PrepTest 126, Section 4, Question 9
Challenge can be an important source of self-knowledge,(23 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AA concert pianist(30 more words not shown)
- BA salesperson should(30 more words not shown)
- CCompassion is valuable(22 more words not shown)
- DWhile some of(18 more words not shown)
- EEven people who(31 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
You don't learn how you handle a hard situation by avoiding every hard situation. A challenge can reveal a weakness you wouldn't otherwise notice. The useful step is paying attention to your response: what happened to you, and what does it teach you about yourself?
What we’re looking for
That principle doesn't say difficulty is automatically good or that every failed attempt helps. It describes a particular benefit: observing your reaction can give you useful self-knowledge. For the application question, I'd look for someone facing a challenge, noticing a weakness, and learning from it. A different reward for doing something hard won't be enough.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The difficult performance is the challenge. The memory lapse reveals a weakness, and understanding why it happened can help the pianist prepare next time. That is the benefit the principle describes: the experience isn't entirely negative because reflecting on the response produces useful knowledge about oneself.
- B
Feeling good because a successful sale reflects favorably on your personality isn't the same as learning about a weakness through a challenge. The choice identifies an additional reward of success. It doesn't describe someone examining a difficult experience to gain the self-knowledge the principle concerns.
- C
Helping enrich other people's lives may be a benefit of compassion, but where is the challenge that teaches someone about a personal weakness? Neither that process nor the resulting self-knowledge appears here. Simply describing something as valuable doesn't make it an instance of this principle.
- D
Competition might be challenging, but D says its primary reward is the competition itself. It doesn't say participants learn about their weaknesses by observing their responses. We need the specific connection between challenge and self-knowledge, not just an activity that could be difficult.
- E
This has a clear challenge: speaking publicly despite dread. But the stated benefits are other people's admiration and the fulfillment of attempting something difficult. Neither establishes that the speaker gains insight into a weakness. This is close in topic while missing the particular benefit that makes A fit.
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