Solving “Strengthen” Questions

These questions ask you to help the main conclusion:

• Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument’s overall conclusion?

• Which one of the following, if true, most supports the television executive’s argument?

• Which one of the following principles most strongly supports the argument above?

• Which one of the following, if true, most justifies the educator’s reasoning?

• The reasoning in the advertisement would be most strengthened if which one of the following were true?

Make a Strong Prediction

Because it’s impossible to strengthen a valid argument, there must be at least one flaw in every  Strengthen question’s argument. The first time you read the passage, make sure to actively engage and pinpoint at least one flaw, using the steps below:

1. Find the main conclusion. If the conclusion rejects an idea, restate the conclusion as the opposite of that idea. For example, if a conclusion claims, “Clearly, Sterling is wrong in saying that Don is brilliant,” we want to strengthen the contention that Don is not brilliant. If you need to brush up on argument parts and indicators, go here.

2. Find the premises. Premises are statements that support the main conclusion. Don’t confuse these with background information, concessions, or opposing viewpoints.

3. Figure out why the premises don’t prove the main conclusion. Accept the premises as true, but remember—they don’t prove the conclusion. Why don’t they? Catch any sneaky assumptions and find a way to state them explicitly to strengthen the author’s argument.

There might be multiple problems with the argument. Identify as many as you can. After spotting one or two serious flaws, proceed to the answer choices.

What to Look For

The correct answer won’t necessarily prove the main conclusion, but it will make that conclusion stronger. As you read each answer, ask yourself: Does this answer help the main conclusion more than the other four answers?

Only the correct answer will give you a relevant piece of new evidence, which may have been assumed but never explicitly stated by the author. The new evidence should fix, at least partly, one of the problems you identified.

If two answers both help the conclusion, the more strongly-worded answer is usually the correct one in a Strengthen question. For instance, it might say “all” rather than “some.” As always, though, the content of the answer matters more than word strength. 

If a question uses the word except, look for the opposite: The correct answer will either weaken the conclusion or do nothing, so rule out answers that strengthen the conclusion at all.