PrepTest 116, Section 1, Question 7

Purpose of ClaimDifficulty3 of 5

The questionFull text in your LawHub copy of PrepTest 116

In many bilingual communities of Puerto Rican Americans(435 more words not shown)

In the final sentence of(18 more words not shown)

Reading the passage

My first prediction is an exception: the family switches into Spanish even though the situation leads us to expect English only.

But the question singles out the family's explanation in the final sentence. What does that explanation tell us about why this exception happens?

A
Correct
The family says Spanish expresses intimacy or humor “more emphatically.” That gives the switch a rhetorical purpose: it strengthens the effect of what they're saying. A initially sounds different from our exception prediction, but it explains the exception. The situation hasn't changed; the family is using Spanish for emphasis.
B
The family is from another community, but the final sentence doesn't compare communities' reasons for switching. It explains this family's behavior.
C
Their explanation supports the rhetorical interpretation. It doesn't conflict with it. Nor does a rhetorical example contradict the broader claim that situational factors explain most switching; most leaves room for exceptions.
D
One family switching for a different reason doesn't refute a claim about most code-switching. The author adds another explanation rather than rejecting the situational one.
E
Why they used Spanish isn't why they failed to notice it. The family explains the expressive effect, not how the switches escaped their attention.

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