PrepTest 155, Section 3, Question 26
Passage A In 1940, Benjamin Lee Whorf seduced(498 more words not shown)
Passage A(236 more words not shown)
Passage B(270 more words not shown)
Given the style and tone(14 more words not shown)
- AThe author of(20 more words not shown)
- BThe author of(14 more words not shown)
- CThe author of(19 more words not shown)
- DThe author of(23 more words not shown)
- EThe author of(19 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Compare how the authors explain their material. A introduces Whorf and tells us what he claimed, then uses the familiar examples of a neighbor and a bridge. Its opening is pointed and conversational. B compresses technical distinctions into terms such as numerate, numerical magnitude, and strong or weak Whorfian hypotheses.
What we’re looking for
That contrast gives us evidence about the audiences. We should still check the specific description in each answer, rather than assume that a scientific topic tells us an author's profession or attitude.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
A supplies background and concrete examples that make the issue accessible to a general reader. B assumes more familiarity with the terminology and the competing hypotheses, fitting a more academic audience. The distinction rests on how the material is presented, not whether the subject itself is scholarly.
- B
Topic and style don't establish either author's occupation. We aren't told that A's author is an anthropologist or that B's author is a linguist.
- C
A is not neutral. Calling Whorf's claims “fantastic” and saying he “seduced” a generation expresses a clear critical judgment. That defeats the proposed contrast.
- D
A gives a date and introduces an earlier theory, but its main interest is what research suggests about language and thought. The historical introduction doesn't make the development of an idea its primary concern.
- E
A dismisses Whorf's restrictive account, not the whole possibility that language influences thought. It takes the research on grammatical gender seriously. Criticizing one explanation isn't dismissing all the ideas under discussion.
More Author's Opinion questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Author's Opinion questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.