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- Wed May 11, 2016 2:41 pm
#24420
Complete Question Explanation
Strengthen-CE. The correct answer choice is (D)
To support Maria’s counter to James, it is important to understand what James’ argument actually is. Given Reade’s popularity, James concludes that the public is actually able to evaluate complex campaign issues, since the TV commercials for Reade in the national campaign discusses complex campaign issues. You should anticipate his conclusion from the very first sentence of the stimulus, which employs a classic way of introducing a counterargument that the author will ultimately try to disprove (“many people claim that…”).
Maria suggests an alternate cause for Reade’s popularity: instead of his discussion of complex campaign issues, she thinks Reade simply strikes the voters as the most competent and trustworthy candidate:
Answer choice (A): The issues discussed by Reade’s opponents is irrelevant to Maria’s argument. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): What Reade’s opponents believe about Reade is irrelevant to the determination of what is causing his popular support. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): Even if Reade’s popularity diminishes over time, this neither supports nor weakens the notion that he is a competent and trustworthy candidate. At issue here is what caused his popularity, not what will happen to it in the future. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above.
Answer choice (E): This may seem like an attractive answer, since it establishes that some voters consider Reade competent and trustworthy. However, “some” can simply mean “at least one.” This statement is too weak to strengthen Maria’s argument: had the answer choice stated that the majority of voters consider Reade competent and trustworthy, that would have been a much better answer.
Strengthen-CE. The correct answer choice is (D)
To support Maria’s counter to James, it is important to understand what James’ argument actually is. Given Reade’s popularity, James concludes that the public is actually able to evaluate complex campaign issues, since the TV commercials for Reade in the national campaign discusses complex campaign issues. You should anticipate his conclusion from the very first sentence of the stimulus, which employs a classic way of introducing a counterargument that the author will ultimately try to disprove (“many people claim that…”).
Maria suggests an alternate cause for Reade’s popularity: instead of his discussion of complex campaign issues, she thinks Reade simply strikes the voters as the most competent and trustworthy candidate:
- Cause
Effect
James: Complex campaign issues 
Popularity
Maria: Competent and Trustworthy Popularity
Answer choice (A): The issues discussed by Reade’s opponents is irrelevant to Maria’s argument. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): What Reade’s opponents believe about Reade is irrelevant to the determination of what is causing his popular support. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): Even if Reade’s popularity diminishes over time, this neither supports nor weakens the notion that he is a competent and trustworthy candidate. At issue here is what caused his popularity, not what will happen to it in the future. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above.
Answer choice (E): This may seem like an attractive answer, since it establishes that some voters consider Reade competent and trustworthy. However, “some” can simply mean “at least one.” This statement is too weak to strengthen Maria’s argument: had the answer choice stated that the majority of voters consider Reade competent and trustworthy, that would have been a much better answer.