PrepTest 108, Section 1, Question 23
What it means to "explain" something in science(447 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(21 more words not shown)
- AThe categories of(21 more words not shown)
- BThe categories of(20 more words not shown)
- CThe categories of(21 more words not shown)
- DThe sentence structures(12 more words not shown)
- ENative speakers of(22 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We're strengthening the view that language has an essential connection to what it describes. That is different from the convention-based view developed later.
What we’re looking for
My first thought is agreement: perhaps different people divide up the world in the same way. But we need to ask what that agreement shows. Is it evidence of a connection to the world, or could people simply have learned the same conventions?
Working the answers
- ACorrect
These languages developed independently, yet categorize physical objects in remarkably similar ways. That is evidence that the categories reflect something about the objects themselves. Shared categories are harder to explain merely as one language inheriting another's conventions. This supports the essential-connection view; it doesn't prove it or require identical words in every language.
- B
These languages aren't independent. One developed from the other, so their shared categories could simply have been passed down. A removes that competing explanation.
- C
People speaking the same language share its conventions. Their agreement therefore fits the convention-based account too. This is why our initial thought of everyone agreeing needs refinement: agreement within one language doesn't get us very far.
- D
Similar sentence structures aren't the same as similar ways of categorizing objects. The question concerns language's connection to the things it describes, not just similarities in grammar.
- E
This tells us what speakers believe about their language. A gives evidence from independently developed languages, rather than people's confidence that their own categories are natural.
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