Political opinion and analysis outside the mainstream rarely are found

Only E seems to be filling the logical gap. Since all different stations are airing more or less the same content , it is sane to generalize that political opinions discussed are of lesser interest to a broader audience.
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E is a good example of a typical trap answer, in that it seems to answer the question but does not really.

Notice what E actually says.

"the television talk shows of different stations resemble one another in most respects."

Does this really have to be true in order for the argument to work?

The author is saying that the opinions offered by television shows are in the "mainstream" and "innocuous".

However, there are to television shows many aspects other than the opinions discussed, aspects such as format, topic, and length. All of these could be different, even if the opinions offered were the same. So the shows could be different in many respects even if they were to offer the same types of opinions.

Further, the author is STATING AS FACT that the shows are bland. So the author is NOT ASSUMING anything about the content or the similarity of the shows. Rather the author is assuming things about THE REASONS for the shows' being bland and innocuous.

Now let's consider B.

"there are television viewers who might refuse to watch television talk shows that they knew would be controversial and disturbing."

To tell the truth, this question is not that tightly written. Does B really fill a gap? Perhaps.

Since none of the other answer choices work at all, let's discuss how B in a way fills a gap.

The authors conclusion is, basically, that the stations offer only bland and innocuous content in order to appeal to large numbers of people. The premise is that stations are driven by economic forces to appeal to large audiences.

There is a gap between the idea the the stations want to appeal to large audiences and the idea that therefore they offer bland and innocuous content. The author seems to be assuming that large numbers of people want bland and innocuous content.

Hence B.
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I don't agree with the ans choice given here as correct. The stem says that - As a result, political opinions and analyses aired on television talk shows are typically bland and innocuous (means controversial) and people like to watch these shows. But option 'B' says opposite altogether. So as per my opinion B can not be the ans choice.

Innocuous actually means - something not harmful or offensive. This is the reason why such shows are appealing to people. Had those been controversial people would have refused to watch them - the assumption.

The Television stations air those shows that appeal to large number of people. Political Opinion and Analysis are rarely found on TV talk shows and those that are aired are bland and innocuous (not harmful).

Assumptions:
1. Large number of people prefer to watch TV talk shows which are not disturbing

Answer choices:
a. most television viewers cannot agree on which elements of a particular opinion or analysis are most disturbing
If most viewers cannot agree, it means they are not able to distinguish between what is disturbing and what is not. This weakens the conclusion and implies they will watch the shows which are even disturbing.

b. there are television viewers who might refuse to watch television talk shows that they knew would be controversial and disturbing.
Yes, this is an important assumption behind because if viewers "do not" refuse to watch, it will break the conclusion. There is no point of not airing disturbing shows if people will not reject them.

c. each television viewer holds some opinion that is outside the political mainstream, but those opinions are not the same for everyone.
Even if they hold an opinion, whether it is favourable or unfavourable to these talk shows is not clear.

d. there are television shows on which economic forces have an even greater impact than they do on television talk shows.
This strengthens the conclusion but not a necessary assumption. Because if there are no TV shows which have been greatly affected, it is immaterial. Still these television talk shows will be impacted.

e. the television talk shows of different stations resemble one another in most respects
Even if they do not resemble in most aspects, it might resemble in the aspect of maintaining the "innocuous" nature of the talk shows.

Clear B, since this breaks the author's conclusion

For an explanation of the CONTRAPOSITIVE, check my post here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/for-a-trade- ... 45-20.html



The usage of as a result implies the following CAUSAL conclusion:
Television stations must capture the largest possible audience --> Analyses aired on television talk shows are bland and innocuous
Contrapositive of the conclusion above:
Analyses are NOT bland and innocuous --> Television stations will NOT capture the largest possible audience

Apply the NEGATION TEST.
When the correct answer is negated, the conclusion will be invalidated.

B, negated:
There are NO television viewers who might refuse to watch television talk shows that they knew would be controversial and disturbing.
Rephrased as an if-then statement:
If a talk show is known to be controversial and disturbing, there are no television viewers who might refuse to watch the show.
This if-then statement invalidates the blue contrapositive above.
Since the negation of B invalidates the conclusion, B is an ASSUMPTION: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to hold.


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The Problem with Option B here is that it does not quantify the number / the portion of viewers who might refuse to watch controversial programs. The argument clearly says that TV Networks want to capture the Majority of viewership. So even if we negate option B, the force of the argument still persists because it could be the case that people who do not refuse to watch controversial programs comprise a smaller portion of all the viewers.

It is still an assumption as the argument stands. There obviously are people that do not like controversial analysis/opinion. An assumption is something without which the argument falls apart. What would happen if nobody had a problem with controversial analysis/opinion? The author's argument would fall apart. At that point I'd be thinking - "Hey, if nobody has a problem with controversial analysis/opinion, you can't base your argument on similar lines. Give me more data. "

Is option B the only way that an assumption for this argument can be formed? Definitely not, but option B is definitely an assumption.

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