PrepTest 151, Section 2, Question 8
Normally, political candidates send out campaign material in(59 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- ANormally, political candidates(8 more words not shown)
- BThe recent ads(14 more words not shown)
- CThe recent ads(14 more words not shown)
- DThe recent ads(9 more words not shown)
- EEbsen’s campaign has(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Too few households to change public opinion? Maybe the campaign wasn't trying to do that yet.
At first, a small mailing could look like a failed effort. Perhaps the campaign lacked money or meant to send more ads. But testing is another explanation: try a message on a limited group before paying to distribute it widely. The campaign could want to discover which issue works best—taxes, immigration, or the environment, for example—before committing to a larger effort.
The variety of topics and the spending on follow-up fit that testing explanation. The campaign is checking how recipients respond, not simply sending one message as widely as possible.
What we’re looking for
For the conclusion question, the claim about reaching too few households might initially stand out. Is that what the argument is trying to establish, though, or is the author using it to explain the purpose of the ads? We need to follow what supports what.
Working the answers
- A
This is the normal practice the author uses as a starting contrast. The argument then focuses on Ebsen's unusual mailing. Restating what candidates ordinarily do leaves out the author's explanation of this campaign's particular behavior.
- B
This is tempting because it identifies what seems unusual about the mailing. But why tell us it was too small to influence popular opinion effectively? To support the idea that the mailing had a different purpose: testing. The small audience is a reason for that explanation, not the overall point the other evidence is meant to establish.
- CCorrect
The author is arguing that the ads were a test. Their limited reach makes the usual explanation less plausible, and the variety of topics plus the follow-up effort support the testing explanation. B helps establish C; C isn't offered as the reason we should believe B. That direction of support resolves the tempting choice between them.
- D
The variety of topics is evidence for the proposed purpose. Trying different messages and measuring responses fits an effort to learn what works. The author uses that variety to support the testing conclusion rather than arguing merely that the mailing covered many topics.
- E
Follow-up to gauge recipients' reactions is further evidence of testing. Even treating the answer's surveys as that follow-up, it gives us a supporting activity, not the author's overall explanation of why the ads were sent. The conclusion is what this follow-up helps establish.
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