PrepTest 141, Section 1, Question 19
Some critics of advertising have assumed that the(423 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AIn modern society,(10 more words not shown)
- BModern societies differ(12 more words not shown)
- CIt is impossible(14 more words not shown)
- DAdvertising in modern(16 more words not shown)
- EAdvertising exploits basic(22 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Return to the opening description of Marcuse. His concern is that people believe they are satisfied even while living in an objectively unsatisfying world. Advertising helps produce that apparent satisfaction by creating false needs. We want a claim attributed to him, not one from the author's rebuttal or a new theory about modern society.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The first paragraph describes modern people as “believing themselves satisfied” and then explains how advertising contributes to that process. A captures the apparent satisfaction, without saying their genuine needs have actually been met.
- B
There is no comparison with earlier societies, and Marcuse's claim is not limited to a failure to meet basic physical needs. Both the historical contrast and the narrower claim are unsupported.
- C
Marcuse relies on a distinction between real and false needs. The author later challenges our ability to separate them with assurance. C turns that objection into Marcuse's own claim and strengthens it to an impossibility of any meaningful distinction.
- D
The oppression described benefits corporations through profit and disproportionate power. We are not told that advertising serves totalitarian political systems. The word oppression alone does not establish that different beneficiary.
- E
Marcuse calls the manufactured needs false. Saying they become real reverses an essential part of the view, even though the language about exploiting basic needs sounds familiar.
More Detail questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Detail questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.