QUESTION TEXT: One should not confuse a desire for…
QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument
CONCLUSION: You shouldn’t mix up the desire for money and for material possessions.
REASONING: A lot of what money can buy isn’t material. And material goods are often wanted for experiences.
ANALYSIS: On any role in argument question, you should start by identifying the conclusion. There are two clear indicators here:
- “Should”. Generally, a sentence with should in it is the conclusion.
- “Moreover”. I’ll explain this one below, but briefly it means a previous sentence was the conclusion.
Moreover is used as the second sentence of evidence. Here’s an example:
- The sun is good. [Conclusion]
- It warms us. [Reasoning]
- Moreover, it gives plants energy. [Reasoning]
See how it works? “Moreover” says: “This is reasoning, the sentence before was reasoning, and the conclusion was the sentence before that one”. It means “This is an additional reason, after the first one.”
___________
- This is a different structure.
Example of structure: Humans are smart. For example, we can see that this prisoner escaped their jail cell. Since humans are smart, they must have used human smartness to escape. - CORRECT. See the analysis above. The use of the word “should” indicates the first sentence is the conclusion. “Moreover” indicates the final two sentences are evidence.
- There’s no other conclusion. Both the second and the third sentence support the first sentence. The word “moreover” indicates that this is the case.
- There were no counterexamples. A counterexample would be an example that disagrees with the first sentence.
Example of counterexamples: John confused his desire for money money with his desire for material possessions. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but in this case, the confusion saved John’s marriage! So, his case is a counterexample to my general principle. - Rubbish. The first sentence is the conclusion. And there was no other sentence which “solved” the statement in the first sentence.
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