Main Conclusion Questions
Key Takeaways
- The main conclusion is the final claim the argument is trying to establish, even when it is not the last sentence.
- Premises support the main conclusion; intermediate conclusions are supported by premises and then support the main conclusion.
- Conclusion indicators help, but contrast words and speaker attributions often matter more than sentence position.
- A correct answer must preserve the author's exact force, including recommendations, probability, and scope.
The Argument's Destination
A Main Conclusion question asks what the author is ultimately trying to establish. This is not always the most dramatic sentence, the first opinion, or the final line. It is the claim that the rest of the author's reasoning is meant to support.
Logical Reasoning depends on this skill because many other tasks start with the conclusion. Strengthen, weaken, assumption, flaw, method, and role answers all change if you identify the wrong destination. Main Conclusion questions isolate the first step.
Stem Signals
| Stem language | Task |
|---|---|
| main conclusion | identify the final claim |
| conclusion of the argument | find what is being proved |
| argument's overall conclusion | distinguish destination from support |
| main point | author's central claim, not topic summary |
A main conclusion answer should usually be a claim, not a topic. It should sound like something that could be preceded by therefore.
Use The Because-Therefore Test
The fastest test is direction. Put two candidate claims into a because-therefore frame. The premise belongs after because. The conclusion belongs after therefore.
If the argument says a theater should keep discounted previews because students attend them and the theater's mission includes public access, the recommendation is the conclusion. The student attendance and mission facts are support.
When both orders sound possible, look for a hierarchy. One claim may be supported by evidence and then used to support a broader recommendation. That middle claim is an intermediate conclusion, not the main conclusion.
Conclusion Indicators And Cautions
| Signal | Often introduces | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| therefore, thus, so | conclusion | may be intermediate |
| clearly, hence | conclusion | force may be overstated in answers |
| should, must | recommendation | can appear in an opposing view |
| because, since | premise | may include an embedded conclusion |
| however, but | author's turn | often shifts from concession to conclusion |
Indicators are clues, not proof. The LSAT often places the author's final view after a contrast word or embeds it before the evidence.
Separate Author From Others
Many stimuli report what critics, officials, researchers, or opponents say. A claim attributed to someone else is not automatically the author's conclusion. The author may endorse it, reject it, or use it as background.
Watch phrases such as some argue, critics claim, according to the report, or the mayor insists. Then ask whether the passage's speaker adopts that claim. Main conclusion answers must reflect the argument being made, not a view merely described.
Dialogue questions may ask for one speaker's conclusion. In that case, do not combine the speakers into a compromise. Identify the target speaker's own claim and support.
Intermediate Conclusions
Intermediate conclusions are the most attractive wrong answers. They are claims, and they are supported. But they are not final because they help prove something else.
Consider this structure:
- P: The inspection found repeated safety violations.
- IC: The contractor is unlikely to comply voluntarily.
- C: The agency should suspend the contract.
The intermediate claim is important. It is not the main conclusion because the argument uses it to reach the suspension recommendation.
Common Wrong Main-Conclusion Answers
| Wrong answer type | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Premise | gives evidence rather than destination |
| Intermediate conclusion | supports a later claim |
| Background summary | describes the topic but no argumentative force |
| Opposing view | belongs to another speaker or side |
| Too broad | changes some to all or likely to certain |
| Too narrow | states only one reason for the conclusion |
Preserve force carefully. If the author concludes a plan should be studied further, an answer saying the plan should be adopted immediately is too strong. If the author says a claim is probably false, an answer saying it is impossible is too strong.
Recommendations And Evaluations
Main conclusions often appear as recommendations: should fund, should reject, should require, should delay. The evidence may be factual, but the conclusion is normative. Do not replace the recommendation with one supporting fact.
Other conclusions are evaluations: a study is unreliable, a policy is unlikely to work, a proposal is more equitable, or an explanation is incomplete. Find the claim that the author wants accepted after considering the evidence.
A Reliable Procedure
First, ask whether the stimulus contains an argument. If it is just a fact set, the stem may not be main conclusion. If it is an argument, identify the author's voice and the claim that controls the answer choices.
Second, mark candidate conclusions. Use indicators and opinion language, but test support direction.
Third, ask what everything else is doing. If a statement mainly supports the candidate, the candidate may be the conclusion. If the candidate mainly supports another statement, it is intermediate.
Fourth, match the answer to exact wording. Main conclusion answers often paraphrase, but they must keep the same scope and recommendation.
Exam-Speed Review
For every missed main-conclusion item, write a three-line map: P, IC if present, C. If the answer you chose appears in the P or IC line, you found a real claim but not the destination.
This skill is efficient in timed LR. Once you see the destination, many answer choices fall away quickly. Even when the topic stays similar, changed force changes the answer. The key is not hunting for indicator words. The key is support direction: what is the argument trying to get me to believe?
Editorial: The weekday student matinee brings in less ticket revenue than the evening festival shows. But local schools rely on the matinee because buses are available then, and the festival's charter says access for young audiences is one of its central purposes. Eliminating the matinee would therefore undercut the festival's mission, so the board should preserve it. Which statement is the main conclusion?