Logical Reasoning

PT107 · S4 · Q4 An assumption made in the explanation

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Political opinion and analysis outside the mainstream rarely are found on television talk shows, and it might be thought that this state of affairs is a product of the political agenda of the television stations themselves.

Conclusion

Opinions and analyses on talk shows are typically bland and innocuous.

Intermediate Conclusion

The tv stations that air these talk shows only air shows that will appeal to large numbers of people.

Premise

The tv stations that air these talk shows are trying to get the largest possible share of audience for their shows.

Evaluate

The last two sentences go Because [claim 1], [claim 2]. As a result, [claim 3].

claim 1 → claim 2 → claim 3

In going from claim 1 to claim 2, we seem to be assuming that .

In going from claim 2 to claim 3, we seem to be assuming that

Goal

Look for an answer connecting "want largest share" to "only air shows appealing to large numbers", or an answer connecting "only air shows appealing to large numbers" to "typically only have bland/innocuous opinions".

4.

An assumption made in the explanation offered by the author of the passage is that

  1. Most television viewers cannot agree

    Too Strong/Specific

    Too Strong/Specific: Most Out of Scope: Agree The author isn't talking about whether 51% or more viewers can agree on the #1 most disturbing part of an opinion or analysis. This is way too specific. Negating it doesn't really change the conversation: "sorry, author, only 49% of viewers can agree on what was the #1 most disturbing part of an opinion or analysis."

    2% picked this

  2. Correct

    There are television viewers who

    Why this is right

    The soft wording of "might" should bring us in to consider this one. Was the author assuming that people might refuse (be turned off) from watching a talk show if they knew it was disturbing? That seems to be the contrapositive of the author's assumption: want large audience ? be bland / innocuous ~ bland / innocuous ? ~large audience ( disturbing ? lose potential viewers ) Negating it sounds like "No TV viewer would ever refuse to watch a talk show because they know it's controversial or disturbing." Does that hurt the author's argument? Yes! The author is saying that talk shows generally only include bland opinions because they're trying to appeal to large numbers of people (the insinuation being that if the talk show included controversial opinions, it would hurt its changes at appealing to large numbers of people). If we're saying, "No one would ever refuse to watch a show because it's controversial or disturbing", we'd be pushing back at the author's idea that "being controversial would turn away viewers".

    Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    66% picked this

  3. Each television viewer holds some

    Too Strong: Each

    The author doesn't have to assume that every single TV viewer has at least one fringe opinion. Would it hurt the argument if we said, "Hey, author, there is this one viewer, Lenny, and all of his opinions are inside the political mainstream"? Not at all.

    12% picked this

  4. There are television shows on

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: Other Types of Shows The author doesn't need to assume that economic forces have more impact on talk shows than on other types of shows. Other types of shows aren't even being talked about.

    5% picked this

  5. The television talk shows of

    Too Strong: Most

    Just because we talked about talk shows being similar when it comes to the blandness of opinions doesn't mean that the author is assuming that talk shows are similar in most other ways.

    15% picked this

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