Logical Reasoning

PT150 · S2 · Q15 Children clearly have a reasonably

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Children clearly have a reasonably sophisticated understanding of what is real and what is pretend.

Conclusion (clearly = opinion)

Children clearly have a reasonably sophisticated understanding of what is real and what is pretend.

Evidence

You can ask them which thing is real and which thing is pretend, and they generally get it right.

Even when you see a kid running away from a dad who's pretending to be a lion, the kid doesn't legitimately think the dad is a lion or else she wouldn't be squealing in delight.

Evaluate

Whenever we do Main Conclusion, we know that they have two main tricks for hiding the conclusion from us. The conclusion in 90% of Main Conclusion questions is either 1. the very first sentence 2. some Pivot / Rebuttal idea

So when we read a Main Conclusion paragraph, we read that first sentence thinking there's almost a 50% chance that the very first claim is the Main Conclusion.

Does this first sentence sound like an opinion coming from our author?

Yes! It's wearing an Opinion Indicator, "clearly".

Does the rest of the paragraph seem to be supporting that claim in the first sentence?

Yes, everything else in this paragraph is helping to support the claim that kids know the difference between real and pretend.

Goal

Find the answer with the best meaning-match for the first sentence.

15.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument?

  1. Correct

    Children apparently have a reasonably

    Why this is right

    This looks like a pretty tight rephrasing of the first sentence, which is what we identified as our Main Conclusion.

    Skill tested: Main Conclusion · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    88% picked this

  2. Children who have acquired a

    Bad Match for 1st Sentence

    This answer matches more closely to the 2nd sentence, but the 1st sentence was the main conclusion, and it doesn't mention anything about "acquiring command of a language". The author wasn't saying that "only kids with command of language can differentiate real and pretend". In fact, she explains that "even a much younger child [who doesn't yet have command of language] can tell the difference between real and pretend, as evidenced by the fact that they run away from their father, the 'lion', squealing with glee not fear."

    2% picked this

  3. Even a very young child

    Unrelated to Goal

    This looks nothing like the 1st sentence, which definitely doesn't talk about lions.

    1% picked this

  4. Children would be terrified if

    Unrelated to Goal

    This looks nothing like the 1st sentence, which definitely doesn't talk about lions.

    0% picked this

  5. The pleasure children get from

    Bad Match for 1st Sentence

    Parts of this resemble the first sentence, but other parts "the pleasure children get from make-believe" are clearly not a match for the first sentence.

    9% picked this

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