Critical Reasoning

Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.

Many winemakers use cork stoppers; but cork stoppers can leak, crumble, or become moldy,
so that those winemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of
bottled wine. Bottlemaster plastic stoppers, which cannot leak, crumble, or mold, have long
been available to winemakers, at a price slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers.
Cork prices, however, are expected to rise dramatically in the near future. Clearly, therefore,
winemakers who still use cork but wish to keep production costs from rising will be
forced to reconsider plastic stoppers. And since the wine-buying public's association of
plastic stoppers with poor-quality wine is weakening, there is an excellent chance that the
Bottlemaster plastic stopper will gain an increased share of the marked for winebottle
stoppers. In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the
following roles?
A. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument
opposes; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
B. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument
opposes; the second is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the
argument.
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence in support of
that main conclusion.
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a restatement of that main
conclusion.
E. The first is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the
second is that main conclusion.


Please help.

OA after some discussions.

My choice was option C

Regards
Deano.

IMO E

In A and B , the argument has not been shown opposing the judgement.

D, If you see clearly second boldface doesn't repeat what first boldface means. Second bolface is in
support of the argument but doesn't restate the first.

C, just reveres the correct relation between the two, which is shown properly in E. Therefore E.

OA please. What is the Source.

@dean , It would be great if you can put Source in your Question format that you have prepare. for every Question you post in the forum. It is good to see your every Single Question in organised form.

Dean Jones wrote:Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.

Many winemakers use cork stoppers; but cork stoppers can leak, crumble, or become moldy,
so that those winemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of
bottled wine. Bottlemaster plastic stoppers, which cannot leak, crumble, or mold, have long
been available to winemakers, at a price slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers.
Cork prices, however, are expected to rise dramatically in the near future. Clearly, therefore,
winemakers who still use cork but wish to keep production costs from rising will be
forced to reconsider plastic stoppers. And since the wine-buying public's association of
plastic stoppers with poor-quality wine is weakening, there is an excellent chance that the
Bottlemaster plastic stopper will gain an increased share of the marked for winebottle
stoppers. In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the
following roles?
A. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument
opposes; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
B. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument
opposes; the second is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the
argument.
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence in support of
that main conclusion.
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a restatement of that main
conclusion.
E. The first is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the
second is that main conclusion.


Please help.

OA after some discussions.

My choice was option C

Regards
Deano.

I agree with shekhar, IMO E.

Both of the boldface statements are conclusions. You are left with D and E. The second boldface statement is not a restatement of the main conclusion so Eliminate D.

You are left with E

A. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes; the second is the main conclusion of the argument. Eliminate
B. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes; the second is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the
argument. Eliminate
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence in support of that main conclusion. IMO Correct
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a restatement of that main conclusion. Eliminate
E. The first is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second is that main conclusion. it should be the other way! Eliminate

IMO C

C - the second part is not an evidence, it is a type of claim. See "there is an excellent chance"
A & B - The first doesn't oppose the argument.
D - the second is not a restatement.

Hence [spoiler]E[/spoiler]

Has to be E. I agree its between D and E. and since both of them mean different things, it can only be E

OA is option D. Can somebody please explain?

I had also selected E but now I could get the point why it is D.

First of all, it is clear that both are conclusions. However, the first one is the main conclusion, emphasized by "Clearly, therefore" and is based on all the evidence before it. The second is a sub-conclusion based on the evidence "And since" just before it. E just reverses the order calling the second one as the main conclusion. On the other hand, C mentions the first portion correctly and technically speaking second portion is not completely incorrect because the subconclusion indirectly acts as an evidence in support of the main conclusion.

But if carefully observed, the word "restatement" means that you convey the same idea in some other way. The subconclusion states the idea that plastic stopper usage would be good in another way for winemakers. And that is what the main conclusion tries to convey.


It would be difficult to choose between C and D but D is better as it is not indirect and calling subconclusion as evidence would be indirect as the second boldface actually conveys the same idea as the first one.
Hope this helps.