Reading comp PrepTest 141 · Section 1 · Question 20

Passage

Questions 16-21  .       Some critics of advertising have assumed that the  . creation of false needs in consumers is the Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic:

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A criticism of advertising is introduced, along with its central proponent
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Marcuse - Ads create false needs, which people meet with products that leave them unsatisfied, making companies richer
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • An assumption/base idea of Marcuse's theory is explored
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Assumption ("supposed") - People have physical/psychological needs, and they're stolen by ads, leading to purchases that leave people unsatisfied
    • Example - Perfume and sex
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • The Author hops in to say the Marcusian argument is bad
  • Assumption (real needs vs. false needs) is problematic
  • If M is right, then we can't separate these because they're ingrained
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • The Author goes further and says the Marcusian argument is wrong
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Assumption - Consumers don't have control
    • Reality - Ads can't make people do things if people are informed, and ads can't lie (regulations)
    • Reality - Most adults understand ad techniques
    • If people have needs, they may fulfill them with stuff
    • Products may not give the advertised feeling, but they can still give some feeling/fulfillment
Main Point:
Marcuse and his adherents claim that ads create false needs in people that are left unfulfilled by purchases, that, even if right, rests on a problematic distinction. But he's not right, because consumers make informed decisions and can opt for fulfillment from products.

Key Lines:
Lines 1-4 - Criticism/a viewpoint is introduced
Lines 20-21 - An example makes a point
Lines 22-25 - The main point of the criticism is summarized
Lines 26-28 - The Author criticizes Marcuse's view even if Marcuse is right
Lines 35-37 - The Author argues that Marcuse is wrong (points out an assumption)

Meta-Structure:
Rebuttal of Criticism - The Author brings up a viewpoint only to argue against it.

Argument in the Alternative - See second paragraph in Last Thoughts!

Last Thoughts:
Note that we have three sentences in our Main Point! The LSAT will almost certainly be more succinct than we will be in the correct answer to the Main Point question, but we wanted to make sure that we got the entirety of the debate, and both prongs of the Author's argument.

Speaking of which, note the difference between Paragraphs 3 and 4. In Paragraph 3, the Author notes that the distinction on which Marcuse's criticism lies is "problematic," as it would be impossible to tell the difference between the two...if Marcuse is correct. So that paragraph's criticism assumes that Marcuse is correct and then shows a problem with the argument. The following paragraph, however, pivots and argues that Marcuse is actually wrong, explaining why. This is an interesting argumentative strategy called arguing in the alternative—you show that, no matter what is true, the outcome is the same. Here, the Author essentially says—Marcuse is wrong, but even if he's right, his argument is still problematic. Cover all your bases as a lawyer!

That said, the main point of this argument is still that Marcuse and his adherents are wrong—the argument laid out in Paragraph 4. That's what the argument leads to, and the Author pivots ("But") from her argument in Paragraph 3 to the argument in Paragraph 4, highlighting it as the main part of her argument.

Question prompt

By the term "forces Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    intentionally dishonest claims that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 30-31) These forces of persuasion are what makes it hard to distinguish between real and false needs created by advertisers, so they can't be the false claims made in ads—that's too limited.
  2. B
    innate, instinctual drives that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 34) The forces have influenced our "instinctive judgments," so they can't be those instincts themselves.
  3. C
    emotional pressures that some Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 33) First, the passage doesn't refer to emotional pressures. Second, the passage does say that these influences are prevalent "in society," so they're not coming from society as a whole.
  4. D
    subtle practices of social Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 33) While the passage notes that these forces are prevalent in society, that's a far cry from saying they're sponsored by the state.
  5. E
    manipulative influences that some Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Meaning in Context

    Strategy Overview:
    Reread the line in question in context, reading at least the line before and after (and more if needed), then defining its meaning in that context

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Line 32 shows up in Paragraph 3, where the Author was arguing that, even if correct, Marcuse's argument relied on a problematic distinction between real and false needs.

    The line in question refers back to an earlier line ("in order to do so"), so we should read the line before it to get the proper context. There, we see that it's the Author arguing the implication of Marcuse being correct—we can't separate real needs from the fake ones that ads have created. To separate these needs, we'd have to eliminate the forces of persuasion "so prevalent in society" that they've become a part of our instincts. These are the forces of persuasion we have to define.

    So these forces are ones that are so baked into our society that they affect the way we view the world, and even our own needs. Let's find an answer reflecting that.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 33-34) The passage notes that these forces are prevalent and manipulative, and that they've come to "inform our instinctive judgments." If they've become a part of our instincts, they're no longer operating on a conscious level, and so they'd go unrecognized by the people affected by them.

    Key Takeaway:
    When a Meaning in Context question refers to a line that itself has language referring to an earlier idea, be sure to head back and read that earlier idea. Here, the line in question said "in order to do so," and so we needed to read the previous line to learn what "to do so" meant.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 12%
  2. B 9%
  3. C 16%
  4. D 2%
  5. E Credited 61%

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