PrepTest 135, Section 2, Question 10
Samuel: Because communication via computer is usually conducted(48 more words not shown)
On the basis of their(14 more words not shown)
- AA general trend(13 more words not shown)
- BAll purely private(8 more words not shown)
- CFace-to-face communication is(14 more words not shown)
- DIt is desirable(13 more words not shown)
- EIf people were(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Would these people really be meeting in person if they weren't talking online?
Imagine an online LSAT class whose students live across the country. Computer communication may let those people meet at all. Without it, they might never form that group. That's a reason to question Samuel's picture of online contact replacing an in-person relationship.
Samuel says the usual effect is to dissolve lasting communal bonds. Tova challenges what computer communication replaces: more often, Tova says, the alternative is asocial or even antisocial behavior. 'Asocial' means not involving social interaction; 'antisocial' goes further and involves behavior opposed to social interaction or others' welfare. Neither is the warmer, more intimate interaction Samuel imagines people giving up.
What we’re looking for
We could question both speakers' broad claims. Online communication isn't always anonymous, for example, and people may use it in very different ways. But we're being asked to locate their disagreement, not decide whose picture of modern life is right. Focus on the comparison: without the computer communication, would these people usually be doing something that builds stronger social bonds? Samuel's reasoning says yes; Tova's response says no.
Working the answers
- A
A general trend of modern life is broader than this discussion of computer communication. Tova could reject Samuel's account of this particular activity while believing that some other trend weakens social bonds. We don't have opposing positions on the broad claim.
- B
Samuel discusses a particular form of private communication, not every purely private activity. Tova doesn't address that sweeping category either. Private conversations or other private activities could have different effects without contradicting either speaker's stated position.
- C
Both speakers could agree that an in-person conversation often builds stronger bonds than an anonymous exchange. Tova's objection would remain: the alternative to the online exchange often isn't an in-person conversation. The disagreement concerns which activity is replaced, not simply which form of communication is better when compared directly.
- D
Neither speaker says whether new bonds ought to replace old ones. Describing how an activity affects relationships is different from stating what social outcome is desirable. We can't assign them opposite value judgments they haven't expressed.
- ECorrect
Samuel says the people communicating by computer would otherwise interact in person, and presents the change as a loss of lasting bonds. Tova says computer communication more often replaces asocial or antisocial behavior. They therefore disagree about whether removing the computer communication would usually leave people doing something that creates stronger bonds.
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