Read the following passage and answer questions from 46 to 50.
Television is a cultural commodity. It works within an economically determined capitalist economy. but when we have said that about it we have said both much and remarkably little. There is a financial economy within wealth circulates, and a economy within which meanings and pleasures circulate, and the relationship between them is not as deterministic as some theorists have proposed. In the financial economy, television symbolises programmes and advertisements, not textuality. A programme i is a commodity produced and then sold to distributors. In distribution, its role changes and it becomes not a commodity, but a producer, and what it produces is a new commodity. the audience which is then, in its turn, sold as a commodity to advertisers. The ramifications of this financial economy are fascinating. Here the role shift undergone by the programme in the financial economy-that from commodity to producer-is now undergone by the audience, who are left as a commodity sold to the advertiser. But in the cultural economy the audience rejects its role as a commodity and becomes a Producer, a Producer of meanings and pleasures, and at this moment stops being an audience and becomes different materialisations of the process that we call "viewing television". While the metaphor of a cultural economy is a productive one, we must not let it blind us to differences between it and the financial. Meanings and pleasures do not circulate in the cultural economy in the same way that wealth in the financial. In the first place there is no exchange of money at the point of sale or consumption. Television appears to be free, however, it may be actually paid for. Payment has no direct relationship to consumption people can consume as much as they wish and what they wish with no thought of what they are to afford.
When we consider television as a product, then it operates in a/an
Correct Answer :
Circulatory commercial system
Solution :
The correct option is Circulatory commercial system.
Step-by-step Explanation:
1. Analyzing the passage:
The text describes television as a cultural commodity operating within an "economically determined capitalist economy." It details how television works in two parallel systems: a "financial economy" and a "cultural economy."
2. Understanding the Financial/Commercial Aspect:
According to the passage, in the financial economy, a television programme starts as a commodity that is produced and sold to distributors. Once distributed, the programme acts as a producer to create a new commodity: the audience. The audience is then sold to advertisers. This exchange of commodities (programmes, audiences) for money highlights the commercial nature of the system.
3. Understanding the Circulatory Aspect:
The passage explicitly mentions: "There is a financial economy within which wealth circulates, and a cultural economy within which meanings and pleasures circulate...". The constant shift in roles (from commodity to producer, and the movement of value from programme to audience to advertiser) represents a circulation of economic/commercial value.
4. Matching with the Option:
When television is viewed specifically as a "product" or commodity that is produced, distributed, and sold within this capitalist framework, it operates in a system where wealth and commodities circulate for commercial gain. Therefore, it is best described as operating in a Circulatory commercial system.
Access expert-curated educational resources and study materials—completely free.
Create, conduct, and manage professional online assessments with Mindyard. Perfect for teachers and institutes.
Copyright © 2026 Mindyard. All Rights Reserved.