PrepTest 145, Section 4, Question 18
Psychologist: Phonemic awareness, or the knowledge that spoken(66 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe whole-language method(15 more words not shown)
- BWhen the whole-language(23 more words not shown)
- CThose unable to(17 more words not shown)
- DSome children who(19 more words not shown)
- EThe whole-language method(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Hearing the sounds in a word and knowing which letters represent those sounds are two different skills. The psychologist says a reader needs both. Recognizing the component sounds alone isn't enough to read an alphabetic language.
Then we hear that many children taught through the whole-language method do learn to read. That may initially seem puzzling because the method is described as emphasizing how words sound. But an emphasis isn't necessarily an exclusive focus, and success doesn't let us discard either requirement. These children must somehow acquire the knowledge that reading requires.
What we’re looking for
For the inference question, follow that success back to its required skills. We know some of these children can read, so we know they have met the stated requirements.
Working the answers
- A
Many children succeeding doesn't establish that the method invariably teaches phonemic awareness. “Invariably” would leave no exceptions. The passage gives us successful children, not a guarantee for every child taught this way.
- B
Learning how letters represent sounds is a requirement for reading, not a guarantee of reading. The passage also requires phonemic awareness and doesn't say that acquiring one skill automatically supplies everything else.
- C
A child who cannot read needn't lack both skills. The child might recognize the component sounds but not understand the letters representing them. That missing piece could prevent reading even though phonemic awareness is present. Failure to reach the outcome doesn't show that every requirement is absent.
- DCorrect
Some children taught by this method learn to read. Because reading requires knowledge of how letters represent sounds, those successful children must acquire that knowledge. They therefore are not prevented from learning it. D makes that limited conclusion without claiming a guaranteed success rate or specifying exactly where the knowledge comes from.
- E
The successful children must gain the letter-sound knowledge, but the whole-language method needn't be what teaches it. They might acquire that piece elsewhere. E credits the method with teaching a particular skill merely because children taught by the method eventually possess it. D avoids that extra claim.
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