PrepTest 73, Logical Reasoning 1, Question 6
Transcript
Question six. When a question asks you for a principle that would help justify the reasoning in an argument then you're doing a strengthen question. On a strengthen question your job is to find an answer choice that will support the argument's assumptions. Of course in order to support the assumptions you have to understand the argument.
Which means you begin by breaking it down into a conclusion and evidence. The conclusion of this argument comes at the very beginning. The people who are criticizing Quirks, a popular film comedy for not being realistic, are wrong to do so. Their criticisms are misguided. The next sentence isn't really evidence in the argument.
It's actually a bit of counter evidence that the author dismisses. This is the reason that people criticize it, they say that the characters are too stylized to be real people, and the author says that that's true and just sets it aside. The author's main evidence comes in the following part, two pieces. First, Quirks is funny, and second, that's what's important for a comedy, being funny.
So this argument is essentially asking us to choose between two different standards for Quirks. You have the one that the critic is dismissing that its characters are too stylized, the realism standard. And you have the comedy standard. So then this argument relies upon the assumption that Quirks should be judged by the comedy rules and not the other rules.
That the comedy rules are the appropriate rules for Quirks. The correct answer will attack that assumption. So let's see what the answers say. Answer choice A, the film should be judged on how well they accurately capture the world. This would be bad for Quirks because we know that it doesn't accurately capture the world.
So this wouldn't help defend them against criticism. Answer choice B, films are successful as long as they're popular. Now this is a tricky answer choice. It's almost right, because if we apply this rule to Quirks, then we would judge it to be successful because it is popular. This is something we know.
But, that wouldn't help support the argument that we've been given. The argument we've been given is, it's funny, and that's what's important for comedies. So this is a choice would actually represent an independent argument to prove the conclusion. It wouldn't strengthen the argument that we already have.
So B is not the answer. Answer choice C, film comedies should find their humor in their stylistic portrayals. Quirks does do this, it is stylized. We don't know if that's where the humor comes from. But it is stylized. But this would only help us prove that it's a good comedy not that it is a successful film.
And that's what we're trying to prove is that this is a successful film, not just that it's doing things that comedies should do. So answer choice C is not our answer. Answer choice D, films are successful if they succeed within their genre. This does support the assumption that we want. We know that Quirks is funny.
We know that's the important thing for a comedy. So this would help us believe that films should be judged by that comedy standard because if you succeed within your genre you are successful and Quirks does that. So answer choice D is our answer. What's wrong with E? Films should try to stay entirely within a single genre.
We don't actually know that Quirks stays within a genre or doesn't stay within a genre. We know it's a comedy. Is it also a drama, a dramedy, who knows? Is it also an action movie? Don't know.
Since we don't know anything about Quirks' multi-genre status, we can't apply this rule. So answer choice E is not our answer. The answer was D.
Read full transcriptWhich means you begin by breaking it down into a conclusion and evidence. The conclusion of this argument comes at the very beginning. The people who are criticizing Quirks, a popular film comedy for not being realistic, are wrong to do so. Their criticisms are misguided. The next sentence isn't really evidence in the argument.
It's actually a bit of counter evidence that the author dismisses. This is the reason that people criticize it, they say that the characters are too stylized to be real people, and the author says that that's true and just sets it aside. The author's main evidence comes in the following part, two pieces. First, Quirks is funny, and second, that's what's important for a comedy, being funny.
So this argument is essentially asking us to choose between two different standards for Quirks. You have the one that the critic is dismissing that its characters are too stylized, the realism standard. And you have the comedy standard. So then this argument relies upon the assumption that Quirks should be judged by the comedy rules and not the other rules.
That the comedy rules are the appropriate rules for Quirks. The correct answer will attack that assumption. So let's see what the answers say. Answer choice A, the film should be judged on how well they accurately capture the world. This would be bad for Quirks because we know that it doesn't accurately capture the world.
So this wouldn't help defend them against criticism. Answer choice B, films are successful as long as they're popular. Now this is a tricky answer choice. It's almost right, because if we apply this rule to Quirks, then we would judge it to be successful because it is popular. This is something we know.
But, that wouldn't help support the argument that we've been given. The argument we've been given is, it's funny, and that's what's important for comedies. So this is a choice would actually represent an independent argument to prove the conclusion. It wouldn't strengthen the argument that we already have.
So B is not the answer. Answer choice C, film comedies should find their humor in their stylistic portrayals. Quirks does do this, it is stylized. We don't know if that's where the humor comes from. But it is stylized. But this would only help us prove that it's a good comedy not that it is a successful film.
And that's what we're trying to prove is that this is a successful film, not just that it's doing things that comedies should do. So answer choice C is not our answer. Answer choice D, films are successful if they succeed within their genre. This does support the assumption that we want. We know that Quirks is funny.
We know that's the important thing for a comedy. So this would help us believe that films should be judged by that comedy standard because if you succeed within your genre you are successful and Quirks does that. So answer choice D is our answer. What's wrong with E? Films should try to stay entirely within a single genre.
We don't actually know that Quirks stays within a genre or doesn't stay within a genre. We know it's a comedy. Is it also a drama, a dramedy, who knows? Is it also an action movie? Don't know.
Since we don't know anything about Quirks' multi-genre status, we can't apply this rule. So answer choice E is not our answer. The answer was D.
