Political Commentator: In order for a democracy to flourish, it is ess

jlgdr
Could anybody elaborate on why D is wrong here?

Cheers!
J

My 2 cents reply

1.Ideas/Views strengthen society NOT democracy
2. No connection between Ideas/views STRENGTHENING the govt.

E&OE

It is main point question and right answer is just rephrasing the conclusion. We have two conclusions here:

1. It is essential that the government loosen its control on the media (subconclusion)

2. Despite the potential short-term instability this may cause the country, it will strengthen the long-term health of the country (conclusion).

Ideally, answer should rephrase the second sentence but there are no options, though D is tempting. The only choice is B that rephrase subconclusion


B

Type: Conclusion.
Premise: The premise talks about the hold of government on media

A) The government is exercising too much control over the media
The government is exercising control only on certain forms of media. Moreover, this is not the conclusion. This is just the premise.
B) The government needs to open the media and release its hold on certain forms of speech
Correct. We can conclude that the government needs to release its hold from certain forms for the long term good of the country.
C) Democracy requires a strong and free press
This idea is not discussed in the premise
D) Even ideas not supportive of democracy can strengthen a government
The premise talks about the strengthening of the country, not the government
E) The future of the media lies in the hands of the government
Too far fetched. Since we are talking about certain forms of speech, not the media in itself.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The conclusion of the commentator's argument is: "It is essential that the government loosen its control on the media."

To see this, consider the points that the author makes:
(1) political and journalistic freedom are essential for democracy
(2) society is strengthened by many views being expressed
(3) our government stifles free speech
(4) government must loosen speech controls
(5) loosening control of the media leads to long-term strength

Notice that the logical progression of the argument is as follows:
(2) -> (1) -> (3) -> (5) -> (4)

To see the relationship between premises and conclusion, notice how awkward the argument would become if a point such as 1, 2, or 3 were to be the conclusion.
It makes no sense to say: since "government must loosen speech controls," therefore "political and journalistic freedom are essential for democracy."
Rather, it makes sense the other way around:
Since "political and journalistic freedom are essential for democracy," therefore "government must loosen speech controls."

Some test-takers believe that the conclusion is the last sentence of the paragraph. However, this is incorrect since, in this argument, the last sentence serves as a premise to the conclusion. To see this, try to allow the second to last sentence to serve as a premise to the last sentence and it should be clear that this is not the way the sentences are functioning in the argument.

A. Although this statement is true, it is a premise not a conclusion. It is because the government is exercising too much control that "it is essential that the government loosen its control on the media."

B. This is a paraphrase of the conclusion. Every other sentence or major idea in the argument serves as a premise to this statement, which is the conclusion or main point of the author's argument.

C. This mirrors the first sentence of the paragraph. However, it functions as a premise not as a conclusion. It is because democracy requires a free press that "it is essential that the government loosen its control on the media."

D. Although this is similar to the last sentence of the paragraph, it is not the conclusion. The line of reasoning in the paragraph is:
democracy --> long term health --> government must open press
The reasoning is NOT:
government must open press --> democracy --> long term health (it makes no sense to say that since the government must open the press, therefore we will have long term health)
Moreover, the last sentence deals with the health of the country, not the strength of the government.

E. Although this is true, it is not the main thrust of the argument. The author is not trying to make this point. Instead, he is granting that this is true and then trying to argue that the government needs to open the press.

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