#1 - Editorialist: Advertisers devote millions of dollars

[TurtleLawyer]

Hi,

I picked B instead of E. I think in the heat of the moment I picked B because it weakened the the conclusion and that instantly set off something in my brain to want to pick it, forgetting that this was a STRENGTHEN question.

I saw that there was no thread for this question so I figured I'd try to make one.

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Explanation: So we're looking for something that will STRENGTHEN the Editorialist's argument. They argue that in some democratic countries political strategists have adopted advertising strategies. Because of this, election results can't be seen as clean or pure preference of people.

Pre-Phrase: If I can prove that advertising really work well this can strengthen the conclusion.

A: Irrelevant. This doesn't strengthen our conclusion.

B: This would weaken the conclusion. If people know they are being advertised too they might be immune to advertising.

C: So what if there are advertising limits? This doesn't prove that advertising works.

D: So what. This feels like a shell game, they're talking about TV and print media (I think) to allude to advertising, but this doesn't strengthen our conclusion.

E: The advertisements often change peoples beliefs. DING. This strengthens the Editorialist's conclusion that results can't be seen as clean or pure preferences of the people because advertising is influencing their decision (because advertising works).

[Robert Carroll]

Turtle,

This looks good to me! The argument depends on there being some aspect of political advertising that influences people's opinions to such an extent that the resulting opinions can no longer be considered the "unadulterated preferences" of those people. We don't really know to what extent political advertising will accomplish that, so a good prephrase (like yours!) will address the belief-changing influence of these ads.

I do think answer choice (B) weakens the argument if anything, so it's out. Good job recognizing that!

I like your explanation of answer choice (E), the correct answer, quite a bit. Note it's important the answer talked about political ads, so I can be sure the information is relevant to elections.

Robert Carroll