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- Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:00 am
#22960
Complete Question Explanation
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (B)
Despite the soaring sales of classical records in Malsenia, the author suspects that Malsenians have no desire to hear live performances of classical music. Why? Because audiences at classical concerts are continually shrinking. The causal relationship can be summarized as follows:
Because we are dealing with an Assumption question given in the context of a fairly weak cause-and-effect argument, it pays off to prephrase a Defender Assumption that protects the argument from alternate causes. For instance, if the author has the proper explanation for the given effect, she must assume that concert tickets are not so expensive as to deter audiences from attending. If they were, her argument would be seriously weakened, as this would suggest a plausible alternate cause.
Answer choice (A): There is no reason why classical records must include pieces familiar from television, despite the fact that TV is the reason why people were attracted to classical music in the first place. Even if no familiar pieces were included in the classical record, the author's explanation for the shrinking audiences at classical concerts still holds. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. If the reason why audiences at classical concerts are shrinking is simply people's lack of desire to hear them, then at least some Malsenians must have the option of attending the concerts if they wanted to. If nobody did (due to cost considerations, for instance), this would easily explain why the audiences are shrinking and weaken the argument. Because the logical opposite of Answer choice (B) weakens the argument, this answer choice states an assumption necessary for the argument to be true.
Answer choice (C): Even if the number of classical concerts had decreased in response to smaller audiences, this would not explain why the audiences had shrunk in the first place: it only explains why there would be limited future opportunities to see classical concerts. Because the logical opposite of answer choice (C) does not provide a plausible alternate cause for the given effect, this answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): Whether the classical records available in Malsenia are recordings of actual public concerts or not is immaterial to the conclusion of the argument, which is about why audiences at live concerts are shrinking.
Answer choice (E): Even if classical concerts in Malsenia are limited to music that is readily available on recordings, this would not weaken the causal relationship in the stimulus. This answer choice is incorrect.
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (B)
Despite the soaring sales of classical records in Malsenia, the author suspects that Malsenians have no desire to hear live performances of classical music. Why? Because audiences at classical concerts are continually shrinking. The causal relationship can be summarized as follows:
Cause Effect
No desire to hear live performances → Shrinking audiences at concerts
Because we are dealing with an Assumption question given in the context of a fairly weak cause-and-effect argument, it pays off to prephrase a Defender Assumption that protects the argument from alternate causes. For instance, if the author has the proper explanation for the given effect, she must assume that concert tickets are not so expensive as to deter audiences from attending. If they were, her argument would be seriously weakened, as this would suggest a plausible alternate cause.
Answer choice (A): There is no reason why classical records must include pieces familiar from television, despite the fact that TV is the reason why people were attracted to classical music in the first place. Even if no familiar pieces were included in the classical record, the author's explanation for the shrinking audiences at classical concerts still holds. This answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. If the reason why audiences at classical concerts are shrinking is simply people's lack of desire to hear them, then at least some Malsenians must have the option of attending the concerts if they wanted to. If nobody did (due to cost considerations, for instance), this would easily explain why the audiences are shrinking and weaken the argument. Because the logical opposite of Answer choice (B) weakens the argument, this answer choice states an assumption necessary for the argument to be true.
Answer choice (C): Even if the number of classical concerts had decreased in response to smaller audiences, this would not explain why the audiences had shrunk in the first place: it only explains why there would be limited future opportunities to see classical concerts. Because the logical opposite of answer choice (C) does not provide a plausible alternate cause for the given effect, this answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (D): Whether the classical records available in Malsenia are recordings of actual public concerts or not is immaterial to the conclusion of the argument, which is about why audiences at live concerts are shrinking.
Answer choice (E): Even if classical concerts in Malsenia are limited to music that is readily available on recordings, this would not weaken the causal relationship in the stimulus. This answer choice is incorrect.