请教 新PREP1-106

socat123

106.

A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool Company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged.
As evidence for this claim, the investor cited the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products.
It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive, but in this case it is clearly not justified.
It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand.
In Burton's case it indicates no such thing, however:
the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.



In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?



A. The first provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states that conclusion.

B. The first states the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support that conclusion.

C. The first is the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second provides evidence against the position being opposed.

D. The first states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole.

E. The first and the second both state intermediate conclusions that are drawn in order to support jointly the conclusion of the argument as a whole.

这个boldface的部分是一位做过的同学加出来的，我个人感觉有点问题。

答案是B。

我认为是C。

请指教。谢谢。

williams

其实这个问题中有两个选项比较有迷惑性
B和D 前一个是中间结论，后一个总结论；前一个是总结论，后一个是中间结论。

这时我们就要判断到底哪个推哪个了，仔细想想the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers 是可以推出in this case it is clearly not justified

但是如果反过来的话就不好了，有了前因才有后果it is not justified.

具体考试时可能在压力大紧张情况下不能做出很正确的判断， 但这个还要经得起细细推敲的！！

socat123

现在我同意第一个划线部分为：
            in this case it is clearly not justified第二个为 In Burton's case it indicates no such thing,
第一个是全文结论，第二个是sub结论

flyfairy019

又考虑了一下。

the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers

evidence的解释：

Information indicating whether something is true or valid. It is something that supports the argument, or tries to prove it's validity .Evidence may include facts, but an evidence is usually stronger than a fact. The evidence are the direct elements required for the conclusion to stand whereas facts are not necessary for the conclusion to stand.
这句话应该是evidence，同意alohabrian的看法。而它support的是In Burton's case it indicates no such thing这个conclusion或者说是intermediate conclusion。

open to discussion

socat123

关于Intermediate Conclusions：我找了一下：
An intermediate conclusion is something in an argument that functions both as a reason and as a conclusion.
To function as a reason, it must offer support to the main conclusion of the argument (or to another intermediate conclusion).
To function as a conclusion, there must be something else in the argument that lends it support.
Take, for example, the following argument: “Your face is covered in chocolate, so it must have been you that ate my cake, so you owe me a cake.” The main conclusion of this argument is the final clause: “You owe me a cake.” This is supported by the previous clause, which is therefore functioning as a reason, “it must have been you that ate my cake.” This clause, though, is also supported by the previous clause, “Your face is covered in chocolate”, so it is both a conclusion and a reason; it is an intermediate conclusion.

我是这样理解的：
大结论是：that investor claimed that the company is mismanaged is clearly not justified
支持这个结论的原因是：the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers而支持这个原因/结论的事实是：It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand.
In Burton's case it indicates no such thing,
事实上我感觉evidence 和 Intermediate Conclusions不好区分。
但是此题里明显其他的选项是有问题的。那么叫做Intermediate Conclusions也可以理解。
理解的还不深。

sbjqbS

有一处，不理解，第二句话：
            the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers

这句话明显是 evidence，怎么会被理解成 intermediate conclusion?

另外，这里 intermediate怎么理解？

socat123

谢谢！
我知道错在哪里了。读题时对failure to slow production 这个地方理解正相反了。
我还在想，怎么有这么理智的投资者。。。

flyfairy019

我觉得根据BF部分是可以得到正确答案B的。

Argument里面提到：因为B公司在其inventory of finished products增加的情况下，并没有slow production --> 所以investor认为这家公司mismanaged。而这篇argument的author却认为在B公司的这个case下，investor的claim是not justified，in the case it is clearly not justified，这应该是argument的main conclusion。而第二个BF部分，author给出具体的理由说明为什么在B公司的这个case里investor的claim是不成立，即the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have
already been assigned to orders received from customers，这个可以作为intermediate conclusion去support main conclusion。

socat123

我认为答案应该没问题，那么就应该是划线部分除了问题。

有同学可以帮忙这道题吗？

sbjqbS

我也觉得选C

The first
states the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states an
intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support that
conclusion.

B的分析第一句先不说，第二句明明是 evidence，怎么变成conclusion了。