Jorge: You won’t be able

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct74% picked this

   whether only those people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can be qualified to write about the

   Why this is right

   Jorge would agree with this: "YES, only people who were in their teens or early 20s during the 60s can write well about the rock music of that period (because it was created by and for people who were in their teens / early 20s)." Ruth would disagree with this: "NO, that's crazy. Other people can also be qualified to write well about rock music from the 60s. (after all, people alive today write well about ancient Roman culture, even though they weren't alive to experience it)." We might initially worry that "whether or not you're qualified to write about X" is a different meaning from "whether or not you'd be able to write well about X". They definitely don't seem identical to me, but these answers don't have to be perfect. They just have to be the best available. If we were to ask, "Who is qualified to write about racism in 1980s America?", what would we mean by qualified? Obviously, anyone can write about it, so it doesn't just mean "are you able to write". It means something more like "are you able to understand the subject well enough to offer insight or correct perspective on it", and that's fairly synonymous with "are you able to write well about it"?

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

   74%
2. B

   No Support from Either15% picked this

   whether people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can write well about the

   Neither person discusses whether people in their teens / 20's at the time could have written well about 1960's rock. If we can't derive their opinions on a claim, we can't pick that answer. If we were to speculate, though, we would assume that both people would agree to this claim. Jorge seems to be suggesting that only people who were in their teens / early 20s at the time would be eligible to write well about that music, so he probably thinks there are at least some eligible people who can write well. But Ruth would presumably also agree, since her main gist is that "anyone can potentially write well about any time period, whether they were directly involved or not".

   15%
3. C

   No Support from Either1% picked this

   whether only people who are past their early twenties can write well

   Neither person discusses an age at which people can write well about ancient cultures. The closest we get to that is Ruth saying that some living writers can write well about ancient Rome, but we have no idea what age these writers are. And we definitely have not a whisper on this subject from Jorge.

   1%
4. D

   Both Agree8% picked this

   whether people who are not now in their teens or early twenties can write well about the rock

   Jorge's main thrust seems to be that the people who could write well about 1960's rock would be people who were in their teens / early 20s at the time. That would mean that nowadays they are around 70-80 years old. Ruth's main thrust seems to be that anyone could write well about 1960's rock music. She thinks that she is eligible, despite being only an infant in the 1960s. That means that she is probably currently around 60-70 years old. So both of them think there people who are not now in their teens / early twenties that could write well about 1960s rock.

   8%
5. E

   Out of Scope2% picked this

   whether Ruth’s ideas about the rock music of the 1960s are likely to appeal to people who were in their teens or

   Out of Scope: appeal No Support from Either Neither person is ever discussing whether Ruth's ideas about 60's rock would / wouldn't appeal to 70-80 year old's who were in their teens / early twenties during the 1960s. We don't even know if Ruth has ideas about 1960s rock. She is only objecting to Jorge's reasoning, saying "My age wouldn't preclude me from being able to write well". She isn't saying, "The ideas I have written would appeal to people currently in their 70's."

   2%