Logical reasoning PrepTest 147 · Section 4 · Question 8

Incorrect. It's possible that every artist possesses a high level of skill and it's creativity that's rare, so this answer isn't necessary for the argument to work.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Lots of skill and creativity combined → Great work of art
not Lots of skill and creativity combined → not Great work of art
Therefore: Great works of art are rare

Answer Anticipation:
Strengthen with Necessary/Sufficient questions (this one being the former) frequently bring new terms up in the conclusion that never featured in the premises. When that happens, the assumption connects that idea to the premise.

Here, the conclusion is about the frequency of something happening—great works of art are rare. However, the premises are just about what situation leads to the creation of a great work of art—while the bar might be high, it never establishes that it's rarely crossed.

This argument, therefore, assumes that it's rare to have skill and creativity combined—the conditions under which great art happens—thus justifying the conclusion about the rarity of such works.

Answer Explanation:
This answer establishes that the two criteria to meet to create great art "are seldom" combined—in other words, they're rarely put together. If it's rare to have creativity and skill mixed, then it's rare to have the outcome of that mixture—great works of art. If having this combo isn't rare, then the argument falls apart. This is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Strengthen with Necessary/Sufficient questions often bring up new concepts in their conclusions. When this happens, the assumption probably connects the premises to this new term/concept. Here, the conclusion talked about the rarity of something without establishing anything about frequency in the premises, so the correct answer needed to address that gap.

Incorrect. First, the argument is about combining these abilities, not just having them. So the argument doesn't require that every artist with these abilities will make great art. In fact, if anything, in stating that an artist with skill and creativity will always produce great art, this answer establishes a higher frequency of great art being made, which cuts against the argument.

Incorrect. Similar to (A), it's possible that every artist has creativity, but very few have a high level of artistic skill, thus making great works of art rare. This answer is therefore not necessary for the argument to work.

Incorrect. The argument concludes that great works of art are rare. If the artists who can combine creativity with skill are super rare, but they each make several dozen great works of art, those great works could still be rare. Therefore, this answer isn't necessary for the argument to work.