If the media give publicity to certain types of crime, it may encourage criminals to carry out ‘copy cat’ offences. If, however, they were forbidden to divulge details of crimes, this would amount to censorship. The freedom of speech of the media is too important to sacrifice, so the media should be free to report crime even if this means some crimes are committed which would not otherwise be committed.
Which one of the following expresses the main conclusion of the above argument?
A. Publicity about crimes can encourage others to commit similar offences.
B. Censorship of the media would reduce the crime rate.
C. The media should be permitted to report crimes even if other crimes sometimes result from this reporting.
D. The media should not report all the details of a crime.
E. Freedom of speech is a right that is too important to give up
Key Steps:
- Read the question (do this for every question!)
- Read the passage
- In your own words, make a conclusion for the passage. What is the author’s main idea?
- Find a sentence in the text that matches the conclusion you made, and underline it.
- Keep an eye out for giveaway words and phrases
- Find an answer that matches the underlined sentence.
The author makes their conclusion clear in the last line of the passage: “so the media should be free to report crime even if this means some crimes are committed which would not otherwise be committed”. The author explains that unfortunately when crimes are publicised this can lead to crimes of a similar nature being committed. However, the author deems that freedom of speech related to media is vital and should not be restricted, regardless of the outcome.
Let’s have a look at the options to work out which one is correct:
A.Publicity about crimes can encourage others to commit similar offences:
Statement A is a simplified, reworded version of the following from the passage: “If the media give publicity to certain types of crime, it may encourage criminals to carry out ‘copycat’ offences.”. Even though it is true that Statement A appears in the passage, it is not the main conclusion that the author wants to convey. Therefore, Statement A is incorrect.
B.Censorship of the media would reduce the crime rate:
Statement B is not supported by the passage. The passage refers to censorship decreasing the possibility of “copycat” crime, not the general crime rate. Additionally, the question requires us to find the main conclusion and Statement B is not the main conclusion we have identified. Therefore, Statement B is incorrect.
C.The media should be permitted to report crimes even if other crimes sometimes result from this reporting:
We have identified that the author believes that: “ The freedom of speech of the media is too important to sacrifice, so the media should be free to report crime even if this means some crimes are committed which would not otherwise be committed.”. We have also identified that statement as the main conclusion of the passage. Statement C is expressing the same meaning as the statement quoted above, therefore statement C is correct.
D.The media should not report all the details of a crime:
Statement D directly contradicts the beliefs of the author. The author states that “The freedom of speech of the media is too important to sacrifice”. Therefore Statement D is incorrect.
E.Freedom of speech is a right that is too important to give up:
The author explains that “The freedom of speech of the media is too important to sacrifice” which is synonymous with Statement E. However, the author provides this information as a justification for the main conclusion. Therefore Statement E is not the main conclusion and is consequently incorrect.