LR Drill Set 12, Question 3
Sociologist: A prominent critic argues that because our(74 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(6 more words not shown)
- AIt rejects the(17 more words not shown)
- BIt accepts the(14 more words not shown)
- CIt neither accepts(20 more words not shown)
- DIt accepts the(10 more words not shown)
- EIt rejects the(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Ignoring older people doesn't automatically mean a culture is obsessed with youth. Maybe it focuses on middle-aged people. Maybe people are so concerned with themselves that they ignore others of every age. Those possibilities make me question the critic's reasoning.
But listen to the sociologist's response: the sociologist agrees that the culture is obsessed with youth. The disagreement concerns how the critic tries to establish that point. The critic uses the treatment of older people as evidence. The sociologist replies that very young people receive no better treatment. If neglect also happens to the young, it doesn't clearly mark a preference for youth over old age. The sociologist uses that observation to challenge the proposed connection between the neglect and the obsession.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to describe this response. Keep the conclusion separate from its support: “Your conclusion is true, but these reasons don't establish it.” That combination is possible. Someone can get to a true statement through an argument that doesn't work, and we can criticize the argument without denying the statement.
Working the answers
- A
The sociologist does challenge the support, but does not reject the critic's conclusion. The passage explicitly says it is true that the culture is obsessed with youth. Don't let the criticism of the argument erase that agreement.
- BCorrect
This preserves both parts of the response. The sociologist accepts the conclusion about an obsession with youth, then rejects the critic's attempt to support it with the treatment of older people. The observation about very young people explains why the sociologist thinks that evidence doesn't establish the proposed connection.
- C
“Neither accepts nor rejects” would mean leaving the truth of the conclusion undecided. The sociologist doesn't leave it open: “it is true” is an explicit acceptance. C gets the doubt about the reasoning roughly right while missing the stated agreement about the conclusion.
- D
The first part is right: the conclusion is accepted. But the observation about very young people is used to challenge the critic's evidence, not to give a new reason for believing the culture is obsessed with youth. Merely supplying another fact isn't the same as supplying independent support. Ask what work that fact does in this response.
- E
The sociologist neither rejects the conclusion nor accuses the critic of bias. The response examines the proposed evidence and introduces a comparison the critic overlooked. An objection to someone's reasoning doesn't automatically amount to an attack on that person's motives.
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