PrepTest 107, Section 2, Question 13
Tribal communities in North America believe that their(449 more words not shown)
Based on the passage, the(24 more words not shown)
- AStandardizing traditional languages(7 more words not shown)
- BWritten languages should(8 more words not shown)
- CTraditional languages can(9 more words not shown)
- DVariant spellings of(11 more words not shown)
- EThe extent to(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
These Utes decided not to standardize their language. They accepted different phonetic spellings as long as people could understand them. Because this is an EXCEPT question, we're looking for the view that doesn't fit that decision—likely a demand for one uniform form.
Working the answers
- A
This fits. Selecting one standard would require choosing among existing traditions, even when different forms can convey clear meanings. Their decision to permit variation supports the idea that those choices can be arbitrary and unnecessary. A says sometimes unnecessary; it doesn't claim standardization is always pointless.
- BCorrect
This insists on one standard dialect. The Utes instead chose to forgo standardization and accepted variation (paragraph 4). B demands the uniformity they deliberately chose to do without.
- C
Their experience supports this. The language wasn't rigorously standardized, yet even elementary school children learned to speak and write it effectively.
- D
This is their explicit condition for accepting variant spellings: the meaning must remain understandable (paragraph 4). It belongs among the supported views, not the exception.
- E
The lack of standard orthography made sense in light of “the community's needs.” That supports adapting the degree of standardization to the community, rather than imposing one rule everywhere.
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