hard · GRE Verbal

A management theorist argues: Firms that adopted remote work reported higher productivity, and executives have taken this as proof that remote arrangements make workers more efficient. **But the firms that adopted remote work earliest were disproportionately those already staffed by highly self-directed employees.** If that is so, then the productivity gains may reflect who chose to go remote rather than any effect of remote work itself. **Only a study that assigns comparable workers to remote and in-office conditions at random could settle the question the executives believe they have already answered.** In the argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

1. The first is the argument's overall main conclusion about remote work; the second is a practical recommendation about future study that follows from that conclusion.
2. The first is a consideration that weakens the executives' causal interpretation; the second is fresh evidence that instead strengthens their reading.
3. The first is a consideration that undermines the executives' interpretation; the second is the argument's conclusion about how the question can be resolved.
4. The first is a consideration undermining the executives' interpretation of the gains; the second is further evidence offered in support of the argument's own position.
5. The first is the overall conclusion the theorist's argument reaches; the second is the consideration about self-directed staff that undermines the executives' interpretation.

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