GMATNinja &
GMATNinjaTwo
Hi. I'm really confused with this question. I stuck with B&C, but I think B may be better.
Below is my reasoning.
I hope you can help me point out if I misunderstand anything, so that I can understand clearly the logic of this question and the answer choices.
The logic for this argument is:
(a)Fewer people study CM -> (b)fewer talents play & more non-talents play CM
-> (c)audience will not appreciate the music -> (d) switch to other music
Conclusion: To keep CM popular -> encourage more people to study CM
Assumption: if people switch to other music -> CM will not be popular
Which one weakens the argument?
Opt (B) Classical music???s current meager popularity is attributable to the profusion of other genres of music available to listeners.
This one says that profusion of other genres CAUSES Classical music???s current meager popularity (causal relationship).
So CM popularity is due to music genres profusion, not by the number of CM students or how those students perform. This one casts doubt on the assumption mentioned above, suggesting that since music genres profusion CAUSED CM popularity, in the future,(even if people switch to other music genres) as long as there???s a profusion of genres, CM will probably still be popular.
The conclusion is therefore weakened.
Option (C) Most people who appreciate classical music come to do so through old recordings rather than live performances.
The stimulus says (c)audience will not appreciate the music ???(d) switch to other music
This option says about people who appreciate CM, and the reasons why they do so.
So from the stimulus, if people listen to performances by not-gifted musicians, they will not appreciate CM; which means that if people appreciate CM, they don???t listen to performances by not-gifted musicians.
Opt (C) says most people appreciate CM b/c they listened to old recordings. Of course, old recordings are presumably made by talented CM musicians,
So C EITHER strengthens the argument by providing a specific example for a premise in the stimulus OR doesn???t do anything to the argument b/c it repeats the premise.
GMAT Ninja said:
???The critic reasons that audiences will move away from classical music as they listen to weaker performances of classical music. However, if most people who appreciate classical music come to do so through old recordings rather than live performances, it doesn't matter if the quality of the performances is in decline. Those people can still listen to old recordings and thus still appreciate the greatness of classical music. This breaks the critic's line of reasoning, so (C) is a solid choice.???
This option talks about ???people who appreciate classical music??? and the premise says ???Audiences who hear these performances will not appreciate classical music???s???. OK, so among people who appreciate CM, most appreciate because they listen to old recording; among people who DON???T appreciate, they don???t appreciate because of what? We don???t know. For the current status (when CM is still popular), most who appreciate b/c of old recordings (not b/c of the performances) So in the future, if the recordings still exist, then people will probably continue to appreciate CM irrespective of the performances quality, meaning that CM popularity will be maintained ??? breaks the conclusion.
So with C, there are confusing interpretations of the implied meaning.
And between B&C, it???s hard to choose which one is outright better!
Opt (B) Classical music???s current meager popularity is attributable to the profusion of other genres of music available to listeners.
This one says that profusion of other genres CAUSES Classical music???s current meager popularity (causal relationship).
So CM popularity is due to music genres profusion, not by the number of CM students or how those students perform. This one casts doubt on the assumption mentioned above, suggesting that since music genres profusion CAUSED CM popularity, in the future,(even if people switch to other music genres) as long as there???s a profusion of genres, CM will probably still be popular.
The conclusion is therefore weakened.
Choice (B) explains the current MEAGER popularity. The profusion of other genres is not what MAKES classical music popular. Rather, the profusion of other genres LIMITS the popularity of classical music. The author is concerned with maintaining the current MEAGER level of popularity.
As for choice (C), you stated: "among people who DON'T appreciate, they don't appreciate because of what? We don't know."
This is true, but we don't care about the people who DON'T appreciate classical music. The author is only concerned with preventing the people who DO appreciate classic music from decamping to other genres.