Self-study
Entertainment reporter: Unlike most major motion pictures, the release of the upcoming film . ████████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ ███ ███████████ █████████ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██████████ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██████ ████████████ ████ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ █████
Argument Summary
There haven't been any free, advance screenings of the film Escapade II, even though there's a significant percentage of people who are aware of the film, and most people are interested in the film. Why not? The author thinks it's because the film's distributors have decided not to do anything that could reduce interest in the film.
Anticipation
Notice that the author's conclusion is that the film's distributors were operating according to the principle, "if it could reduce interest, then don't do it." This assumes that the film's distributors believe that this principle applies to the advance screenings. In other words, the author assumes that the distributors thought advance screenings could reduce interest in the film. If the distributors didn't think this, then we'd have no reason to conclude that the distributors were operating under that principle.
2.
The entertainment reporter's explanation for ███ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ████████████ ███████ ████
a
advance screenings of ████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ █ ███████████ ██████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ███████████ ██ █████ ██ ███████████
The author's conclusion doesn't involve the potential costs of advance screenings. She doesn't claim, for example, that the distributors' decision was based on an assessment of the cost of advance screenings compared to the cost of advertising. Rather, the author believes the film distributors' decision related to the potential for reduced interest in the film.
b
advance screenings of ████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ █ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███ █████ █████████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ███ ████
Necessary, because if the distributors didn't believe this, the author's conclusion wouldn't follow. If the distributors didn't think advance screenings could lead to a dampening of enthusiasm among people who would have otherwise been interested, then we'd have no reason to think the distributors' decision related to the potential for reduced interest.
c
the select audiences ███ █████ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███████ ██████████ ██ █ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███ █████ ████████ ██
The author's conclusion doesn't involve the enjoyment of potential audiences. She doesn't claim, for example, that the distributors' decision was based on concern that the audiences at advance screenings might not enjoy the film. Rather, the author believes the film distributors' decision related to the potential for reduced interest in the film. Whether audiences at the screenings would enjoy the film is a separate issue from whether the screenings could lead to reduced interest in the film.
d
if 96 percent ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ████
A belief about the specific percentage that intends to see the film isn't necessary. Even if, for example, the distributors believed 95 percent of the public intends to see the film rather than 96 percent, that would not undermine the author's hypothesis that concern the screenings would reduce interest in the film explains the decision not to hold those screenings. The distributors could have believed screenings would reduce interest regardless of the specific percentage that would have been interested.
e
the film Escapade ██ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ███████ ██████████ ███ █████
A belief about the specific percentage that would have viewed the film isn't necessary. Even if, for example, the distributors believed 50 percent of the public would see the film without advance screenings rather than 60 percent, that would not undermine the author's hypothesis that concern the screenings would reduce interest in the film explains the decision not to hold those screenings. The distributors could have believed screenings would reduce interest regardless of the specific percentage that would have viewed the films without the screenings.