hard · Gre Verbal

Yet the Phase II cohort consisted disproportionately of elderly patients with advanced disease, for whom almost every antiviral of this class has performed poorly. [[The modest results, then, may reflect the unusual composition of the trial population rather than any intrinsic weakness of the compound itself.]] A broader Phase III cohort could well reveal robust efficacy. [[The company should not, on the current evidence, terminate development of the drug.]] In the argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

1. The first is an intermediate conclusion the argument draws from evidence about the trial population and uses to support its main conclusion; the second is that main conclusion.
2. The first is the main conclusion of the whole argument; the second is a further supporting consideration the author offers to reinforce that same conclusion.
3. The first is a claim that the argument explicitly sets out to refute; the second is the detailed refutation the author develops against that first claim.
4. The first states the pharmaceutical executive's own considered position; the second is an intermediate conclusion the argument then uses to undermine that stated position.
5. Both boldface portions are simply premises offered in direct and equal support of a single conclusion that the author has stated elsewhere in the argument.

Sign up free to see the explanation and track your rank →