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Must Be True Questions - - Question 49

For democracy to survive, it is imperative that the average citizen be able to develop informed opinions about import...

Kath October 13, 2019

Term shift

I am little confused at first by the different terms policy issues scientific subjects and some important issues. These term shifts prevented me from discerning that they are actually saying the same thing. How can I quickly decide they are the same?

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Annie October 14, 2019

@Kath,

It's good that you're asking this as these "term shifts" are the reason the question is difficult. In the first sentence, we learn that citizens need to be able to develop opinions on "important policy issues." Then in sentence two, we learn that policy issues include "scientific subjects." Finally, in the third sentence, we learn that it's getting harder for citizens to form opinions on many "important issues." So, the passage goes from broad ("important policy issues") to narrow ("scientific subjects") and back to broad ("important issues"). In this case, you can track these changes by following what citizens need to do. They need to learn about "important policy issues", "scientific subjects," and "important issues." By separating the sentences out, you'll notice that each of these phrases can be used interchangeably in this passage, and thus be able to follow the "term shifts."