hard · Gre Verbal

Municipal planners have argued that installing protected bicycle lanes reduces overall traffic fatalities. [[A recent study of twelve cities that added such lanes found that pedestrian deaths in those cities fell by nearly a third within two years.]] Yet critics note that all twelve cities simultaneously lowered downtown speed limits, a measure independently known to curb fatalities. [[Because the two interventions were introduced together, the observed decline cannot be confidently attributed to the bicycle lanes alone.]] In the argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles? (A) The first states evidence offered in support of a position; the second states the conclusion that the argument as a whole draws about that evidence. (B) The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a consideration offered in support of that conclusion. (C) The first is an objection that the argument later rebuts; the second is the principle on which that rebuttal rests. (D) The first is a finding whose interpretation is in dispute; the second states the argument's judgment about how much that finding establishes. (E) The first provides the criterion the argument uses to evaluate a claim; the second applies that criterion to reach an intermediate conclusion.

1. The first states evidence offered in support of a position; the second states the conclusion that the argument as a whole draws about that evidence.
2. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a consideration offered in support of that conclusion.
3. The first is an objection that the argument later rebuts; the second is the principle on which that rebuttal rests.
4. The first is a finding whose interpretation is in dispute; the second states the argument's judgment about how much that finding establishes.
5. The first provides the criterion the argument uses to evaluate a claim; the second applies that criterion to reach an intermediate conclusion.

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