The passage below is followed by questions based on its content. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage and in any introductory material that may be provided. . .
Questions 7-19 are based on the following passage.
Since the advent of television, social commentators have been evaluating its role in a modem society. In the following excerpt from an essay published in 1992, a German social commentator offers a pointed evaluation of the evaluators.
”Television makes you stupid..”Virtually all current theories of the medium come down to this simple statement. As a rule, this conclusion is delivered with a melancholy undertone. Four principal theories 5 can be distinguished.The manipulation thesis points to an ideological dimension. It sees in television above all an instrument of political domination. The medium is understood as a neutral vessel, which pours out opinions over a public 10 thought of as passive. Seduced, unsuspecting viewers are won over by the wire-pullers, without ever realizing what is happening to them. The imitation thesis argues primarily in moral terms. According to it, television consumption leads above all 15 to moral dangers. Anyone who is exposed to the medium becomes habituated to libertinism, irresponsibility, crime,and violence. The private consequences are blunted, calbus, and obstinate ¡®individuals; the public consequences are the loss of social virtues and general moral decline.20 This form of critique draws, as is obvious at first glance, on traditional, bourgeois sources. The motifs that recur in this thesis can be identified as far back as the eighteenth century in the vain warnings that early cultural criticism sounded against the dangers of reading novels.25 More recent is the simulation thesis. According to it,the viewer is rendered incapable of distinguishing between reality and fiction. The primary reality is rendered unrecog-nizable or replaced by .a secondary, phantomlike reality.All of these converge in the stupefaction thesis.30 According to it, watching television not only undermines the viewers’ ability to criticize and differentiate, along with the moral and political fiber of their being, but also impairs their overall ability to perceive. Television produces, there- fore, a new type of human being, who can, according to 35 taste, be imagined as a zombie or a mutant.
All these theories are rather unconvincing. Their authors consider proof to be superfluous. Even the minimal criterion of plausibility does not worry them at all. To mention just one example, no one has yet succeeded in putting before 40 us even a single viewer who was incapable of telling the difference between a family quarrel in the current soap opera and one at his or her family’s breakfast table. This doesn’t seem to bother the advocates of the simulation thesis.45 Another common feature of the theories is just as curious but has even more serious consequences. Basically, the viewers appear as defenseless victims, the programmers as crafty criminals. This polarity is maintained with great seriousness: manipulators and manipulated, actors and 50 imitators, sirnulants and simulated, stupefiers and stupefied face one another in a fine symmetry. The relationship of the theorists themselves to television raises some important questions. Either the theorists make no use of television at all (in which case they do not know 55 what they are talking about) or they subject themselves to it, and then the question arises through what miracle is the theorist able to escape the alleged effects of television? Unlike everyone else, the theorist ha remained completely intact morally, can distinguish in a sovereign manner 60 between deception and reality, and enjoys complete immunity in the face of the idiocy that he or she sorrowfully diagnoses in the rest of us. Or could--fatal loophole.in the dilemma--the theories themselves be symptoms of a universal stupefaction?65 One can hardly say that these theorists have failed tohave any effect. It is true that their influence on what is actually broadcast is severely limited, which may be considered distressing or noted with gratitude, depending on one’s mood. On the other hand, they have found ready 70 listeners among politicians. That is not surprising, for the conviction that one is dealing with millions of idiots “out there in the country”is part of the basic psychological equipment of the professional politician. One might have second thoughts about the theorists’ influence when one 75 watches how the veterans of televised election campaigns fight each other for every single minute when it comes to displaying their limousine, their historic appearance before the guard of honor, their hairstyle on the platform, and above all their speech organs. The number of broadcast 80 minutes, the camera angles, and the level of applause are registered with a touching enthusiasm. The politicians have been particularly taken by the good old manipulation thesis.
7. In line 11, the term “wire-pullers” refers to the
A bland technicians who staff television studios
B shadowy molders of public opinion
C self-serving critics of television
D hack writers who recycle old concepts
E slick advertisers of consumer goods
8. As used in line 14, “consumption” most nearly means
(A) destruction
(B) viewing
(C) erosion
(D) purchasing
(E) obsession
9. The reference to the eighteenth century in lines 21-24 conveys what impression about cultural critiques based on moral grounds?
A They are part of a tradition dating back to early civilization..
B They were the main preoccupation of that era’s social commentators
C They were once persuasive but now go mostly unheeded.
D They are no more valid today than they were in those years.
E They continue to appeal to people having no real understanding of art.
10. The author makes the comparison to the novel in lines 21-24 in order to
A point out television’ s literary origins
B underscore the general decline of culture
C emphasize television’s reliance on visual imagery
D expose narrow-minded resistance to new forms of expression
E attack the cultural shortcomings of television producers
11 The terms “primary” (line 27) and “secondary” (line 28) are used to refer to the distinction between
A an ideal democracy and our political system
B natural objects and human artifacts
C the everyday world and its fictional counterpart
D the morality of the elite and that of the populace
E the world view of scientists and that of mystics
12. Advocates of the simulation thesis might best respond to the criticism in lines 37-44 by pointing out that the author .
A trivializes their theory by applying it too literally
B concentrates excessively on a relatively insignificant point
C is not a psychologist and so cannot properly evaluate their argument
D attacks their theory in order to bolster one of the other three theories
E fails to consider the impact of television on popular culture
13. The author’s attitude toward the evaluators of , television can be best described as
A intrigued
B scornful
C equivocal
D indulgent
E nonchalant
14. The author responds to the four theories of television primarily by
A offering contrary evidence
B invoking diverse authorities
C adding historical perspective
D blurring the line between the manipulator and the manipulated
E implying that no reasonable person could take them seriously
15. According to the passage, most current evaluations of television are based on which of the following assumptions about viewers?
I. Viewers are mostly interested in comedy programs.
II Viewers never engage their analytical faculties.
III Viewers see political content where there is none.
A I only
B II only
C I and II only
D II and III only
E I, II, and III
16. In mapping out categories of theories about television, the author uses which of the following?
A Earnest reevaluation
B Incredulous analysis of academic documentation
C Somber warnings about the future
D Intentional falsification of data ¡®
E Description tinged with irony
17. In line 59, “sovereign” is best understood to mean
(A) excellent
(B) opulent
(C) elitist
(D) absolute
(E) oppressive
18. The “fatal loophole” (line 62) is best summarized by which of the following statements?
A Theorists are conspiring with the politicians.
B Theorists are themselves victims of television.
C All human beings occasionally behave like zombies and mutants.
D Even serious thinkers need mindless entertainment occasionally.
E Theorists have disregarded the enjoyment that television provides.
19. In the last paragraph, the author’s attitude toward politicians is primarily one of
A humorous contempt
B outraged embarrassment
C worried puzzlement
D relieved resignation
E begrudging sympathy