PrepTest 145, Section 3, Question 18
Passage A One function of language is to(496 more words not shown)
Passage A(233 more words not shown)
Passage B(271 more words not shown)
The authors would be most(4 more words not shown)
- Athe extent to(14 more words not shown)
- Bthe importance of(11 more words not shown)
- Cwhether human language(15 more words not shown)
- Dwhether chimpanzees' vocalizations(13 more words not shown)
- Ewhether animals' vocalizations(15 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The broad disagreement is over how sharp a line we should draw between human and animal communication. A contrasts human purpose with largely inadvertent animal calls. B questions whether the difference is one of kind at all; it may be a difference in degree.
What we’re looking for
Keep B's conclusion modest. We don't need to turn its challenge into proof that all animals consciously communicate in order to identify the disagreement.
Working the answers
- A
Both can accept the role of perceived mental states in human communication. Their dispute concerns what happens in animals, not the extent of this capacity in humans.
- B
Disagreeing about the answer doesn't establish a disagreement about the importance of researching the question. Neither author tells us the other is studying an unimportant problem.
- CCorrect
Qualitatively different means different in kind, while a difference of degree means more or less of a shared capacity. A emphasizes a contrast in purpose; B explicitly questions the assumption that the difference is qualitative rather than quantitative. This captures the central divide.
- D
A expressly allows chimpanzees as a possible exception to the claim that animals cannot attribute mental states. Its later observations about their calling do not erase that qualification. B's reference to chimpanzee research therefore doesn't establish that the authors take opposing positions on this narrower possibility.
- E
An evolutionary benefit can exist whether communication is intentional or inadvertent. B doesn't deny A's suggestion that vocalizations may have evolved because they benefited signalers, so this isn't the disagreement.
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