Concession and Rebuttal in a Four-Day Workweek Passage
An OAT passage argues that a four-day workweek raises productivity. It first presents a 2023 trial of 40 employees at one software firm: output rose 12 percent and sick days fell. The author then writes, 'But a single firm's result cannot bear the weight placed on it: the staff were volunteers, the CEO championed the policy, and output was self-reported. Until randomized trials in varied industries appear, the four-day week remains a promising hypothesis, not a proven lever.' One question asks for the author's attitude toward the four-day week; another asks which finding would most weaken the author's position. The student, who has read news coverage praising the four-day week, worries that the passage is one-sided and must answer from the text rather than her prior reading.
1. Describe the author's attitude toward the four-day week and cite the wording that fixes it.
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Cautiously skeptical of the proof, not of the idea. The author calls the four-day week 'a promising hypothesis' - mild endorsement - while insisting it is 'not a proven lever.' The critique targets the study's design (volunteers, a championing CEO, self-reported output), not the policy's merits. So 'dismissive' misreads 'promising,' and 'enthusiastic' misreads 'not proven.' The tone is that of a reviewer who wants better evidence before endorsing a claim. The student's worry about one-sidedness should be set aside: the passage does present the trial's positive result before qualifying it.
2. Which finding would most weaken the author's position, and why do plausible alternatives fail?
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A randomized trial across several industries finding sustained output gains. The author's objection is specifically evidentiary - self-selection, a biased champion, self-report, and a single firm. Evidence that removes those flaws (random assignment, multiple industries, independent output measures) undercuts the objection at its root. A second single-firm success would not, because it repeats the flaw. Nor would a survey showing that employees prefer a four-day week: the author's claim concerns productivity, and preference does not address output. The right answer must match the author's stated reason for doubt, not merely support the conclusion.
3. What is the function of the sentence beginning 'But a single firm's result cannot bear the weight placed on it'?
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It is the pivot from evidence to evaluation: the author grants the trial's result, then limits what it can support. 'But' signals a concession-rebuttal structure, and the colon introduces the specific grounds - volunteers, a champion, self-report. Recognizing this function prevents a common error: treating the 12 percent figure as the author's conclusion. The author's conclusion is the final sentence, that the four-day week is a promising hypothesis rather than a proven lever. Function questions reward mapping a sentence onto the passage's argumentative architecture rather than judging whether its content is true.