LNAT (Law National Aptitude Test)

## What an argument is An **argument** is a set of statements in which some, the **premises**, are offered as reasons to accept another, the **conclusion**. A passage is not an argument just because it is about a disputed subject. "The council closed the library in March" is a report. "The council was wrong to close the library, because it was the only free study space in the town" is an argument, since the second half is given as a reason for the first. Three things are easily mistaken for arguments and are worth telling apart early, because a question that asks for the conclusion has no answer in a passage that only describes or explains. - A description says what happened or what something is like, and offers no claim that needs support. - An explanation says why something is the case when everyone already accepts that it is. "The bridge closed because the cables had corroded" explains a closure nobody disputes. An argument tries to persuade someone that a claim is true. - An opinion on its own has no reasons attached. "Zoos are cruel" becomes an argument only when something is offered in its favour. The same sentence can be either, depending on whether the point is to convince. "The shop lost customers because prices rose" is an explanation in a business report and the conclusion of an argument in a debate about whether prices caused the decline. ## Indicator words Some words mark a conclusion and some mark a premise. They help, but they are not a substitute for asking…