PrepTest 139, Section 4, Question 24
Parents who consistently laud their children for every(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AParents should praise(5 more words not shown)
- BChildren whose actions(11 more words not shown)
- CParents need to(17 more words not shown)
- DChildren's self-esteem will(17 more words not shown)
- EChildren will develop(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Imagine striking out in Little League and hearing, “Great job!” Then you get a hit and hear exactly the same thing. After a while, you might stop taking the praise seriously. If every result earns the same response, the response stops telling you that you accomplished something.
That makes the author's reasoning understandable. Uniform praise leads children to discount the words. They still physically hear compliments, but the compliments no longer register as meaningful praise. Since children need recognition for their achievements, the author says this pattern damages their self-esteem.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the overall conclusion. Follow that explanation to its endpoint: praising every attempt, regardless of the result, erodes self-esteem. The loss of meaningful praise explains the harm; it isn't the final point by itself.
Working the answers
- A
The passage says children require commendation for achievements, so recognizing accomplishments fits its reasoning. But the main point concerns the harm from praising every attempt alike. A gives a recommendation compatible with part of the argument and leaves out the effect the author is trying to explain.
- B
This is close because discounting praise is an important step in the explanation. Ask why the author tells us about it. Because, when children discount the praise, they effectively lose the recognition they need, and their self-esteem suffers. B stops at the explanatory step before the overall conclusion.
- C
The argument doesn't discuss the gap between parents' expectations and children's abilities or recommend how to manage it. That could be a separate parenting issue, but it isn't the point supported here.
- DCorrect
Children's self-esteem suffers when parents praise attempts uniformly, whether the children succeed or fail. That restates the opening claim the rest of the passage explains. The chain about discounting compliments tells us why this well-intended behavior can have that harmful effect.
- E
This describes parents withholding praise when children succeed. Our argument describes parents giving so much indiscriminate praise that children stop treating it as meaningful. Those situations could share a lack of effective recognition, but E changes the actual parenting behavior the conclusion addresses. It also substitutes developing low self-esteem for the stated erosion of self-esteem.
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