Question

As an example of the devastation wrought on music publishers by the photocopier, one executive noted that for a recent choral festival with 1,200 singers, the festival's organizing committee purchased only 12 copies of the music published by her company that was performed as part of the festival.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the support the example lends to the executive's contention that music publishers have been devastated by the photocopier?

• A. Only a third of the 1,200 singers were involved in performing the music published by the executive's company.
• B. Half of the singers at the festival had already heard the music they were to perform before they began to practice for the festival.
• C. Because of shortages in funding, the organizing committee of the choral festival required singers to purchase their own copies of the music performed at the festival.
• D. Each copy of music that was performed at the festival was shared by two singers.
• E. As a result of publicity generated by its performance at the festival, the type of music performed at the festival became more widely known.

Hint:

In "weaken the argument" questions that use statistical evidence, look for an answer choice that shows the evidence is incomplete, misinterpreted, or that the sample is not representative. Here, the executive's evidence (sales to the committee) is shown to be unrepresentative of total sales.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is a weaken the argument question. The executive's argument consists of a conclusion and a piece of evidence.
Conclusion: Music publishers have been devastated by the photocopier.
Evidence: For a festival with 1,200 singers, the organizing committee bought only 12 copies of music.
Assumption: The executive assumes that the only reason for the low sales number (12) relative to the number of participants (1,200) is that the remaining copies were illegally photocopied. To weaken the argument, we must attack this assumption by providing a plausible alternative explanation for the low sales figure.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
We need to find an answer choice that explains why the committee might have bought only 12 copies, even if no photocopying took place.
Analyzing the Options:
(A) If only a third of the singers (400) performed the music, there is still a massive discrepancy between 400 singers and 12 copies sold. This does not seriously weaken the assumption that photocopying occurred.
(B) Having heard the music is irrelevant to needing the physical sheet music to perform it in a choir.
(C) This provides a compelling alternative explanation. If the committee's policy was to require singers to buy their own copies, then the committee itself would only need a few reference copies (e.g., for the conductor, accompanists, etc.). The 12 copies sold to the committee would not represent the total sales for the festival. Many more copies could have been sold directly to the 1,200 singers. This breaks the link between the evidence (12 copies sold to the committee) and the conclusion (devastation by photocopier), thus seriously weakening the argument.
(D) If each copy was shared by two singers, then 600 copies would be needed for 1,200 singers. The sale of only 12 copies would actually strengthen the executive's claim that massive photocopying must have occurred.
(E) This discusses a potential positive outcome after the festival, which is irrelevant to why so few copies were sold for the festival itself.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Option (C) provides the strongest alternative reason for the low number of sales to the organizing committee, thereby weakening the executive's claim that photocopying is the cause.