Supply the conclusion explanation

Last updated: 13 Oct 2008

A quick reminder of the question you have just had a go at.

Some studies indicate that alcohol advertisements on television cause people to increase their alcohol consumption. In Arcadia, however, where there has been a ban on alcohol advertising for the last ten years, alcohol consumption per capita is at least as high as in countries that do not have such a ban in place.

Which of the following statements draws the most reliable conclusion from the information above?

  1. People tend to consume more alcohol if they are exposed to alcohol advertisements than if they are not exposed to those advertisements.
  2. Advertising has no effect on whether people consume more or less alcohol.
  3. Advertising cannot be the only factor that determines an individual's consumption of alcohol.
  4. Most people continued to consume alcohol after the ban was implemented.
  5. If advertising for alcohol were allowed in Arcadia, it would be extremely effective.
 

Again, we need confirm which type of critical reasoning question it is. The question comes after the text and says

Which of the following statements draws the most reliable conclusion from the information above?

We need to find an answer which draws a reliable conclusion from the text, which makes it clear that we are going a supply the conclusion question.

Now we can apply our strategy for supply the conclusion questions.

  1. Identify the premises of the argument

    To enable us to draw a conclusion from the text we need to identify the premises.

    1. alcohol ads increase alcohol consumption.

    2. Arcadia has a ban on alcohol advertisements, and has the same level of alcohol consumption as countries that do not have a ban.

  2. Anticipate a conclusion

    Assuming all the premises are true what can we conclude from these premises?

    We can conclude that advertisements cannot be the sole cause of alcohol consumption.

    Answer C says precisely this.

  3. Process of elimination

    Then, eliminate answer choices that don't deal with or are supported by ALL of the premises, or that don't make sense from the information given.

    A basically supports the first premise, that alcohol advertising increases alcohol consumption, but that does not explain or deal with the second premise. Remember in supply the conclusion questions we need a conclusion that makes use of ALL the premises.

    B might tempt you, since it says that advertising has no effect on whether one consumes more or less alcohol, but that statement goes against the first premise. Again, remember that we have to assume that all the premises are true.

    D and E both go beyond the scope of the argument

  4. Choose the answer

    C is the correct answer because it deals with both premises, and can be assumed from both premises.

Next page: Supply the assumption

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