PrepTest 121, Section 4, Question 21
Sociologist: Traditional norms in our society prevent sincerity(44 more words not shown)
The sociologist's conclusion follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- ASincerity is required(8 more words not shown)
- BThe more sincere(13 more words not shown)
- CA community sometimes(10 more words not shown)
- DUnless a community's(11 more words not shown)
- EA community's failure(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does a polite little lie make someone untrustworthy?
Imagine asking a friend how they're doing and hearing, “Good.” Later you learn that their dog had just died. Your friend wasn't actually doing well; they simply didn't want to talk about it in that moment. Would you stop trusting them? Maybe you would understand why they gave the usual polite answer.
That's what makes me question the sociologist's move from sincerity to trust. We can accept that traditional norms encourage small lies and interfere with sincerity. We can also accept that a community needs trust to succeed. But those facts don't yet show that small lies destroy the trust a community needs. People might tolerate some polite dishonesty and still rely on one another when it matters.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to make the conclusion follow. Then connect those pieces: explain why the insincerity produced by these norms prevents trust. Once we have that connection, the requirement of trust for success will do the remaining work.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Trust now requires sincerity. The argument already tells us that ignoring unpleasant realities and telling small lies prevents sincerity. If those practices prevent sincerity, and sincerity is required for trust, those practices block trust too. And without trust, the community cannot succeed.
A uses “sincerity” to make the connection rather than saying directly that small lies erode trust. But it fills the same gap: a successful community needs trust, trust needs sincerity, and these dishonest practices prevent it.
- B
This could make openness sound helpful. But “more likely to succeed” is not the same as “cannot succeed without it.” A less sincere community could still succeed, just with a lower probability. The conclusion requires honesty for success, so a statement about improving the odds does not prove it.
- C
This points against the conclusion. The traditional norms are the ones that encourage ignoring unpleasant realities and telling small lies. Saying a community can sometimes succeed while following those norms doesn't establish that it must abandon those practices to succeed.
- D
This connects facing unpleasant realities with sincerity. But sincerity and trust are still separate ideas. Even if we grant that confronting reality is necessary for sincerity, why must an insincere community lack trust? D doesn't supply that missing connection. Repeating vocabulary from the conclusion is not enough to prove it.
- E
“Often” leaves open successful communities that don't discuss unpleasant realities honestly. A practice might cause failure in many cases without making success impossible in every case. The sociologist's conclusion makes honesty a requirement, and E does not establish that requirement.
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