PrepTest 130, Section 1, Question 22
When a society undergoes slow change, its younger(65 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AA society's younger(11 more words not shown)
- BHow much deference(19 more words not shown)
- CThe deference young(16 more words not shown)
- DThe faster a(17 more words not shown)
- EYoung people value(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
In a slowly changing society, young people value their elders' advice. In a rapidly changing society, they think that experience has little relevance and don't value the advice. I can understand the contrast: experience gained in a familiar world may seem more useful than experience gained under very different circumstances.
But what about the middle? The author gives us slow change and rapid change, then recommends measuring the rate of change through the deference young people show. Would that distinguish moderately fast change from very fast change? If young people disregarded elders equally in both situations, the proposed measure would lose that distinction.
What we’re looking for
That's my first concern with this indirect measure: two broad cases don't describe the entire spectrum. Looking directly at changes in technology might sometimes seem simpler, but the author hasn't claimed this is the best or only possible measure. The necessary-assumption question asks what the recommendation depends on. Let's look for a connection that its reasoning actually requires.
Working the answers
- A
Young people needn't consciously diagnose the speed of social change. Their response to elders could vary with the circumstances even if they couldn't accurately describe the society's rate of change. The argument discusses their view of the advice, not their skill at measuring change.
- B
Actual practical usefulness and perceived value aren't the same thing. Young people might dismiss useful advice or value advice that isn't useful. B links deference directly to how useful the experience really is, while the premises discuss what young people think of it. That stronger link isn't required.
- CCorrect
This identifies a more basic gap than the measurement precision I first questioned. The premises concern how much young people value advice; the conclusion concerns how much deference they show. Valuing advice and displaying respect needn't automatically move together. Unless the displayed deference varies with how much they value the advice, measuring one won't let us use the stated relationship involving the other. C supplies that connection.
- D
This says actual relevance falls as the rate of change increases. It resembles our concern about the spectrum, but it doesn't connect the value young people place on advice with the deference they show. It also substitutes actual relevance for the young people's assessment. The proposed measure doesn't require this exact claim about how useful every elder's experience becomes.
- E
Young people could value advice for sentimental reasons as well as practical usefulness. The argument doesn't require value to track actual usefulness exactly. And even such a relationship wouldn't supply the missing connection to the deference the conclusion proposes measuring.
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