PrepTest 141, Section 1, Question 18
Some critics of advertising have assumed that the(423 more words not shown)
The main function of the(4 more words not shown)
- Asummarize the political(10 more words not shown)
- Boutline the mechanisms(9 more words not shown)
- Cevaluate the psychological(12 more words not shown)
- Ddescribe the prevailing(15 more words not shown)
- Edescribe Marcusian views(13 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The first paragraph introduces the criticism we will spend the rest of the argument examining. It identifies Marcuse as central to that criticism and gives his basic claim: advertising creates false needs, apparent satisfaction conceals oppression, and corporations gain.
What we’re looking for
So its job is to present the view the author will later challenge. It has not yet reached the author's assessment or the detailed perfume example.
Working the answers
- A
The paragraph mentions corporate power, but it does not give a political or economic history explaining how Marcusian criticism arose. It summarizes the criticism itself. Background vocabulary does not turn it into an account of the theory's origins.
- B
This is closer to the next paragraph, which explains how advertising associates a real need with a consumer item. The opening introduces Marcuse's position and its importance to a type of criticism; describing the mechanism alone misses that introductory role.
- C
The paragraph reports Marcuse's view rather than evaluating the psychological processes involved. The author's critical assessment begins later, with the problematic distinction and the objection about autonomy.
- D
We are told that “Some critics” hold this view and that Marcuse's writings are central to this type of critique. That does not establish the prevailing position among contemporary critics generally.
- ECorrect
Both parts fit. The paragraph describes Marcuse's account of manipulation through false needs and identifies his writings as central to certain criticisms of advertising. That sets up the explanation and rebuttal that follow.
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