PrepTest 116, Section 1, Question 12
In many bilingual communities of Puerto Rican Americans(435 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(15 more words not shown)
- ALinguists have observed(26 more words not shown)
- BCode-switching sometimes occurs(16 more words not shown)
- CBilingual people often(21 more words not shown)
- DPuerto Rican Americans(27 more words not shown)
- ESpeakers who engage(21 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The family is our evidence. We'd expect English only in that situation, yet Spanish appears. That's what the situational explanation misses.
What we’re looking for
Be precise about the mismatch: the problem isn't just that the situation stays the same. It's that the switching happens where the situation leads us not to expect it.
Working the answers
- A
Less agreement under incongruent conditions still concerns the effects of the situation. Different students may weigh the conflicting cues differently. That doesn't supply the family example's mismatch between expected single-language use and observed switching.
- BCorrect
The third paragraph says switching occurs even in settings where it would be unexpected. Occasional Spanish in the family's primarily English conversations illustrates exactly that. The situation alone doesn't explain those switches.
- C
A stable situation could itself favor using both languages. Smooth switching in that situation wouldn't challenge the situational account. B adds the crucial fact missing here: the situation would lead us to expect only one language.
- D
This nearly describes our example, but reverses the expected language. English is primary in the family's conversations; Spanish appears occasionally. We aren't told the situation leads us to expect primarily Spanish.
- E
Not noticing a switch isn't the same as not knowing its situational influences. Either way, someone can be unaware of a cause that genuinely explains their behavior. That wouldn't show the cause is insufficient.
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