Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell

Answer choices

1. A

   Not Stated6% picked this

   Mark did not tell his mother

   There is no claim we can point to that says Mark did not tell his mom the truth, so we know this can't be our explicit Main conclusion. We can certainly infer from all the details there that Mark didn't tell his mom the truth, but we weren't asked what sort of inference can be derived. We were asked to indicate the author's explicit conclusion.

   6%
2. B

   Premise Last Idea Trap4% picked this

   the real reason Mark missed his mother’s birthday party was that he had forgotten

   The last idea can be the correct answer on Main Conclusion, but we should always be extra skeptical of picking that. Many students just habitually assume the last idea is always the conclusion, which is definitely not the case. LSAC likes to trap people on Main Conclusion and Role by pretending that the last claim is the conclusion. Our conclusion was the first sentence, and this answer choice does not duplicate the meaning of the first sentence.

   4%
3. C

   Not Stated Assumption Trap9% picked this

   it is wrong to attempt to avoid blame for one’s failure to do something by claiming that one was prevented from doing that

   Since this was never stated, it can't be a match for our author's stated conclusion. This answer feels more like it's trying to state an invisible assumption of the argument (it is not correct as an assumption, either, but it's close). We just want an answer that says what the first sentence says.

   9%
4. D

   Correct62% picked this

   it was wrong of Mark to tell his mother that he had missed her birthday party as a result of having

   Why this is right

   Yes, this matches the meaning of the first sentence, which was the author's conclusion.

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

   62%
5. E

   Premise20% picked this

   it is always wrong not to tell

   This is one of the pair of premises, joined by "and", in the final sentence. We're looking for an answer that sounds like the 1st sentence, our conclusion. One way to test your answer choice on Main Conclusion is to ask "why should we believe that?" and see if you can point to any supporting ideas. Why should we believe that "it's always wrong to say something false"? The argument doesn't provide any reason for believing that claim, so we know it can't be considered a Conclusion (a claim becomes a Conclusion once that claim is supported by some other claim).

   20%