PT29.S2.Q14-- tribal communities in North America

Darklord

Hi everyone,

This might sound like a dumb question, but would anyone be able to explain why C is wrong in this question?

I thought C could be correct here because:
1. lines 29-31 explains the obstacle that "sometimes" prevents a perfect conversion of oral language to written language.
2. while lines 32-35 describe how we have yet to see such a perfect conversion of written language to oral language, it does not state that such a perfect conversion is actually impossible.

Thus, while I understood why the answer was A (since "all but impossible" = very difficult to make possible), I had trouble fully eliminating answer choice C because I thought that since we understood the obstacle that "sometimes" prevented us from perfectly converting oral language to written language (aka "exact match"), taking away that obstacle should make that goal "attainable".

Any #help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

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jmarmaduke96

Hi there!

As you said, A is well supported, mostly by lines 29-35, but really all of that paragraph. As far as why C is wrong, that paragraph outlines several reasons why written language will never match its oral equivalent exactly. However, nowhere is it indicated that the list is anywhere near exhaustive. Even if the obstacles mentioned in paragraph 3 were completely eradicated, we do not really know that the author would say that it is possible to make written and oral dialects match. It is entirely consistent with the stimulus that the obstacles in paragraph 3 could be taken care of and the author might still say "well thats nice, but there is also reason A, B, and C why the goal can't be reached." For example, maybe it would take people would take so long to make the written and oral dialects match that no one could do it in a lifetime, nor is this work the kind of thing that can easily be picked up and finished by someone other than the person who started it. Therefore, such a goal really will never be reached.

I will agree that C is much closer than B, D, and E, but for those reasons I think that it is still not a very well supported answer choice, especially once compared with A.

I hope this helps, let me know if I can clarify!