PrepTest 138, Section 3, Question 11
Counselor: Many people assume that personal conflicts are(82 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AMany people assume(5 more words not shown)
- BEven when there(21 more words not shown)
- CIt is irrational(19 more words not shown)
- DPersonal conflicts are(2 more words not shown)
- EUnlike a suspicion(22 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Can't two reasonable people still disagree?
Imagine two spouses who generally get along but prefer different ways of dividing the housework. Neither preference has to be irrational for a disagreement to arise. So when the counselor says personal conflicts are not inevitable, I want to know how far the proposed explanation takes us.
The counselor says conflicts arise primarily from irrationality, then describes how quickly people judge others negatively. One unreliable act can confirm a suspicion, while trust may take years to build. I can see how that uneven treatment of evidence might produce conflict. But even accepting it as a major cause leaves us wondering about conflicts caused by ordinary differences in preferences.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for the main conclusion, not to finish evaluating that reasoning. What claim was the counselor trying to convince us of? That personal conflicts are not inevitable. The observations about negative judgments and trust are meant to explain why the supposedly inevitable conflicts arise in the first place. We can identify that point without agreeing that the support is enough.
Working the answers
- A
This is the belief the counselor introduces in order to reject it. The words 'that assumption is just not so' tell us the counselor's position. Stopping with what many people assume leaves out the disagreement that drives the argument.
- B
This is part of the explanation offered for conflict. People too readily assign bad qualities to others, even against the weight of the evidence. The counselor uses that observation to support the broader claim about whether personal conflict is inevitable.
- C
This describes a judgment we might draw about the unreliable-friend example. But the example serves a larger purpose: illustrating irrational behavior as a source of conflict. The counselor's main point isn't a rule about how much evidence should establish that a friend is unreliable.
- DCorrect
Personal conflicts are not inevitable. This restates the counselor's rejection of the opening assumption. The following discussion about irrational judgments is offered as support for that position, rather than as a different main conclusion.
- E
The contrast between quickly distrusting someone and slowly building trust is the specific illustration at the end. It helps explain the counselor's view of irrational judgment. It isn't the broader claim about conflict that the illustration is supposed to support.
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