PT144.S3.Q16

PrepTest 144 - Section 3 - Question 16

Show analysis

Evidently, Conclusion watching too much television can lead people to overestimate the risks that the world poses to them. █ ██████ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █ ███████ ████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ████

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The stimulus starts with the author's conclusion, the general claim that watching too much TV leads people to overestimate the risks they face in the world. Only afterwards are we given the basis for this claim: the author cites a study showing a positive correlation between people watching more TV than average and people believing they’ll be victims of natural disasters. The conclusion in the first sentence is a hypothesis offering an explanation for this correlation.

Notable Assumptions

The author concludes causation from correlation, hypothesizing that watching an above-average amount of TV is what makes people more likely to think they will be victims of natural disasters. Thus, the author assumes that the causation isn't the other way around, with people's nervousness about natural disasters causing them to watch more TV, or due to some third factor — general anxiety about the world, for example — causing both trends.

To get to her conclusion, the author also assumes that watching an above-average amount of TV is the same as watching "too much" TV, and that people who think they are likely to be victims of natural disasters are actually "overestimating" risks. If, for example, people who watch less TV actually underestimate the risk of natural disasters, then it's possible that people who watch more TV than average just have an accurate perception of the risk of natural disasters.

Show answer
16.

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

a

Many people overestimate ███ ███████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ██ █████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██████

b

A person is ████ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ ███████ █ █████████████ ██████ ██ ███████████

c

People who watch █ █████████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ████████ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █ ███████ █████████

d

People who are ████ ████████ █████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ████████ ██ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ███████████

e

A person is ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ██ ████

Confirm action

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