- Posts: 31
- Joined: Nov 28, 2022
- Wed Dec 27, 2023 11:24 pm
#104559
Hello, I just wanted to confirm my reasoning for this question and make sure I understood why (B) is the correct answer and (D) is incorrect.
Negating (B), I paraphrased it "There were 45 or more opera companies that had been active 30 years ago and closed within the past 30 years."
This hurts the argument, because it is assuming that there was an increase in the number (specifically, by 45) of professional opera companies in the past 30 years. However, the negation of (B) tells us that at least the same number or more opera houses closed within the past 30 years than opened, meaning that the number of opera houses compared between 30 years ago and now is either the same or is lower than what it was. This hurts the argument, since it is saying we can use the increase in the number of opera houses as evidence of its increase in popularity/enjoyment with the public.
(D) is incorrect because (D) negated is "The size of the average audience at perfromances by professional opera companies has not increased over the past three decades."
This does not hurt the argument; if the average audience size stayed the same, then combined with the premise that implies that there has been an increase in the number of opera houses, it could potentially mean that more people are going to the opera. This doesn't hurt the argument, so it is not a necessary assumption and is incorrect.
Negating (B), I paraphrased it "There were 45 or more opera companies that had been active 30 years ago and closed within the past 30 years."
This hurts the argument, because it is assuming that there was an increase in the number (specifically, by 45) of professional opera companies in the past 30 years. However, the negation of (B) tells us that at least the same number or more opera houses closed within the past 30 years than opened, meaning that the number of opera houses compared between 30 years ago and now is either the same or is lower than what it was. This hurts the argument, since it is saying we can use the increase in the number of opera houses as evidence of its increase in popularity/enjoyment with the public.
(D) is incorrect because (D) negated is "The size of the average audience at perfromances by professional opera companies has not increased over the past three decades."
This does not hurt the argument; if the average audience size stayed the same, then combined with the premise that implies that there has been an increase in the number of opera houses, it could potentially mean that more people are going to the opera. This doesn't hurt the argument, so it is not a necessary assumption and is incorrect.
