If there are any inspired musical performances in the concert, the aud

I love the thought of going to see an inspired musical performance just now. Unfortunately, coronavirus is a jerk that prevents any such fun from happening, so... I guess let's take a look at what's going on in this question:

There are three sections to this passage, let's take a look at what we can take away from each of them in turn:

"If there are any inspired musical performances in the concert, the audience will be treated to a good show."

This tells us that if there is a single inspired musical performance, there absolutely will be a good show. It doesn't matter what else happens -- even if a couple gets into a raging row in the middle of the performance, it will not affect whether there is a good show. If there is an inspired performance then there must be a good show.

We can also say that if there is not a good show, then there cannot have been an inspired musical performance.

However, we cannot say that if there is a good show, there must have been an inspired musical performance. There might have been some incredible dancing on stage or some amazing crowdsurfing that made for a good show, even if there were no inspired performances.

"But there will not be a good show unless there are sophisticated listeners in the audience,"

This part of the passage tells us that sophisticated listeners are required for there to be a good show. If there are no sophisticated listeners in the audience, then there cannot be a good show.

However, the presence of sophisticated listeners does not guarantee a good show -- it's a necessary piece of the puzzle but isn't sufficient in its own right to make the show a good one.

"and to be a sophisticated listener one must understand one's musical roots."

This part tells us that understanding one's musical roots is needed to be a sophisticated listener. Someone could understand their musical roots and not be a sophisticated listener, but everyone who is a sophisticated listener understands their musical roots.

If the three parts of the passage are all true, which of the answer choices must be true?

Sophisticated listeners are required for there to be a good show. If there are no sophisticated listeners in the audience, there cannot be a good show.

If there cannot be a good show, then there must not be any inspired musical performances -- because any inspired performances would have guaranteed that the audience was treated to a good show, and sadly this did not happen.

(A) looks good -- let's keep this choice for now.

If the show is not good, then we don't know anything about whether the audience understands their roots and/or are sophisticated listeners. This is because understanding roots/being a sophisticated listener is not enough to guarantee a good show. So, it is totally possible to not have a good show even if all or part of the audience understands their roots.

Consider the scenario where there are sophisticated listeners in the audience, so there are people who understand their musical roots in the audience, but that damn couple having an argument in the middle of the show puts off the musicians and there are no inspired musical performances. This means there will not be a good show but there are plenty of people in the audience who understand their musical roots, the show's just been ruined by that selfish couple...

This one does not have to be true, so (B) is not our answer.

There are a couple of issues with this answer choice. Firstly, it is not necessarily true that people who understand their musical roots are sophisticated listeners. It's possible that we could have a whole crowd of people who understand their musical roots but are not sophisticated listeners, because understanding your musical roots is necessary to be a sophisticated listener but does not guarantee that you are one.

Even if we allow all the people in the audience who understand their musical roots to be sophisticated listeners, there is still a problem with (C). Having sophisticated listeners in the audience is necessary for there to be a good show but it does not make one of the musicians have an inspired performance. There might be an inspired performance at the concert but that performance will not have been caused by the presence of people in the audience who understand their musical roots.

The two events in (C) could happen at the same concert but they don't have to happen, so cross (C) out.

This answer choice is super slippery. It suggests that if the entire audience understands their musical roots, then there will be a good show.

(D) has similar problems to (C) -- just because someone understands their musical roots, it does not mean they are a sophisticated listener and you can extend this out to cover the entire audience. Everyone could understand their musical roots and it's still possible that there are no sophisticated listeners in the audience.

Secondly, even if there are some sophisticated listeners in the audience, which isn't guaranteed, this is still not going to guarantee a good show. We need sophisticated listeners in the audience for there to be a good show but their presence doesn't make the show into a good one.

(D) is not necessarily true, so we can eliminate this answer choice.

If there sophisticated listeners in the audience then it is possible there will be a good show. As we've seen, sophisticated listeners are needed for there to be a good show but they don't ensure it so this answer choice is on shaky ground but let's take it a little further.

Even if we allow for there to be a good show with the sophisticated listeners in the audience, this DOES NOT mean there will be an inspired musical performance. The crowdsurfing could have been incredible, the tech guys could have done an amazing job with the pyrotechnics and the light show, or the dancing might have been the best the audience has ever seen -- we don't need an inspired performance for there to have been a good show.

We know an inspired musical performance guarantees us a good show but this doesn't work the other way -- just because there is a good show, it doesn't mean there is an inspired performance.

This is another answer choice where both events could happen but they don't have to happen together. So we should cross out (E).

The only answer choice we haven't crossed out is (A), which is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!