Logical Reasoning

PT23 · S3 · Q21 Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell

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Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell our mother that the reason he had missed her birthday party the evening before was that he had been in a traffic accident and that by the time he was released from the hospital emergency room the party was long over.

Conclusion

It was wrong for my brother Mark to tell our mom that he missed her birthday party because he got into an accident and didn't get out of the hospital in time. (jeeez, Mark, try a smaller lie next time)

Evidence

Saying something false is always wrong, and what Mark said was false (there was no accident).

Evaluate

When we Do Main Conclusion and Role questions, we prime our brains before we start reading the paragraph -- remember, they love to have the Conclusion appear earlier than the Evidence, so listen for an opinion from the author that then gets supported.

Seeing the opinionated wording "it was wrong" as the first three words out of the gate would make us suspect that the first sentence is going to end up being the Main Conclusion. Does the author proceed to try to convince us that what Mark did was wrong?

Sure, she defines a principle that allows us to say an action is "wrong" and then establishes that this principle applies to Mark.

Also, the 2nd and 3rd claims in this argument (comprising the 2nd sentence) are joined by "and", and 99% of the time that two claims are joined by "and", they are both premises.

Goal

Look for an answer choice that matches the conclusion, the first sentence of the paragraph.

21.

The main conclusion drawn in Helen's argument is that

  1. Mark did not tell his

    Not Stated

    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% picked this

  2. the real reason Mark missed

    Premise Last Idea Trap

    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% picked this

  3. it is wrong to attempt

    Not Stated Assumption Trap

    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% picked this

  4. Correct

    it was wrong of Mark

    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% picked this

  5. it is always wrong not

    Premise

    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% picked this

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