Q6 - Forestry official: Many people think that if forest

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Determine the Function

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: It's best to let small fires burn.
Evidence: Relatively frequent, small fires clear out small stuff, and if you otherwise let the small stuff accumulate, you have the potential for HUGE fires.

Answer Anticipation:
The statement they're asking us about is one of two premises, so they might say something like "it provides partial support" for the conclusion in the final sentence.

Correct Answer:
B

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) It's offered as support for the final sentence, and the 2nd half of this answer doesn't match the final sentence.

(B) YES, although this is tough on a first read. The author's main conclusion, we might say, is an implicit one that "the Forestry Department MAY be doing its job properly even if it lets a fire burn." The subsidiary conclusion would be "it's best to let SMALL fires burn" and then the other two ideas support that idea. So given that the author's argument pivots on a BUT, going against the contention that "if you don't extinguish a fire immediately, you're not doing your job", it's fair to call this premise "evidence against that contention".

(C) It's not used to show consequences, other than the positive consequences of letting small fires burn.

(D) It's not there to illustrate many people's claim. It is actually used to go against their claim.

(E) It's not a conclusion. To test whether it is, simply ask "WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE THAT small fires clear out small trees and forest debris" and see if there's anything in the argument that provides an answer. There is not, so we can't call this a conclusion. This answer was meant to attract people who hoped it would say "It is a premise to support the conclusion that it is best to let small fires burn".

Takeaway/Pattern: Tough answer choice. It was hard to predict the wording they would use. We knew we wanted "author's premise", and since the author is making a rebuttal argument, "premise = evidence" and "premise for a rebuttal argument = evidence against someone else's contention".

#officialexplanation

[abrenza123]

if the stimulus said, "if the forestry department puts out fires as quickly as possible, small branches/debris would be allowed to accumulate and create conditions for large/devastating fires", would C be a better answer?

also, the stimulus says "many" so is most too strong??

[ohthatpatrick]

Correct, "most" in the answer is too strong for what we know, which is only "many".

And, yes, your hypothetical language would match up better with (C).