Yes, it is but do not get discouraged. It is beatable.
Ignore the first blank for now and focus on the rest of the sentence.
Quote:
The journalism professor's first lecture tackled (i) ______ itself
I have no idea what the professor asserted so no care for now - 10 seconds to think this. No matter what.
the second part
Quote:
challenging the journalistic trope that an article has to represent all sides—no matter how marginal—equally.
In this sentence, I do not know what is the meaning of trope ( by the way it means a figurative way to use words or expressions) but this is not important. Try always to grasp the overall meaning of the sentence.
Actually, this portion of the entire sentence says: the professor in the lecture mentioned before is challenging the journalists' view that an article should be always impartial, representing all sides of the story. The professor is saying: this is not true or is not always the case.
Quote:
Instead, the professor argued that this impulse to (ii) _______ even obviously (iii) _______ views in order to furnish opposing perspectives is harmful to basic accuracy.
In this third part the professor is going to say why this is not always true. And most important, following this, is that in a more general way the tendency to (ii)
present - notice the word clue of the previous part
has to represent - even obviously (iii)
fringe views in order to furnish opposing perspectives is harmful to basic accuracy.
- controversial: this word does not fit because in order to furnish opposing perspectives has little sense - controversial and opposing? I do not think so. Moreover, the professor is not going to point out something that is controversial.
- straightforward: this word has no sense because if you use something that is straightforward you do have a clear view NOT to furnish an opposing perspective
- fringe: this must be the right word even if you do not know the exact meaning of it (it means unconventional). You do need fringe because of you should have something of "nuance" that change the overall meaning of a thing. Think about your favorite dish: it tastes really good but if you add - would say - a spicy the taste completely change. Yes, you need that small nuance changes the overall meaning or taste of your favorite dish
At this point, having a clear view of the overall sentence you back to the first blank: the professor challenges the journalists' view that an article offers an equally view of something but indeed this envission is not always true. I.E: not always an article is objective. As such, B is the right answer for the first blank (i)
objectivity.
Always:
- grasp the overall meaning
- dissect the sentence
- do not think in a linear way: start from where you find the gap. the weak link of the sentence and then do a sort of reverse engineering process
.
Hope this helps.
Regards
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