Logical Reasoning

PT151 · S2 · Q10 Archaeologist: The extensive network of

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Archaeologist: The extensive network of ancient tracks on the island of Malta was most likely created through erosion caused by the passage of wheeled vehicles.

Conclusion (most likely)

The big network of tracks on Malta was probably created by wheeled vehicles eroding these paths.

Intermediate Conclusion

Even though some people think the tracks were manually cut, the uniformity to the depth of the track is more likely indicative of wheel diameter.

Evidence

Routes would get used until the the wheel had eroded to a depth that made further vehicle usage impossible.

Evaluate

Whenever we're doing Main Conclusion and Role, we remind ourselves prior to reading the paragraph that these questions love to put the Conclusion earlier than the Evidence. We start listening in the first sentence to hear if it's an opinion belonging to the author. If it is, then that's almost always the Conclusion.

The opinion indicator "most likely" shows us that this first sentence is a speculative opinion. Does our author proceed to try to support this claim? Yes, the rest of the paragraph is trying to defend the idea that these tracks are from wheeled vehicles.

The two big patterns with Main Conclusion are: 1. Conclusion is the first sentence 2. Conclusion is some rebuttal (usually after a but, yet, however)

So they are trying to use these tendencies against us here by wanting us to zoom in on the Intermediate Conclusion introduced by "However".

But that conclusion still serves to support the first sentence.

Goal

Look for something that means the same as the first sentence: the tracks were probably created through erosion from wheeled vehicles going through.

10.

Which one of the following is the overall conclusion of the archaeologist's argument?

  1. Correct

    The extensive network of ancient

    Why this is right

    This matches the first sentence, which is what we identified as the Main Conclusion. The "most likely" indicates it's our author's opinion, and the rest of the paragraph provides support for this idea.

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

    71% picked this

  2. Some researchers have suggested that

    Opposing Conclusion

    This is just a factual claim saying, "Some people have said X", so there's no way it would ever be our author's conclusion. And our author ends up rebutting this claim with "However", so our author is more opposed to this than concluding it.

    0% picked this

  3. Some researchers cite the uniformity

    Opposing Premise

    This is just a factual claim saying, "Some people have cited X", so there's no way it would ever be our author's conclusion.

    1% picked this

  4. The uniformity of depth of

    Intermediate Conclusion

    This is an opinion from our author, and the last sentence does provide support, so it's fair to call this a conclusion. But this lends support to the claim in the first sentence, that "the tracks on Malta are probably from erosion from the passage of wheeled vehicles".

    24% picked this

  5. The ancient tracks on the

    Premise Last Claim Trap

    This was a premise. On Main Conclusion and Role, we only find the conclusion as the last claim about 10% of the time. 90% of the time, including here, the last claim is support. There is no support provided for this claim, so we know it can't be a conclusion.

    5% picked this

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