Quote:
Critics of Federal Reserve argue that hyperinflation is evident because an increase in money supply by the Federal Reserve will lead to a devaluation of US dollars, making imports more expensive. The reality cannot be more different. The increased capital flow would actually enable US companies to export high value products such as cars, increasing the demand for US dollar and improving the purchasing power of the average American.
The two portions in boldface play which of the following roles in the argument?
A. The first is the prediction that the argument on the whole supports; the second is a fact that will be true.
B. The first is the position that the argument opposes; the second is the evidence provided to refute that position.
C. The first is an evidence used to oppose a position; the second is that position.
D. The first is the prediction that the argument on the whole opposes; the second is another prediction that the argument believes will come true.
E. The first is the position that the argument supports; the second is evidence cited to oppose that position.
I believe the "right answer" should be
B, but this seems like a flawed question as
none of the answers are truly correct.
With Bold-faced questions, the most important thing to remember is that any statement in the argument MUST fit into one of four categories:
premises that
support the argument,
premises that go
against the argument, the
main conclusion of the argument, any
other conclusion that doesn't support the main one.
What the argument tells us is that the first statement is a conclusion (prediction, position, argument are all words that indicate a conclusion), and it goes against the main conclusion. Immediately, this
eliminates A, C, E. The argument doesn't support this position, and 'evidence' is used to describe premises (are are data, findings, considerations).
The second statement is the main conclusion itself, since it says what the argument believes. However, both B and D don't match this. B says that this statement is a premise, and D, although it calls it a conclusion, makes it a prediction rather than something that is already happening.
On hard Bold-faced questions, the lines between premise and conclusion can get somewhat blurred, which is why i'd pick B if I were to see this on the test. However, I still do not believe this is a valid question.
- Matoo