Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding

Question

Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding the vice-mayor's tax return make the mayor unfit to be re-elected. The vice-mayor, however, was directly elected by the public in an election prior to the election that put the mayor into office. Furthermore, the vice-mayor's faulty tax return can be clearly traced to an innocent error made by an accountant and it sheds no light on the ability of the vice mayor to perform his duties. "

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

A. The mayor is fit to be re-elected.
B. The vice-mayor is able to perform his duties.
C. Critics should not confuse the mayor's fitness for office with the vice-mayor's fitness for office.
D. The mayor's opponents argument about the vice-mayor's tax issues as they relate to the mayor's re-election Is seriously flawed.
E. The Vice Mayor is not at fault for the mistake on his tax return.

JusTLucK04 · Answer

D for me..can be concluded from the info and is the gist of the argument..not just any portion of the argument..as in case of other options

Yash26 · Answer

A is close but D surely is the answer. Option D is the logical deduction of the argument. By introducing "however", columnist brings the source of information that not only defends vice-mayor but also states a fact the vice-mayor's election was purely an independent event. Hence, he wants to convey that it will be illogical to link Mayor's candidature with vice-mayor's deeds.

A is really a strong statement to be considered main point of the argument. D is more discussed and is the logical interpretation of the columnist's argument.

"Give Kudos Take Kudos- isn't it simple?"

A is really a strong statement to be considered main point of the argument. D is more discussed and is the logical interpretation of the columnist's argument.

"Give Kudos Take Kudos- isn't it simple?"

gaurav2m · Answer

Adit_ · Answer

I dont agree with the OA here. Option D says that it is "seriously flawed" when the passage goes on a tangent where it discusses how the vice-mayor made an innocent error and that it sheds no light on the ability of vice mayor to perform his duties. It means that there COULD be some connection between them in terms of performance but clearly as the passage says its not enough or its not warranted at all. The fact of pointing it out by saying is "seriously flawed" is not right IMO when the tone of the passage clearly works their way with an explanation for vice-mayor's deeds. If there were no other option available i would definitely agree option D is the best. 
BUT I feel option A does a much better job here. The tone is neutral and the passage clearly points to the fact that mayor is indeed fit to be re-elected without any extreme language used.

Bunuel   KarishmaB  Looking for your expert opinion on this one. Thanks!

guddo · Answer

Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding the vice-mayor's tax return make the mayor unfit to be re-elected. The vice-mayor, however, was directly elected by the public in an election prior to the election that put the mayor into office. Furthermore, the vice-mayor's faulty tax return can be clearly traced to an innocent error made by an accountant and it sheds no light on the ability of the vice mayor to perform his duties. "

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

The argument’s main point is that  the opponents’ attempt to use the vice-mayor’s tax issue against the mayor’s re-election is weak . The columnist gives reasons why the vice-mayor’s tax problem does not properly reflect on the mayor.

(A) The mayor is fit to be re-elected.

This is too broad. The argument does defend the mayor against this attack, but its main point is more specifically that the opponents’ argument is flawed.

(B) The vice-mayor is able to perform his duties.

This is only a supporting point. The columnist says the tax return issue sheds no light on the vice-mayor’s ability, but that is not the main conclusion.

(C) Critics should not confuse the mayor's fitness for office with the vice-mayor's fitness for office.

This is close, but still not the main point. It captures part of the reasoning, not the full conclusion. The argument is specifically attacking the opponents’ case against the mayor’s re-election.

(D) The mayor's opponents argument about the vice-mayor's tax issues as they relate to the mayor's re-election is seriously flawed.

This is the best answer. The whole argument is aimed at showing that the opponents’ reasoning does not work.

(E) The Vice Mayor is not at fault for the mistake on his tax return.

This is also just a supporting point. It helps the argument, but it is not the main point.

Answer: (D)

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  gaurav2m  let me try to help

So we will start by dissecting the passage

Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding the vice-mayor's tax return make the mayor unfit to be re-elected. The vice-mayor, however, was directly elected by the public in an election prior to the election that put the mayor into office. Furthermore, the vice-mayor's faulty tax return can be clearly traced to an innocent error made by an accountant and it sheds no light on the ability of the vice mayor to perform his duties. "

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

The vice-mayor, however, was directly elected by the public in an election prior to the election that put the mayor into office.-Now columnist presents the contradiction by presenting the info about how vice mayor got elected and when. Furthermore, the vice-mayor's faulty tax return can be clearly traced to an innocent error made by an accountant and it sheds no light on the ability of the vice mayor to perform his duties. "- Then the author again put forward that tax return was error faulty and can be traced to an innocent error made by the accountant not by vice mayor himself and this cannot be said that he is not fit to perform his duties. So this whole premise presented by an author is about to discredit the claim of opponent and pointing that his reasoning was not correct.

Which of the following best describes the main point of the argument above?

So we have to find best of all not the one and only must be true

A. The mayor is fit to be re-elected.- Well keep it although being fit to be reelected does involve some more things.
B. The vice-mayor is able to perform his duties.- this can't be the conclusion the whole argument is not around this point
C. Critics should not confuse the mayor's fitness for office with the vice-mayor's fitness for office.-not at all no suggestion given
D. The mayor's opponents argument about the vice-mayor's tax issues as they relate to the mayor's re-election Is seriously flawed.- Well yes this can be our 1 more contender.
E. The Vice Mayor is not at fault for the mistake on his tax return.- this is also not whole point

So we have to check which one is correct A or D

A says mayor is fit to be re-elected if we look at argument so with If X then Y, just because X is not correct we cannot say negation of Y is true. X is sufficient but we need some more for Y to happen. So A is too extreme and also dont align with our understanding of argument. Hence D is correct in my opinion

Hope this helps

Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding

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Columnist: "The mayor's opponents claim that the questions surrounding

Prep Toolkit

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