PrepTest 116, Section 3, Question 14
Social critic: The operas composed by Bizet and(59 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(19 more words not shown)
- ABizet and Verdi(10 more words not shown)
- BNineteenth-century French and(14 more words not shown)
- CThe operas of(16 more words not shown)
- DOpera is not(10 more words not shown)
- EPeople cannot be(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How much influence could these operas have if most people haven't had meaningful exposure to them?
That's the social critic's response to the studies. The studies criticize, or 'impugn,' Bizet's and Verdi's operas for reinforcing stereotypes about women. The critic then points out that only a small minority of contemporary North Americans have had significant exposure to the works. That sounds like a reason to doubt the scale of their influence there.
Keep the location in view. We aren't told how widely these operas are known in France, Italy, or anywhere else. The evidence concerns contemporary North America. And it concerns these composers' works, not every opera ever written.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the conclusion this argument is structured to establish. We don't need to find a sentence that explicitly states it; the point is implied. I'd complete the thought this way: these operas haven't significantly contributed to the stereotypes in contemporary North America. That is the claim the limited-exposure evidence is meant to support.
Working the answers
- A
This moves in the opposite direction. The critic's limited-audience point is offered as a reason to doubt significant influence, not establish it. A also leaves the claim geographically unrestricted, although the exposure evidence concerns North America.
- B
The operas reflect nineteenth-century French and Italian attitudes, but the passage doesn't compare those attitudes with contemporary North American views. They might differ in some respects and resemble one another in others. Either way, that isn't the point the small audience is being used to establish.
- CCorrect
This gives the implied conclusion with the right limits: these particular composers' operas have not significantly contributed to stereotypical images of women in contemporary North America. The critic's reason is that relatively few people there have encountered them meaningfully.
We are identifying the argument's intended point. We don't need to prove that limited direct exposure rules out every indirect influence. The evidence is being used to minimize these works' contribution, and C captures that purpose without claiming they have had no effect at all.
- D
This expands the claim from Bizet's and Verdi's operas to opera generally, and from stereotypes about women to social attitudes generally. We haven't been given evidence about all those other works or influences. C stays with the particular influence the critic addresses.
- E
This is a universal rule about how influence works. The critic doesn't establish that people can never be influenced indirectly, and the conclusion doesn't need to make such a sweeping claim about everything people encounter. We need the intended conclusion about these operas' contribution, not a much broader rule someone might use to defend it.
More Role/Main Point questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Role/Main Point questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.