PrepTest 103, Section 2, Question 2
Once a child's imagination becomes developed, a host(42 more words not shown)
The type of situation described(11 more words not shown)
- ASome newly developed(6 more words not shown)
- BSometimes the cause(8 more words not shown)
- CChildren are not(8 more words not shown)
- DThe most effective(11 more words not shown)
- EMost problems associated(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The same imagination that creates the monster can create the protection.
A child who imagines a monster under the bed may become frightened. But imagine turning that frightening creature into something ridiculous: a huge spider wobbling around on roller skates, for example. The child is still using imagination, only now it helps take away the fear.
The passage's toy example works the same way. The child imagines a toy as a powerful ally that can ward off the imaginary threats. A teddy bear would not do much against a real intruder, but the threat here is imagined. An imagined protector can change how the child feels about it.
What we’re looking for
The question asks which general proposition fits this situation. My prediction is that something causing a problem can also help solve that problem. Here, imagination supplies both the frightening creatures and a way to make them harmless.
Working the answers
- A
“Newly developed capacities” fits the child's developing imagination, but “only give rise to problems” does not. The whole point is that this capacity can also help resolve the fear. A preserves the beginning of the situation and discards what happens next.
- BCorrect
Imagination causes the problem by producing frightening creatures. It also supplies a possible solution by producing an ally strong enough to defeat them. Those are the two roles B connects.
“Sometimes” is enough. We are given a situation in which the cause can help solve the problem, not a rule that every cause always provides its own solution.
- C
Being frightened by an imaginary creature does not establish that a child cannot tell real and imaginary threats apart. Someone could recognize that a frightening image is imaginary and still react to it. More importantly, C leaves out the central relationship: the same capacity creates and relieves the fear.
- D
We are not comparing this approach with every other way of addressing a child's fears, so we cannot call it the most effective. The example also involves imagining protection, not merely acknowledging a fear. The passage gives one possible way to help, not a ranking of techniques.
- E
We have one kind of problem: fear of imaginary creatures. That does not establish that imagination solves most problems involved in raising children. The answer expands a specific example into a broad claim about child-rearing that the passage never supports.
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