Question

Yes, can you diagram why A and D are wrong and why B is right? I was torn between a and d and do not understand why B is correct.

@meisen and @Jessica-Killeen, Great questions. The stimulus basically says that if an underground rock group's recordings sell well, they might not necessarily be an authentically underground group. However, if a recording of theirs sells poorly, they may simply be really bad at music. The argument is all about how success for an underground rock group is defined. The argument makes the assumption that at least some of an underground rock group's success is dependent upon remaining underground (which is why the critic mentions why it isn't desirable to have huge record sales), but it also says that it's also bad if the record sales are in the toilet because then, just as if the records sold too well, the band could be really bad and be unsuccessful at being an underground rock band. We have these concepts in the argument sell well could mean popular and sell poorly could mean really bad and then unsuccessful at the end. The problem with this argument is that it is simply assuming that if a band sells really well (and is too trendy) or sells really poorly (and is just really bad) then it's unsuccessful at being an underground rock band. There is no conditional statement that links up popular and bad with being unsuccessful. However, given how the music critic has stated her points, we still have the possibility in either scenario (being really trendy or being bad) that a band could still be successful at being an underground rock back because the critic has assumed that if a band is too trendy or really bad, then the band is unsuccessful. This question is essentially a strengthen with a sufficient premise question. What we need is an answer choice that allows us to fill in the critic's assumption that she's making in the argument. We need an answer choice that bridges the gap between being a band that's too trendy or really bad and that leading to the band being unsuccessful as an underground rock band. In other words, we need to put in a conditional statement that takes us from popular or bad and helps us conclude unsuccessful. popular or bad - >unsuccessful Now that we have an idea of what we're looking for, let's look at the answer choices. (A) says, "If an underground rock group is successful as an underground group, its recordings will sell neither especially well nor especially poorly." This can be diagrammed as successful - >not sell well and not sell poorly sell poorly or sell well - >unsuccessful (A) has two problems. For one, "especially well" and "especially poorly" could mean different things from "well" and "poorly," which means this doesn't exactly match up with the stimulus. The bigger problem, however, is that this answer choice is failing to link up popular/trendy and bad with being unsuccessful, which is the link we need. As it stands, the link (A) is making between selling really well and selling really poorly would actually go against the critic's conclusion because her conclusion says, "How well an underground rock group's recordings sell is no mark of that group's success as an underground group." If (A) were true, this conclusion wouldn't follow because sales would be tied to the success of the group being underground, and this goes against the critic's conclusion. We can get rid of (A). (B) says, "An underground rock group is unsuccessful as an underground group if it is incompetent or if any of its music is too trendy to be authentically underground, or both." This can be diagrammed as Incompetent (bad) or too trendy - ->unsuccessful This is exactly what we're looking for. This answer choice gives us the bridge we're looking for, which is the bridge from popular/trendy and bad to unsuccessful. This is the bridge that is missing in the critic's argument, and if we put (B) into the argument, the critic's argument would be helped more than any of the other answer choices. This answer choice matches our anticipated correct answer choice almost exactly, so it's the correct choice. We can pick (B). (C) says, "Whether an underground group's recordings meet criteria that many underground musicians consider desirable is not a mark of that group's success." (C) links the portion of the stimulus that says, "Accordingly, many underground musicians consider it desirable for a recording not to sell well." But what about weak sales? What about incompetence? The problem with this answer choice is that it doesn't link incompetence/being bad and being popular/too trendy to being unsuccessful. As a result, we can get rid of (C). (D) says, "An underground rock group is successful as an underground group if the group is competent but its recordings nonetheless do not sell well." (D) gives us one way that a group can be successful (being competent and having poorly selling records), but the problem with (D) is that it leaves open the possibility that incompetence or being really trendy could still mean that a band is successful. Because it leaves open these possibilities, it doesn't help the critic's conclusion at all, so we can eliminate it. (E) says, "For an underground rock group, competence and the creation of authentically underground music are not in themselves marks of success." The problem with (E) is that even if we accept it as true, this answer choice doesn't help us link being popular/too trendy and being bad/incompetent with being unsuccessful, which is the link we need to help justify the critic's argument. As a result, (E) is incorrect. Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!