Art is omnipresent around us. Music, painting, literature, opera, movie etc, they maybe hang over the wall in your teacher's office, stored in your MP3 or maybe put in your backpack. These staffs are unable to eat, or make a living for a normal person. So what are they used for? In my opionion, they are the things not satisfied our substance need, however they satisfied our spiritual need. I basically agree with the speaker that in order for any work of art have merit, it must be understandable to most people.
In order to organize our thought of the speake's contention, we should have a clear definition of the merit. The merit of art is variety from the education purpose to commercial one. For the arts that aim to education people or publicizing its idea, the accepted by majority people is fairly important. I doubt if it has ever hit the target ---- the book  THE KITE RUNNER using the recondite language depict the intricate plots will win the first rank in the booking selling board. Only the art work can be easily penetrate into people's heart and mind can the art actualise the value of education and publisizing. At the same time, we could not omit that it is also the first condition for the art implement the value of commerce. For arts can barely accepted by most of people may lack of the investment value. Like contribution to a personal painting exhibition or buidup for an author for making money from the sales.
On the other hand, we should also have a clear consciousness that apart fromt the fomer merit art we should not ignore the ethnic value of art work. Then the understanding by most people is a dispensable limitation, or maybe the unnecessary one. Due to the work require wide knowledge and long time experience of art activity, a normal people who always contact with the art work which mainly as an entertainment function can hardly equipe the qualification to judge the esthetic value of an art piece. So the speaker's contention fail to have have any mean in thiis point. From another point of view, because of the judgement of thosepecialist, the level of ethnic for a civilian may be enhance in some degree. That's also the reason why people like to exhibit the art gallery or listen to the ochestra in leisure time, a part of the reson may come from the need of emotion satisified, and mostly from cultivate the judgement to the art work.
Understand by a particular people which not take the big part cannot be equaled to the result that this art work do not have a merit. In China, the Beijing opera can been seen as an national art, but in the western country this kind of art not be understand widely., even in China the Beijing opera is still a entertainment of a small part of people. However we cannot deny its merit base on the mentioned reason. As a result the proposition of understanding by most of people is not a nessery conditon.
In the final analyse, we should confess that the art work should be understand by most peopel should it will implement its merit. On the contrary such merti may only be restricted in the education and publicizing value. As a faculty, a piece of art work equipe a lot of other merits more than the two. We should consider all of the value when we judge the merit of an art.