Group 14 Question 66: A nationwide exam will be administered...

Official Explanation:

A nationwide exam will be administered to all 6th graders in a few weeks. This is the second year the exam will be given, so teachers know better how to prepare their students. This almost certainly means that average scores will be higher this year, since there is no reason to believe that this year’s 6th graders are less intelligent than last year’s.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is a conclusion that leads to the argument’s main conclusion; the second provides additional evidence in support of the same conclusion.
(B) The first is the argument’s main conclusion; the second is evidence that leads to a secondary conclusion.
(C) The first is a specific point that is supported by an unstated premise; the second is a generalization that is presented as a well-accepted fact.
(D) The first is evidence that leads to a conclusion; the second presents evidence that could be used to counter that conclusion.
(E) The first is background information that does not support the argument’s conclusion; the second is the argument’s main conclusion.

Question Type: Bold Face CR / Role in Argument
Boil It Down: Because we are focused on what role each sentence plays in the argument, there is no need to boil it down. But if it helps, here’s how I would boil it down if this question warranted it: This is the second year of a nationwide exam so teachers can better prepare their students for it; because there is no reason to believe this year’s students are the same intelligence as last year scores should certainly be higher than last year.
Goal: Determine what role each boldface section plays in the overall argument.

Analysis:
To find the correct option, we must first determine the missing information:

Here, our missing information is not an assumption, but rather what role each sentence serves. I find it most helpful to break down what each sentence does, regardless of what sentence is being asked about on the prompt. This helps us practice, and also understand the greater role each sentence plays in an argument. Almost every sentence will be either evidence or a conclusion, and we should try to figure it out from there. Here’s my breakdown:

A nationwide exam will be administered to all 6th graders in a few weeks:
I’m breaking my own general rule immediately because this is neither evidence nor a conclusion; rather, this is just background information or ‘an introductory statement’. This does nothing to prove a point, nor is it an opinion. It is simply an introductory statement which helps lead into the argument. Imagine if I said “Hey, my name is Chris. I’m very good at teaching the LSAT because I taught it for two years prior to law school.” My conclusion is that I’m good at teaching the LSAT. My evidence is my teaching experience. Saying “Hi, my name is Chris” simply introduces some background before my argument takes place.

This is the second year the exam will be given:
This is evidence. This is evidence which helps prove the subsequent conclusion in the latter part of the sentence.

so teachers know better how to prepare their students:
This gives an opinion, so it must be a conclusion. The word ‘so’ is a dead giveaway. Words and phrases like so; therefore; in conclusion (duh); it must be the case that etc. all typically signal that a conclusion is coming. Keep in mind that those words are a rule of thumb, and not an absolute. Sometimes it helps to use the word because. Most arguments will make sense if you go “conclusion because evidence.” Let’s try that here. “This is the second year that the exam will be given because teachers know better how to prepare their students.” Hmm, doesn’t quite seem right does it? Let’s try it the other way: “Teachers know better how to prepare their students because this is the second year the exam will be given.” Yea, that sounds much better. This trick will not always work, but it is a good rule of thumb. Everything to the left of ‘because’ is a conclusion, everything to the right is evidence.

This almost certainly means that average scores will be higher this year:
This is a conclusion. It gives an opinion. The opinion of the author is that average scores will be higher. Let’s plug it in: “scores will probably be higher because there is no reason to believe this year’s 6th graders are less intelligent.” Although rarer, this is a case where a prompt has two conclusions. Now we ask, are these conclusions related or independent. Does one help prove the other? My initial thought is yes. Why will the score be higher? Because our previous conclusion was that teachers know how to prepare their students better. This sentence is likely the main conclusion. And therefore, the previous sentence is the ‘building block’ conclusion.

since there is no reason to believe that year’s this year’s 6th graders are less intelligent than last: This is evidence. The word ‘since’ is another dead giveaway. Just like conclusion, evidence typically has words and phrases that introduce them: since; because; evidences (duh) etc. Again, these are rules of thumb. Never rely on them to be 100% true. But if you have absolutely no idea, these rules of thumb can help you make an educated guess.

In Sum:
Based on our analysis we now have a prediction. Our answer should say that: “the first bolded sentence is an introductory or ‘building block’ conclusion, and our second bolded sentence is evidence for the ultimate or main conclusion.” Because we spend such a heavy analysis to begin with, we will give the answer choices very little time. These answer choices should match out predictions almost 100%. If there is no similar answer choice, that means we did something wrong and we have to go back to square one.

(A) The first is a conclusion that leads to the argument’s main conclusion; the second provides additional evidence in support of the same conclusion.
Yes. This matches our prediction almost exactly. I’ll quickly give the other answers a read through just to make sure, however.

(B) The first is the argument’s main conclusion; the second is evidence that leads to a secondary conclusion.
No. The bolded part leads to the main conclusion, not the other way around. Look at it like this: “teachers know how to better prepare their students, because average scores will likely be higher.” Is that what the prompt is trying to prove? No, it’s trying to say this “average scores will likely be higher, because teachers know how to better prepare their students.” The first bolded answer choice is a secondary conclusion, not the main conclusion, because it is both a conclusion and evidence used for the main conclusion.

(C) The first is a specific point that is supported by an unstated premise; the second is a generalization that is presented as a well-accepted fact.
Ignoring whatever “is a specific point” means, is our bolded part supported by an unstated premise? Premise here means evidence. The answer is no. The evidence is literally right before it: “teachers know how to better prepare their students because this is the second year the exam will be given.” That seems pretty stated to me.

(D) The first is evidence that leads to a conclusion; the second presents evidence that could be used to counter that conclusion.
No, clearly not as we already decided the first bolded part is a conclusion, not evidence. Second, the second bolded part is certainly evidence, but it helps prove the main conclusion, not counter it.

(E) The first is background information that does not support the argument’s conclusion; the second is the argument’s main conclusion.
Wrong. The only background information is “a nationwide exam will be administered to all 6th graders in a few weeks.” The first bolded part is the conclusion. Also, a helpful tip from someone who has taken every single LSAT prep test available: the answer has never been “it is background information.” I’m not saying that it can’t be the answer, but so far, I’ve never seen it. They have always been regarding conclusions or evidence, not the background. Also, the second bolded part is evidence, not a conclusion.


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