54 Unit 2 Critical thinking: the basics
explanatory detail, suggesting why children
may be more adventurous. It is not supported
by any other claims and is not therefore a
conclusion. E comes at the end of the
argument, which is a natural place for a
conclusion. However, it should have been
clear that it is there to give extra support to
the argument, and is not its conclusion.
Eliminating A, B, C and E in this way is a
worthwhile exercise to reassure yourself that
you have made the right choice. But beware
of using it as the only way of selecting the
correct response. You need to have positive
reasons for making your selection as well as
negative reasons for rejecting the others.Diffuse conclusions
The conclusion in each of the foregoing
examples has been a self-contained sentence
in the text of the argument. We come now to
a rather different situation, and one which
requires even more perceptive, interpretative
skill.
Sometimes a conclusion is not expressed in
one go, but is broken up, or repeated, or
stated in more than one way, at different
points in the text. (A useful word for this is
‘diffuse’, or ‘diffused’. A diffuse conclusion is
one that is spread through the argument, rather
than being one component.) Identifying a
conclusion, in these circumstances, means
gathering or summarising it.
For example, look at the next argument:[5] We are taught from an early age that we
should tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth at all times and
without question. But it is simplistic to
pretend that truth-telling is always right
and falsifying always wrong. Some people
may tell the truth just to cause trouble;
others may decide not to tell the truth just
to save someone else from distress or to
protect them from danger. The morality or
immorality of a deed depends on its
consequences and the motives for doingC Parents should pay closer attention to
what their children have to say, and allow
them to make more decisions for
themselves.Now look at the responses A–E. Which of
them, if any, matches the meaning of the
main conclusion of the passage? Obviously it
is D: ‘Parents should attend more to what their
children say, and allow them to make more
decisions.’ We can safely select that as a close
paraphrase of the actual conclusion.
What about the other options, the
‘distracters’? Even though you may feel
confident in your choice, it is sound practice
to reassure yourself that none of the others is
as good or better – and why. It is easy to do
this once you have carefully analysed the
argument. Here are responses A–E again:
A Children are much cleverer than their
parents give them credit for, and frequently
display problem-solving skills that their
parents do not possess.
B Parents naturally assume that their
judgements and decisions are the right
ones.
C Children don’t mind making mistakes to
the extent that their parents generally do.
D Parents should attend more to what their
children say, and allow them to make
more decisions.
E A reduction in family tensions would result
if parents listened more to what their
children think.A is not the main conclusion: it is a
combination of R1 and IC. B looks like a
conclusion partly because in the original
text this claim begins with the word
‘consequently’. However, on a proper reading
of the whole passage it becomes clear that it
is only a target for the main argument, once
again showing that indicator words do not
tell the whole story but must be understood
in the context of the text as a whole. C is an