Reading comp PrepTest 145 · Section 3 · Question 16

Passage

Questions 14-19 Passage A  .        One function of language is to influence others'  . behavior by changing what they Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Science


Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • A function is discussed and applied to a human activity
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Function of language - Change what others know/believe/want
    • Humans - Respond to mental state of others

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Animal language and purpose contrasted with humans
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Animals - Communication inadvertent, because aren’t aware of others’ mental states (exception - maybe chimps)
    • Example 1 - Frogs - Mating call, but not because they think of other frogs’ thoughts
    • Example 2 - Primates/Chimps - Don’t respond differently when others do and don’t share info
    • Not as goal-oriented as they appear

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • A common view reflecting a distinction is presented
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Animal communication - Rigid response to stimuli
    • Human communication - Spontaneous and creative

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • This view is explored, with 2 experts cited
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Common belief - Animals can’t lie (intend to deceive)
    • Expert 1 - Grice - To mean X, must want others to believe X
    • Common belief - Conscious intent is uniquely human
    • Expert 2 /Example - Maritain - Bees dancing is just reflect

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author attacks this view (Reasoning/Assumptions)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Author - View is circular - assumes animals don’t have intent, then uses lack of intent to show comms are different since they lack intent
    • Recent research (Chimps and others) - Questions assumption that animals lack intent

Main Points:

Passage A - While animal communication might appear intentional, it’s actually different from human communication in that it isn’t intentional and doesn’t attempt to alter the beliefs and behavior of other animals.

Passage B - Despite a common belief that animal communication is a rigid response to stimuli and lacks conscious intent, recent research suggests that there isn’t much difference between animal and human communication.

Key Lines?

Passage A:

  • Lines 1-5 - A key function of language is noted; it’s applied to humans
  • Lines 6-11 - Animal communication is contrasted with human
  • Line 11 - An example is introduced
  • Line 20 - Another example is introduced
  • Line 25 - Another example is introduced

Passage B:

  • Lines 30-33 - A common belief about a distinction is noted
  • Lines 34-35 - An implication of that belief is listed
  • Line 39 - An expert is introduced
  • Lines 43-45 - Another common belief is noted
  • Line 45 - Another expert is introduced
  • Line 58 - The Author highlights a flaw in the common belief
  • Lines 59-65 - The Author cites recent research to call assumptions of the common belief into question

Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

Phenomenon/Explanation - Both passages deal with the same phenomenon - animal communication. Passage A argues that it’s “not as purposeful” as it first appears (Line 29) since animals can’t “attribute mental states to others” (Line 11) as humans can. Passage B, on the other hand, argues that this view is “circular” (Line 53), assuming that animals lack conscious intention (Lines 53-54) to prove that they can’t consciously intend their communication. So the two passages deal with the same topic, but they reach opposed conclusions over it.

Examples - Both passages bring up certain animals as examples of the point they’re trying to prove. Passage A talks about frogs (Line 12), primates/macaques (Line 18; Line 20), and chimps (Line 25); Passage B talks about bees (Line 46) and chimpos (Line 59). In both cases, the examples are used to make smaller points that build to the overall argument - neither passage is about the examples.

Relationship - Interestingly, the Author of Passage B brings up experts with whom she disagrees - but ones that largely agree with the argument put forward in Passage A. Passage A’s Author argues that animals aren’t “goal-directed” with their communications (Line 29). And the scientists and experts in Passage B before the pivot argue that animal communications aren’t intentional, but rather conditioned reflexes (Line 51).

Last Thoughts?

There’s a lot of discussion of the philosophy of mind here, so we should expect the questions to be difficult in that regard. Let’s be sure to check the answers against the passages to make sure we’re not falling for any traps.

Question prompt

The author of passage Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Science

Strategy Overview

Review the position from Passage A, then compare that to the viewpoint expressed by the Author of Passage B

Answer Anticipation

Let’s start with the position from Passage A. There, the Author argued that animal communication might appear intentional, it isn’t based on perception of the mental state of other animals, so it isn’t “goal-directed” or intentional. We summed this up as:While animal communication might appear intentional, it’s actually different from human communication in that it isn’t intentional and doesn’t attempt to alter the beliefs and behavior of other animals.And before we move on to the specifics of Passage B, we should remember that we said the two authors disagree, overall, with the Author of Passage B taking issue with the arguments against animal communication being intentional.In fact, we noted during our review of the relationship that the initial viewpoint discussed in Passage B largely aligned with the Author of Passage A’s argument! “Many scientists,” Grice, and Maritain all argue that animal communication is a “conditioned reflex” and thus not intentional.Since Passage A’s position lines up with these arguments, we can use the Author of Passage B’s opinion on them to infer how she’d feel about the argument in Passage A. And her opinion of them starts in Paragraph 3 of Passage B - they are circular, assuming that animal communication isn’t intentional and using that to conclude that animal communication is different from human communication in that it isn’t intentional.So, short version, their argument is based on assumptions and flawed logic. Let’s find an answer stating that opinion.

Answer choices

  1. A
    They fail to recognize Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) The Author of Passage B doesn’t argue that human communication isn’t intentional, making it similar to animal communication. She argues that animal communication might be intentional, thus similar to human communication. As such, she wouldn’t take issue with Passage A’s discussion of the recognition of mental states by humans.

  2. B
    Most of them lack Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) There’s no indication who subscribes to the position articulated in Passage A, and Passage B’s Author never questions people’s credentials, so this answer is out of scope.

  3. C
    They ignore well-known evidence Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Lines 56-65) While Passage B does say that the common belief is that animals can’t lie, and she takes issue with that position overall, she never presents research that animals do lie. She only brings up research that suggests animals don’t simply respond to stimuli in their communications. So this answer is out of scope.

  4. D
    They make assumptions about Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) (Lines 53-56; Lines 59-62) The arguments presented in Passage B in the first two paragraphs largely align with those made in Passage A - that human communication is intentional, making it different from animal communication which is a reflex to certain stimuli. Passage B’s Author rebuts these arguments as “circular,” which means the premise supporting a conclusion assumes that conclusion to be true. She then goes on to talk about recent research that has called certain assumptions of the opposing view into question. As such, she would believe those who subscribe to the argument in Passage A (and the arguments in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Passage B) are making assumptions about things that research should dig more into. This answer is therefore correct.

  5. E
    They falsely believe that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) First, the opposing viewpoint to Passage B’s Author isn’t that all communication systems are the same - it’s that human and animal systems are different, with only the former being intentional, so this answer lumping all communication systems together doesn’t line up with that view. Second, the Author of Passage B doesn’t argue that communication systems can’t be explained in terms of their evolutionary benefits - just that these systems aren’t merely evolved reflexes to stimuli. Even if they’re intentional, spontaneous, and creative, they could have evolved to be that way because of evolutionary benefits.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 21%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 9%
  4. D Credited 51%
  5. E 15%

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