Grammarians of the prescriptive school take it as part of their task to distinguish correct from incorrect usage in language and thereby to encourage the former. ββββ βββββββ ββββ ββ ββ βββββ ββββ ββββ ββ βββββββββ ββββ ββ ββββββββββ β ββββββββββ ββββββββ ββββββββ ββββ βββββββ ββββ βββββββββ βββ
Prescriptivists Β·Distinguish correct from incorrect language use
βDataβ is used as a singular noun rather than plural. That's one example of usage judged by prescriptivists to be incorrect, but over time has come to be accepted.
Descriptivists' Objection 2 Β·Egalitarian objection (imposing elite standards on language)
Descriptivists object that prescriptivists are immorally trying to impose their own language practices, which are those of the educated and rich elite.
Prescriptivists' Counter to 2 Β·Inclusive aims of prescriptivists
Prescriptivists say that having a βcorrectβ usage is important for free exchange of ideas. The goal of prescriptivists is to include, not exclude.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
10.
The passage indicates that which βββ ββ βββ βββββββββ βββββ ββ ββββ ββ ββββββββββββββββ
Question Type
Stated
We know the answer will be one of the prescriptivistsβ views. So, the answer is likely to be supported by the first paragraph, or the last sentence of the passage. These are the sentences that set forth what prescriptivists think.
If anything, prescriptivists would oppose change. They believe in correct usage and want people to either stick with that or change their language to conform to that. But no more changes are necessary after people reach correct usage.
b
The study of ββββββββ ββ βββ β ββββββββββ ββββββββββββ
The passage never states this as one of the prescriptivistsβ views. (B) might be tempting because we know that prescriptivists donβt think that laws of language transformation are like scientific laws. But βlaws of language transformationβ is different from βthe study of language.β Prescriptivists could very well agree that the study of language is a scientific undertaking β we may want to use scientific methods to study how people use language. Prescriptivists arenβt necessarily opposed to studying language in this way. They would just want to make sure that we try to encourage correct usage.
c
A word's origins ββββββ ββββββ βββ βββββββ ββββββ
Supported.
d
Laws do not ββββββ βββ ββββββββββββββ ββ βββββββββ
(D) might be tempting because we know that the prescriptivists do not believe that the laws of language transformation are like scientific laws. However, that doesnβt mean they donβt believe in the existence of language transformation laws at all. They could accept that such laws exist, but simply think that those laws are not like scientific laws. In other words, they are laws that can be changed and influenced by people.
e
Morality is not ββ βββββ ββ βββ βββββ ββ ββββββββ ββββββ
We donβt know what the prescriptivists think about morality. We know that, according to the egalitarian argument of the descriptivists, the prescriptivistsβ attempt to police language use is immoral. But thatβs the descriptivistsβ opinion. It doesnβt tell us what prescriptivists think about morality and its relationship to studying language usage.
Difficulty
79% of people who answer get this correct
This is a slightly challenging question.
It is somewhat easier than other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%123
137
75%151
Analysis
Stated
Critique or debate
Humanities
Science
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
5%
147
b
6%
151
c
79%
159
d
7%
149
e
3%
151
Question history
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