PrepTest 115, Section 3, Question 12
Fairy tales address themselves to two communities, each(459 more words not shown)
The author of the passage(13 more words not shown)
- AChildren who never(23 more words not shown)
- BIt is better(19 more words not shown)
- CA child who(20 more words not shown)
- DMost children are(11 more words not shown)
- EChildren should be(9 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
This is open-ended, so I don't have one precise answer to predict. We know the writer objects to Bettelheim's parent-centered readings. Now we need support for the particular claim a choice makes, rather than a new opinion about children or books that merely sounds plausible.
Working the answers
- A
Nothing establishes that searching for deeper meanings is one of children's principal reading pleasures. The discussion concerns adults' interpretations, not this ranking of children's enjoyment.
- B
We aren't told whether children should discover the stories themselves or receive an adult's recommendation.
- C
Unruly children are mentioned as the intended audience for moral lessons in Bettelheim's view. There's no claim that another child's recommendation improves their behavior.
- D
No evidence establishes that most children are too young to understand deeper meanings.
- ECorrect
The dense final sentence contrasts literature serving “pragmatic instrumentality” with “playful pleasure.” Translate that: must a story accomplish something practical, such as correcting a child's behavior, or can reading simply be enjoyable? The writer criticizes the insistence on constant instruction. Allowing pleasure without an instructional purpose follows from that criticism; it doesn't mean stories may never teach anything.
More Author's Opinion questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Author's Opinion questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.