PrepTest 123, Section 3, Question 10
Advertisers have learned that people are more easily(45 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Ause little if(6 more words not shown)
- Btry to encourage(16 more words not shown)
- Cplace their advertisements(6 more words not shown)
- Dhighlight the desirable(16 more words not shown)
- Ecreate advertisements containing(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
That's a long sentence for a familiar advertising trick. Suppose I don't care about a particular pen, but I like dogs. Show me the pen alongside a dog, and perhaps some of the good feeling carries over to the pen. The passage says pictures help create that positive association more easily than words alone do.
We have to complete the thought: what are advertisers likely to do with this information? Use pictures of things their audience already likes alongside the things they want the audience to like. If dog pictures help sell the pen, I'd expect to see dog pictures in the advertisement.
What we’re looking for
Keep the whole idea together as you read. We need images, but not just any images. We need the connection to something the intended audience already feels good about.
Working the answers
- A
Adding pictures doesn't require removing most of the words. An advertisement could contain plenty of written information and also use an appealing image to create the association. The passage compares pictorial help with words alone; it doesn't tell us advertisers will largely abandon prose.
- B
This shifts from how to advertise a product to which products to advertise. The passage doesn't sort products into ones best represented by pictures and ones best represented by words. It describes a way to improve attitudes toward things: link them visually with things the audience likes. Even a product that takes many words to explain could be advertised with that technique.
- C
Magazines can contain pictures too. The advantage described belongs to using images, not uniquely to television. It doesn't give advertisers a reason to choose television over magazines.
- D
This proposes a different use of pictures: make our product look good by comparing it with a competitor's bad features. The passage's method is to associate a product with something people already like. A dog beside a pen needn't represent a competitor or demonstrate a superior feature of the pen. D adds a comparison the argument never develops.
- ECorrect
Pictures of things the audience already likes supply the positive side of the association. Including them in advertisements lets advertisers connect the product with those good feelings. That is the natural next step from learning that these visual associations help improve people's attitudes.
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