PrepTest 141, Section 1, Question 20
Some critics of advertising have assumed that the(423 more words not shown)
By the term " forces(15 more words not shown)
- Aintentionally dishonest claims(8 more words not shown)
- Binnate, instinctual drives(9 more words not shown)
- Cemotional pressures that(12 more words not shown)
- Dsubtle practices of(11 more words not shown)
- Emanipulative influences that(10 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Read the phrase with the sentence immediately before it. The author is considering the Marcusian account: advertising has manipulated what people feel they need. These influences are so pervasive that they shape even instinctive judgments, making it difficult to separate supposedly real needs from manufactured ones.
What we’re looking for
The phrase refers to that persuasion working beneath people's confident awareness of why they want things. We need a description of the influence, not a new source or a narrower accusation.
Working the answers
- A
Intentional dishonesty is not required. The argument includes associations between a product and a desired experience, which could shape wants without making an explicitly dishonest claim. This narrows the phrase beyond its context.
- B
These are persuasive influences acting on people, not innate drives they already possess. Advertising may appeal to a real need; that does not make the advertising influence itself an inborn need.
- C
The context is the alleged manipulation of advertisers. Saying the forces are pervasive in society does not make them emotional pressures exerted by society as a whole. That changes both the description and the source of the influence.
- D
Nothing identifies the state as sponsoring these practices. Advertising by businesses cannot be recast as state-sponsored indoctrination without further evidence.
- ECorrect
The preceding sentences concern manipulation that has become part of people's instinctive judgments. On that theoretical account, those affected cannot confidently separate their own real needs from the induced ones. Unrecognized manipulative influences captures that connection.
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