Improving Paragraphs
Passage: (The paragraph below is the first paragraph of a passage that appeared in the test.)
- (1) Advertisements are present wherever we go. (2) They enter our houses in newspapers, magazines, and on our television screens. (3) Television advertisements are used not only to sell products but, more importantly, to sell ideas. (4) It is in selling ideas that ads have the most significant impact. (5) They interrupt most television programs every few minutes. (6) Many ads imply that if we buy specific products then we will be happy. (7) An example of this strategy is an ad in which a woman is shown driving her family in a new car. (8) She has a smile on her face, a new car will bring people happiness.
Question: Sentence 5 would make the most sense if placed after
- (A) Sentence 1
- (B) Sentence 2 CORRECT ANSWER
- (C) Sentence 5
- (D) Sentence 6
- (E) Sentence 7
Explanation:
This question asks you to recognize that sentence 5 is an expansion of the thought introduced in sentence 2 and properly belongs immediately after that sentence in the paragraph. To place the idea later in the paragraph disrupts the progress of ideas that the writer is developing. The correct paragraph reads:
- Advertisements are present wherever we go. They enter our houses in newspapers, magazines, and on our television screens. They interrupt most television programs every few minutes. Television advertisements are used not to sell products but, more importantly, to sell ideas. It is in selling ideas that ads have the most significant impact. Many ads imply that if we buy specific products then we will be happy. An example of this strategy is an ad in which a woman is shown driving her family in a new car. She has a smile on her face; the new car has supposedly brought her happiness.