This is an Argument Exchange (Point at Issue) question. The correct answer is one with which one of the speakers would agree and one would disagree.
Let's look first at answer choice (A): "whether only those people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can be qualified to write about the rock music of that period." Jorge would say "no," right? And Ruth would say "yes." This is the right answer.
Now let's compare answer choice (B): "whether people who were in their teens or early twenties during the 1960s can write well about the rock music of that period." This is a super tricky answer choice, but really, what is the point at issue between Jorge and Ruth? Jorge says Ruth's basically unqualified to write about the 1960s, because she was too young. Although they both mention "writing well," what they are really disagreeing about is who is qualified to write about a specific time period.
Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Ro13October 26, 2018
I'm not understanding what not writing well about rock music of the 60s has to do with being qualified. Jorge never says you can not write about it just that it wouldn't be well written. Same with Ruth, she never discusses being qualified to write about ancient Roman culture but argues that they still write well
aligeJanuary 15, 2019
I have the same question as Ro. In questions like this, how are we supposed to know that the answer is a step beyond what is explicitly written?
RaviJanuary 16, 2019
@Ro13 and @alige,
Happy to help. This is a great question. @alige, for these types of questions, we can often just go into the answer choices with a general understanding of what the disagreement is, but sometimes it can be hard to closely match our prediction with the way the answer is actually worded.
You guys are right. Neither makes mention about not writing well being a sufficient condition for not being qualified to write. Truthfully, if A instead said "can write well" instead of "can be qualified to write," it would be a stronger answer choice. However, despite this suboptimal wording, answer A still picks up on the point at issue between Jorge and Ruth. They are in disagreement about whether or not someone who wasn't a teen or in their early twenties in the 1960s can write well about rock.
Sure, in answer A we have to also necessarily assume that there's a connection between being qualified to write and writing well, but this is a reasonable assumption to make in the answer choice. Plus, the other four answers are all pretty bad, and none of them picks up on the point of disagreement. Even if we're not really pumped about A because of its subpar wording, the other four answers are so bad that we have no choice but to pick A.
Answer B is incorrect because Jorge would agree with this, and there's a reasonable chance Ruth would agree as well (we certainly can't say that Ruth would disagree with this statement).
Answer C is incorrect because Jorge has no opinion on this based on what's in the stimulus.
Answer D is incorrect because Jorge and Ruth wouldn't necessarily disagree on this. Let's say someone is now middle age and writing about rock from the 1960s. Jorge would probably say they can write well if they were a teen or 20-something in the 1960s, and we don't know what Ruth would say.
Answer E is incorrect because we have no idea whether or not Ruth's ideas about rock would appeal to people. Jorge makes no comment on Ruth's ideas about rock. We can easily eliminate this answer. We don't even know what Ruth's ideas about rock are!
Does this make sense? You guys are right that A's wording isn't the best, but the other four answers are so far off the mark that A is by far the best choice for us. Let us know what you think!
Lawrence-GohringMarch 17, 2020
I had this problem too. I had to re-read it a few times but I see the difference now between a & b and it's the only. B generally states about people from the 60's respectively writing well, but the point of disagreement is in a that states only people from the 60's are qualified to write(write well). That's really what Ruth's gripe essentially is about-it's not only those people
