Mexican American Proverb Use

Answer choices

1. A

   Contradicted19% picked this

   Most Mexican American proverbs have their origin in the common proverb

   The last two sentences of the first paragraph say that, the great majority of Spanish-language proverbs came reached Mexico from Spain, though they did not all originate there. many belong to the common proverb tradition of Europe. It sounds like most proverbs came from Spain, and a minority of them from the common proverb tradition of Europe.

   19%
2. B

   Unsupported Comparison Word Salad8% picked this

   Mexican American parents are more likely to emphasize the value of traditional wisdom than are most other parents

   The one line of comparative emphasis we got was that Mexican American parents are more likely than other American parents to use proverbs as a way of talking to their kids about who theirs kids are friends with. At the end of the 2nd paragraph, the author speculates that maybe Mexican American parents like proverbs because proverbs seem to carry the gravitas of traditional wisdom. But we can't blend those two ideas together in a Word Salad and say that Mexican Americans are more likely to emphasize traditional wisdom. Other American parents might be just as likely (or more) to emphasize traditional wisdom; they just don't use proverbs as much. Perhaps they emphasize traditional wisdom through greater respect for elders or for classic literature.

   8%
3. C

   Unsupported Comparison2% picked this

   There are more Spanish-language proverbs than there are proverbs in the common proverb

   We can't quantify who's got more proverbs: the Spanish language, or the common proverb tradition of Europe. At the end of the 1st paragraph the author says that Mexico received more of its proverbs from the first source than from the second one, but that's not necessary because the first source has more proverbs. Maybe it was primarily because Mexican people generally speak Spanish already.

   2%
4. D

   Correct70% picked this

   Proverb use in some communities may reflect parental concern that the young will not

   Why this is right

   The soft, supportable language of "some, may" makes this answer worthy of our attention on the 1st pass. We slow down for safely worded answers to think about whether we could support them. In the 2nd paragraph, the author is emphasizing the pronounced use of proverbs within Mexican American families as means of regulation of peer-group relationships. She then says, Perhaps this emphasis on peer-group relations derives from a sense that traditional, community-approved norms are threatened by those prevalent in the surrounding society. That line seems to be saying what this answer is saying. The Mexican American parents are using proverbs because they are concerned that traditional norms approved by their community are being threatened by those prevalent in the surrounding society. For example, maybe a traditional norm is to go to church every weekend, but when a teenager starts hanging out with atheist heathens from the surrounding society, the teenager starts to question whether they should keep going to church.

   Skill tested: Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   70%
5. E

   Too Strong / Specific: cannot, most0% picked this

   Most proverbs cannot be accurately translated from one language

   This is scary, loaded language. Does the author ever say that a majority of proverbs only make sense in their native language? This answer's only potential support seems to be the fact that in the 2nd paragraph the author provides a "rough translation" of a proverb that is said in Spanish. Even though it's a rough translation, it still seems understandable, so wasn't it accurately translated? We got the intended meaning? Even if we thought this rough translation does not count as an accurate translation, we have no grounds for assuming that most proverbs are also like this.

   0%