Originally, most intellectual criticism of mass culture was ------ in character, being based on the assumption that the wider the appeal, the more ------ the product.
Show Hint
- unpredictable... undesirable
- ironic... popular
- extreme ... outlandish
- frivolous... superfluous
- negative ... shoddy
The Correct Option is
Solution and Explanation
The sentence describes the nature of early intellectual criticism of mass culture. The second half of the sentence explains the "assumption" on which this criticism was based, so the two blanks should be logically consistent with each other.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The assumption is "the wider the appeal, the more ------ the product." This is a classic intellectual critique of mass culture: popularity is inversely proportional to quality. Therefore, the second blank must be a word that means "of poor quality." If this is the underlying assumption, then the criticism itself (the first blank) must be generally unfavorable or critical.
- (A) unpredictable... undesirable: The link isn't unpredictability, but quality.
- (B) ironic... popular: The assumption is that wider appeal makes a product less valuable, not more popular.
- (C) extreme ... outlandish: While the criticism might have been extreme, "outlandish" (bizarre) isn't the most precise word for the assumed consequence of wide appeal.
- (D) frivolous... superfluous: "Frivolous" (not serious) could fit the first blank, but "superfluous" (unnecessary) isn't the direct result of wide appeal.
- (E) negative ... shoddy: This pair is a perfect fit. The criticism was "negative" in character because it was based on the assumption that the wider the appeal, the more "shoddy" (of poor quality) the product.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The criticism was "negative" because it assumed that popularity leads to a "shoddy" product.
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