Quote:
The price of vehicles that do not meet the energy efficiency standards recommended by the federal government should include a surcharge fee of 10% of the vehicle's suggested retail price because the cost of dealing with the negative consequences of the emissions coming from these vehicles is borne by all taxpayers. This fee will be used by state governments to promote clean energy use. Car dealerships have come out against this idea because of the extra paperwork needed to implement the plan, but some regulations are necessary for the greater good even if they are inconvenient to some.
The two sections in boldface play which of the following roles in the argument above?
A. The first is the conclusion; the second is a restatement of a piece of evidence used elsewhere in the passage.
B. The first is the conclusion; the second is a general principle that supports the conclusion.
C. The first is a conclusion; the second is a conclusion that is supported by the first conclusion.
D. The first is a premise; the second is an observation that leads to an unstated conclusion.
E. The first is a piece of evidence; the second is a conclusion that follows indirectly from the evidence in the first boldfaced statement.
____________________________
In order to solve bold face type of questions it is useful to be familiar with the common characteristics which can help to identify the role of the statement.
Let's take a look at the first bold face statement:
The price of vehicles that do not meet the energy efficiency standards recommended by the federal government should include a surcharge fee of 10% of the vehicle's suggested retail priceThe recommendation given by the author of an argument is a very commonly used way in which a
conclusion can be stated. Taking this into consideration we can boldly cross out options
D and
E, options that don't reflect this idea.
Let's go forward and analyze the second statement:
some regulations are necessary for the greater good even if they are inconvenient to some.Doesn't this statement remind you tons of "smart" statements people use to post on their social networks accounts?! It is kind of common knowledge, principle that is very much well dicsussed, and, in our case, the one which supports the conclusion.
Answer
B gives us exactly what we are looking for.
Even though we could be pretty sure about
B, let's give
A and
C a chance.
A. Definitely NO. The second bold face statement doesn't restate any piece of evidence we have in this passage.
C. This is a trap. The second bold face statement is too general to be a conclusion. Moreover, the the second statement rather supports the first statement than is supported by it. Make a quick check. Try mentally to delete one of these two statements and you will see, that the argument loses it's initial meaning without the first statement and doesn't lose that much if we cross out the second. This means that the first statement is the main conclusion supported by the general principle reflected in the second one.
Answer B.