PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 16
Political scientist: The dissemination of political theories is(69 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- APersons outside academic(12 more words not shown)
- BPersons within academic(11 more words not shown)
- CPersons outside academic(12 more words not shown)
- DPersons outside academic(14 more words not shown)
- EPersons within academic(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why couldn't someone inside the university explain the theory clearly?
The communication problem makes sense. A theory may offer ideas that could change society, but complicated academic language can shut out people who would help bring that change about. Explaining the ideas plainly could make them accessible. Imagine a theory about liberty influencing how people think their government should operate: it can't have that effect on people who can't follow what it says.
What I don't yet see is why the translator needs a special position outside academia. A graduate student might be good at explaining the ideas. A professor might know how to speak to people who haven't studied the subject. Producing a complicated academic text doesn't show that nobody in that setting can communicate plainly.
What we’re looking for
For the required assumption, focus on that outside-versus-inside distinction. The author needs a reason to give outsiders this special role, rather than merely a reason to want clear writing.
Working the answers
- A
People outside universities can be important to social change without being the most important participants. The argument says they matter and should be able to understand the theories. It doesn't need a ranking that places them ahead of everyone who develops or communicates the ideas.
- B
A theorist could write from curiosity without trying to change society, while the resulting ideas still influence other people and produce change. Possible effects of distributing a theory don't establish the theorist's purpose in formulating it. The argument doesn't depend on that intention.
- C
The passage describes where theories are formulated. It doesn't recommend excluding outsiders from the initial work. More importantly, the conclusion concerns explaining existing theories clearly, not deciding who should be allowed to help create them. C addresses a different role.
- D
Who gains more from distributing the theories doesn't decide who can best explain them. Both insiders and outsiders might benefit. The special communication role could still rest on their comparative willingness or ability to write clearly, regardless of which group benefits most.
- ECorrect
Academics are less willing or less able than outsiders to write straightforwardly. That supplies the comparative disadvantage behind assigning outsiders a special role. If insiders were at least as willing and capable, the difficulty of the original language wouldn't itself establish that outsiders are specially needed to fix it. Notice the limited claim: less willing or less able, not that every academic is incapable of clear writing.
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