John's literature professor believes that the ability to judge the greatness of literary works accurately can be acqu...

SamA on September 19, 2019

Hello @cjahangiri,

Here is a breakdown of the information.

1. John's professor believes one can only judge the greatness of literature if one has had 10 years of specialized training.
2. 10 years of such training is required to become a professor.
3. The vast majority of the public does not have access to this specialized training.

The question asks us to assume that John's professor is correct.

Answer choice A looks appealing if you make the classic mistake of confusing your sufficient and necessary conditions.

Sufficient: the ability to judge the greatness of literature
Necessary: ten years of specialized training

JGL - - - > ST

If I can judge the greatness of literature, did I have 10 years of specialized training? Yes.

If I had 10 years of specialized training, can I judge the greatness of literature? Not necessarily. It is possible that other factors are required to judge the greatness of literature. The only thing we know, is that 10 years of specialized training is one of these factors.

John's professor did have 10 years of specialized experience, because that is a requirement to become a professor. This does not mean that she is able to judge the greatness of literature. Answer choice A could be true, but it is not necessarily true. The question wants to trick us into thinking that all literature professors can judge the greatness of literary works.

Answer choice E is something that we can say with certainty. If the vast majority of the public can't access the specialized training, then a vast majority of the public can't judge the greatness of literature.