PrepTest 122, Section 1, Question 19
Film critic: There has been a recent spate(74 more words not shown)
To which one of the(10 more words not shown)
- AAlthough filmmakers are(12 more words not shown)
- BEveryone ought to(7 more words not shown)
- CFreedom of speech(8 more words not shown)
- DFreedom of speech(10 more words not shown)
- EViews that people(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The right to say something isn't a demand that everyone listen.
The filmmakers defend their speculative accounts by invoking freedom of speech. The critic accepts that they are entitled to express their views. But that doesn't establish that the views are accurate or worth an audience's attention. Permission to make the film leaves those separate questions unanswered.
My first reaction is that we can decline to take an absurd account seriously. Be precise, though: the critic says the freedom-of-speech defense doesn't support a duty to pay attention. The critic accepts their right to express the views while questioning whether that right gives us a reason to listen.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the principle that fits the commentary. Keep that distinction between the speaker's entitlement and the audience's obligation. We can respect the right to express a view without accepting everything its speaker claims for it.
Working the answers
- A
The critic doesn't deny that filmmakers are justified in expressing their views. The commentary expressly accepts their entitlement to speak and then questions what follows for the audience. A shifts the judgment back to whether the filmmakers ought to express the views at all.
- B
This initially sounds close to dismissing the absurd claims. But it goes further in two ways. It tells everyone to ignore the films, while the critic discusses whether anyone is obliged to pay attention to the absurd views. And “you don't have to listen” isn't the same as “you should ignore it.” A person might choose to watch a flawed documentary for some other reason without contradicting the critic.
- C
Freedom to express a view doesn't make expressing it necessary. The critic accepts permission, not a requirement that someone produce absurd claims. Nothing in the passage supports that new obligation.
- D
The critic explicitly accepts the filmmakers' freedom-of-speech defense of their right to express the views. The response is that this right doesn't establish a reason anyone must listen. D rejects the entitlement that the critic concedes.
- ECorrect
People may have a right to express views without anyone being obligated to pay attention to them. That separates the two questions exactly as the critic does. The filmmakers' right to speak can be fully respected while their appeal to that right fails to establish a duty for the audience. E doesn't add a ban on the films or a universal instruction to ignore them.
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