PT155.S3.P4.Q27 > 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

27.

Which one of the following ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ██

Question Type

Implied

Principle or generalization

The correct answer is a principle that underlies Passage B, but not Passage A. Let’s look for an answer that, at a minimum, Passage B must agree with, but for which we don’t know Passage A’s opinion (or Passage A disagrees with it).

If different languages █████ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████████ █████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████

Passage B doesn’t discuss concepts that are incompatible with each other (contradictory). So we have no reason to think Passage B uses the principle in (A).

10%

If a speaker █████████ █ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ███████████ ████████ █████ ██ ███████████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ █████████

Passage B uses this concept toward the end of P1 and the beginning of P2. Research shows that certain Indian people have the concept of number. But they don’t have expressions for that concept. Passage B believes this supports the idea that language did not create the concept of numbers for those people.

Passage A doesn’t use this principle, because it doesn’t discuss speakers who possess concepts without language for that concept.

50%

If one’s language █████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ███████ █████████ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████ ██ █████ █ ████████ ██ █████ ████ ████████ ███ ████████████

Passage B doesn’t discuss the ability to learn different languages. So it doesn’t use the principle in (C).

10%

If a concept ███ ██ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████

Passage B isn’t committed to the view that if a concept (such as number) can be expressed more exactly in one language, that language created the concept. It explicitly notes alternative interpretations — language might “mediate the expansion” of a concept or might merely “direct attention to such a concept.” So Passage B doesn’t use the principle in (D).

15%

If a language ███████ ████████ ██ █████ █████ █ ████████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ████████ █████████████ ██ ███ █████████

Passage B doesn’t suggest that there’s a connection between a language’s obliging speakers to think about a concept and the independent origin of the concept. The only mention of a language obliging a speaker to think about a concept is the reference to number words potentially “directing attention” to the concept of numerical equality. But the author of Passage B doesn’t connect this potential relationship to the conclusion that numerical equality is a concept independent of language.

14%

PrepTest 155 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 27

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