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.