PrepTest 120, Section 4, Question 16
Logan: Newspapers have always focused on ephemeral matters(43 more words not shown)
On the basis of their(10 more words not shown)
- Anewspapers accurately report(9 more words not shown)
- Bthe study of(11 more words not shown)
- Cpopular art is(15 more words not shown)
- Dnewspapers ought to(14 more words not shown)
- Enewspaper reports from(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Useless? That's a lot stronger than saying the newspapers missed important developments.
“Ephemeral” means short-lived. A newspaper might spend its pages on concerns that quickly fade from attention. But couldn't those concerns still tell a historian something about the people who read the paper? Overlooking major changes doesn't automatically strip every other story of historical value.
That's Mendez's response. Stories can tell us what people thought and felt. Mendez doesn't have to defend the newspapers as complete or perfectly accurate accounts of society to identify that use.
What we’re looking for
We need the point of disagreement. Logan says old newspapers are useless to historians; Mendez gives a reason they can help us understand people in the past. Look for that dispute over usefulness, without adding a disagreement about what newspapers ought to cover.
Working the answers
- A
Mendez doesn't say newspapers accurately report the most important changes. The response could grant that they overlook those changes and still defend their usefulness for learning about people's thoughts and feelings. We don't have opposing positions on A.
- B
Neither speaker recommends a study of newspaper-reporting conventions. Such a study might be interesting, but it is a new proposal. Their disagreement concerns whether old newspapers can supply useful historical material.
- C
Mendez includes popular art among useful sources. Logan only discusses newspapers, so we don't know whether Logan would accept or reject the claim about art. Mentioning something in the reply doesn't make it a point of disagreement.
- D
This recommends what newspapers should focus on. Logan's criticism might make that recommendation seem plausible, but Mendez doesn't take a position on it. Defending the value of existing stories isn't the same as opposing a change in future coverage.
- ECorrect
Logan rejects this: old newspapers are useless to historians. Mendez supports it by explaining that the stories reveal what people of an era thought and felt. That information gives the papers a use in understanding the past, even if they miss important societal changes. The response needn't repeat the exact word “useful” to express the opposing position.
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