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PyjamaScientist
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 11:36
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ReedArnoldMPREP

"Evidence" is just a given reason that supports the conclusion. The tense of the evidence doesn't matter at all.
"It will almost certainly rain next Tuesday, so lots of people will be carrying umbrellas."
The conclusion is that people will be carrying umbrellas. The premise is that it will rain tomorrow. The fact that the evidence is in the future doesn't mean it's not evidence for the conclusion.
You can even use a future event as evidence for a conclusion about the past.
"It will almost certainly rain tomorrow. Umbrella sales yesterday were probably higher than average."
All that matters is what evidence supports what conclusion.
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Hi ReedArnoldMPREP,

Do you believe this argument has a conclusion? In my opinion, it is just stating the opinions of two sides and there's no conclusion as such.

Could you please share your thoughts?
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 11:50
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PyjamaScientist
ReedArnoldMPREP

"Evidence" is just a given reason that supports the conclusion. The tense of the evidence doesn't matter at all.
"It will almost certainly rain next Tuesday, so lots of people will be carrying umbrellas."
The conclusion is that people will be carrying umbrellas. The premise is that it will rain tomorrow. The fact that the evidence is in the future doesn't mean it's not evidence for the conclusion.
You can even use a future event as evidence for a conclusion about the past.
"It will almost certainly rain tomorrow. Umbrella sales yesterday were probably higher than average."
All that matters is what evidence supports what conclusion.
Hi ReedArnoldMPREP,

Do you believe this argument has a conclusion? In my opinion, it is just stating the opinions of two sides and there's no conclusion as such.

Could you please share your thoughts?
Show more

There are contrasting conclusions. Some people think that the decrease in sharks will lead to more smaller fish, including silverfish. Ecologists think the decrease in sharks will actually result in a decrease in silverfish. So there's not one 'driving' conclusion that the author is trying to convince you of, but there are two arguments in the passage:

1). Shark hunting is coming back-->decrease in sharks-->increase in small fish (inc silverfish)

2) Shark hunting is coming back -->decrease in sharks-->increase in sea lions-->decrease (or at least, no increase) in silverfish.
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 11:55
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ReedArnoldMPREP
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ReedArnoldMPREP

"Evidence" is just a given reason that supports the conclusion. The tense of the evidence doesn't matter at all.
"It will almost certainly rain next Tuesday, so lots of people will be carrying umbrellas."
The conclusion is that people will be carrying umbrellas. The premise is that it will rain tomorrow. The fact that the evidence is in the future doesn't mean it's not evidence for the conclusion.
You can even use a future event as evidence for a conclusion about the past.
"It will almost certainly rain tomorrow. Umbrella sales yesterday were probably higher than average."
All that matters is what evidence supports what conclusion.
Hi ReedArnoldMPREP,

Do you believe this argument has a conclusion? In my opinion, it is just stating the opinions of two sides and there's no conclusion as such.

Could you please share your thoughts?

There are contrasting conclusions. Some people think that the decrease in sharks will lead to more smaller fish, including silverfish. Ecologists think the decrease in sharks will actually result in a decrease in silverfish. So there's not one 'driving' conclusion that the author is trying to convince you of, but there are two arguments in the passage:

1). Shark hunting is coming back-->decrease in sharks-->increase in small fish (inc silverfish)

2) Shark hunting is coming back -->decrease in sharks-->increase in sea lions-->decrease (or at least, no increase) in silverfish.
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Exactly! Hence, their is no main conclusion in the argument as such and therefore option (B) simply can not be the right answer.

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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 11:59
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I see your point, but there's just no other option. While it's not entirely clear B *must* be the main conclusion, it certainly *could* be.
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 12:06
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ReedArnoldMPREP
I see your point, but there's just no other option. While it's not entirely clear B *must* be the main conclusion, it certainly *could* be.
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(E) looks better than (B) to me. Doesn't it look plausible to you?

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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 06 May 2022, 13:28
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ReedArnoldMPREP
I see your point, but there's just no other option. While it's not entirely clear B *must* be the main conclusion, it certainly *could* be.
(E) looks better than (B) to me. Doesn't it look plausible to you?

Posted from my mobile device
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No, not really.

"The first supports an action as beneficial." But it doesn't. It's a situation everyone agrees will happen--the ban on shark fishing will end. That on its own doesn't support anything as 'beneficial' or not. It's simply what will happen. Some people think that the net result WILL BE A BENEFIT, but the fact itself doesn't 'support AN ACTION' as beneficial (what 'action' do you think the first bolded statement 'supports'?)

If E said something like "The first is a circumstance some believe will have beneficial outcomes, the second calls that evaluation into question' it might be right. But the first statement does not 'support an action as beneficial.' It's just... the state of affairs. Shark hunting will be allowed. Different people see different outcomes from that same starting point. Everyone agrees, it will result in fewer sharks.

Just because some citizens support the removal of the ban because they think it will result in a 'benefit' does not mean the removal of the ban itself is 'supporting an action as beneficial.'
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 24 Oct 2025, 07:11
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Can you give more explanation as to why E is out? I am confused how "supporting an action as beneficial" means the first BF is a conclusion.

mikemcgarry

Dear tuanquang269,
I'm happy to respond! :-) I am the author of this question. It warms the cockles of my heart to see one of my questions reposted here. :-)

The first BF statement is just a fact, a piece of evidence. This piece of evidence seems to support the conclusion of the citizen (down with shark, up with small fish).

The prompt goes on to point out that the ecologist disagree, and reach the contrary conclusion, which is the second BF.

From the prompt we gather that the "citizens" are uninformed speculators, with no particular expertise, but the "ecologists" are trained professions who understand the species in Diamond Bay very well. The ecologist conclusion is the main conclusion of the argument.

So, the second BF is clearly the main conclusion of the argument. (A) and (C) are out.

Also, notice, the first BF, by itself, is simply factual, simply evidence. It might support some conclusion, but it is not a conclusion in itself. (D) and (E) are out.

This leaves (B).
The first BF is a piece of evidence that was taken to support the citizens's conclusion. The second BF is contrary to the citizen's conclusion and is the main conclusion of the entire argument. (B) is correct.

Does this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 24 Oct 2025, 11:18
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sjmonroe
Can you give more explanation as to why E is out? I am confused how "supporting an action as beneficial" means the first BF is a conclusion.
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Hello sjmonroe

Personally i dislike this question but here is a possible reason why the author might strike E out.

According to the author the first quote = the event that citizens treat as supporting their conclusion and second quote = the ecologists’ counter-conclusion (which is the main conclusion of the argument).

But the second quote is not itself the conclusion it’s support for the conclusion. The ecologists’ conclusion is implicit: “Therefore, shark fishing will harm the endangered fish.” The second quote is the causal chain supporting that.

The author must be interpreting:

First: “Commercial shark fishing will resume” this is the evidence (the situation) citizens use to support their conclusion that it’s good.
Second: “A decrease in sharks will lead to a surge in Sea Lions...” they treat this as the main conclusion of the argument (but it’s actually a premise for the main conclusion that it will harm the fish).

So it is possible the author is defining “conclusion” loosely as the ecologists’ main point.
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 23 Mar 2026, 00:51
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Hi Mike,

Thank you for explanation but i had a doubt:
1st BF explanation is fine in option B, but how can we consider 2BF as main conclusion? Shouldn't it be the reasoning for the MC rather than the MC.

The expression of disagreement by the author be the MC and the 2nd BF to be considered as reasoning for the MC .

Regards,
MK

mikemcgarry

Dear tuanquang269,
I'm happy to respond! :-) I am the author of this question. It warms the cockles of my heart to see one of my questions reposted here. :-)

The first BF statement is just a fact, a piece of evidence. This piece of evidence seems to support the conclusion of the citizen (down with shark, up with small fish).

The prompt goes on to point out that the ecologist disagree, and reach the contrary conclusion, which is the second BF.

From the prompt we gather that the "citizens" are uninformed speculators, with no particular expertise, but the "ecologists" are trained professions who understand the species in Diamond Bay very well. The ecologist conclusion is the main conclusion of the argument.

So, the second BF is clearly the main conclusion of the argument. (A) and (C) are out.

Also, notice, the first BF, by itself, is simply factual, simply evidence. It might support some conclusion, but it is not a conclusion in itself. (D) and (E) are out.

This leaves (B).
The first BF is a piece of evidence that was taken to support the citizens's conclusion. The second BF is contrary to the citizen's conclusion and is the main conclusion of the entire argument. (B) is correct.

Does this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Commercial shark fishing and shark hunting will resume in Diamond Bay 23 Mar 2026, 02:59
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This question has already been discussed sufficiently on the previous two pages. Since the reason for the answer is still debatable, I would suggest leaving this question as it is and moving on. The question has been locked to prevent further posts.
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