PrepTest 124, Section 1, Question 14
It has been suggested that a television set(105 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(20 more words not shown)
- AIt states a(11 more words not shown)
- BIt is an(47 more words not shown)
- CIt is a(20 more words not shown)
- DIt is an(44 more words not shown)
- EIt is a(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A television can shape what people know and think. A toaster doesn't do that just by making toast. I can see why the author resists treating the two as interchangeable appliances.
But does television's importance automatically mean the government needs to control it? That connection still needs support. We can question it while following the author's reasoning: television matters politically and culturally, so the author recommends some governmental control.
Now look at what supports the claim about importance. Many voters get their current-affairs information from television, which is offered as evidence of its political role. The amount of time televisions are on—more than five hours a day in the average home—is offered as evidence of their cultural influence. Those details support the importance claim, and the importance claim in turn supports government control.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the role of that middle claim. It is both supported and supporting: a conclusion drawn from the details about television, then a reason for the broader recommendation. That's what an intermediate conclusion does.
Working the answers
- A
The author wants to defend the claim that television is politically and culturally important. The view being challenged is the earlier suggestion that market forces should determine television content just as they determine kitchen-appliance design. A assigns the opposing view's role to the author's own supporting claim.
- B
The claim does function as an intermediate conclusion, but check what it supports. It helps the author argue for some governmental control, not for treating television as a toaster with pictures. B connects the correct role label to the wrong side of the argument.
- C
The author doesn't use television's importance to establish how kitchen-appliance designs are determined. That point belongs to the initial analogy. The importance claim supports a recommendation about regulating television, so C gives it the wrong job.
- DCorrect
The claim supports the recommendation for some government control and receives support from the later details. Television being on for more than five hours a day is part of the case for its cultural importance; the source of voters' information supplies political support. D describes both directions correctly: evidence supports the importance claim, and that claim supports the recommendation.
- E
This puts the reasoning backward. The fact that many voters obtain information through television is offered to show television's political importance. The author doesn't first establish political importance and then use it to prove where voters get their information. Keep track of which claim is the reason for which.
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