Dillworth: More and more people are deciding

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: only11% picked this

   Dillworth’s assumption that children acquire values only from their parents

   Dillworth never said that children acquire values only from parents. He just said that parents best chance of passing on their values is via their children.

   11%
2. B

   Out of Scope: dismiss as irrelevant3% picked this

   it is a mistake to dismiss as irrelevant the personal and economic sacrifices people are called on to make for

   Nothing Travers says sounds like, "Dillworth, you can't just dismiss the personal and economic sacrifices parents have to make for their children. They're not irrelevant!" Dillworth was never dismissing them. In his first sentence he acknowledges that these sacrifices are "considerable". He was saying they have no bearing on the fact that kids represent the best chance to pass on values. They're irrelevant to "the fact" that kids are the best contenders for passing on values. At any rate, Travers isn't even discussing the sacrifices. He's taking issue with the claim that kids will pass on parents' values.

   3%
3. C

   Bad Objection Match11% picked this

   Dillworth has overlooked the well-known fact that people with deeply held values not infrequently reject opposing values that

   This answer is about 'values', as was Travers' rebuttal, so it's worth trying to figure out what this is saying. It's saying that people with deeply held values (such as the potential parents that Dillworth is addressing in his conclusion) frequently reject opposing values deeply held by others. That's not quite a match for the idea that kids (who may or may not have deeply held values) will reject the values of their parents (which may or may not be opposing).

   11%
4. D

   Wrong Objection Too Strong11% picked this

   the desire to perpetuate their values should not be a factor in people’s decision

   Wrong Objection Too Strong: shouldn't be a factor Travers isn't saying that "perpetuating values" shouldn't be a factor in the decision to have children. That's a very extreme position, and we can't derive that from Travers' one sentence. He's saying that Dillworth has it wrong in terms of whether children are likely to perpetuate their parents' values. Dillworth was saying that children are the best chance for passing on values, and Travers is saying, "That's not true -- when children are ungrateful for the sacrifices that their parents make (which is typical), it's because they've completely rejected their parents' values."

   11%
5. E

   Correct64% picked this

   the fact that children are often ungrateful for parental sacrifices is not irrelevant to deciding whether to have children in

   Why this is right

   This is similar to (D) but more limited in wording, and thus easier to justify as a match. Travers is showing that "children's ungratefulness" is relevant to deciding whether to have kids as a way of perpetuating your values. Dillworth actually said that "the fact that children are often grateful for the considerable sacrifices their parents make has no bearing on the fact that kids provide the best chance to ensure that the parents' value outlive them." Travers is saying, "No the ungratefulness DOES have some bearing on that. Children's ingratitude usually is caused by the fact that the kids have completely rejected the parents' values." In other words, Travers is saying, "Dillworth, you're right that kids are often ungrateful, but that doesn't mean that some adults should have kids anyway because at least the kids will pass on the parents' values -- after all, when kids are ungrateful it's because they've already rejected their parents' values (and thus won't be passing them onto future generations)."

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

   64%