PrepTest 106, Section 1, Question 22
Under the influence of today's computer-oriented culture, publishing(49 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe inclusion of(14 more words not shown)
- BThe substance of(8 more words not shown)
- CChildren of the(10 more words not shown)
- DChildren judge books(7 more words not shown)
- EThe lack of(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does making a children's book fun and easier to understand necessarily make it worse? I can see a benefit to explaining difficult material in language children can follow. On the other hand, struggling through a difficult idea might itself be valuable. The description alone doesn't settle every judgment about those changes.
The author is concerned about a flashy look, a lack of substance, and books that don't last. My initial thought is to connect the other changes—humor, simpler material, and narrower topics—to that lack of substance too. But that is a connection we need to check, not one we should quietly supply.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what the information most strongly supports. Let's test each proposed inference against what the passage actually says. We aren't being asked whether these publishing trends are good for children.
Working the answers
- A
This is tempting because it makes the connection I initially considered. The passage lists humor and narrower focus among the changes, and it also complains about a lack of substance. But listing those changes together doesn't establish that humor and narrow focus cause the loss of substance.
A funny book could still explore its subject in depth. So could a book concentrating on one specific topic. Those possibilities show why we need a stated connection, rather than assuming every feature of the new books is responsible for the author's complaint.
- BCorrect
The passage explicitly connects a lack of substance with books being short-lived. That supports the importance of substance to a book's longevity—how long it lasts as a work people continue to read.
This is a firmer connection than the one I initially guessed. We don't have to infer that humor causes shallowness. We only need the author's stated relationship: the lack of substance leads to a short life. B stays with that relationship without claiming that substance is the only factor or that every substantial book will endure.
- C
The passage doesn't diagnose children's ability to concentrate. Publishers could change their books for many reasons without children being incapable of reading long passages. We shouldn't add a claim about attention spans merely because the passage mentions computer-oriented culture.
- D
Changes in publishers' designs don't establish how children primarily judge books. Parents might choose the books, for example, or publishers might emphasize graphics even though children care about several features. We aren't given this claim about children's decision-making.
- E
Lasting a long time and being popular are different matters. A trendy book could sell very well for a brief period and then disappear. The passage links substance to longevity, but it doesn't establish that substance is unlikely to matter to popularity. E needs information about that separate relationship.
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