1795

[ptraye]

After having passed through a requisite number of challenging experiences, a person can be said to have grown in character. Tim’s many experiences have only been somewhat challenging, though, so his character is not very well-developed.

Which of the following is mentioned as an opposing point to the main conclusion?

1) Tim’s experiences have been somewhat challenging.

2) Tim has had many experiences.

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Why is number 2 correct? Does the opposing point have to come from the stimulus? In this answer it seems it does not. (And on a different question posted in this forum, #1741, it seems the answer does not.)

I thought the correct answer was 1 because it comes from the stimulus and seems to oppose the conclusion.

Thanks.

[tommywallach]

Hey Ptraye,

Actually, it's very much in the stimulus. The words "Tim's many experiences" means that Tim has had many experiences. As another example, if I said, "Sandra's dog made her late for work," I have told you that Sandra has a dog.

As for the argument, the conclusion is that Tim's character is not very well-developed. This would be supported by the fact that his experiences have only been somewhat challenging (because we know that experiences need to be challenging to cause someone's character to grow). However, the fact that Tim has had many experiences weakens the conclusion, because even though he's only had "somewhat challenging" experiences, if he's had "many" of them, he may have the "requisite number" (which is never specified).

Make sense?

-t