PrepTest 103, Section 2, Question 13
A local television station is considering a plan(76 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(17 more words not shown)
- AParents would read(10 more words not shown)
- BThere would be(10 more words not shown)
- CThe rating system(10 more words not shown)
- DThe local television(15 more words not shown)
- ETelevision producers of(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
One gun still looks like a warning about violence.
I understand the station's scale: four guns means a lot of violence, and one means little violence. But would a parent looking at the listing understand that? Someone unfamiliar with the key might see a gun symbol and assume the show is violent, without recognizing the intended difference between the ratings.
I might also wonder why the station needs a new rating system. But whether another system is available is separate from whether this one could warn parents successfully. The station only needs its proposed system to do the job it claims.
My main concern is understanding. Printing a symbol does not automatically communicate its intended meaning.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption required for the plan to meet its purpose. I would predict that parents understand how to interpret the gun symbols. The system needs a connection between the published rating and what parents learn about the program.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This comes before my prediction about understanding the symbols: parents have to read and pay attention to the ratings at all. If the intended audience never notices the newspaper ratings, the ratings will not provide that audience with the promised warning.
We were asking whether parents would understand what they see. A addresses the earlier step of actually seeing and attending to it. That is a requirement for this proposed method of informing them.
- B
The system could inform parents whether low-violence shows outnumber highly violent shows or the reverse. The relative number of programs in those categories does not determine whether parents receive the information. There is no required distribution of ratings.
- C
A system can work without being the most effective one available. Another system could warn parents even better, while this system still achieves its stated purpose. The station needs effectiveness, not first place in a comparison of every possible system.
- D
Having an obligation to warn parents is different from being able to warn them through this plan. The argument predicts an effect of adopting the ratings; it does not try to establish the station's moral duty. The prediction could hold whether or not that duty exists.
- E
Producers do not have to reduce violence for parents to be forewarned about it. A producer could decide that a violent show is intended for adults and leave it unchanged. The ratings could still tell parents what to expect. The stated purpose is informing parents, not changing the programs.
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