Hellscreamer07
Hi experts, why is B incorrect?
It is a general principle that supports the activity of buying from the local farmers.viz the activity that falls under it.
With boldface questions, it’s especially important that we understand the structure of the argument. So, let’s first consider the author’s logic:
- The author concludes that “sometimes it is environmentally preferable to buy food that is not produced locally, rather than buy locally produced food.”
- He/she supports this by noting that the distance food travels is only a small part of its environmental impact.
- And some foods “can be produced with far less impact in some places rather than others.”
Everything that the author lays out in his/her argument is designed to counter the belief presented in the first sentence. In other words, the author first notes that “It is widely believed that the most environmentally sensible thing to do is to buy food from local farmers whenever it is available.” Then, he/she goes on to explain why that belief is not necessarily true. The question asks that we identify the answer choice that describes the role played by the boldface “
in the argument.”
With that in mind, let’s take a look at (B):
Quote:
B. It is a general principle that is used to support a particular activity that falls under it.
In the abstract, the boldface statement is a principle used to support buying from local farmers. But the question doesn’t ask about what the boldface statement is. Rather, it asks about the role played by the boldface in the argument. In other words, what’s the purpose of the boldface
in the argument? The problem with (B) is that the general principle described by the boldface is not used to support a particular activity in the argument. In fact, the argument does not necessarily seem to support buying from local farmers, and the purpose of the boldface in the argument is definitely not to support buying from local farmers. So, we can eliminate (B).
And here’s (D):
Quote:
D. It is a view that is rejected by the argument.
Again, why does the author include the boldface statement in his/her argument? The author wants to include a widely held belief that he/she disagrees with. As we stated earlier, the duration of the argument goes on to describe why the author disagrees with this view. So, the boldface is included as a view that is rejected by the argument, and (D) is correct.
I hope that helps!