PrepTest 119, Section 4, Question 7
In preagricultural societies, social roles were few and(58 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Amodern society is(10 more words not shown)
- Binterpersonal relations in(14 more words not shown)
- Cthe most important(17 more words not shown)
- Din modern societies,(13 more words not shown)
- Epreagricultural societies lacked(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The author is setting up a contrast. Let's finish that contrast instead of introducing a new subject.
In the earlier societies, people had relatively few social roles, and those roles were easy to predict as a person moved through life. The author connects that simplicity with stable, predictable relationships. Modern society supplies the other side: thousands of specialized roles, changing rapidly as technology and consumer life change.
Think about how many different jobs and social positions someone can occupy now. A doctor, a lawyer, and a mail carrier have different roles, and new roles keep appearing. The passage's point isn't that these relationships are worse or that people are less fair. It's that the complexity and change make relationships harder to predict.
What we’re looking for
To complete the argument, I'd expect the modern side of the comparison: relationships are less stable and less predictable than in the earlier societies. Keep the conclusion on that subject. A claim about justice or what people must do would need an additional argument.
Working the answers
- A
Unpredictable doesn't mean unjust or unpleasant. The author even says the earlier relationships weren't always pleasant or fair despite being stable. We haven't been given a comparison showing that modern society has more injustice.
- BCorrect
This completes the contrast the author has developed. Few predictable roles were associated with stable relationships; the many rapidly changing roles of modern society point toward less stable, less predictable relationships. B stays with the same comparison instead of attaching a new judgment to it.
- C
The passage discusses a difference in social roles, but doesn't rank that difference against every other difference between the societies. Calling it the most important goes beyond the comparison we're given.
- D
Technology helps create specialized roles in the passage. That doesn't establish that people must use technology to understand each other. The fact that relationships are complicated doesn't prove that a phone or any other technology is necessary to interpret someone's behavior.
- E
The passage describes the earlier societies as having stable, predictable relationships. It doesn't argue that they lacked a complex system necessary for stable roles. E also leaves the discussion of modern society unfinished instead of drawing the conclusion that discussion sets up.
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