PrepTest 144, Section 3, Question 1
The television star Markus Hermann refuses to grant(41 more words not shown)
The conclusion of the argument(12 more words not shown)
- Athe editors of(20 more words not shown)
- Bthe Messenger has(13 more words not shown)
- Cmost television stars(22 more words not shown)
- DHermann usually requests(8 more words not shown)
- EHermann believes that(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does letting Hermann approve the article violate the newspaper's standards? That is the connection we haven't been given.
I can imagine why an interviewee would want approval. Maybe he's nervous about saying something embarrassing, or worried that an unfriendly interviewer will make him look bad. Those possibilities could explain his demand. They don't tell us whether the newspaper's editors regard that demand as a threat to their integrity.
The two policies currently concern different things. Hermann won't grant an interview without the right to approve the article. The Messenger won't do something its editors believe compromises their editorial integrity. Perhaps those policies conflict. But to establish that, we need the editors to put approval by an interviewee in the category of things they refuse to do.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to complete the passage so that the conclusion follows. My prediction is that the editors believe granting approval rights would compromise their integrity. Then the newspaper won't grant the right, Hermann won't interview without it, and the interview won't happen. We need their belief because that is what the newspaper's policy turns on.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This gives us precisely the missing belief. The editors think giving an interviewee approval rights compromises their integrity, so the newspaper's stated policy rules out granting those rights. Hermann requires them before he will grant an interview. The two conditions cannot both be met, which establishes that the Messenger will not interview him.
- B
Never having granted approval rights before doesn't mean refusing them now. Perhaps no previous interviewee asked, or perhaps the newspaper is willing to make an exception. A fact about past practice doesn't establish the policy conflict needed for this particular interview.
- C
Other television stars' willingness to be interviewed doesn't change Hermann's requirement. Most could happily proceed without approval rights while he refuses. We need to know whether the Messenger will meet his condition, not what arrangements other stars accept.
- D
Substantial changes might worry the editors, but we aren't told that they view such changes as compromising integrity. They might think an interviewee's requested corrections improve accuracy. The size of Hermann's usual requests doesn't establish the required connection between granting approval rights and the editors' policy.
- E
This could explain why Hermann wants approval rights: he fears an unflattering portrayal. But his opinion of the newspaper isn't the missing premise. We need to know what the editors believe about his demand, because their belief determines whether the newspaper will agree to it.
More Sufficient Assumption questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Sufficient Assumption questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.