Sociologist: Traditional norms in our

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct68% picked this

   Sincerity is required if community members are to trust

   Why this is right

   This provides the missing link we derived: not don't trust sincere ? each other We know that when we're required to ignore unpleasant realities and tell small lies, it prevents sincerity. This answer tells us that with if we lack sincerity, community members won't trust each other. And we know that if members don't trust each other, then the community can't succeed. So, if a community is to succeed, its members will have to face unpleasant realities and speak honestly.

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

   68%
2. B

   Unrelated to Goal7% picked this

   The more sincere and open community members are, the more likely that community

   We need to establish that community members don't trust each other, because that's how we prove that a community wouldn't succeed. This answer doesn't help us establish anything about community trust, so it won't help us prove the conclusion. We should also recognize that this answer is switching from Absolute language in the stimulus (no sincerity, not succeed) into Relative language (less sincerity, less chance of success). That is almost always the mark of an incorrect answer.

   7%
3. C

   Weakens1% picked this

   A community sometimes can succeed even if its members subscribe to

   This more or less contradicts the conclusion, so this would not allow us to prove the conclusion.

   1%
4. D

   Unrelated to Goal / Already Known16% picked this

   Unless a community’s members are willing to face unpleasant realities, they

   We need to establish that community members don't trust each other, because that's how we prove that a community wouldn't succeed. This answer doesn't help us establish anything about community trust, so it won't help us prove the conclusion. This answer is telling us a connection we already knew from the first sentence. When community members are required to ignore unpleasant realities and tell small lies, it prevents sincerity. We know then that "Unless members are allowed to face unpleasant realities or not tell small lies, they cannot be sincere". This answer is saying something slightly different, but the salient point is that it's trying to connect ideas that are already connected in the argument.

   16%
5. E

   Unrelated to Goal8% picked this

   A community’s failure is often caused by its members’ unwillingness to face unpleasant realities and

   We need to establish that community members don't trust each other, because that's how we prove that a community wouldn't succeed. This answer doesn't help us establish anything about community trust, so it won't help us prove the conclusion. It's also pretty much unheard of for a correct answer on Sufficient Assumption to have wishy-washy strength like "X often is true". We have to prove with 100% certainty the conclusion, so we almost always pick answers with 100% certain language.

   8%