Fred: To be a good journalist one must be inquisitive. Rita:

A tells you that (A. only good journalists are inquisitive), ONLY good ones are inquisitive, but that's not what the argument is about. Rita says that inquisitiveness is NOT the only criterion to become a good journalist.

That is pretty well explained in D (D. if a person is inquisitive, then that person will make a good journalist), which means that there are other things besides inquisitiveness that one requires to be a good journalist.

Fred: To be a good journalist one must be inquisitive.
Rita: I disagree; it takes much more than inquisitiveness to be a good journalist

Rita has understood Fred’s statement to mean that
Rita is assuming here that being inquisitive is the only quality it takes to be a good journalist
A. only good journalists are inquisitive
B. some good journalists are inquisitive
C. some inquisitive people are good journalists
D. if a person is inquisitive, then that person will make a good journalist Being inquisitive is enough to be a good journalist. This is another way to say that being inquisitive is the only quality that it takes to be a good journalist.
E. if a person is a good journalist, then that person will be inquisitive

Sorry I didn't get your point. Why you said "Being inquisitive is enough to be a good journalist"?

Fred: To be a good journalist one must be inquisitive. A necessary condition to be a good journalist.

Rita: I disagree; it takes much more than inquisitiveness to be a good journalist. Rita thought Fred has given a sufficient condition to be a good journalist.

Rita has understood Fred’s statement to mean that - We need to find a sufficient condition to be a good journalist.

A. only good journalists are inquisitive - just opposite of what we need.
B. some good journalists are inquisitive - 'Some' - readily eliminable.
C. some inquisitive people are good journalists - 'some' sh be avoided. Q talks about ALL.
D. if a person is inquisitive, then that person will make a good journalist - This is a sufficient condition to be a good journalist.
E. if a person is a good journalist, then that person will be inquisitive - This is what Fred actually meant to say. Eliminate.

Thanks.

Rita says that it takes much more to be a good journalist. This implies that she thinks there are many other qualities which make a good journalist. Also, she disagrees with Fred too when he says that one must be inquisitive.

Hence she has understood Fred's statement as "Being inquisitive is the only quality"

Does this help?

Option D it is .... Nice explanation by OptimusPrepJanielle

Fred: To be a good journalist one must be inquisitive.

Rita: I disagree; it takes much more than inquisitiveness to be a good journalist

Rita has understood Fred’s statement to mean that

A. only good journalists are inquisitive
B. some good journalists are inquisitive
C. some inquisitive people are good journalists
D. if a person is inquisitive, then that person will make a good journalist
E. if a person is a good journalist, then that person will be inquisitive

I marked E .
E says If a person is a good journalist then that person will be inquisitive for sure and there may be others things (communication skills etc) in addition to being inquisitive, that will make that person a good journalist. Exactly what Rita said.

D says If a person is Inquisitive then that person will make a good journalist , leaving no rooms for other things to be true for journalist . This means One must need to be only inquisitive for being a journalist. this what Fred said.

I think the Question is asking what Fred meant { Rita thought that fred meant .........(answer) } in this case the answer is D ..
Experts please help!

Question is basically asking us to find the assumption behind the Rita's conclusion

D matches the conclusion
So D is the best answer

Fred said that to be a good journalist one must be inquisitive which is kind of necessary condition. But Rita understood it as a sufficient condition that if someone is inquisitive then the person will make a good journalist. And that's why Rita argued that it take more than inquisitiveness to be a good journalist.

So, D clearly fits in the Answer frame....

Answer D

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.