Argument Structure Questions - - Question 29

The media now devote more coverage to crime than they did ten years ago. Yet this is not because the crime rate has ...

meisen February 15, 2018

Question 29

Why is the answer E instead of B?

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NativeJustice April 21, 2018

On my first attempt, I was chose the wrong choice B. But after giving it more thoughts and reading previous comments, I came to an understanding why B is wrong. Hope I can help you.

Answer choice B mistakes the premises and conclusion. The conclusion and premises were well-explained in previous posts. What answer choice B here is proposing is essentially that a premise is presented as evidence to support another premise, which is obviously wrong. Hence the falsehood of B.

Anita April 22, 2018

E is the correct answer because the assertion that the public is more interested now in crime is an alternative to the idea that the increased coverage would be because of increased crime. It's acting as a different explanation to the question "Why is the coverage higher now?"

B, on the other hand, suggests that it's evidence. In this case, it isn't evidence that the media's coverage is due to its viewers interests, but rather why it is that the increased coverage isn't due to higher crime. The idea we're supporting isn't that the media's coverage is due to the whims of its audience, but rather that the increased coverage is due to audience interest, which is supported by the idea that coverage is dependent on audience interest.

Does that help?

meisen April 26, 2018

Yes thank you!