PrepTest 112, Section 3, Question 18
It is said that people should accept themselves(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AThose who are(8 more words not shown)
- BPeople who are(13 more words not shown)
- CPersonal excellence cannot(12 more words not shown)
- DPeople are justified(14 more words not shown)
- EHappiness is not(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why can't I accept where I am and still want to improve? A student can acknowledge a current LSAT score without hating themselves for it, then keep practicing to do better. Self-acceptance and effort don't have to be enemies.
The author says genuine happiness is impossible for someone who isn't pursuing excellence and is unwilling to change at all. Even granting that statement, it doesn't tell us that accepting ourselves puts us in that situation. The author still needs a link between being content with our abilities and being less inclined to improve them.
What we’re looking for
For the required assumption, I'd look for that link. If people who accept themselves are just as interested in developing their abilities, the stated reason gives us little basis for calling self-acceptance a bad principle.
Working the answers
- A
Being willing to change doesn't have to make happiness probable for the author's criticism to work. Imagine only a small fraction of willing people ultimately become genuinely happy. The author could still think a principle that discourages improvement makes the prospects worse.
A supplies a positive prediction about how likely willing people are to succeed. The argument instead needs a connection between self-acceptance and the lack of pursuit used to criticize it. Saying a condition matters to happiness doesn't promise that people who meet it will probably become happy.
- BCorrect
'Not dissatisfied' refers to people who are content with themselves. B says they are less likely than others to pursue excellence. That connects self-acceptance with the concern the author raises about failing to improve.
Notice how limited the claim is. It doesn't say content people never pursue excellence. Some could do both, just as our student could. The argument relies on a tendency that makes the proposed principle less favorable to the author's goal, not a complete ban on combining acceptance with effort.
- C
Confidence is different from satisfaction. Someone might be confident they can improve while dissatisfied with their current performance. The argument doesn't need to establish that confidence is required for acquiring excellence, and that requirement wouldn't connect self-acceptance with the criticized lack of effort.
- D
Whether someone is justified in feeling content is different from what encouraging that attitude does to the pursuit of excellence or happiness. The author could allow that an accomplished person has grounds for contentment while still criticizing the principle's broader effects. D doesn't identify the missing connection.
- E
The argument doesn't say improvement or change must be painful. A person might enjoy developing a skill and still be pursuing excellence. We don't need a rule making pain a requirement for genuine happiness to understand the author's concern about whether people will try to improve.
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