PrepTest 114, Section 4, Question 20
Shy adolescents often devote themselves totally to a(53 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(6 more words not shown)
- AEventually, shy adolescents(15 more words not shown)
- BNo successful strategy(8 more words not shown)
- CShy adolescents will(17 more words not shown)
- DSome other strategy(14 more words not shown)
- EShy adolescents devote(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How likely are they to lose interest?
A shared hobby could help a shy teenager find something to talk about. Imagine a student who loves collecting trading cards and gets to know other collectors. The activity might provide both enjoyment and a way to make friends. I can see why that could help with loneliness.
The passage then says loneliness may become worse if interest in the hobby fades. That's a possible drawback, but how much does it tell us about the strategy? We haven't been told how often interest fades or how often the result is worse loneliness. Nor must every friendship disappear just because the original shared hobby loses its appeal.
What we’re looking for
Yet the conclusion rejects an all-consuming hobby as an unsuccessful strategy. My initial expectation is an assumption about the risk of losing interest—perhaps the author is taking that outcome as something that will eventually happen. We're asked what the argument depends on, so let's check what actually connects this possible setback with the judgment that the strategy is not successful.
Working the answers
- A
A teenager could be content with a small circle of friends sharing the hobby. The argument doesn't rely on a later desire for a wider circle; it relies on what might happen after losing interest. Wanting additional friends is a separate possibility, not a necessary part of that reasoning.
- BCorrect
This identifies the standard behind the author's rejection: a successful strategy never intensifies the loneliness it is meant to overcome. Since the hobby can intensify loneliness when interest fades, that standard rules it out as successful.
At first, 'no successful strategy ever' can look very strong. But notice how the argument uses the possible bad outcome. It doesn't merely conclude that the hobby carries a risk or sometimes fails. It uses that possibility to deny that this is a successful strategy at all. That move depends on treating any such worsening as disqualifying.
If a strategy could still count as successful despite sometimes making loneliness worse, the cited setback wouldn't settle the judgment. That's why B matters. It takes a different route from my initial focus on how likely the loss of interest is: under this strict standard, even the possibility of intensifying loneliness defeats success.
- C
This tells us a circumstance in which interest will be lost: failing to make friends. The passage doesn't need that particular cause of lost interest. Someone could lose interest after making friends, or stay interested without making friends. C doesn't supply the standard connecting a possible worsening with the rejection of the strategy.
- D
More successful isn't the same as successful. Another approach could work better while this hobby still worked well enough to count as a success. Or the author could regard the hobby as unsuccessful without knowing of any better approach. D adds a comparison that the argument never needs to make.
The conclusion isn't 'This isn't the best strategy.' It is 'This isn't a successful strategy.' Looking for a better alternative would answer a different claim.
- E
The opening says adolescents often use the hobby to distract themselves from loneliness. Making friends may be a welcome result without being their main reason for starting. The argument doesn't require that friendship was the primary motive; its objection concerns what can happen when interest fades.
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