PrepTest 131, Section 3, Question 17
A recent study of major motion pictures revealed(31 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(15 more words not shown)
- AMovies based on(16 more words not shown)
- BIf the details(22 more words not shown)
- CBecause of the(28 more words not shown)
- DA certain aesthetic(16 more words not shown)
- EAlthough most modern(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A familiar plot can still be enjoyable. A hero faces a problem, the action builds to a climax, and the story reaches a resolution. People may like watching that pattern unfold with different characters and details. Think of audiences returning for another Marvel or Spider-Man movie even when the broad formula is familiar.
There is another possibility: the passage says most plots are reused, not all. Perhaps some viewers choose the original exceptions. Either possibility could help explain why people keep enjoying new movies despite all that repetition.
What we’re looking for
This is an EXCEPT question. Four answers will help explain that enjoyment, and we need the one that doesn't. Keep asking why the experience remains enjoyable for viewers despite the familiar plots.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Greater financial success could explain why studios choose standard plots. It doesn't explain why viewers enjoy those plots. A movie's revenue and the pleasure of watching it aren't the same fact. This gives a business reason to keep making the films while leaving the puzzle about audience enjoyment unanswered.
- B
The same underlying plot need not feel like the same story. Different details can make moviegoers perceive two movies as having different plots. That helps explain why a variation can feel fresh and enjoyable even when a study classifies the basic structure as familiar.
- C
Reusing plots across an industry doesn't mean each viewer repeatedly encounters the same one. Imagine dozens of underlying plot structures being reused while you happen to see a different structure each time. C says repeat exposure is fairly unlikely, which explains why industry-wide repetition need not become personal repetition for a viewer.
- D
This directly supplies pleasure from the variations themselves. Viewers may enjoy seeing how different movies handle a familiar plot. Repetition is then part of the appeal rather than something that necessarily prevents enjoyment.
- E
A plot reused from the 1940s or 1950s might be new to someone who has never seen those older films. The historical repetition could therefore feel like a new story to the current viewer. That helps explain enjoyment without requiring the plot to be original in the history of movies.
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