Op-Ed letter: (Town councils are usually unable to make the right

Question

Op-Ed letter:  (Town councils are usually unable to make the right decisions when the town is privy to every vote they cast.)  Many citizens are unhappy when the council votes to do things like raise taxes, and many of those unhappy citizens give council-members who vote for tax hikes a difficult time outside of the town meeting. Though  (anonymity in voting could give council members the autonomy to vote for legislation that negatively impacts community members) , not giving them anonymity makes it impossible for them to vote for legislation that the community really needs.
 
What roles do the two boldface portions play in the letter-writers argument?
 
 (A) The first is a reason to favor the writers conclusion; the second presents that conclusion.
 (B) The first is a pattern of cause and effect the writer thinks is false in this case; the second offer reasons in favor of her prediction.
 (C) The first suggests a generalization that the writer thinks is true in this case; the second offers a consideration that weighs against her conclusion.
 (D) The first offers a reason in favor of the writers conclusion; the second offers a generalization that she believes holds true in this instance.
 (E) The first is a pattern of cause and effect the writer agrees with; the second is the conclusion.

Source: Bell Curves

OA will follow soon.

Strange. it looks pretty bolded to me! In any case, have put the bolded parts within brackets. you can try solving it now.

sk818020 · Answer

I believe that the answer to this one is  C .

As with any argument the first thing you need to do is seperate the evidence and the conclusion. The conlusion to the argument is that not giving the councilors anonymity make it impossible for them to vote on provisions that the community needs (the last half sentence). The other sentences are peices of evidence the author provides to stregthen his conclusion.

A) The second bolded sentence is not the conclusion, so this is not the answer.

B) The first bolded sentence doesn't tell us that the citizen knowledge of the votes causes the council to be unable to make the right decisions. It merely tells us that these two phenomenon happen at the same time. They could cause each other or the could simply be coincidental. From the first bolded sentence we can't tell. Thus, this is not the correct answer.

C) The first bolded sentence is a generalization the author makes, and the second bolded sentence is a peice of evidence offered against the authors conclusion. Again the conclusion is that a lack of anonymity causes the coucnilors to not be able to vote on legislation that is good for the citizens. The second sentence offers evidence against this position because it says that anonymity will also allow them to vote on things that are bad for the community.

C is right.

D) The first sentence is provided as evidence of the conclusion, but the second sentence is not a generalization that the author is saying that will hold true in this instance. The author is indicating it  may  exist, but not that it will  certainly  exist. This is wrong.

E) As stated in A) sentence one does not indicate cause and effect. This is wrong.

manishgeorge · Answer

+ 1 for C.

The author wants anonymous voting ability for legislators. The word "though" suggests a consideration that is has a negative impact if anonymity is awarded.

The first bold statement sounds more like an issue that like a generalization. How ever, there are no other options that points it out as an issue. So in my reasoning option C is the best choice

Definitely a tough question. What is the OA?

EUApplicant2014 · Answer

I think it should be D. C shouldn't be correct. The second bold statement favours conclusion and is not against it.

dng · Answer

C is certainly not the correct answer. As noted above, the second section supports the first. The inclusion of "though" does not mean it must be weighing againsts the first premise.

I went with E, but I am not terribly confident. The first section is essentially describing cause and effect, but it just reverses that order. Towns being privy to votes cast cause town councils to come to the wrong conclusions. The author agrees with this assessment. The second section concludes that giving anonymity will yeild autonomy to vote.

anordinaryguy · Answer

Guys who think against C probably got confused by presence of brackets.

I think we all agree first bold stmt is a Generalization

second bold stmt : 
anonymity in voting could give council members the autonomy to vote for legislation that negatively impacts community members,

Conclusion : 
not giving them anonymity makes it impossible for them to vote for legislation that the community really needs.

You can clearly see Conclusion tries to prove something (which says absence of anonymity would also impact public interests negatively) which is against what the second bold statement (which says anonymity makes it possible to impact public interests negatively) is trying to prove

Does it clarify little further?

OldFritz · Answer

C is the right answer. Overall, the op-ed writer is pro-anonymity. The first boldface is something the author believes, and the second clearly runs counter to the conclusion.

Cheers,
Der alte Fritz.

DhruvPatelD10 · Answer

+1 C .

BF 1 : It is surely a supporting the conclusion. - B is out
BF 2 : It is against the conclusion - A , D , E out

Option C

Nightmare007 · Answer

Can you please answer this question. I opted for C. Because its the only choice that makes little sense.

Nightmare007 · Answer

First one is the Conclusion, for which writer is about to post some evidences or supports. While second is a scenario which writer agrees is true. Hence i opted C. Lets wait for OA.

abhimahna · Answer

Hey Nightmare007 , OA added. Thanks

VerbalBot · Answer

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Op-Ed letter: (Town councils are usually unable to make the right

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Op-Ed letter: (Town councils are usually unable to make the right

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