Summarize Argument
The author concludes that if Logichut doesn’t have any creative employees, then its management must be open to new ideas. This is based on the fact that in order for a company to grow rapidly, it must be innovative, which requires that it have creative employees or a management open to new ideas. In addition, the computer software industry — of which Logichut is a part — is rapidly growing.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that because the software industry is rapidly growing, that Logichut, as an individual company within that industry, must also be rapidly growing. This overlooks the possibility that what is true of the whole industry does not have to be true of the individual companies that make up that industry. Logichut might be stagnant or shrinking, even if the industry generally is growing.
A
illicitly presumes that because a set of things has a certain property, each member of that set has the property
The author assumes that since a set of things (the software industry) is rapidly growing, each member of that set (companies in the industry) must also be rapidly growing. This overlooks the possibility that some companies might not be growing, despite overall industry growth.
B
confuses a necessary condition for a company’s being innovative with a sufficient condition for a company’s being innovative
The author doesn’t infer that Logichut is innovative on the basis of having creative employees or management open to new ideas. The author infers that Logichut is innovative on the basis of an assumption that Logichut is rapidly growing, which we know requires innovation.
C
illicitly concludes that because many people believe something, it must be true
By using “if so,” author expressly conditions the conclusion on the truth of the claim that Logichut has no creative employees. This acknowledges that the claim might not be true, so it’s wrong to say the author concludes that what people say/believe about Logichut must be true.
D
confuses a necessary condition for a company to grow rapidly with a sufficient condition for a company to grow rapidly
The author does not infer that Logichut is growing rapidly on the basis of the necessary condition for growing rapidly (innovation). Rather, the author assumes that Logichut is growing rapidly on the basis of the industry as a whole growing rapidly.
E
overlooks the possibility that a software company could have both creative employees and a management that is open to new ideas
It may be possible for a company to have both. The author’s position is merely that if Logichut does not have creative employees, then it must have management open to new ideas. This doesn’t assume that Logichut can’t have both.
Summary
The author concludes that an effective acting performance does NOT call attention to the fact that it’s a performance.
Why?
Because if it did call attention to the fact that it’s a performance, that makes it more difficult for the audience to empathize with the actor’s character.
And, effective acting performances do NOT detract from the audience’s appreciation of a play.
Why?
Because if it did call attention to the fact that it’s a performance, that makes it more difficult for the audience to empathize with the actor’s character.
And, effective acting performances do NOT detract from the audience’s appreciation of a play.
Missing Connection
One premise gives us this relationship:
Effective acting performance → NOT detract from audience appreciation
The other premise, if we think about it in terms of its contrapositive, gives us this relationship:
NOT more difficult for audience to empathize → NOT call attention to fact of performance
We want to get from “effective acting performance” to “NOT call attention to fact of performance.” To do that, we want to establish a connection between the two premises:
NOT detract from audience appreciation → NOT more difficult for audience to empathize
Here’s the contrapositive version of the relationship we want to establish:
More difficult for audience to empathize → detract from audience appreciation
Effective acting performance → NOT detract from audience appreciation
The other premise, if we think about it in terms of its contrapositive, gives us this relationship:
NOT more difficult for audience to empathize → NOT call attention to fact of performance
We want to get from “effective acting performance” to “NOT call attention to fact of performance.” To do that, we want to establish a connection between the two premises:
NOT detract from audience appreciation → NOT more difficult for audience to empathize
Here’s the contrapositive version of the relationship we want to establish:
More difficult for audience to empathize → detract from audience appreciation
A
An audience will not completely appreciate a play unless all of the acting performances in the play are effective.
Establishing what’s required to “completely” appreciate a play doesn’t connect the premises together. In addition, (A) states that acting performances being effective is necessary for something else. But the conclusion doesn’t assert that an effective acting performance is necessary for something else.
B
As long as an acting performance does not call the audience’s attention to the fact that it is a performance, it will not detract from the audience’s appreciation of a play.
This reverses what could have been correct. (B) tells us that “not call attention” implies “not detract from appreciation.” But we want to show that “not detract from appreciation” implies “not call attention.”
C
If a performance by an actor in a play enhances the audience’s appreciation of the play, then the play as a whole is better as a result.
Making a play better has nothing to do with connecting the concepts in the premises.
D
An effective dramatic performance in a play will enhance the audience’s appreciation of the play.
(D) simply twists one premise, which says that effective acting performances do not detract from audience’s appreciation. With (D), we still don’t know whether making it more difficult for audiences to empathize with characters detracts from audience appreciation.
E
A dramatic performance that makes it more difficult for the audience to empathize with the actor’s character detracts from the audience’s appreciation of the play.
(E) allows us to connect the premises. With (E), we know that effective acting performance → not detract from appreciation → not make more difficult to empathize → not call attention.