Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities were living

Question

Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities were living up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities, the best-selling publications in most university bookstores would not be frivolous ones like TV Today and Gossip Review. However, in most university bookstores the only publication that sells better than Gossip Review is TV Today.

If the statements in the editorial are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them?

(A) People who purchase publications that are devoted primarily to gossip or to television programming are intellectually irresponsible.

(B) It is irresponsible for university bookstores to carry publications such as Gossip Review and TV Today.

(C) Most people who purchase publications at university bookstores purchase either TV Today or Gossip Review.

(D) Many people who attend this country’s universities fail to live up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities.

(E) At least some of this country’s universities are not meeting their moral responsibilities or their intellectual responsibilities or both.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A) No. The passage argues that the universities are intellectually irresponsible, not the people who buy the frivolous publications.

(B) No. The passage implies that if the universities were meeting their intellectual responsibilities then students would be interested in more substantive publications than TV Today and Gossip Review.

(C) No. Being the best-selling publication does not necessarily mean that most people buy it. There may be hundreds of publications.

(D) No. The passage argues that the universities, not the students, fail to live up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities.

(E) Yes. This is simply an application of the contrapositive. The argument can be diagrammed as follows:

R—>~F

where R stands for “ this country’s universities were living up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities, ” and ~F stands for “ the best-selling publications in most university bookstores would not be frivolous ones like TV Today and Gossip Review. ”

Now, the statement “ in most university bookstores the only publication that sells better than Gossip Review is TV Today ” negates the conclusion of the argument R—>~F. This prompts us to take the contrapositive:

R—>~F
F
∴ ~R

That is, universities are not living up to their moral or intellectual responsibilities.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Simplify the argument --

1. the best selling publications in most university book stores are TV today and Gossip Review
2. in most university bookstores the only publication that sells better than Gossip Review is TV Today

3. thus most of them do not seem to be meeting their moral or intellectual responsibilities

Point #3 strengthens point #2.

Let us look at the answer options --

Option A - Incorrect

We cannot infer anything about people. The argument talks about the country's universities.

Option B - Incorrect

"It is irresponsible" -- we are not talking about general irresponsibility, but about moral and intellectual responsibility. Furthermore, we are talking about the responsibilities of universities, not those of university bookstores.

Option C - Incorrect

"best selling publications at university bookstores" need not necessarily mean that "most people purchase those publications".
One person could have purchased 10,000 copies of Gossip Review -- that would make it the best selling publication. However, it is not necessary that most people would have purchased it.

Option D - Incorrect

We cannot infer this. The argument only talks about universities.

Option E - Correct answer

True as can be inferred from the argument stated above.

catcun · Answer

egmat  doesn't best-selling mean that most people buy it?

egmat · Answer

catcun  "Best-selling" is a  comparative  term, not an  absolute  one. It means "sells more copies than other items in that category" - but it doesn't tell us whether a majority of people buy it.

Why Answer E is Correct:

The editorial states:
 
 Universities meeting responsibilities  \rightarrow  Frivolous publications NOT best-sellers 
  Contrapositive:  Frivolous publications ARE best-sellers  \rightarrow  Universities NOT meeting responsibilities 
 We're told TV Today and Gossip Review ARE the top  2  best-sellers in  most  university bookstores 
 Therefore:  At least some  universities are not meeting their responsibilities (Answer E)

Option C is a trap:  It assumes best-selling means most people buy them - which isn't necessarily true based on the information given.

Aniket00001 · Answer

what is the major Difference between D and C?

egmat · Answer

Aniket00001  The key differences between  C  and  D  involve both  quantifier logic  and  scope issues . Let me break this down.

Option C: "Most people who purchase publications at university bookstores purchase either TV Today or Gossip Review."

The problem: This confuses "best-selling" with "most purchases."

We know TV Today and Gossip Review are the  #1  and  #2  best-sellers, but this doesn't mean MOST people buy them.

Example: Imagine a bookstore with  100  publications. TV Today sells  50  copies, Gossip Review sells  45  copies, and  98  other publications sell  40  copies each (total  3,920  copies). TV Today and Gossip Review are the top  2  best-sellers, yet they represent only  95  out of  4,015  total sales - definitely not "most."

Option D: "Many people who attend this country's universities fail to live up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities."

The problem: This is a  scope shift .

The argument is about whether UNIVERSITIES are meeting their responsibilities - not about whether STUDENTS/PEOPLE are. These are separate entities with separate responsibilities. The argument gives us no information about the people attending universities, only about the institutions themselves.

The Major Difference: 
 
  Option C  fails because of a  quantifier/logic error  (best-selling ≠ most purchases) 
  Option D  fails because of a  scope error  (universities ≠ people who attend them)

Why E is correct: 
The argument says: IF universities met their responsibilities → frivolous publications wouldn't be best-sellers

Using the contrapositive: IF frivolous publications ARE best-sellers → universities are NOT meeting responsibilities

Since this is happening in "most" bookstores, "at least some" universities aren't meeting their responsibilities. This must be true.

Hope this helps!

You can practice similar questions  here  (you'll find a lot of OG questions) - select "Inference" under Critical Reasoning and choose Medium level questions to strengthen these skills.

Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities were living

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