The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Certain codes may, of course, be so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture, and be learned at so early an age, that they appear not to be constructed – the effect of an articulation between sign and referent – but to be 'naturally' given. Simple visual signs appear to have achieved a 'near-universality' in this sense: though evidence remains that even apparently 'natural' visual codes are culture specific. However, this does not mean that no codes have intervened; rather, that the codes have been profoundly naturalized. The operation of naturalized codes reveals not the transparency and 'naturalness' of language but the depth, the habituation and the near-universality of the codes in use. They produce apparently 'natural' recognitions. This has the (ideological) effect of concealing the practices of coding which are present.
Answer: B
Core idea: all signs are codes (constructed links between sign and referent). Some codes are so widespread and learned so early that they look "naturally given". This does not mean no code is at work; the code has been deeply naturalised, and this has the ideological effect of hiding the coding that is present.
Option 2 captures all three steps: language and visual signs are codes; some are so widespread they seem natural; and in doing so they hide the mechanism of coding.
- Option 1: says learning early makes all codes appear natural - the passage says only certain codes. It also says naturalisation is the effect of ideology, reversing the passage, where concealment is the ideological effect of naturalisation.
- Option 3: claims all codes have a natural origin, which directly contradicts the passage's point that codes are constructed.
- Option 4: "Not all codes are natural" implies some are, against the passage. "Ideology aims to hide" adds a purpose; the passage speaks of an effect, not an intention.
Tip: watch for quantifier shifts (all/some) and for options that turn an effect into an aim or a cause.