California has long been criticized for its high crime rates, and its

Question

California has long been criticized for its high crime rates, and its governor Regan has been admonished for lack of a stern approach towards crime.  Last year, following the approval of Proposition 64 by a resounding majority, the use of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes was legalized in California. Immediately following the legislation, California's crime rate dipped by thirty percent, a decline that governor Regan claimed was an impact of his policies.  Since legalization of marijuana means that the drug related offenses would no longer be considered crimes under the new order,  the reduction in crime rate is not an actual reduction in crime. Rather, it is simply a result of the implementation of a policy under which certain actions that were considered crimes prior to 2018 are no longer considered so in 2018.

A. The first presents a finding to support the position the author seeks to establish; the second is a consideration that has been used to argue against that position.
B. The first provides a context for a finding that supports the position that the author seeks to establish. The second is evidence provided to support that position.
C. The first is a position that the author seeks to criticize; the second is an evidence that has been used to argue against that position.
D. The first is an observation that the author explicitly makes to support a certain position; the second is that position.
E. The first is the position that the author rejects; the second is a conclusion drawn to justify that rejection.

DrAnkita91 · Answer

can someone please explain difference between option b and d.
thank you in advance

Prakash2314 · Answer

I rejected D in favor of B with respect to the second boldface. The Main conclusion (MC) of the argument is "the reduction in crime rate is not an actual reduction in crime" and the second boldface is the reasoning used to support that conclusion. This is a good approach to follow. First find MC and then just figure out the relationship boldfaces have with it.

Hope it helps!

ADisHere · Answer

D
Position generally means conclusion 
so it says that the second part is conclusion (since legalisation of .....)
which in reality is a Premise/fact used to support the main conclusion of the arguement.
Hence, this choice is incorrect

but the correct choice states that
first part is contextual information
and the second part is evidence
that is related with the position i.e. conclusion

Please give me kudos if you liked my explanation!!
Cheers!!

Nirman23 · Answer

My Approach to this  Bold Face question  was :

B1  : Provides a Basis of the passage and a stance
 B2  : Is the Loop hole processing of the legalization of marijuana

I also was confused between B & D
B. The first provides a context for a finding that supports the position that the author seeks to establish. The second is evidence provided to support that position.
D. The first is an observation that the author explicitly makes to support a certain position; the second is that position.

But look at it very carefully and you will get it. Both of them provide the context which the author supports so  B1  is right, but B claims that  B2  is the evidence only whereas D claims  B2  is the position as a whole. 
Look carefully in that statement " Since legalization of marijuana means that the drug related offenses would no longer be considered crimes under the new order , the reduction in crime rate is not an actual reduction in crime." in which only the first part is bolded. This tells only how the passed bill works not the effect of it.

NOTE : If that statement was fully bolded then we can consider as a position as it shows the evidence and its effects also but since the bolded portion is only the processing it is only the evidence which the supports the overall position.

I hope you get my reasoning. It took me 3 and half mins to correctly determine the answer.

Anjummm1 · Answer

Is this really a 655-705 question?

Bunuel · Answer

The difficulty level of a question on the site, after sufficient attempts, is determined automatically based on various parameters collected from users' attempts via timer, such as the percentage of correct answers and the time taken to answer the question. So, this is a 655-705 Level question based on our statistics.

A_Nishith · Answer

First Boldface:  "California has long been criticized for its high crime rates, and its governor Regan has been admonished for lack of a stern approach towards crime." This sentence provides context about the historical criticism of Governor Regan and California's crime rates. It sets up the background needed for the author to present the subsequent findings and arguments.

Second Boldface:  "Since legalization of marijuana means that the drug-related offenses would no longer be considered crimes under the new order." This is a key piece of evidence supporting the author's argument. The author uses this to explain why the reduction in crime rates following the legalization of marijuana is not a true reduction in crime but a reclassification of offenses.

Now, let’s go through the options:

A: The first presents a finding to support the position the author seeks to establish; the second is a consideration that has been used to argue against that position.
This is incorrect because the first boldface is not a finding but background context. The second boldface is not used to argue against the author's position but to support it.

B: The first provides a context for a finding that supports the position that the author seeks to establish. The second is evidence provided to support that position.
 This is correct. The first boldface provides context (criticism of Regan), and the second boldface provides evidence that supports the author's argument about the nature of the crime rate reduction.

C: The first is a position that the author seeks to criticize; the second is evidence that has been used to argue against that position.
This is incorrect. The first boldface is not a position the author criticizes, but background information. The second boldface does not argue against the author's position.

D: The first is an observation that the author explicitly makes to support a certain position; the second is that position.
This is incorrect because the first boldface is not an observation supporting a position; it’s just background context. The second boldface is not the author's position itself.

E: The first is the position that the author rejects; the second is a conclusion drawn to justify that rejection.
This is incorrect because the first boldface is not a position the author rejects. It’s only background information, not something the author directly rejects.

Therefore, the  correct answer is B.

California has long been criticized for its high crime rates, and its

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California has long been criticized for its high crime rates, and its

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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