High-technology medicine is driving up the nation's health care costs. Recent advances in cataract surgery illustrate...

Shirnel May 9, 2020

Purpose of the first sentence

What is the purpose of the first sentence in this stimulus? "High-technology medicine is driving up the nation's health care costs." I deduced it was the conclusion. I got this question correct but sometimes deciphering these arguments can be challenging when I am trying to determine what the conclusion is so I ensure I get the cause/effect right.

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BenMingov May 10, 2020

Hi Shirnel, thanks for the question.

Yes, the first sentence does seem to be the conclusion. We can figure this out by analyzing the rest of the passage and noticing that the entire discussion of cataract surgery is in support of this notion that high technology medicine is driving up the nation's health care costs.

Trying to figure out which sentence is the conclusion in many passages will require you to ask yourself which portion of the passage is supported by which. If you find that there is one portion that supports nothing but is supported by others, then this is the conclusion.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or would like me to elaborate further.