Logical Reasoning

PT147 · S4 · Q24 Politician: Democracy requires that there

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Politician: Democracy requires that there be no restrictions on the ability of citizens to share their ideas freely, without fear of reprisal.

Main Conclusion (thus)

Letting the government monitor conversations on the Internet would be a setback for democracy.

Intermediate Conclusion (therefore)

The right to have private, unmonitored conversations is essential to democracy.

Evidence

Democracy requires that there are no restrictions on the ability of citizens to share their ideas freely without fear of reprisal.

Evaluate / Goal

The structure of this paragraph looks like this. Claim 1. Therefore, Claim 2. Thus, Claim 3.

We can see from the "therefore" that claim 2 is supported by claim 1. We can see from the buried "thus" in the last sentence that claim 3 is supported by claim 2.

We're being asked about claim 1, so we should be looking for something like Premise / Support.

24.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the claim that democracy depends on the ability of citizens to share their ideas freely, without fear of reprisal?

  1. It is a claim for

    Not "only" Main Conclusion

    The first part is correct, but it's wrong to say that this supports only the Main Conclusion, when we can see from the "therefore" that this supports Claim 2, the Intermediate Conclusion.

    21% picked this

  2. Correct

    It is a claim for

    Why this is right

    This is an apt way to describe the Premise that sits at the beginning of a 3-part argument: therefore, thus, Premise ? Intermediate Conclusion ? Main Conclusion

    Skill tested: Role · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    65% picked this

  3. It is a claim for

    Wrong Role

    This answer choice describes the 2nd sentence. There's no support provided for the first sentence. We weren't told why democracy requires no restrictions on the ability to share ideas freely.

    10% picked this

  4. It is the argument's main

    Wrong Role

    This answer choice describes the final sentence of the paragraph.

    4% picked this

  5. It is the argument's main

    Wrong Role

    We know the third sentence is the main conclusion. This answer is also wrong in claiming that the Main Conclusion is supported by dual premises, rather than being supported by a Premise that supports an Intermediate Conclusion.

    1% picked this

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