Self-study
Conclusion The public's welfare can be undermined by its own tastes. ███████████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ █████████ █████ ████████ █████████ ███████ █████████ ███ █████ █████ ████ ███████ ████ ████████████ ████ ██ ██████████████ ████████████ ██ █████████ ██ ██████ ████████████ ██ ████████████ ███████████ █████████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ███ ███ █████ █████████ ██ █████ ████ █████████ ██████ ███ ███████████ █████████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that the public’s welfare can be undermined by its own tastes. As support, the author explains that journalists focus on stories that will stimulate their readers’ interest, which are often stories that involve rumors and implausible conspiracies. These stories displace stories that would be better for the public, such as those about important political and social developments.
Identify Conclusion
The conclusion is the author’s assessment of how the public can hurt itself through its own desires: “The public’s welfare can be undermined by its own tastes.”
20.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
The best interests ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███████████ ████ ██████ █████
This is the closest paraphrase of the conclusion. “Best interests” is another way to describe “welfare.” “Preferences that people have” is another way to describe the public’s “own tastes.”
b
Journalists' tendency to █████ ██ ███████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ████████████ ██████████ ██ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████
This is an assumption of the author’s argument. But this assumption is just part of an explanation of how the public’s welfare can be undermined by its own tastes.
c
Newspaper articles that █████ ██ ██████ ██ █████████ █████ ████████████ ███ █████ ████████ ███████ █████ █████████ █████████ ██ ██████ █████████████
This is part of the support. Because newspaper articles about important things are too often displaced, this shows how the public’s own interests can hurt the public.
d
The shortcomings of ██████ ████████████████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ████████
This was not stated or implied by the author. “Shortcomings of modern print-journalism” is too broad.
e
Journalists should pay ████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ █████ ███████ ██ █████ ███
The conclusion is not a recommendation about what journalists should do.