PrepTest 73, Logical Reasoning 1, Question 10
Transcript
Question ten, when a question asks for something that, if assumed would allow the argument to be properly drawn, we're dealing with a sufficient assumption question. For a sufficient assumption question, the correct answer is going to be a new piece of evidence that will guarantee that the conclusion is true. Of course before we can guarantee the conclusion is true, we have to find it.
And here it comes in the first sentence. Brecht's plays are not genuinely successful dramas. The passage gives us two pieces of information to prove that. First, they tell us that the roles in Brecht's plays are so weird that the audiences and the actors have trouble figuring out the characters' personalities.
And the second piece of information is that in order for a player to succeeds a drama, audiences have to care what happens to at least some of the characters. A lot of sufficient assumption questions are best handled through formal logic and this one is one of those. Each of those pieces of evidence could be phrased as a formal logic rule that we're using to try to prove the conclusion with.
So the last sentence there, in order to succeed, you have to care about the characters in a play. Or in other words, if you can't care about the characters, then it would be impossible for the player to succeed. And they're trying to prove that virtual bricks plays don't succeed. So what we would need to learn about them is that in his plays, you can't care about the characters.
But the blue piece of information here doesn't tell us that. Instead, it tells us that in breaks plays, people aren't able to discern the personalities of the characters. If we rearrange that, you can see that there's a gap between what we know and what we're trying to prove. Trying to prove that bricks plays don't succeed.
We know that in his place, you can't discern people's personalities. If we could find out that not being able to discern somebody's personality means that you can't care about them, then that would allow us to say that Brecht's plays don't succeed. So that's the missing piece that probably we're gonna be looking for in the answer choices.
With sufficient assumption question, the correct answer can give you more than you need. But it will definitely have to fill all the gaps and guarantee the conclusion's true. So let's look at the answer choices and find something. Answer choice A, an audience that can't readily discern a character's personality will not take any interest in that character.
This actually is our answer, though it's a little bit sneaky. So, remember, we were looking for, if you can't discern somebody's personality, or if you can't discern a character's personality, then you aren't able to care about them. So this answer choice says that if you can't discern the personality of a character, you can't take any interest in them.
And if you can't take any interest in them, that would include caring about them. In Brecht's place, you can't discern the personality of the characters, which means you can't take any interest in them. If you can't take any interest, then you can't care about them. And if you can't care about the characters in a play, that play fails to succeed, we can draw a straight line from the top of the bottom proving the conclusion true.
And that's what we have to do on a sufficient assumption question. So then what's wrong with the other answers? Answer choice B, while it's helpful, wouldn't guarantee the bertold breaks characters are hard to care about. It just says that personality comes from motives. Helping isn't enough or sufficient assumption question.
We need something that will prove the conclusion. Absolutely true. Answer choice C links to things that are already linked in the argument. We already know that characters are connected to the success of a play. This says not only are they important, they are directly proportional to one another.
Just giving us more information for what we already know isn't gonna help us prove the conclusion. So it's not our answer. Answer choice D is further information about what we already know. We already know that the audience and the actors are like can't understand the characters.
This just says that the actors have the ability to influence the audience. So it's like a cause and effect, it won't help us fill that gap, it just gives us a little bit more information about a piece of evidence we already know about. And then answer choice E, all plays that, unlike Brecht's plays, have characters with whom audiences empathize succeed as dramas, this is a formal error, it's taking something we already know and getting it the wrong way around.
We know that in order to succeed, you have to care. This says, if you care, you'll definitely succeed. That's not what we needed to know. It won't help us fill that gap. It's just taking part of the argument and messing with it and hoping because it sounds familiar that you'll pick it.
But you won't pick it because you know that the answer is answer choice A.
Read full transcriptAnd here it comes in the first sentence. Brecht's plays are not genuinely successful dramas. The passage gives us two pieces of information to prove that. First, they tell us that the roles in Brecht's plays are so weird that the audiences and the actors have trouble figuring out the characters' personalities.
And the second piece of information is that in order for a player to succeeds a drama, audiences have to care what happens to at least some of the characters. A lot of sufficient assumption questions are best handled through formal logic and this one is one of those. Each of those pieces of evidence could be phrased as a formal logic rule that we're using to try to prove the conclusion with.
So the last sentence there, in order to succeed, you have to care about the characters in a play. Or in other words, if you can't care about the characters, then it would be impossible for the player to succeed. And they're trying to prove that virtual bricks plays don't succeed. So what we would need to learn about them is that in his plays, you can't care about the characters.
But the blue piece of information here doesn't tell us that. Instead, it tells us that in breaks plays, people aren't able to discern the personalities of the characters. If we rearrange that, you can see that there's a gap between what we know and what we're trying to prove. Trying to prove that bricks plays don't succeed.
We know that in his place, you can't discern people's personalities. If we could find out that not being able to discern somebody's personality means that you can't care about them, then that would allow us to say that Brecht's plays don't succeed. So that's the missing piece that probably we're gonna be looking for in the answer choices.
With sufficient assumption question, the correct answer can give you more than you need. But it will definitely have to fill all the gaps and guarantee the conclusion's true. So let's look at the answer choices and find something. Answer choice A, an audience that can't readily discern a character's personality will not take any interest in that character.
This actually is our answer, though it's a little bit sneaky. So, remember, we were looking for, if you can't discern somebody's personality, or if you can't discern a character's personality, then you aren't able to care about them. So this answer choice says that if you can't discern the personality of a character, you can't take any interest in them.
And if you can't take any interest in them, that would include caring about them. In Brecht's place, you can't discern the personality of the characters, which means you can't take any interest in them. If you can't take any interest, then you can't care about them. And if you can't care about the characters in a play, that play fails to succeed, we can draw a straight line from the top of the bottom proving the conclusion true.
And that's what we have to do on a sufficient assumption question. So then what's wrong with the other answers? Answer choice B, while it's helpful, wouldn't guarantee the bertold breaks characters are hard to care about. It just says that personality comes from motives. Helping isn't enough or sufficient assumption question.
We need something that will prove the conclusion. Absolutely true. Answer choice C links to things that are already linked in the argument. We already know that characters are connected to the success of a play. This says not only are they important, they are directly proportional to one another.
Just giving us more information for what we already know isn't gonna help us prove the conclusion. So it's not our answer. Answer choice D is further information about what we already know. We already know that the audience and the actors are like can't understand the characters.
This just says that the actors have the ability to influence the audience. So it's like a cause and effect, it won't help us fill that gap, it just gives us a little bit more information about a piece of evidence we already know about. And then answer choice E, all plays that, unlike Brecht's plays, have characters with whom audiences empathize succeed as dramas, this is a formal error, it's taking something we already know and getting it the wrong way around.
We know that in order to succeed, you have to care. This says, if you care, you'll definitely succeed. That's not what we needed to know. It won't help us fill that gap. It's just taking part of the argument and messing with it and hoping because it sounds familiar that you'll pick it.
But you won't pick it because you know that the answer is answer choice A.
