PrepTest 141, Section 4, Question 24
Clearly, a democracy cannot thrive without effective news(37 more words not shown)
The argument's conclusion is properly(9 more words not shown)
- AAll societies that(7 more words not shown)
- BIf an electorate(18 more words not shown)
- CA democracy will(10 more words not shown)
- DA democracy cannot(12 more words not shown)
- EWithout effective news(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Voters need information. Why must it come through effective news media?
I can see the appeal of the conclusion: it's hard to make good political decisions without understanding the issues. But the argument needs to connect that need to the particular institution it calls essential. Could voters get unbiased information some other way—perhaps directly from people sharing what they know? We haven't ruled that out.
Follow the requirements already stated. For a democracy to thrive, its electorate must be knowledgeable. For the electorate to be knowledgeable, it must have access to unbiased information about the government. Neither statement yet makes effective news media necessary for that access.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. Give us the missing requirement: without effective news media, people can't get that unbiased information. Then losing the media would remove something needed for knowledge, which would remove something needed for a thriving democracy.
Working the answers
- A
This makes effective news media enough to produce a thriving democracy. The conclusion needs media to be required for a democracy to thrive. A could be true even if some societies thrived through other ways of informing their voters. It doesn't rule out the alternative that troubles us.
- B
This makes access to unbiased information enough for knowledge. But even if we accept that, we still haven't connected access to effective news media. The electorate might get the information elsewhere, become knowledgeable, and leave the conclusion's requirement unsupported.
- C
This says a knowledgeable electorate is enough for a democracy to thrive. It doesn't establish that becoming knowledgeable requires effective news media. Adding this connection among democracy and knowledge leaves the missing media link just as missing.
- D
Being exposed to biased information is different from lacking access to unbiased information. People could encounter both. D also says nothing about whether effective news media are required to provide the unbiased information. It adds a new restriction rather than supplying the connection the argument needs.
- ECorrect
Effective news media are now necessary for access to unbiased government information. Without those media, the electorate lacks the required access; without that access, it can't be knowledgeable in the required way; without a knowledgeable electorate, the democracy can't thrive. E completes the entire chain to the stated conclusion.
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