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- Posts: 8950
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- Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:34 pm
#22704
Complete Question Explanation
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
This stimulus consists only of observations; however, the statements drive toward a very definite conclusion. The media emphasize unusual (exceptional) events that do not pose as much risk to the public as do frequent events. However, since the public interprets the emphasis on unusual events to mean those events pose more of a risk, we can infer that the public is often mistaken about which events are riskier, especially when the media are the source of information.
Answer choice (A): We should not assume that the "commercial news media" are limited to broadcast media. "Commercial" implies that there is a for-profit element, and is not about the medium itself. In any case, the stimulus gave no indication about what kind of source might be better, so this answer is wrong.
Answer choice (B): The stimulus was about what the media present and what the public believes, not about the media's motivation for certain programming. This answer choice uses assumptions external to the stimulus, and is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): The stimulus suggests that the reason people feel certain events are more dangerous is that the media emphasizes those events. It is fairly legitimate to observe that people might be more afraid of an airplane crash because of a perceived relative lack of control, but that observation is unsupported by the stimulus, and this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct choice. The statements interact to suggest that when the news media serve as a source of information about disastrous events, the public perception of risk is incorrect. Even though it is possible to argue that the media could be a dominant source of information without serving as a source of information about risk, answer choice (D) is close enough to the conclusion to be a contender, and all of the other answer choices are badly flawed.
Answer choice (E): Since the stimulus stated that the media generally emphasize exceptional events, it is actually likely that the media would pay more attention to the rarer disease than to the cholera outbreak. This choice claims exactly the opposite, and is therefore incorrect. If you misinterpreted "exceptional" to mean "impressive in degree," or the like, you should note that the stimulus made its usage of "exceptional" as "unusual" fairly clear by stating that the media paid less attention to events that occurred "far more frequently." Furthermore, the word "exceptional" actually implies exception, and therefore rarity. For example, a person would accurately be referred to as an "exceptional" student because that student's degree of commitment, accomplishment, or ability has been unusual.
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
This stimulus consists only of observations; however, the statements drive toward a very definite conclusion. The media emphasize unusual (exceptional) events that do not pose as much risk to the public as do frequent events. However, since the public interprets the emphasis on unusual events to mean those events pose more of a risk, we can infer that the public is often mistaken about which events are riskier, especially when the media are the source of information.
Answer choice (A): We should not assume that the "commercial news media" are limited to broadcast media. "Commercial" implies that there is a for-profit element, and is not about the medium itself. In any case, the stimulus gave no indication about what kind of source might be better, so this answer is wrong.
Answer choice (B): The stimulus was about what the media present and what the public believes, not about the media's motivation for certain programming. This answer choice uses assumptions external to the stimulus, and is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): The stimulus suggests that the reason people feel certain events are more dangerous is that the media emphasizes those events. It is fairly legitimate to observe that people might be more afraid of an airplane crash because of a perceived relative lack of control, but that observation is unsupported by the stimulus, and this choice is wrong.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct choice. The statements interact to suggest that when the news media serve as a source of information about disastrous events, the public perception of risk is incorrect. Even though it is possible to argue that the media could be a dominant source of information without serving as a source of information about risk, answer choice (D) is close enough to the conclusion to be a contender, and all of the other answer choices are badly flawed.
Answer choice (E): Since the stimulus stated that the media generally emphasize exceptional events, it is actually likely that the media would pay more attention to the rarer disease than to the cholera outbreak. This choice claims exactly the opposite, and is therefore incorrect. If you misinterpreted "exceptional" to mean "impressive in degree," or the like, you should note that the stimulus made its usage of "exceptional" as "unusual" fairly clear by stating that the media paid less attention to events that occurred "far more frequently." Furthermore, the word "exceptional" actually implies exception, and therefore rarity. For example, a person would accurately be referred to as an "exceptional" student because that student's degree of commitment, accomplishment, or ability has been unusual.
