Since Jackie is such a big fan of Moral Vacuum’s music

Question

Since Jackie is such a big fan of Moral Vacuum’s music, she will probably like The Cruel Herd’s new album. Like Moral Vacuum, The Cruel Herd on this album plays complex rock music that employs the acoustic instrumentation and harmonic sophistication of early sixties jazz. The Cruel Herd also has very witty lyrics, full of puns and sardonic humor, like some of Moral Vacuum’s best lyrics.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) Jackie has not previously cared for The Cruel Herd, but on the new album The Cruel Herd’s previous musical arranger has been replaced by Moral Vacuum’s musical arranger.

(B) Though The Cruel Herd’s previous albums’ production quality was not great, the new album is produced by one of the most widely employed producers in the music industry.

(C) Like Moral Vacuum, The Cruel Herd regularly performs in clubs popular with many students at the university that Jackie attends.

(D) All of the music that Jackie prefers to listen to on a regular basis is rock music.

(E) Jackie’s favorite Moral Vacuum songs have lyrics that are somber and marked by a strong political awareness.

sanjanaarao6697 · Answer

Correct Answer: A

Compared to the others, this option most relates to why Jackie could become a fan of The Cruel Herd.

Option D is too general.

Saasingh · Answer

I think its D. 
The argument says that she's gonna like Cruel Herd's album as she like M's music. Then subsequently we are given the features/traits of Cruel's album that matches the traits of her liked M's music. 
But the argument says that the features are same as the M's "best lyrics" or M's rock music. But do we know that she likes M because of these traits ? That's the gap in the argument.

What if she likes M because of some third particular reason and probably hates their generically "best lyrics"? What if she likes M because of their pop music and not rock?

Option D bridges this gap and thus strengthens the argument that she indeed likes M for its rock music.

Between A, E:

A : wrong because we don't know that she likes M music because of this particular arranger. Liking a band doesn't imply that she likes every aspect of it.

E is wrong because : somber, dull, political music lyrics is out of context. Passage only talks about witty, sardonic, pun lyrics.
 
Thanks & Regards,
Saakhi

gvij2017 · Answer

A music arranger is someone who arranges a piece of music for a music director, music producer, conductor, a group of performers or a single performer.

Now, now option A is most disputable for me.

At first of half of the choice, J didn't care for CH. "But" indicates something opposite of earlier said statement. 
But on arrival of CH, previous musical arranger has been replaced by MV music arranger.

Here no information is provided how MV music arranger is quite similar to CH music arranger.

According to conclusion statement-
Since Jackie is such a big fan of Moral Vacuum’s music, she will probably like The Cruel Herd’s new album.

I am not getting how option A is strengthening the argument. Please explain in detail!

Fdambro294 · Answer

Only reason I picked A was because it was “better” than all the rest. I agree, I don’t like any of the answers for strengthening the argument.

But D is way more general than A. At least in A, we have the same exact musical arranger of the band she likes.

The passage goes out of its way to describe the type of music very specifically. Saying she likes all rock music —-> strengthens my belief that she will like this weird type of rock music MUCH less than if you told me the same producer/music arranger is part of both bands.

I also believed that the same musical arranger would be more likely to arrange lyrics with puns and other stuff she likes.

At least A provides a “bridge” to link the comparison of the 2 bands.

But imho, they all suck.

Edit: ouch, it’s an LSAT question too. I wonder if it was a discarded question.....

Posted from my mobile device

prateekchugh · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A)  Strengthen the Argument

A prediction is strengthened when you assure circumstances that favor it.

The author of this argument is trying to convince us about Jackie’s musical preferences, predicting that she will like the new album by The Cruel Herd. Why? Well, “since” at the beginning of the first sentence signals the evidence, and it’s all based on Jackie’s existing affinity for the music of Moral Vacuum. The author goes on to tell us about similarities between the two bands: they have similar sounds and instrumentation, and they also feature similar lyrics. So, in order for these factors to support the claim that Jackie will enjoy The Cruel Herd, these factors (style, arrangement, lyrics) must be the reasons why she likes Moral Vacuum in the first place. This assumption is integral to the prediction in the author’s conclusion.

(A)  makes the prediction a little more likely by indicating that Cruel Herd’s music will resemble Moral Vacuum’s even more now that Cruel Herd has enlisted Moral Vacuum’s musical arranger.

If  (B)  is true, The Cruel Herd’s production quality may very well improve, but that doesn’t strengthen the idea that Jackie will enjoy it. Production quality was not one of Jackie’s reasons for liking Moral Vacuum.

(C)  Mutual popularity with students doesn’t ensure a similarity in music, arrangement or lyrics. Out of scope.

(D)  broadens the scope too much. Knowing that Jackie listens to rock music regularly doesn’t strengthen anything.

(E)  actually weakens the argument by suggesting that the things Jackie loves most about Moral Vacuum— somber lyrics, a strong political awareness—are not things that Moral Vacuum has in common with The Cruel Herd. Always expect a 180 choice like this on a Strengthen or Weaken question.

CEdward · Answer

A has to be the answer because it ties together the reasoning presented in the passage. There must be a link to Moral Vacuum's music. A gives us more reason in the justification that the author provided - i.e. the similarities b/w the two singers means that SHE WILL PROBABLY like Cruel Her'ds music too.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Since Jackie is such a big fan of Moral Vacuum’s music

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