Necessary AssumptionDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: TV talk shows don't feature extreme political views because stations are businesses that need huge audiences, and they believe that safe, boring content is the only way to get everyone to watch.
Conclusion: The rarity of non-mainstream political opinions on television is a result of economic pressures rather than the political agendas of the stations.
Reasoning: Television stations must maximize their audience size to survive economically, leading them to air only content that appeals to the largest possible number of people.
Analysis: This argument relies on a hidden connection between the size of an audience and the 'blandness' of the content. The author assumes that if you want to appeal to a massive group of people, you must avoid anything controversial or outside the mainstream. To test this as a necessary assumption, try the negation: what if bland and innocuous programs actually *didn't* appeal to large numbers of people? The author's economic explanation would fall apart because airing bland shows would no longer help the stations reach their goal of a large audience. The argument requires that the 'bland' strategy actually works for capturing the masses.
Conclusion: The rarity of non-mainstream political opinions on television is a result of economic pressures rather than the political agendas of the stations.
Reasoning: Television stations must maximize their audience size to survive economically, leading them to air only content that appeals to the largest possible number of people.
Analysis: This argument relies on a hidden connection between the size of an audience and the 'blandness' of the content. The author assumes that if you want to appeal to a massive group of people, you must avoid anything controversial or outside the mainstream. To test this as a necessary assumption, try the negation: what if bland and innocuous programs actually *didn't* appeal to large numbers of people? The author's economic explanation would fall apart because airing bland shows would no longer help the stations reach their goal of a large audience. The argument requires that the 'bland' strategy actually works for capturing the masses.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage5.The explanation offered by the author of the passage makes the assumption that
Correct Answer
B
The reasoning requires that the kinds of views that appeal to large audiences are mainstream and thus bland/innocuous. If bland and innocuous opinions were not generally in the mainstream, the ratings motive would not explain why what’s aired is bland—negation test: if bland/innocuous views were not mainstream, aiming for mass appeal would not predict bland outcomes, undermining the author’s explanation.
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