PrepTest 159, Section 3, Question 3
Anthropology professor: The new class I'm offering has(60 more words not shown)
The dialogue provides the most(14 more words not shown)
- Aall of the(11 more words not shown)
- Ba class can(11 more words not shown)
- Cthe approach taken(14 more words not shown)
- Dthe dean has(12 more words not shown)
- Ean anthropology professor(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
An anthropology professor can teach a literature class. The professor's job title doesn't settle how this course should be listed. What will students actually be doing?
They'll read novels, but they'll use those novels to learn about cultures. The professor thinks that approach makes this an anthropology course. The dean focuses on the books themselves: they're literature, so list the course as literature.
Notice what isn't in dispute. The professor openly acknowledges that all the texts are novels. The disagreement is over what follows from that fact. Does the kind of reading material settle the category, or does the way students will study it matter?
What we’re looking for
For a disagreement question, my first prediction is whether the course is correctly listed as literature. The answers could also describe the underlying dispute about how to choose that listing. Either way, we need a statement that puts the two speakers on opposite sides.
Working the answers
- A
The professor explicitly says all the texts are novels. The dean's reference to works of literature doesn't challenge that description. Reading novels is the common ground from which they draw different conclusions, not a fact they dispute.
- B
Neither speaker addresses whether a course can have two listings. The professor wants anthropology instead of literature, and the dean defends the existing listing. Their disagreement about the right listing doesn't establish opposite views about whether dual listings are allowed.
- CCorrect
The professor says yes: examining novels as information about cultures should matter enough to change the listing to anthropology. The dean says the literature listing is appropriate because the readings are literary works, despite the professor's explanation of the approach. This captures the underlying disagreement about what should determine the category.
- D
Having the authority to make a decision and making the right decision are different questions. The speakers argue about the appropriate listing. Neither says who has the power to choose it, and we shouldn't assume the dean personally made the original decision.
- E
No one proposes taking the professor off the course or forbidding an anthropology professor from teaching literature. The question is what to call this class in the catalog. E changes a disagreement about classification into one about permission to teach.
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