#9 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Principle

[Luke Haqq]

Hi lsatep2024!

Yes, the connection of arts to funding does seem essential to both passages, and it's missing from answer choice (A). One doesn't necessarily need to identify the main point of each passage, though, to answer this type of question. Rather, it's asking for a principle that underlies both passages, which may or may not be part of the main point of the passage.

[Nitani10]

Hi, I'm a bit confused about how to tackle questions like this one where the question stem is: "which of the following principles underlies both passages?"

What does underlie mean in the context of the question stem? Is the principle something that the authors must agree with? Is it something that's essential to their argument?

[Amber Thomas]

Hi Nitani!

Your thinking is right here, if a principle "underlies" an argument, it acts as the basis for that argument, or as you said, essential to it.

For both Passage A and Passage B, the authors' arguments rely on the principle outlined in Answer Choice B: "Public funding of a service is justifiable only if it serves the public good."

Let's look at our evidence:

Passage A: "Unless the public interest is somehow served, proponents of arts subsidies will be hard pressed to justify the transfer of money from taxpayers in general to those who happen to enjoy attending cultural events that would be eligible for such funding."

Passage B: "A justification for such subsidies must show the direct benefit of spending taxpayers' money on things the taxpayers themselves would not have chosen."

Here, we can see that it is critical to both passage's arguments that public funding of a service (the arts, in this case) must be justified by service of public interest.

I hope this helps!

[Nitani10]

Thank you Amber! One follow-up question: when it comes to questions that ask "which of the following principles underlies both passages, do the authors of both passages have to agree regarding the principal that underlies their argument? Or can it be the basis of their arguments, but one agrees and the other disagrees.

[Amber Thomas]

Hi Nitani!

If it is a principle that is underlying or supporting the passage, it follows that the author would agree with it. Otherwise, it would be a principle that the author refutes or otherwise disagrees with in some way or the other.

I hope this helps!