Main Idea: Due to shutting of old view(pop culture less than high art), pop culture is now studied. But this change of mentality is . Despite recognised academically, intellectuals feel pressured to__, which shows their_____ for previous system.
the tone of the passage is contrasting within first 2 sentences and the third sentence as whole supports the idea of first 2 sentences as a whole
I attacked the 3rd blank first, my guess is - likings
For the 1st blank I guessed- not taken seriously; I labelled pronoun “this alteration of attitudes” as the mind-shift - pop culture is not below high art
I struggled with the second blank because of the word “own”. How do we know whether the intellectuals like movies and fiction or dislike them?
Option E and Option F don’t work because pop was never respected before, so why would intellectuals feel compelled to justify their distaste or indifference of pop (action movies or mass-market) ? It was the norm to consider pop an inferior art, as previously established.
But if the intellectuals like pop, they might feel like they have to justify their penchant because it goes against the norm.
In my opinion, the guess world could have been more generic. But you got the connotation correct. Option H is the only option that matches.
Thank you. Can you please explain the phrase “ perhaps unwittingly” and how do we know that these intellectuals rationalizing these liking to others or themselves?
This phrase connects the second blank to the third blank. Their need to justify their liking perhaps unintentionally indicates the continued investment in the old hierarchy. In other words, the influence of old hierarchy is still present and visible by the need to justify their liking of pop. This is perhaps unintentional.
Presumably to others. But I don’t think it matters. The idea is these intellectuals think there is a need to justify pop culture and that’s enough to answer this question
