Logical reasoning PrepTest 111 · Section 1 · Question 11

Incorrect. The Linguist doesn't argue that bilingualism has advantages over monolingualism, just that one supposed downside might be wrong because it's based on flawed tests.

Incorrect. The Linguist brings in new tests to rebut the claim of the opposing point, so she doesn't point out an inconsistency in that view. To do so, the Linguist would fail to introduce new evidence but rather use the opposing point's own statements to show that they contradict the conclusion (or each other).

Incorrect. The Linguist relies on separate tests to rebut the initial tests, so she's not throwing out all tests—she could believe the dual—language tests are appropriate for drawing conclusions about conceptual maps.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the advantages of bilingualism, so this answer is out of scope.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Valid

Question Type:
Methods of Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Phenomenon — Bilingual children show a smaller vocab on vocab tests than single—language children

Opposing point — This shows that they have a reduced "conceptual map" from a stressed linguistic capacity

Linguist — The tests were given in one language and tests given in multiple languages show that the kids know more words if you consider both languages so the vocab tests relied on by the opposing point are flawed

Answer Anticipation:
This argument has a lot of pieces! There's a phenomenon that explanations are offered for and the Linguist rebuts the view of "[s]ome people." As such we should describe how she rebuts that opposing point.

That opposing point bases their conclusion on a set of vocab tests. However the Linguist believes that the tests are flawed. How does she go about proving that? By bringing up other tests that suggest a different interpretation of the data. Note what we said there—we didn't say that the other tests show the kids have a larger vocab in a single language. We said that the other tests call the interpretation of the results into question. When the test is given in both languages the kid speaks it's found that some words are known in one language and some in another so those kids may have a smaller vocab than their compatriots in a single language while having a larger vocab when both of their languages are taken into account.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights that the Linguist points out how the tests used to support the opposing point were "deeply flawed" since they were given in only a single language. Since this answer correctly describes the Linguist's argument this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
When an argument rebuts another in a Methods of Reasoning question the correct answer will likely describe how that rebuttal works so dig in to see what the rebutter disagrees with and what type of evidence they use to do so.