Q11 - Farmers who use genetically engineered plants

by **mshinners** Fri Dec 31, 1999 8:00 pm

Question Type:
ID the Conclusion

Stimulus Breakdown:
GMO plants are risky, and they don't make enough for the risk to be worth it. Therefore, it's unwise for farmers to grow GMOs.

Answer Anticipation:
That last sentence. It is an opinion ("unwise") that's backed up (GMOs are risky, and the price doesn't compensate for the risk). The first sentence was in contention when I first read it, and it definitely has support ("…because…"), but it ultimately supports the main conclusion. This is a harder ID the Conclusion question because of the inclusion of an intermediate conclusion, but the relationship between the first and last statements (both balancing risk) ultimately leads to the penultimate sentence being the conclusion.

Correct Answer:
(B)

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Intermediate conclusion. Of course they start off with this as an answer - but it's a trap! This is the intermediate conclusion, not the main conclusion.

(B) Bingo. They switched from "unwise" to "not prudent", but those terms are synonyms.

(C) Premise. This, balanced with the intermediate conclusion, supports the main conclusion.

(D) Premise supporting the i. conclusion. This clause starts with "because" which generally means you're dealing with a premise.

(E) Premise supporting the i. conclusion. This clause is part of the preceding sentence.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Look for opinion words, and always be willing to use the "therefore" test to see what's an intermediate conclusion vs. the main conclusion.

#officialexplanation