PrepTest 146, Section 1, Question 20
Lyle: Admittedly, modernizing the language of premodern plays(64 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- Awhether modernizing the(15 more words not shown)
- Bwhether the loss(19 more words not shown)
- Cwhether the highest(16 more words not shown)
- Dwhether increasing the(13 more words not shown)
- Ewhether using plays(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Changing 'Romeo doth love Juliet' to 'Romeo loves Juliet' illustrates the tradeoff Lyle has in mind: simpler language can lose some of the original feel while making a play easier for students to understand. Lyle accepts a loss in aesthetic quality but still sees value for teaching history.
Carl says the changes prevent students from fully understanding what the plays conveyed to their original audiences. That could be a drawback. But does failing to give deep knowledge mean the plays teach nothing useful? A modernized version might still teach a student something about the past. Carl goes all the way to 'no use,' while Lyle says the greater accessibility has educational value.
What we’re looking for
That's the disagreement I'd predict: whether making these plays more accessible through modern language is useful for teaching history.
Working the answers
- A
Different educational value isn't the disputed point. Both can recognize that modernization changes what students get from a play. Lyle sees an accessibility benefit; Carl sees a loss in historical understanding. Their disagreement concerns whether the modernized plays have value for teaching history, not simply whether their value differs from the originals.
- B
Carl doesn't connect the problem to a loss in aesthetic quality. His objection is that students won't fully understand what the plays meant to earlier audiences. We can't assume he attributes that loss of historical understanding to reduced beauty or artistic quality. Lyle's acknowledgment of an aesthetic loss doesn't give us the missing position from Carl.
- C
Neither speaker identifies the highest form of aesthetic enjoyment. Lyle mentions students who otherwise would never enjoy the plays, but that's not a ranking of different ways to experience them. Carl discusses historical understanding. C adds a comparison they don't debate.
- DCorrect
Lyle says modernization remains valuable for teaching history because it makes the plays accessible to more students. Carl says modernized plays are of no use for teaching history because students cannot gain deep knowledge from them. Those are opposing answers to whether the added accessibility provides historical teaching value.
- E
Lyle accepts that modernizing the language lessens aesthetic quality. Carl gives no position on whether that aesthetic loss is necessary. His concern about understanding past audiences doesn't tell us what he thinks about the play's artistic quality. We need opposing positions from both speakers, and E doesn't supply them.
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