A
Einstein predicted that photons and neutrinos emitted by any one supernova would reach Earth simultaneously.
B
If gravity is not a property of space itself, then photons and neutrinos emitted simultaneously by a distant event will reach Earth at different times.
C
Photons and neutrinos emitted by distant events would be undetectable on Earth if Einstein’s claim that gravity is a property of space itself were correct.
D
Photons and neutrinos were the only kinds of particles that reached Earth from the supernova.
E
Prior to the simultaneous arrival of photons and neutrinos from the supernova, there was no empirical evidence for Einstein’s claim that gravity is a property of space itself.
Social critic: The operas composed by Bizet and Verdi are nineteenth-century European creations, reflecting the attitudes and values in France and Italy at the end of that century. Several recent studies impugn these operas on the grounds that they reinforce in our society many stereotypes about women. But only a small minority of contemporary North Americans, namely opera lovers, have had any significant exposure to these works.
Summarize Argument
In this question, the author doesn't explicitly state the conclusion, but rather leaves us to find the conclusion that is most strongly implied. The social critic’s statements tell us that these operas reflect nineteenth century French and Italian values, and that some critics have found stereotypes about women in these operas. However, these operas have not had wide exposure in North America. This sets us up for the implied conclusion that, while these operas may promote stereotypical views on women, the limited exposure of these operas means that they have not had a large impact on the spread of these views.
Identify Conclusion
The implied conclusion of this argument is that these operas have had a limited impact in spreading stereotypical views of women in North America.
A
Bizet and Verdi constructed images of women that have significantly influenced contemporary stereotypes.
This answer is not supported by the argument. We know that only a small minority of North Americans have viewed these operas, and we don’t know how pervasive the operas are outside of North America, we cannot conclude that these operas have significantly influenced stereotypes.
B
Nineteenth-century French and Italian images of women are quite different from contemporary North American images of women.
This answer is not supported by the argument. We do not have information that compares 19th century French and Italian images to those of contemporary North America.
C
The operas of Bizet and Verdi have not significantly contributed to stereotypical images of women in contemporary North America.
This conclusion is supported by the argument. Since the operas have had such limited exposure within North America, we can conclude that the impact of the operas on North American views is not significant.
D
Opera is not an important factor shaping social attitudes in contemporary North America.
This answer generalizes far beyond what information we actually have. We know about the lack of significant impact of operas by two specific composers; we cannot make a conclusion about the impact of opera in general.
E
People cannot be influenced by things they are not directly exposed to.
This answer is beyond the scope of our argument. This is a generalization way beyond what the argument discusses; our argument is about a narrow topic, and this answer is a broad generalizing statement.