Last visit was: 05 Jun 2026, 23:00 It is currently 05 Jun 2026, 23:00
Home
Messages
MBA Fair
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
User avatar
MahmoudFawzy
User avatar
Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Last visit: 20 Feb 2021
Posts: 660
Own Kudos:
2,185
 [22]
Given Kudos: 200
Status:Manager
Location: Egypt
Concentration: Strategy, International Business
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
GPA: 3.67
WE:Pharmaceuticals (Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals)
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
Posts: 660
Kudos: 2,185
 [22]
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 20 May 2019, 07:59
5
Kudos
Add Kudos
17
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

64% (02:25) correct 36% (02:31) wrong based on 898 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies. The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters. This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows. The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims. The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
D
avatar
OhsostudiousMJ
avatar
Joined: 28 Jan 2019
Last visit: 06 Apr 2024
Posts: 65
Own Kudos:
72
 [1]
Given Kudos: 121
Location: India
Schools: ISB '21 (A) Great Lakes '21 (WD)
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V36
GPA: 4
WE:Manufacturing and Production (Manufacturing)
Schools: ISB '21 (A) Great Lakes '21 (WD)
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V36
Posts: 65
Kudos: 72
 [1]
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 20 May 2019, 22:18
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Mahmoudfawzy83
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies. The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters. This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows. The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims. The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
Show more

Hi, I was stuck between A and D. Can you explain how the first BF is "evaluating a phenomenon"?
avatar
kukretipiyush
avatar
Joined: 08 Oct 2018
Last visit: 16 Jul 2019
Posts: 8
Own Kudos:
4
Given Kudos: 9
Posts: 8
Kudos: 4
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 23 May 2019, 04:16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Yes please can anyone explain this.

Posted from my mobile device
avatar
hnguyen28
avatar
Joined: 15 Jan 2019
Last visit: 04 Oct 2019
Posts: 3
Own Kudos:
6
 [1]
Given Kudos: 7
Posts: 3
Kudos: 6
 [1]
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 23 May 2019, 05:09
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.
Wrong. Because the second statement is not about example. The example about the oversimplification of the media coverage is the rise of "soft news", not the support increase. The support increase itself is the result of whatever happened before that.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.
The reason is stated in the second sentence of the stem.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.
There is no assessment whether the judgment is correct or not in the stem.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.
It is correct answer. It is about the result ("may well have helped")

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
Somewhat the same as the answer C.
User avatar
MahmoudFawzy
User avatar
Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Last visit: 20 Feb 2021
Posts: 660
Own Kudos:
2,185
 [3]
Given Kudos: 200
Status:Manager
Location: Egypt
Concentration: Strategy, International Business
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
GPA: 3.67
WE:Pharmaceuticals (Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals)
Schools: NTU '20 HKUST '21 Japan MBA
Posts: 660
Kudos: 2,185
 [3]
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 23 May 2019, 09:19
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi kukretipiyush and OhsostudiousMJ. I hope I can help.

The passage went through the following:
The author discussed the "Media coverage of complex news events" .His evaluation/assessment/claim is that the news coverage is "oversimplified".
Then, he explained the causes of oversimplification and cited a prominent model/example (which is the "soft news" or "talk shows" or "from news to stories shift")
Then he mentioned how "talk shows/narratives", which is example of oversimplification, increased the public support for US. intervention.

The last sentence explains the effect of an example of oversimplification on certain event ( it discusses a result/ consequence).
So it explains an example of a result not an example of the phenomena itself. That is what D says.
User avatar
anothermillenial
User avatar
Joined: 21 Jul 2018
Last visit: 14 Aug 2020
Posts: 151
Own Kudos:
462
 [1]
Given Kudos: 80
Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Social Entrepreneurship
Posts: 151
Kudos: 462
 [1]
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 30 May 2019, 19:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
(Conclusion) Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies.

(Premise) The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters.

(Premise) This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows.

(Premise) The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims.

(?) The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Show more

We’re looking for an answer choice that says: The first statement is a conclusion, the second is an example of the previous premise in the argument….but is not directly related to the first sentence. We also know that the two bold face statements are definitely on the “same” side.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.
]Hm, is the first an “assessment” of a phenomenon? I suppose. But I think the phenomenon is actually about “soft news” not media coverage in general. But let’s move on for now. Now looking back, this first IS assessing “soft news” but the second is not a description of specific examples but a claim about a time period where the phenomena occurred and was helpful.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.
]Well, the first is definitely not an “evaluation of a general trend.” Not even sure if that can be considered a trend at all. The second statement also doesn’t explain the first! So no.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.
]The first seems MEH. It could be judgement...but "of a relationship"? Not 100% on this part. The second is definitely NOT an instance in which this judgement “media cover oversimplified” is shown to be correct… in fact, the second discusses the benefits of the soft news. (C) is a no for me.


(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.
OK, well this answer choice is really about phenomena! Yes, I can see the author evaluating the phenomena of “soft news”. The second could very well be an observation of a result (“increased support among public for 1990s”). OK. I’m pretty solid on (D) right now.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
The first is a claim…maybe. The second is NOT an assessment of the claim. In fact, the second doesn’t talk about the simplification of media but about the effect of preying on “sympathy and emotions” which is more tied to the prior sentence about “the format of such shows lends itself to….” stories that simply engage our emotions and not hard facts. You could use it to assess the claim....but it doesn't directly assess the claim. It only gives examples about a prior statement.
User avatar
AKY13
User avatar
Joined: 29 Sep 2016
Last visit: 01 Nov 2019
Posts: 80
Own Kudos:
25
Given Kudos: 40
Posts: 80
Kudos: 25
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 17 Aug 2019, 18:11
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
anothermillenial
Quote:
(Conclusion) Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies.

(Premise) The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters.

(Premise) This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows.

(Premise) The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims.

(?) The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

We’re looking for an answer choice that says: The first statement is a conclusion, the second is an example of the previous premise in the argument….but is not directly related to the first sentence. We also know that the two bold face statements are definitely on the “same” side.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.
]Hm, is the first an “assessment” of a phenomenon? I suppose. But I think the phenomenon is actually about “soft news” not media coverage in general. But let’s move on for now. Now looking back, this first IS assessing “soft news” but the second is not a description of specific examples but a claim about a time period where the phenomena occurred and was helpful.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.
]Well, the first is definitely not an “evaluation of a general trend.” Not even sure if that can be considered a trend at all. The second statement also doesn’t explain the first! So no.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.
]The first seems MEH. It could be judgement...but "of a relationship"? Not 100% on this part. The second is definitely NOT an instance in which this judgement “media cover oversimplified” is shown to be correct… in fact, the second discusses the benefits of the soft news. (C) is a no for me.


(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.
OK, well this answer choice is really about phenomena! Yes, I can see the author evaluating the phenomena of “soft news”. The second could very well be an observation of a result (“increased support among public for 1990s”). OK. I’m pretty solid on (D) right now.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
The first is a claim…maybe. The second is NOT an assessment of the claim. In fact, the second doesn’t talk about the simplification of media but about the effect of preying on “sympathy and emotions” which is more tied to the prior sentence about “the format of such shows lends itself to….” stories that simply engage our emotions and not hard facts. You could use it to assess the claim....but it doesn't directly assess the claim. It only gives examples about a prior statement.
Show more


Hi friend

The first BF can be called a general statement or a claim. There is no evaluation being done. The evaluation is done in latter statements which aren't BF.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,487
Own Kudos:
1,018
Posts: 19,487
Kudos: 1,018
Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes 13 Sep 2025, 06:07
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7395 posts
AbhishekP220108
663 posts