#3 - Global Reference, Cannot Be True, Author's Perspective

[atierney]

Hi,

Yes, firstly, typically the "never's" and other definitive negative's are what I like to call "extreme answers," in that they often go beyond the text of the passage/argument at issue. So, depending on the circumstance, I'm usually skeptical of any answer choice that contains such language, especially in the Must Be True context. Now, in the opposite scenario, the Cannot Be True, as is the case here, these "extreme" answers could potentially be correct, as in stating something definitively not supported by the passage; however, I think you would be used to remain skeptical of them. Now, what I like to do for the double negation is treat it as just turning the whole statement into an affirmative or positive statement. So, basically two negatives here make a positive, and so, the statement you never should not do your homework is basically always do your homework! And I think this is how I would go about, with the understanding that ever pair of negatives cancels out, but that odd negatives do not. So, it is not correct to say that you should never not do your homework, means hey, every once in a while, take a break!

Let me know if you have any questions on this.

[nguyenpcindy]

Hi! I can see why B is correct, but am having trouble understanding why C is not correct. Am I misinterpreting the idea of "contributing to a whole? My understanding of the passage (particularly in the last paragraph) is that the author supports mixed programming because of how the films play off of each other, thus creating some type of cohesive show. To me, that relates to the concept of a "whole" in D.

[Robert Carroll]

nguyenpcindy,

I think you're talking about answer choice (D) throughout here. I agree - in the last paragraph, and in fact in many places before that, the author brings up the idea that an exhibition of old films should be sensitive to the original context. In fact, old nonfiction films should be exhibited together with the other kinds of films with which they were originally exhibited, creating a whole experience similar to the original experience. So the author is in fact greatly concerned with how each work contributes to the whole. But that's why answer choice (D) is wrong - the author agrees with it! We're looking for the principle the author rejects.

It may be that the double negative in answer choice (D) made it tricky: "should never be designed without regard to the whole" means "should always be designed with regard to the whole".

Robert Carroll