Q22 - Librarian: Some argue that the preservation grant

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Determine the Function

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Money would be better spent on more scholarly valuable documents (than on town charter)
Evidence: The town charter has no scholarly value. Copies are available, and this is a research library, not a museum.

Answer Anticipation:
The author's argument begins with the word "But". The stuff before that is what our is arguing against. She is specifically arguing against the idea that we should use money to restore the town charter. The claim we're asked about is prefaced by the word "since", so we know it's a premise. But it's not our author's premise; it's the premise for the opponent's argument.

Correct Answer:
C

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) No, the very first claim is the one our librarian is trying to disprove.

(B) No, the very first claim is the conclusion our librarian rejects.

(C) Yes! It is our opponent's premise.

(D) No, it's not part of our author's argument (the "BUT" is when our author's argument starts)

(E) No, it's not part of our author's argument (the "BUT" is when our author's argument starts)

Takeaway/Pattern: Not too bad. We know that "but/yet/however" shows us the pivot point from COUNTERPOINT to AUTHOR'S ARGUMENT. Since the claim they're asking about comes before the but/yet/however divide, we know it's part of the opponent's argument. Because the claim is prefaced with "since" we know that this claim is our opponent's premise, not his conclusion.

#officialexplanation

[mswang7]

Main conclusion: money better spend preserving things with scholarly value
Premises: document no scholarly value.
Opposing side: need to use the grant $ to restore charter bc if not it will be beyond repair
The claim in question is support for the opposing point.

A. Librarian does not do this nor doesn't care if it's true or not because it's not cited as a reason for his conclusion
B. The rejected argument is we should use the grant money to preserve, not the beyond repair part
C. Yes, matches our prephrase
D. This would be the document has no scholarly value
E. Going back to A it does not matter if this is true or not