Logical reasoning PrepTest 114 · Section 2 · Question 19

Incorrect. They both agree that ASL is the native language of many North Americans; they disagree over what this means for it as a foreign language requirement.

Incorrect. The debate isn't over individuals who natively speak a language other than English; it's over whether that language being natively spoken in North America means that anyone can use it to satisfy their foreign language requirement.

Incorrect. There's no debate over the requirement itself, just what should satisfy it.

Incorrect. The requirements and what counts as a foreign language at other universities is out of scope of the debate between these two professors.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Point at Issue

Stimulus Summary:
PB: ASL is spoken natively by many North Americans so it's not a foreign language and thus shouldn't count as one for the university's requirements.

PS: Your logic applies to Spanish and French too but it'd be ridiculous to say students can't count those as foreign languages (so your argument is ridiculous).

Answer Anticipation:
The two Professors here are arguing over whether American Sign Language should count as a foreign language for the university's requirements. They agree that many North Americans speak it natively but they disagree on whether that means it can be used to satisfy foreign language requirements.

For many Point at Issue questions the two speakers disagree on the conclusion. On easier/earlier questions the correct answer tends to then be that conclusion. However on harder/later questions it tends to be the disagreement in the logic behind those differing conclusions that shows up as the correct answer.

Beckstein believes that "for that reason alone" it should be precluded from counting but Sedley believes that there are analogous situations where it would be ridiculous to use that line of thinking—for instance Spanish and French. So Sedley doesn't believe a language being spoken natively by North Americans is sufficient reason to preclude it from counting as a foreing language. This is the disagreement that allows them to reach different conclusions so while we should stay open to an answer reflecting those conclusions we should expect an answer reflecting this reasoning difference.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects their debate over the reasoning behind precluding a language from satisfying the university's foreign language requirement. Beckstein believes that "for that reason alone"—that a language is spoken natively by many North Americans—it should be precluded from counting as a foreign language. Sedley believes this is "ridiculous" because that logic would prevent Spanish and French from counting.

Key Takeaway:
Point at Issue questions frequently feature a disagreement over a conclusion. Earlier questions will have that conclusion as the correct answer but later ones will generally require you to identify the point at issue that leads to the differing conclusions. Sometimes that disagreement is over a fact. Sometimes it's over the logic. In either case identifying the disagreement underlying the diverging conclusions will allow you to more easily find the correct answer.