Self-study
Support In Malsenia sales of classical records are soaring. ███ ██████ ███████████ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ██ █████ █████ ███████████ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ██ █████████ █████████ ████████ ███ ███████████ █████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ██ █████████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ███████████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██████ ███ ████ ███████████ ████ █████████ █████ ██ ████████ █████ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ████ █████████████
Structure: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
This argument presents us with a surprising phenomenon: while classical record sales in Malsenia are "soaring" thanks to buyers who have recently been introduced to classical music from television, audiences at classical concerts in Malsenia are continually shrinking. The author provides a causal hypothesis to explain this phenomenon: since the new "converts" initially heard classical music as recorded music, they must prefer recorded music and "have no desire" to hear live performances.
Analysis: Necessary Assumption
By jumping to a causal conclusion, the argument assumes that other potential causes don't explain the phenomenon. For instance, it's possible that record sales are going up while concert attendance is going down not because of the preferences of listeners, but because funding for classical music has been cut and prices for concerts are prohibitively high. The argument assumes that any alternative explanation like this one is not accurate.
8.
The argument assumes which one ██ ███ ██████████
a
To sell well ██ █████████ █ █████████ ██████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ███ █████ ████████ ████ ███████████
Incorrect. The author claims that the new classical music listeners prefer the format of music they were first exposed to: recorded music. He doesn't claim that since they first heard classical music on television, they necessarily want to hear pieces they are familiar with. If we negated (A) to say that a classical record doesn't have to include at least one piece familiar from television to sell well in Malsenia, the author's argument still stands.
b
At least some ██ ███ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ █████████ ███████ ████ █████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ █████████ █████████
Correct. Remember that the author's explanation for why records sales are up but concert attendance is down is that the new Malsenian buyers of classical records don't want to attend concerts. But if they have no access to concerts — i.e., if we negate (B) — then that argument falls apart. They might want to attend live performances but simply not be able to, whether because of price (as we suggested in our analysis) or for some other reason.
c
The number of █████████ ████████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ██████████
Incorrect. The fact the argument is concerned with is not the number of classical concerts, but the fact that attendance at these concerts (however many there are) is shrinking. We could negate (C) to say that the number of classical concerts has not decreased even though audiences are shrinking, and the argument would still stand.
d
The classical records █████████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████ ██████ █████████
Irrelevant. The author's conclusion is that these new classical music listeners have no desire to hear live performances in general, not that they specifically don't want to hear "public concerts" or recordings of them. If we negate (D) to say that classical records available in Malsenia are mostly recordings of actual public concerts, it could still be true that these new classical music listeners prefer recorded music and don't want to hear live performances.
e
Classical concerts in ████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████████
Irrelevant. Whether or not the concerts in Malsenia are limited to music readily available on recordings doesn't tell us whether Malsenia's new classical music listeners prefer recorded music to live performances or not.