Community organizations wanting to enhance support for higher education programs need to convince the public that suc...

Katherine on January 23, 2019

Hi @Ohemaa,

I’m happy to help. The question stem ask you pick the answer that expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument. As you probably know, the conclusion of an argument can appear anywhere in an argument - the first sentence, somewhere in the middle, or the last sentence. The important thing is not where in the argument the sentence appears and instead we must find the main point that all of the other sentences work to support.

In this case, the conclusion is the first sentence of the argument. The argument is taking a position on what is the most effective way to convince the public to enhance support for higher education. The argument concludes that organizations wanting to enhance support for higher ed should do so by convincing the public that these programs benefit all of society.

We know this is the conclusion because all of the other sentences in the argument support this conclusion. The second sentence, which you said you chose, works to support this conclusion. It says that this approach makes the public more receptive. This is a reason to support the conclusion of the first sentence. Community orgs should argue that higher ed benefits society as a whole BECAUSE this approach makes the public more receptive. Because this second sentence supports the position of the first sentence, it is not the conclusion. Similarly, the third sentence provides an example of another situation in which this approach has been used successfully.

I hope this is helpful. Please reach out with other questions.