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JbhB682
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Conclusion vs Premise

by JbhB682 Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:29 pm

Hi - Per my understanding, future plans are considered conclusions or claims in an argument

Below are some examples of conclusions (marked in red in both cases) and the greens are considered premises (in both cases below) for their conclusions in red

I understand this :)

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Example # 1 [Source : Manhattan -All the verbal 2019 Guide, Page 264, problem 1]


Argument : The school library currently depends heavily on donated books, which are often out of date or in poor condition. In order to encourage more students to use the library, the school administration has designated $10,000 of next year’s budget to be used solely for the purchase of new books.

Example # 2 [ [Source : Manhattan All_the_Verbal 2019, Page 281, problem 1]


The overwhelming majority of advertisers prefer not to have their products associated with controversial content. In order to increase its advertising
revenue
, a large blogging platform plans to stop placing advertisements on blogs that deal with controversial topics, thus attracting advertisers who
would otherwise be reluctant to advertise on the platform.
Last edited by JbhB682 on Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:41 pm, edited 3 times in total.
JbhB682
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Re: Conclusion vs Premise

by JbhB682 Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:35 pm

In this example 3 however, i was expecting the conclusion to be ONLY the red

However, the conclusion actually includes the ENTIRE first sentence (inclusive of the green)

Why this change ?

I actually thought like the previous cases, the green would be a premise (but in this sentence however, the green is still considered part of the conclusion)

Doesn't the the green also act as a premise (because its a strategy that the author believes is to be used to get to the conclusion)

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Example 3 [Source : Manhattan All_the_Verbal 2019, Page 281, problem 6]

To increase the productivity of the country’s workforce, the government should introduce new food guidelines that recommend a vegetarian diet. A
study of thousands of men and women revealed that those who stick to a vegetarian diet have IQs that are approximately five points higher than
those who regularly eat meat. The vegetarians were also more likely to have earned advanced degrees and hold high-paying jobs.
Sage Pearce-Higgins
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Re: Conclusion vs Premise

by Sage Pearce-Higgins Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:46 am

To be clear, the above problems are taken from the problem sets at the end of Chapters 16 and 17 in All the Verbal.

Your questions involve the tricky distinction between an argument and a plan. For most GMAT problems, the structure PREMISES > CONCLUSION is basically the same as PLAN > RESULT. However, clarifying the differences between arguments and plans that may help here.

An argument is essentially about truth. If my argument is a good one, then my premises prove that my conclusion is true. For example, think about mathematical proofs. On a practical level, the person making the argument tries to convince the audience to believe the conclusion. A legal argument made in court is a good example. For arguments, think of the conclusion as the moment when the lawyer hits her hand on the table and says her main opinion.

Plans, on the other hand, are about successful outcomes. A good plan is one which guarantees the successful fulfilment of the stated goal. Your first two problems above (problem 1 from chapter 16 and problem 1 from chapter 17 respectively) are good examples. You can see that plans are more practical - we're concerned with actual outcomes in the world. For that reason, no plan is ever going to be 100% guaranteed, unlike some kinds of argument.

Now re-consider example 6 from Chapter 17. Is it an argument or a plan? The word "should" indicates that it's an argument. The author is trying to convince the reader that the government should do something. Of course, there is a plan involved, but the structure is more like a legal argument.