PT155.S3.P4.Q23 > Analytics

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Passage A.

Whorf's claim · Native language limits how we think

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Weaken Whorf's claim · Claim lacks any evidence

New hypothesis · Native language emphasizes certain thinking

Contrast this with Whorf's claim. Whorf said language closes doors on how we think; author says actually, language just pushes us toward certain doors.

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Example · Of hypothesis in action

Thinking of neighbors along gender lines.

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Effect of grammatical gender · People think differently about an object depending on its word's gender

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Illustration of effect · Masculine words associated with masculine traits; same for feminine words and feminine traits

Examples of various words in German and Spanish. Different word genders produced different associations.

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Passage B topic · How language influences numerical reasoning

This passage also looks at how language affects thinking, but focuses on numeracy

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Describe study · Subjects lack precise language for number but still have some concept of number

Passage Style

23.

Both passages are concerned with █████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████

Question Type

Implied

The purpose of Passage A is to show that Whorf’s view about the relationship between language and thought is wrong.

The purpose of Passage B is to explore the implications of certain research concerning the relationship between language and numerical thought.

Are there limits ██ ███ ███████████████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ████████

Neither passage discusses limitations on how translatable one language is into another. The passages are focused on how language might or might not influence thought.

What does scientific ████████ ██████ █████ ███ ████████ ███████ ████████ ███ ████████

This best captures the question each passage is concerned with answering. Passage A discusses research that shows language does not restrict what people can think, but merely influences what they think about. Passage B discusses research that shows language might create concepts, mediate concepts, or direct attention to concepts.

63%

Do differences among █████████ ██████ ████ █████████ ████ ██ ████████ █████ ███ ██████

Neither passage discusses why languages are different. The passages are focused on whether language can affect thought and if so, how. But they don’t explore whether thought can affect language. This reverses the causal relationship that the passages explore.

25%

Were Whorf’s claims █████ ████████ █████ ██ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ████████

Passage B doesn’t discuss the evidence that was the basis of Whorf’s claims. So it wouldn’t make sense for one of the purposes of Passage B to be the exploration of whether Whorf’s claims are based on better evidence. Perhaps someone might take the research discussed in Pasage B as supporting Whorf; but that still doesn’t relate to the evidence Whorf actually relied on and whether it was stronger than previously thought.

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Passage A doesn’t discuss the influence of language on thoughts about numbers. So regardless of whether you think (E) is a concern of Passage B, it’s not a concern of Passage A.

PrepTest 155 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 23

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