The recent proliferation of newspaper articles in major publications

E, the argument falls apart if we negate this statement


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Pre-thinking: The exposure of fabricated news strengthens the argument that the publishers are more interested in selling copy than telling truth. This means that the publishers have the final say in what news must be published.

Option E matches the pre-thought answer.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

This next question is deceptively tough—it doesn't really appear to be a difficult argument to follow. The trouble comes from the subtle shift in scope that's introduced as the argument proceeds. If you caught it, then this is a fairly feasible question. If not, then you're likely to end up staring at the choices, wondering if there actually is one that's correct. The argument is based on a scope shift: The author concludes that publishers are more interested in selling copy than in printing the truth. The evidence is that many newspaper articles have recently been exposed as frauds. The assumption—that is, the necessary yet unstated premise here—is contained in (E): that publishers know about, or must take responsibility for, the truth of every article in their newspapers. If that's not the case, then the author cannot fairly blame publishers for the rash of bogus stories. So (E) is the answer because it must be assumed in order for this argument to stand.

Now, this assumption—and the scope shift that creates the need for it in the argument—is a bit subtle; you may say, "well, of course publishers are responsible for what is printed in their newspapers." However:

An 800 test taker understands that the "reasonableness" of a piece of information doesn't disqualify it from being an assumption. Any fact that's required by the argument but is not explicitly stated by the author qualifies as an assumption.

Even top test takers can't be expected to prephrase every right answer, and it's quite possible that even they would not have come up with
this answer on their own. No matter; that's what the choices are there for.

An 800 test taker recognizes the validity of an answer choice when she sees it, even if the concept contained in the choice didn't occur to her up front. Top test takers know how to use the choices to help them succeed.

Eliminating the wrong choices here may have been more than half the battle. Many people are at least able to get it down to (C) and (E).

(A) and (D) are pretty much out of left field. The conclusion doesn't have anything to do with the relative novelty of inauthentic articles (or admissions thereof), despite the tangential reference in the stimulus to "recent" proliferation.

(B) contains a distortion. Minor publications' fact-checking apparatus is mentioned in order to emphasize that the big publications ought to check too; it's not there as the basis of a quality comparison.

(C) is a popular wrong choice, but is too extreme. "Everything a newspaper prints must be factually verifiable" encompasses the movie clock, the weather forecast, today's horoscope, and Dilbert. The author's not peeved because Beetle Bailey was inaccurate, but because false stories are appearing without adequate checking. The issue isn't lies, but willful lies. If you proved to this author that every one of those bogus stories was thoroughly checked and published in good faith, her complaints would fade away.

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