1000 CR TEST C # 1

[guest]

We have heard a good deal in recent years about the declining importance of the two major political parties. It is the mass media, we are told, that decide the outcome of elections, not the power of the parties. But it is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent years, and in the last nationwide campaign, the two major parties raised and spent more money than ever before in support of their candidates and platforms. It seems clear that reports of the imminent demise of the two-party system are premature at best.
1.Which of the following is an assumption made in the argument above?

(A) The amount of money raised and spent by a political party is one valid criterion for judging the influence of the party.
(B) A significant increase in the number of third-party candidates would be evidence of a decline in the importance of the two major parties.
(C) The two-party system has contributed significantly to the stability of the American political structure.
(D) The mass media tend to favor an independent or third-party candidate over a candidate from one of the two major parties.
(E) The mass media are relatively unimportant in deciding the outcome of most elections.

[dbernst]

Guest,

I would be happy to reply to your post, but no question is included. Please discuss your thought process over this problem, the answer choices you were able to eliminate, and your remaining confusion. This will help me formulate my response to better clarify your specific concerns.

-dan

[achlarajneesh]

DEAR DAN THE THOUGHT PROCESS GOING AS PER ME SAYS THAT ANS IS "D OR A" AS THE AUHTOR SAYS THAT "It is the mass media, we are told, that decide the outcome of elections, not the power of the parties. But it is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent years," HENCE HE ASSUMES THAT MEDIA FAVOURS THE INDEPENDENTS AND IT ALSO SAYS THAT "But it is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent years, and in the last nationwide campaign, the two major parties raised and spent more money than ever before in support of their candidates and platforms"

[yamini]

I think answer may be E or D.
In case of Choice A - raising of more money and spending in the previous elections is not related to the current declining importance.
B - increase in third party candidates are not mentioned in the argument. So it is irrelavant.
C - Argument hasn't mentioned any thing about stability.
D - Mass media mentioned only declining importance of the two major parties, but not the increase in third party candidate name. (this may be answer)
E - as the conclusion contradicts with the mass media, we can say mass media is relatively unimportant.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm not a fan of the 1000 series in general. Some of the questions are fine, but a number are not sufficiently GMAT-like, and it's very difficult for someone who hasn't looked at thousands and thousands of questions to tell the difference. Between the 1400 questiosn in the three current OG books and the past paper-and-pencil test questions, no one should need to use the 1000 series - I'd recommend dropping this as a source.

My guess is that the author of this question lists A as the correct answer.

1) Some people think major parties aren't as influential.
2) Those people think the media is more influential than the parties.
3) But the two major parties have won all of the recent important elections.
4) And they have raised and spent even more money than they used to.
5) So we don't really have appropriate evidence to say that the two-party system is dying. (NOTE: it does NOT say that the two party system is thriving, that those people are wrong to say the media is influential, etc. It simply says "we don't have the evidence to support that contention yet.")

A) The argument offers sentence 4 as a premise to support the author's conclusion (sentence 5). So the author is assuming that money raised / spent is actually a valid criterion by which to judge the importance of the two-party system.
B) More people may run, but if they don't win, then the major parties aren't suffering a decline.
C) This may be true in general, but it does not answer the specific question - the argument doesn't address the stability (or lack thereof) of the American political structure
D) The author is likely assuming that the mass media does give airtime to independent or third-party candidates. This doesn't necessarily mean that the media favors those candidates at the expense of the major party candidates. If the media just treats them all the same, and the media is the most influential thing, then we would expect SOME ind. / 3rd party candidates to win, but the argument indicates that only the major candidates are winning the important elections.
E) Again, this may be true, or it might even be something we can conclude based upon the argument, but the question is what assumption is necessary to support the author's conclusion. We don't have to assume the media is relatively unimportant - the author's point is not to diminish the media's importance but to say that the the major parties are not declining in importance.