Because some student demonstrations protesting his scheduled appearance have resulted in violence, the president of t...

Virginia on August 9, 2015

Please help

Can you please explain why C is the correct answer and B is incorrect. Thank you

Replies
Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Melody on August 31, 2015

Conclusion: "the dean's decision has threatened everyone's right to free expression."

Why? We are told that to deny anyone the unrestricted freedom to speak is to threaten everyone's right to free expression. And we know that the dean prevented the president of the Imperialist Society from speaking about politics on campus.

So, the pattern of reasoning pinpoints an action performed on one individual as having a consequence for the whole or for a larger, all-encompassing group.

Answer choice (B) does not have this similar pattern. We conclude that a society that rewards heroism encourages altruism rather than pure self-interest because anyone who performs an act of heroism acts altruistically rather than selfishly. We are looking for reasoning that shows someone making an action towards an individual that has an all-encompassing effect on a larger group.

So, answer choice (C) is correct because it follows this reasoning: Isabel saves a drowning child, and therefore her action has enriched the lives of all. As you can see, we have an action done on an individual that has a larger reaching effect on the whole.

Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Advaith on November 4, 2015

Thanks for the explanation

on May 12, 2020

I'm confused by c as there is no some in the answer choice

Heider on September 10, 2021

I don't understand. If the first sentence isn't important to the argument, why is it even written there?

Ravi on February 5, 2022

@fable, C works because a single action affects one individual directly and it affects all people indirectly by enriching their lives.

Regarding the first sentence, it's put there to throw you off. The test writers do that to see if you can parse out relevant information from irrelevant information.