#23 - Concept Reference, Strengthen

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[lunsandy]

Hi Powerscore

I Chose C because of line 21 that says language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviours, so if a physical object employed by a speaker and corresponds with the categories of the other person wouldn't that strengthen the the thing it describes? Or would that be more so of "a matter of agreed-upon convention" which is why it's wrong?

Is A the right answer because if two categories are employed without the influence of the first then it's a language that corresponds to objects and behaviours and not a matter of agreed upon conventions.

Thanks a lot!

[James Finch]

Hi Lunsandy,

First, let's look at what we're asked to do in this question: strengthen a specific conclusion. The conclusion we're trying to strengthen here is that all human language has an essential link to the things it denotes, i.e. there is something essentially cat-like about the word 'cat' itself. The passage spends most of its words explaining the arguments in favor of the alternative conclusion, that words are merely arbitrary and only derive meaning from human agreements. Since the passage sets up the two conclusions to be mutually exclusive and the only two possible, weakening the conclusion the passage supports would also strengthen the conclusion in question 23, and vice versa.

If answer choice (A) were true, and one human language that developed independently from another both use the same categories for physical objects, then the idea that language emerges from mutual assent is weakened, and the idea that there is a fundamental link between language and what it describes is strengthened, as the two languages have a striking similarity despite emerging independently.

Answer choice (C) doesn't work because it deals only with speakers of the same language; if anything, this weakens the conclusion we are trying to strengthen. In fact, (C) is almost a given: by definition, it's expected that people who speak the same language would use the same categories of physical objects, otherwise it wouldn't be the same language!

Hope this clears things up!

[haileymarkt]

Hello!

In answering this question, I chose E. I now understand why A is correct, but I don't really understand why E is wrong. Thanks for your help!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi hailey,

The fundamental problem with answer choice E is it's an opinion statement (about what native speakers of languages "believe"), and we're looking for an answer choice that will most strongly support a fact statement (about whether, in fact, language does "have" an essential correspondence to the things it describes). Generally speaking, the beliefs (or opinions) of individuals do not provide any support for factual claims. That's because those beliefs or opinions could very well be wrong. That's more than enough reason here to reject answer choice E.

I hope this helps!

[gavelgirl]

Hi powerscore,

I chose answer A because in the passage when the author talks about language corresponding as essential, the author describes it as "a solid and reliable commodity." Therefore I chose A because when it said that two different languages had similar experiences with language and corresponding objects. I saw this as strengthening the argument that it is reliable and solid amongst different languages not just derived from the same as answer B alludes to. Was this the right approach or did I get lucky?

Please help, I am struggling with Reading Comp and would love feedback. Thank you.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi GavelGirl,

Yes, you're at exactly the right part of the passage, and your thought process is sound. To strengthen the idea that there's an essential correspondence between language and the things it describes (and that the words we use are not just a matter of conventions that a certain group of people agree on), we would want the languages of independent groups (groups that could not have influenced each other through conventions) to use very similar words/categories for the physical things those words/categories are describing. This would show us, as you say, that there is an essential connection between language and the world, and that knowledge is therefore solid (and stable). So you're right that we're looking for an answer that gives some evidence of that solidity, and also an answer that would help rule out the possibility that the similarity was just a matter of conventions (if the two languages were independent, there couldn't be a convention or conventions from the first one that was influencing the second one).

Nice work!