PT159.S3.Q14

PrepTest 159 - Section 3 - Question 14

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Generally, open discussion of a false and pernicious idea diminishes its appeal. ████ ██ █ ███████████ ██████████ ████████ ███████ ██████████████ ███ ██ ████████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ████████

Summary

This is a Most Strongly Supported question, because we're looking for a principle that is "most clearly illustrated" by the statements in the stimulus.

The stimulus tells us 2 facts. First, open discussion of a false and harmful idea usually makes it less popular. Second, some false ideas become more popular when they're debated.

Anticipation

For some Most Strongly Supported questions, it's possible to connect statements in the stimulus together to produce a reasonable inference we might look for in the answer choices. Here, however, it's difficult to identify any specific anticipation. So we should rely on process of elimination.

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14.

Which one of the following ██████████ ██ ████ ███████ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████

a

Democratic governments should ██ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ████████ ██████ █████████ ███████ ███████████████

The stimulus deals only with the effects of open debate on the popularity of certain ideas. It doesn't tell us anything supporting a value judgment about what governments should be allowed to do.

2%
b

Sometimes it is ██████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ████ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ██████████████

The stimulus deals only with the effects of open debate on the popularity of certain ideas. It doesn't tell us anything supporting a value judgment about whether open discussion is better than the alternative.

10%
c

Not all pernicious █████ ███ ███████████████

(C) asserts that some pernicious ideas are not misconceptions. ("Not all X are Y" translates to "Some X are not Y.") But this has no support, because none of the facts in the stimulus are about ideas that are not misconceptions. We know only about misconceptions or ideas that are "false."

4%
d

Discussion and debate ██ ███ ███████████ ████ ██ █ ███████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████

This is supported by the second sentence. We know that some misconceptions (false ideas) become more popular when they're debated. This is evidence that open discussion/debate can make a false idea more popular. In other words, this is evidence that open discussion/debate doesn't necessarily lead to more acceptance of truth.

72%
e

One of the ███████ ████ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████

The stimulus doesn't give us any evidence concerning the reason that some ideas are appealing. We know that some false ideas are alluring enough that they become more popular when debated, but this doesn't suggest that those ideas become more popular because they are false.

11%

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