PrepTest 142, Section 1, Question 16
Debater: As a pedagogical practice, lecturing embodies hierarchy,(66 more words not shown)
The respondent's reply to the(13 more words not shown)
- Aconcedes one of(9 more words not shown)
- Btakes for granted(15 more words not shown)
- Cfails to consider(12 more words not shown)
- Dapplies a key(16 more words not shown)
- Etakes for granted(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Arithmetic comes before calculus. But that isn't the hierarchy the debater criticized.
The debater is talking about people: the lecturer knows more than the students, creating an unequal relationship. We might question whether that is bad. Someone who knows the subject could be useful, and even a group of peers could contain members with different levels of knowledge.
The respondent doesn't pursue either of those objections. Instead, the reply switches to the order of subject matter: simpler ideas come before more complex ones. That's a hierarchy of topics, not a hierarchy between teacher and student.
What we’re looking for
For the flaw in this response, focus on the mismatch. Showing that learning needs an order doesn't answer the complaint about unequal relationships among the people doing the learning. The two speakers use the same word while discussing different features of education.
Working the answers
- A
Agreeing with a premise would not by itself make a reply defective; someone can accept a starting point and challenge what follows. More importantly, the respondent's problem isn't conceding the debater's claim about peer interaction. It is answering a different meaning of hierarchy.
- B
The mathematics example illustrates the respondent's claim about moving from simple to complex material. Even if that ordering works in other subjects too—for example, learning words before constructing complicated sentences—it still doesn't answer the debater's concern about relationships between people. B doesn't identify the central mismatch in the response.
- C
Other features of lectures might be weaknesses. Perhaps a lecture is boring. But the respondent is answering a criticism specifically about hierarchy and doesn't need to discuss every possible weakness to answer that criticism. The trouble is failing to address the hierarchy actually criticized.
- DCorrect
The key concept is hierarchy. The debater applies it to the relative knowledge and positions of lecturer and student; the respondent applies it to the progression from basic material to advanced material. A defense of that progression doesn't defend the unequal interpersonal relationship. D identifies exactly why the response misses its target.
- E
Whether mathematics resembles other subjects is secondary to the change in meaning. Suppose every subject required mastering simpler ideas first. That still wouldn't establish that a teacher-student hierarchy helps learning. The respondent could win the point about subject matter and leave the original objection unanswered.
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