Question

Which of these number is Main Idea?!

(1) Propaganda is information that is methodically spread in order to persuade audiences to adopt a certain opinion. (2) Advertising is an ever-present form of propaganda in our lives. (3) Four common propaganda techniques are present in the advertising we see and hear every day. (4) One technique, the testimonial, involves having a well-known person appear on behalf of the product being sold. (5) Advertisers assume, for example, that if we admire a sports star, we’ll want to eat the cereal he or she endorses. (6) Another common propaganda technique, the bandwagon, makes us want to be “one of the gang.” (7) “Everybody’s switching to . . .” “Don’t be left out . . . ” and “All across America, people are discovering . . . ” are phrases that signal a bandwagon approach. (8) The plain-folks propaganda technique is especially popular on TV. (9) In plain-folks commercials, we see and hear “regular” consumers talk about their experience using a certain phone company, headache remedy, or brand of coffee. (10) The fourth common propaganda technique, the transfer, encourages us to link two unrelated objects in our mind. (11) When a powerful cougar prowls around a shiny new car, for example, advertisers hope we will transfer our sense of the wild cat’s speed, strength, and beauty to our vision of their product.

Answer 1

The main idea of the given text is that propaganda is used to persuade public opinion, with statement (1) clearly defining this concept.

Step-by-step explanation:

The main idea of the text is that propaganda is a strategic form of communication used to influence people's attitudes and beliefs toward a specific cause or position. Often, it incorporates various techniques such as bandwagon, testimonials, plain-folk appeals, and transfer, to persuade and manipulate public opinion. In the given text, statement (1) encapsulates the central concept by defining propaganda and its purpose, making it the main idea around which the other statements revolve. The remaining sentences (2) through (11) serve to elaborate on this main idea by providing examples and details about different propaganda techniques.