Novelists cannot become great as

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope2% picked this

   Novelists require some impartiality to get an intuitive grasp of the emotions

   This answer introduces "impartiality" as a requirement for the intuitive grasp. The argument doesn't depend on impartiality at all — the only quality the argument cares about for getting the intuitive grasp is immersion in everyday life. Negation test: even if impartiality plays no role in obtaining the intuitive grasp, the argument's claims are intact (academics still lack the immersion they need). Not necessary.

   2%
2. B

   Bad Assumption1% picked this

   No great novelist lacks powers of observation

   This says every great novelist has powers of observation and analysis. The argument doesn't need that. The argument is about what academics lack (immersion), not about what they have. Negation test: even if some great novelists lack observation and analysis powers, the argument's point — that academics can't reach greatness because they lack the intuitive grasp — still goes through. Not necessary.

   1%
3. C

   Too Strong2% picked this

   Participation in life, interspersed with impartial observation of life, makes

   This says participation plus impartial observation makes novelists great — a claim about what is sufficient for greatness. The argument is about what is necessary, not what is sufficient. Negation test: even if participation interspersed with observation does not, by itself, make novelists great, academics could still be barred from greatness because they lack the necessary intuitive grasp. The argument's structure doesn't depend on this. Not necessary.

   2%
4. D

   Correct82% picked this

   Novelists cannot be great without an intuitive grasp of the emotions

   Why this is right

   This is the bridge the argument needs. The stimulus shows academics can't get the intuitive grasp (because that requires immersion that academia precludes). To leap from that to "academics can't be great," the argument needs greatness to require the intuitive grasp. Negation test: suppose great novelists do not require an intuitive grasp of everyday emotions. Then the fact that academics lack it doesn't bar them from greatness — and the conclusion collapses. The argument depends on (D).

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

   82%
5. E

   Bad Assumption12% picked this

   Knowledge of the emotions of everyday life cannot be acquired by merely observing

   The stimulus already commits to the view that the intuitive grasp can only come from immersion in everyday life — i.e., not from observing-and-analyzing alone. So this is a restatement of a stimulus claim, not a needed assumption. The argument's logic uses that claim as a premise; it doesn't depend on a separate, additional claim of the same content. Negation test gets odd here because the stimulus already asserts essentially this; the gap the argument actually needs to fill is whether the intuitive grasp is required for greatness (which is (D)).

   12%