Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Hard

PT106 S4 P4 Q26 Explanation

Hollywood Films

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Passage

As one of the most pervasive and influential popular arts, the movies feed into and off of the rest of the culture in various ways. In the United States, the star system of the mid-1920s—in which actors were placed under exclusive contract to particular Hollywood film studios—was a consequence of studios’ discovery of cultural cross-fertilization, the press saw that they could profit from studios’ promotion of new films.

Today this arrangement has mushroomed into an intricately interdependent mass-media entertainment industry. The faith by which this industry sustains itself is the belief that there is always something worth promoting. A vast portion of the mass media—television and radio interviews, magazine articles, even product advertisements—now does most of the work for Hollywood or publish something about the film, too, because the audience for your story is already guaranteed.

The problem with this industry is that it has begun to affect the creation of films as well as their promotion. Choices of subject matter and actors are made more and more frequently by studio executives rather than by producers, writers, or directors. This problem is often referred to simply as an to their ability to affect audiences emotionally will become increasingly rare in the U.S. film industry.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
26.

The author’s position in the third paragraph would be most weakened if which one of the

Answer choices

  1. Weak Impact4% picked this

    Many Hollywood studio executives do consider a film’s ability to satisfy

    This does seem to weaken a bit, because it's pushing back at the idea that studio executives are only worried about profit. This is saying, "Many of them are worried about a film's ability to satisfy and engage audiences". But many is a pretty weak quantity ("at least a handful"), so this answer isn't telling us much. And the fact that they consider whether the movies will be good doesn't mean they prioritize making them good. Still, we could pick this if there weren't a stronger answer.

  2. Weak Impact10% picked this

    Many Hollywood studio executives achieved their positions as a result of demonstrating talent at writing, producing, or directing

    Like (A), this seems to weaken somewhat, by making the studio execs seem like people who could possess the skill needed to produce great films. But, like (A), the quantifier "many" is weak and the fact that the executives have a background that qualifies them to make good movies doesn't mean that they are focused on making good movies.

  3. Weak Impact16% picked this

    Most writers, producers, and directors in Hollywood continue to have a say in decisions about the casting and content of films despite

    This also pushes back against the story that studio executives are in charge, forcing bad ideas into the process in order to secure profits. This is saying that most writers / producers / directors (the creative artists) continue to have a say in casting and content. This does seem to weaken a bit, but "have a say" is saying your point of view will be heard, but not necessarily followed. Even if "most" of the time, the creatives are still in charge of subject matter and actors, the passage tells us that "more and more" these decisions are made by executives.

  4. Correct68% picked this

    The decisions made by most Hollywood studio executives to improve a film’s chances of earning a profit also add to its

    Why this is right

    This pushes back the most because it takes the author's biggest concern and uses it against her / shows her that it doesn't result in the problem she's fearing. It says that most of the decisions made by these executives, who are increasingly influencing how the movie is made in the hopes of having successful promotion that yields a profit, are actually adding to the movie's ability to satisfy moviegoers emotionally. The author was saying, "This is a problem. Executives are gaining more control and making decisions based on profit, rather than whether a movie will satisfy the audience emotionally." This answer is saying, "Ain't no problem. Most of the time when they make decisions based on profit it actually helps the movie to satisfy the audience emotionally."

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

  5. Strengthens, if anything2% picked this

    Often the U.S. mass media play an indirect role in influencing the content of the films that Hollywood studios make by whetting the public’s

    This is a very weakly worded idea, because "playing an indirect role in influencing" could mean having very little influence. But either way. The press is concerned about promotional juice as much as the studio executives are. Those two are working hand in hand to create a promotional frenzy. So the influence of the media would probably be aligned with the interests of the studio execs. Since our author thinks the influence of the studio execs is problematic, she would think the press's influence (which is also focused on exciting an audience's curiosity) would also be problematic.

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