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. ████ ███████ ████ ██ ██ █████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ████ ██ ██████████ █ ██████████ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ████ █████████ ███
Prescriptivists ·Distinguish correct from incorrect language use
“Data” 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 ·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 ·Inclusive aims of prescriptivists
Prescriptivists say that having a “correct” usage is important for free exchange of ideas. The goal of prescriptivists is to include, not exclude.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
8.
The passage most strongly suggests ████ ███ ██████ █████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████
Question Type
Author’s perspective
Implied
The author expressed a strong opinion in the last paragraph. What was that opinion? The author defends prescriptivists from criticism that laws of language transformation are like science. The author believes that we can change how people use language by persuasion.
a
The conflict between ███████████████ ███ ██████████████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ █ ███ ████████ ████████████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████
The author never suggests a need for a new approach that synthesizes the two language camps. In fact, the author might slightly favor the prescriptivist approach, based on her defense of that position.
The author never states an opinion about etymologies of words (origins of words) and whether they should or should not influence usage.
c
Moral considerations should ██████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████████████ █████████ ███████ ████████ ██████
We don’t get the author’s opinion about whether moral considerations should or should not influence usage. Although the egalitarian objection described in the second paragraph views the prescriptivists’ approach to language as immoral, the author never expresses any agreement or disagreement with that view. The author simply tells us what the egalitarian objection is.
The author never expresses an opinion about the value of scientific methods to studying grammar. Although the author does believe that language usage is not like scientific laws, that doesn’t mean the author believes scientific methods can’t help study language. Maybe we can use science to study how language is actually used among different peoples, or to study the difficulty of following different language rules.
(E) is supported by the author’s opinion in the last paragraph. The author thinks the descriptivists’ scientific objection fails because there are attempts to regulate language that have succeeded.
Difficulty
62% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is similar in difficulty to other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%140
151
75%163
Analysis
Author’s perspective
Implied
Critique or debate
Humanities
Science
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
6%
150
b
6%
150
c
3%
151
d
24%
151
e
62%
161
Question history
You don't have any history with this question.. yet!
You've discovered a premium feature!
Subscribe to unlock everything that 7Sage has to offer.
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to get going. Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you can continue!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you came here to read all the amazing posts from our 300,000+ members. They all have accounts too! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to discuss anything!
Hold on there, stranger! You need a free account for that.
We love that you want to give us feedback! Just create a free account below—it only takes a minute—and then you’re free to vote on this!
Subscribers can learn all the LSAT secrets.
Happens all the time: now that you've had a taste of the lessons, you just can't stop -- and you don't have to! Click the button.