LR assumption questions with two opposing arguments Forum

[Lingon]

I always start by reading the question (a debated subject I know). Let's say it says "Which one of the following is an assumption on which X's argument depends?" Is it then ever necessary to read the argument by the other guy (let's call him Y), provided that X makes his argument first? Will reading Y's argument ever be relevant in answering the question or will it just confuse me further and be a waste of time?

[TopHatToad]

Technically, no; however, Y's response may elucidate the answer better than if you just read X's statement. And honestly, how long does it take to read a 2-line rebuttal?

Also, I'm curious to know if this is a situation you've come across often. Seems to me that your scenario would typically have a second question linked to the passage which required reading the whole thing.

[Lingon]

You're right - these one's are quite rare. I've been seeing a couple though as I've been working solely on assumption questions lately. I don't find that reading the rebuttal has been helpful. Instead, it quite makes me lose focus on the first person's argument and I was just checking to see if anyone had similar problems.

BTW, it's amazing how focusing on one question type really helps in discovering patterns in question types. After doing only assumption questions I now often able to just skim the answer choices and still find the right answer.

Technically, no; however, Y's response may elucidate the answer better than if you just read X's statement. And honestly, how long does it take to read a 2-line rebuttal?

Also, I'm curious to know if this is a situation you've come across often. Seems to me that your scenario would typically have a second question linked to the passage which required reading the whole thing.

[bp shinners]

You're right - these one's are quite rare.

It's significantly more common, however, to have a question where there are two arguments, but both are presented by the same speaker. They usually start with something along the lines of, "According to some philosophers, ..." For these, it's very important to get a firm grasp on both arguments and what is being used to prove what. If you mix up the two, you're gonna have a bad time (like french frying when you should have pizza'ed).