reasoning

PT141 · S4 · Q11 Manager: This company's supply

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Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant weaknesses unless we make changes to our vendor contracts now.

Conclusion (irresponsible = Opinion)

That is an irresponsible approach. rephrase: It's irresponsible to put off making changes to our vendor contracts in order to shore up our supply chain, because the problem will not materialize for quite a while.

Evidence

A financial planner would be guilty of gross malpractice if they said to a 30 year old client, .

Evaluate

Whenever we do Main Conclusion or Role, we prime our brains before reading the paragraph with the reminder that the Conclusion (on these questions) will almost always be - First Sentence, or - Rebuttal

This first sentence sounds a bit like it could be the Main Conclusion. It's a claim about the future so it's inherently opinionated. If we read on and feel like the author is giving us supporting reasons why failing to make changes to our vendor contracts could imperil our supply chain, then we'd know the first sentence was the conclusion.

Instead, the second sentence gives us an attribution, "Some will argue". This feels like a setup for a Rebuttal, and then sure enough the following claim starts with a classic rebuttal Pivot word (but, yet, however). The final two sentences are supporting that rebuttal with an analogy.

Goal

We want an answer that matches "That is an irresponsible approach". Since our conclusion has a pronoun, "That", we need to import the referential text:

is an irresponsible approach.

An equivalent way of saying "X is an irresponsible approach" could be to say "we shouldn't do X".

11.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the manager's argument?

Some people argue that the
Opposing Position
This is not the 3rd sentence. This is the 2nd. This is an attribution to someone else's beliefs. The Main Conclusion will always be the author's belief. This claim is actually what the Main Conclusion is calling irresponsible.
1% picked this
Correct
It would be irresponsible to
Why this is right
This is a good match for the meaning of the 3rd sentence. This is the approach that the author is labeling 'irresponsible'. It's actually the only answer saying something is 'irresponsible', so if we were clear on the structure but fuzzy on the meaning, this is the only answer that resembles the key word in the 3rd sentence.
Skill tested: Main Conclusion · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
79% picked this
If no changes are made
Background
This is not the 3rd sentence. This is the 1st. This is a just a background fact.
17% picked this
In planning to meet its
Assumption
This is not the 3rd sentence. This isn't any claim that was said, so we know it's wrong. This might appeal to people because it's something this argument is assuming, but we're not being asked for what invisible idea lurks in the author's mind. We're being asked for which explicit idea the author spoke out loud as her conclusion.
3% picked this
Financial planners should advise their
Unstated
This is not the 3rd sentence. This isn't any claim that was said, so we know it's wrong. It's not even something implied or assumed. It's just an overly strong conditional that the author never said or suggested.
0% picked this

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