The television network's advertisement

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong/Specific: most20% picked this

   Most viewers who tune in to the first episode of the program will do so because of the

   The word "most" has been wrong 99% of the time it's appeared in Necessary Assumption. Why does the author need to assume it's 51% of viewers? Would 49% (the negation) be so different? Of course not. Since the correct answer on necessary assumption, when negated, badly weakens the argument, "most" is basically always wrong. It'll always mean you're just choosing between 51% and 49%, and it's very unlikely that that tiny distinction would ever make much impact.

   20%
2. B

   Correct63% picked this

   The advertisement that the program's producers favored would not have grossly misrepresented what the program

   Why this is right

   If we negate this, it turns into an objection: the producers' ad also grossly misrepresented the program If that's the case, then the author's argument is nonexistent. The only negative thing she mentioned about the ad that did run was that it grossly misrepresented. If that's true of the alternative, then she has no grounds (that she's made us aware of) for favoring the alternative.

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

   63%
3. C

   Too Strong / Specific: most7% picked this

   Most people who tune in to the first episode of the program and become loyal viewers will not have tuned in to the first

   The author is probably assuming that most people who tune in as a result of the network's ad will end up not being a loyal viewer, since she thinks they will have a false impression and that they are thus likely to not keep watching. If you argue, "Because he's Irish, he likely is pale", then you're assuming that "most Irish are pale". But she doesn't need to assume anything about Most "long time viewers". It doesn't hurt her argument at all if most of the long time viewers came to the show as a result of that ad. Suppose: 100 people came from ad, and only 40 stayed on as regular viewers while 10 people came not because of ad, and they all stayed on as regular viewers. Most of the people who became regular viewers did see episode 1 as a result of the ad. But this doesn't weaken the author's argument. She could still say "People who say the ad only had a 40% conversion rate, whereas people who didn't see the ad had a 100% conversion rate. See? I told you that ad sucked and that the other one was better."

   7%
4. D

   Too Strong: almost all7% picked this

   If the advertisement that the program's producers favored were used instead of the network's advertisement, almost all of the viewers who tuned in to

   The author doesn't need to assume that the other ad would have had an "almost all" conversion rate (over 90%). She only needs to assume that the other ad would have had a better conversion rate than the ad that ran.

   7%
5. E

   Too Strong / Specific: most3% picked this

   Most people who become loyal viewers of a program do not miss the

   Most is almost always wrong on Necessary Assumption. What difference does it make to the author's argument if 51% of loyal viewer see the first episode vs. 49% of loyal viewers see the first episode? None. So the author doesn't need to assume anything above this arbitrary 50% threshold.

   3%