PrepTest 143, Section 1, Question 17
Critics worry that pessimistic news reports about the(57 more words not shown)
The statements above, if true,(8 more words not shown)
- ACritics who think(15 more words not shown)
- BPessimistic news reports(22 more words not shown)
- CPessimistic news reports(12 more words not shown)
- DNews reports about(18 more words not shown)
- EJournalists need not(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Would a gloomy news report change what you think when you've been seeing the prices yourself?
I can understand the critics' concern. If bad news made people lose confidence and cut their spending, the economy might suffer. The journalists answer that doing their job well requires them not to worry about those effects. We could debate that position, but the final fact gives us a different way to evaluate the worry.
People don't defer to journalists on matters they experience directly, and everyone experiences the economy directly. Think about buying groceries, paying for gas, or receiving a paycheck. If a report says everything is going wonderfully while your own experience says otherwise, you may trust your experience instead.
What we’re looking for
Putting those facts together, I'd expect economic reporting to have limited influence on people's opinions about the economy. That's the supported conclusion to look for. We don't need to settle the broader debate about journalists' responsibilities.
Working the answers
- A
Confidence could affect the economy even if news reports don't strongly affect confidence. The passage gives us reason to question where people get their opinions, not to deny that those opinions can matter. A skips that distinction.
- B
Not having direct experience might leave room for people to defer to journalists. It doesn't establish that they will do so, much less that pessimistic foreign-policy reports will have a negative effect. The passage doesn't supply that account of what such reports do. B carries the critics' economic concern into a different subject without support.
- C
This repeats the worry the final information gives us reason to question. If people rely on their own economic experience instead of deferring to journalists, pessimistic reports are less likely to produce the loss of confidence the critics fear. The passage doesn't establish the harm asserted here.
- DCorrect
Everyone has direct experience of the economy, and people don't defer to journalists on matters of direct experience. Together, those facts support the limited influence described in D. The answer doesn't require us to claim that people never read economic news or that reporting has absolutely no effect.
- E
The journalists say they cannot worry about effects if they are to do their jobs well. That reported defense doesn't establish a broad rule freeing them from concern for citizens' well-being. The evidence about direct economic experience also doesn't settle the effects of all their reporting.
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