Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: A reporter thinks a movie studio is skipping early screenings because the movie is already so popular that they don't want to risk bad word-of-mouth ruining the hype.

Conclusion: The movie's distributors chose to skip advance screenings to avoid any potential drop in public interest.

Reasoning: Public awareness and interest in the film are already extremely high, and the distributors have uncharacteristically avoided free promotional screenings.

Analysis: As a 'Necessary Assumption' question, we are looking for a 'Missing Link' that the reporter's explanation depends on. The reporter assumes the distributors are acting out of fear that screenings could hurt interest. For this to be true, the distributors must believe that screenings actually *could* have a negative impact. If the distributors believed screenings could only help or do nothing, the reporter's reasoning would collapse. Look for an answer that confirms the distributors see a potential risk in showing the film early.

Passage Stimulus

Passage Redacted

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2.

The entertainment reporter's explanation for why there have been no advance screenings of Escapade II relies on assuming that the distributors believe that

Correct Answer
B
B states the needed belief: that advance screenings might dampen enthusiasm. Negation test: if the distributors do not believe screenings could reduce interest, then skipping them would not be explained by a desire to avoid reducing interest—undermining the reporter’s explanation.
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