In summary： To find the conclusion， check the last sentence of the argument.

If that is not the conclusion， check the first sentence. Rarely does the co

nclusion come in the middle of an argument.

When determining the meaning of a conclusion， be careful not to read any mor

esintosit than what the author states. Although arguments are not worded as

precisely as games， you still need to read them with more care than you woul

d use in your everyday reading.

As with games， read the words and sentences of an argument precisely， and us

e their literal meaning.

For example， consider the meaning of some in the sentence “Some of Mary's fr

iends went to the party.“ It would be unwarranted， based on this statement，

to assume that some of Mary's friends did not go to the party. Although it m

ay seem deceiving to say that some of Mary's friends went to the party when

in fact all of them did， it is nonetheless technically consistent with the m

eaning of some.

Some means “at least one and perhaps all.”

As mentioned before， the conclusion usually comes at the end of an argument，

sometimes at the beginning， and rarely in the middle. Writers use certain w

ords to indicate that the conclusion is about to be stated. Following is a l

ist of the most common conclusion indicators：

Conclusion Indicators

hence therefore

so accordingly

thus consequently

follows that shows that

conclude that implies

as a result means that

Most often the conclusion of an argument is put in the form of a statement.

Sometimes， however， the conclusion is given as a command or obligation

Example：

All things considered， you ought to vote.

Here， the author implies that you are obliged to vote.

The conclusion can even be put in the form of a question. This rhetorical te

chnique is quite effective in convincing people that a certain position is c

orrect. We are more likely to believe something if we feel that we concluded

it on our own， or at least if we feel that we were not told to believe it.

A conclusion put in question form can have this result.

Example：

The Nanuuts believe that they should not take from Nature anything She canno

t replenish during their lifetime. This assures that future generations can

enjoy the same riches of Nature that they have. At the current rate of destr

uction， the rain forests will disappear during our lifetime. Do we have an o

bligation to future generations to prevent this result？

Here the author trusts that the power of her argument will persuade the read

er to answer the question affirmatively.

Taking this rhetorical technique one step further， the writer may build up t

o the conclusion but leave it unstated. This allows the reader to make up hi

s own mind. If the build-up is done skillfully， the reader will be more like

ly to agree with the author， without feeling manipulated.

Example：

He who is without sin should cast the first stone. There is no one here who

does not have a skeleton in his closet.

The unstated but obvious conclusion here is that none of the people has the

right to cast the first stone.

When determining the conclusion's scope be careful not to read any more or l

esssintosit than the author states. GMAT writers often create wrong answer-c

hoices by slightly overstating or understating the author's claim. Certain w

ords limit the scope of a statement. These words are called quantifiers——pay

close attention to them. Following is a list of the most important quantifi

ers：

Quantifiers

all except likely

some most many

only could no

never always everywhere

probably must alone