Building Blocks of an Argument

Question

While studying the building blocks of an arguments, I came across the following passage in the Manhattan books (5th edition, page 45).

The Chinese White Dolphin is a territorial animal ghat rarely strays far from its natural habitat in the Pearl River Delta. In recent years, increasing industrial and agricultural runoff to the Delta's waters has caused many white dolphins to perish before they reach breeding age. Unless legislation is enacted to ensure there is no further decline in the Delta's water quality, the Chinese white dolphin will become extinct.

The official answer states that these three sentences are Premise, Premise, and Conclusion. While I believe the first sentence is more of a background. Can someone explain how that first sentence is not background but the premise?

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Abhishek009 · Answer

Premise

Part of the core of the argument; present in every argument
Supports the author's conclusion
Can be a fact or an opinion; can be a description, historical information, statistical or numerical data, or a comparison of things

Background

Not part of the core; often present, but not always Provides context to help understand the core
Almost always fact-based; can be in almost any form: historical information, numerical or
other data, descriptions of plans or ideas, definitions of words or concepts, and so on

Back to the question, try to eliminate the first sentence (Considering it as Background information)

The Chinese White Dolphin is a territorial animal ghat rarely strays far from its natural habitat in the Pearl River Delta.  In recent years,  increasing industrial and agricultural runoff to the Delta's waters  has  caused many white dolphins to perish before they reach breeding age. Unless legislation is enacted to ensure there is no further decline in the Delta's water quality, the Chinese white dolphin will become extinct.

Now without the first sentence, the arguement becomes shaky as the first question that will come to mind is ,   Why cant they move away from the Delta waters and continue breeding ?

The first sentence acts as the authors Arguement to this question hence it is a premise not a background information...

MsInvBanker · Answer

Thank you Abhishek. That was really helpful.

parth2424 · Answer

Hi I have a query regarding the conclusion of this argument. The book says that: 
 Unless legislation is enacted to ensure there is no further decline in the Delta's water quality, the Chinese white dolphin will become extinct.  
is the conclusion. But I think that only the last part i.e.  the Chinese white dolphin will become extinct -- is the conclusion as, 
the dolphin's extinction is reliant on the following part of the argument. :
 Unless legislation is enacted to ensure there is no further decline in the Delta's water quality,

so the above part should be a premise not a part of the conclusion

Building Blocks of an Argument

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