PrepTest 140, Section 3, Question 5
Some people believe that advertising is socially pernicious—it(41 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Aconsumers would still(13 more words not shown)
- Bthe social perniciousness(11 more words not shown)
- Cthe fact that(11 more words not shown)
- Dif advertising changes(10 more words not shown)
- Eit is not(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Changing what I want isn't automatically bad. What if an advertisement introduces me to a wearable device that I end up finding useful? I didn't want it before I knew about it, but that doesn't make the new preference a problem. Of course, an advertisement could also persuade me to buy something I later regret. We need more than 'my preference changed' to decide whether the influence was harmful.
That's the point of the art and music classes. The passage accepts that those classes change people's tastes and says there's nothing wrong with them. So changing preferences cannot, by itself, establish that an activity is socially harmful. 'Pernicious' means harmful here.
What we’re looking for
We're completing the argument. I'd finish with that limited objection: the reason offered against advertising doesn't establish that advertising is bad. We haven't shown that advertising is good, and we haven't identified some other way it must be bad. We've challenged this particular test for badness.
Working the answers
- A
We don't know what proportion of consumers' wants advertising changes. It could affect a small share or a large share. The argument concerns whether changing a preference establishes harm, not how many preferences would remain without advertisements.
- B
This treats advertising as socially harmful and claims its harm extends beyond changing preferences. Neither claim has been established. Showing that a proposed reason for condemning something is inadequate doesn't show that another reason for condemning it exists. Advertising might be harmful in other ways, but we aren't given that conclusion.
- CCorrect
Art and music classes provide an example of acceptable activities that change preferences. That defeats the idea that preference change alone establishes badness. C applies that point to advertising without claiming more than the comparison supports: we still need some further reason before declaring advertising bad.
- D
The classes' positive status doesn't show that advertising generally changes preferences in a positive way. The advertisement for a useful device was one possible case, not evidence about most advertising. Rejecting an automatic negative judgment doesn't justify an automatic positive one.
- E
The argument accepts that advertising changes preferences. It questions the judgment attached to that fact. E instead disputes whether the change happens, which is a different objection from the one the art and music comparison supports.
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