For years, mercury was used in thermometers because it is a bright

Question

For years, mercury was used in thermometers because it is a bright silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature and has a high coefficient of expansion. However, mercury has the disadvantage of being extremely toxic. Although the amount in an oral thermometer is miniscule, the chance of ingesting or inhaling it is enough that  the EPA recommends using alternatives in the home.

In the preceding argument, the portion in boldface plays which of the following roles?

(A) It is a conclusion, which is supported by other pieces of the argument.

(B) It is a premise that weakens the author's main argument.

(C) It is a premise that supports the author's main argument.

(D) It is an assumption that undermines the conclusion.

(E) It is evidence that supports another premise of the argument.

(McGraw-Hill)

sparshgs97 · Answer

I am confused between the premise and the conclusion. According to me its A, but i am not sure.

acegmat20 · Answer

Can anyone explain why C is incorrect? 
My reasoning for C is that the Bold Faced portion supports the conclusion of the argument - 'However, mercury has the disadvantage of being extremely toxic.'

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chetan2u · Answer

Let us break down the passage

For years, mercury was used in thermometers because it is a bright silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature and has a high coefficient of expansion. --  Clearly, it is stating a FACT. 
However, mercury has the disadvantage of being extremely toxic. --  Again a FACT, which is in contrast with the above fact. 
Although the amount in an oral thermometer is miniscule, the chance of ingesting or inhaling it is enough that ---  Again a FACT, which suggests, because of use of THAT, that the outcome is likely to follow. 
the EPA recommends using alternatives in the home. --  The bold is a conclusion, which is supported by the above two facts.

A

Hovkial · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A) The EPA has concluded that alternatives should be used. This is supported by the toxicity of mercury and the possibility, though miniscule, of ingesting or inhaling it.

Hovkial · Answer

The conclusion of the argument relates to the recommendation of the EPA. This recommendation states that due to the potential toxicity of mercury, consumers should use alternatives. This is also the main conclusion of the passage.

The statement 'However, mercury has the disadvantage of being extremely toxic.' is not the main conclusion. It is simply an evidentiary statement attesting to the fact that mercury is toxic. This statement supports the main conclusion above. Hence, (A) is the correct choice.

Nirmesh83 · Answer

EPA recommendation is third party opinion. Can third party opinion be the conclusion of argument ?  chetan2u   VeritasKarishma

KarishmaB · Answer

Normally, no but here we don't have any other choice. Authors routinely quote others in the argument but they present their view on the advice - whether they agree or not. Here, the author hasn't given any view and all statements are facts. But we can only infer that the reason he wrote the argument was to tell us that EPA recommends using alternatives at home and that he supports it. All other data he has given supports this recommendation/opinion of EPA.

All other options would be illogical since there is no other main argument/conclusion so (B), (C) and (D) are incorrect.
Also, it doesn't support any other premise so (E) isn't correct either.

arushi118 · Answer

A conclusion is a statement that has most of the other sentences which are pointing towards its direction. In this passage, we can see that most of the sentences are pointing towards the fact that we should use alternatives to oral thermometers which have mercury in them. Hence, this is the conclusion and A is the correct answer.

mkeshri185 · Answer

I have one doubt that this recommendation is from the EPA side. Author is just quoting this recommendations, so how can this be the conclusion of the argument? Conclusion should be the authors opinion or judgment right?

miag · Answer

Hi,

I believe  KarishmaB  has addressed this above, key points to note:
 
 Yes, you are right to say that generally the conclusion is based on author's opinion, and that here the last line is a third party view.  
 In this particular case however, the author doesn't provide his view on the topic so we have no choice.  
 In such cases, where the author doesn't state an explicit opinion, you can revert back to what is the point the passage is trying to make? -- this will help get to the conclusion 
 Alternatively, by POE, it could be that there are obvious flaws with other options that allow you to reject all except A) for e.g E) evidence is straightaway wrong as this doesn't provide any proof. For B) & C), you try to see if there is any sentence that bolded statement is trying to support/weaken and you will not find such a sentence (think in X because of Y format, where X is conclusion, Y is premise. If you cannot put this bold statement as Y, it means its not a premise and not being used to make a further point). Again, D) is straightaway wrong as it is not an assumption

Hope this helps!

For years, mercury was used in thermometers because it is a bright

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For years, mercury was used in thermometers because it is a bright

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