School Principal: There has been much ado against competition among

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Since I was unsure about the first bold faced content, I decided to analyse the second.

Second is not certainly an evidence. If it has been an evidence, then it would have stated that 70%(for example) of the students performed well in interviews, jobs etc had engaged in healthy competition.

So the second is certainly a Judgement and this judgement supports the cause of the first bold faced statement.

SO opted for Option D

i suppose conclusion is "do not realize that the issue is with the way competition is administered and not with the competition itself" and argument went further supporing that conclusion by inermediate conclusion by "Healthy competition inspires kids to do their best".

someone please explain my reasoning here????

In bold face questions, I always find that it is useful to identify two things, wherever possible:

i) The main conclusion of the argument.
ii) The directionality of the two bold faced parts with respect to the conclusion ie; whether each supports or opposes the conclusion.
- The above also helps us to identify whether the two bold face parts go in the same direction to each other or oppose each other.

Having done the above, the approach I recommend (for bold face questions) to analyze the answer options is the following:

i) Never try to select the correct answer; always focus on eliminating the incorrect answers.
ii) Never analyze an answer option in full; analyze what each answer option says about either the first or the second bold face portion and use it to first eliminate a few options. Then follow the same approach for the other bold face portion.

Coming to this question, there can be some debate about whether the first bold face portion is the main conclusion or intermediate conclusion of the argument - it is definitely some form of conclusion, though. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the two bold face portions reinforce each other ie; they go in the same direction. Also, whichever statement be the main conclusion of the argument, both the bold face portions are in support of the argument.

With this in mind, let us analyze the answer options.

A- The first states a circumstance, the implication of which is at an issue in the argument; the second is evidence that has been used to support the position being opposed by the argument. This states that the second bold face portion is against the argument, which is incorrect. Eliminate.

B- The first states a circumstance, the implication of which is at issue in the argument; the second provides evidence that has been used to undermine the support for the position being opposed by the argument. There are two problems with this option. The first bold face portion is clearly not a "circumstance" (or, a "situation"). It is a form of conclusion. Secondly, the second bold face portion does not provide any evidence for either direction. Eliminate.

C- The first states a circumstance, the implication of which is at issue in the argument; the second is evidence that has been used to support the main conclusion of the argument. Same as (B). Eliminate.

D- The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a judgement that has been used to support that conclusion. Correct answer.

E- The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides a judgement that has been used to undermine the conclusion. This states that the second bold face portion is against the argument, which is incorrect. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

Isn't this the conclusion of the argument?
: "Those arguing passionately against it, in all probability, do not realize that the issue is with the way competition is administered and not with the competition itself"

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