PrepTest 116, Section 1, Question 6
In many bilingual communities of Puerto Rican Americans(435 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AThe lives of(10 more words not shown)
- BIt is not(13 more words not shown)
- CRhetorical factors can(13 more words not shown)
- DStudies of bilingual(16 more words not shown)
- EMost code-switching among(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted that social context helps explain when Puerto Rican Americans code-switch, but doesn't explain every case. The question is why the switching happens. The family at the end adds a reason beyond the setting: sometimes Spanish makes an expression more emphatic.
Working the answers
- A
This asks what code-switching does to people's lives. We're explaining what leads people to code-switch. Those are different directions of explanation.
- B
True, some cases remain unexplained. But the main point concerns how we can explain most cases. The opening qualification isn't the central claim.
- C
Rhetorical factors matter, but we aren't given this ranking. The family example adds a rhetorical explanation; it doesn't establish that rhetoric explains more instances than situation does.
- D
We aren't told what linguists previously believed or that these studies changed many of those beliefs. Supporting an explanation doesn't necessarily mean revising an earlier one.
- ECorrect
This completes our initially situation-focused prediction by including the rhetorical side too. The opening says subtle influences involving either the situation or the speaker’s rhetorical purpose (paragraph 1) explain the vast majority of cases. The student study develops the situational account; the family shows why we also need rhetorical factors. E includes both without claiming that every case has been explained.
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