A national performing arts association conducted a survey that appears

Question

A national performing arts association conducted a survey that appears to confirm the public’s interest in high culture. More than 90 percent of those surveyed said that they were either “somewhat interested” or “very interested” in attending performances of opera, ballet, or classical music.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

(A) Not all performances of opera, ballet, and classical music should be considered “high culture.”

(B) Not all those who are interested in attending performances of opera, ballet, or classical music are willing to support an arts association.

(C) Most of those surveyed reported being “somewhat interested” rather than “very interested.”

(D) Other statistics show that more people attend sporting events than performances of opera, ballet, or classical music.

(E) The association conducting the survey receives most of its funding from sources other than the general public.

Source:  Master GMAT

stne · Accepted Answer

So a survey was conducted and it was found that more than 90% of those surveyed were either "somewhat interested " or " very interested " in attending performances of Opera, Ballet, or Classical music, and based on the results it was concluded that people were interested in high culture.

We have to weaken this:

A) The argument was citing people interest in Opera, Ballet, or Classical music as proof of people's interest in high culture. But what if Opera, Ballet, or Classical music are NOT considered high culture in the first place, then what? People interest in these three things does not prove that people are interested in High culture as Opera, Ballet and Classical music are NOT considered high culture in the first place. Certainly weakens the argument.  CORRECT.

B) Question of support is out of scope. INCORRECT.

C)Whether it is "somewhat interested” or “very interested.” still it makes them interested. Does not weaken the argument as strongly as A does. INCORRECT.

D) If people attend more sporting events does not mean they have NO INTEREST in high culture. They could be interested in BOTH sporting activities as well as high culture. Does not weaken. INCORRECT.

E)Source of funding has no impact in weakening the argument unless the source manipulated the results of the survey, since nothing of that sort is mentioned in the passage. This is not a weakner.  INCORRECT.

Ans- A

Hope it's clear.

dhawalsachdeva · Answer

Is this a valid argument? I mean it is more of a set of facts without any conclusion.

Posted from my mobile device

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

The argument that the public is interested in high culture relies on the assumption that opera, ballet, and classical music are considered  “high culture.”   Choice (A)  provides some evidence that this necessary assumption is a questionable one

The correct answer is (A).

IanStewart · Answer

You're right - like many prep company questions, it asks you to weaken "an argument" that doesn't really exist.

Almost everything about this question is problematic, from the setup (the GMAT would never discuss a concept as problematic as 'high culture', except perhaps to critique it in an RC passage) to the logic to the wording. It's not even clear what answer A is trying to say. If I say "salmon should not be considered a fish", I can (and usually would) mean "salmon is considered a fish, but should not be". It's also possible, but less likely, that I mean "if you define 'fish' correctly, salmon is not a fish". So you can easily read answer A to mean two almost opposite things: "opera is considered 'high culture' but should not be", or "if we're being correct, some opera is not 'high culture'". There's no way to even guess which meaning is intended, and the two meanings have opposite effects on the "argument".

Anyway, this problem is not worth spending time on -- much better to focus on official questions!

A national performing arts association conducted a survey that appears

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