PrepTest 114

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
NA/Flawed

Question Type:
Misinterpretation

Stimulus Summary:
A: Some words don't refer to anything.

J: Yep, and since they're meaningless, we should abandon them.

Answer Anticipation:
First off, the question stem here doesn't clearly state that this is a misinterpretation. However, it'd be weird to ask about how the second speaker interprets the first speaker's claims and have it be a correct interpretation—it would just ask what the first speaker said (a Must Be True or a Main Point question). So let's head in anticipating that Joshua misinterpreted Ashley's claims in some way.

He starts out by saying that he "agree[s]" with her claim that some words don't refer to anything. But he then immediately pivots to treating that as a premise that some words are "meaningless." There's no indication that Ashley in stating that these words don't refer to anything therefore have no meaning and so this is the misinterpretation at the heart of Joshua's response.

Note that it's much more likely that the misinterpretation is going to feature in the second speaker's premise than conclusion when the second speaker builds on the statements of the first (as opposed to rebutting the first speaker's argument which Joshua doesn't do). The conclusion is going to be a consequence of the misinterpretation not the misinterpretation itself.

Answer Explanation:
Meaning → Refers to something; not Refers to something → not Meaning. This answer reflects the misinterpretation Joshua makes in jumping from Ashley's claim that certain words don't refer to anything to his premise that they therefore lack meaning.

Key Takeaway:
Even if the question stem asks for how the second speaker "interprets" the first speaker instead of "misinterprets you should assume there is a misinterpretation.
When you're in this question type, there are two general forms—the second speaker rebuts the first speaker based on misinterpreting their statements; or the second speaker builds on the first speaker's statements based on that misinterpretation. This is an example of the latter. In these cases, the misinterpretation will usually be highlighted by the premise of the second speaker, not the conclusion.

Incorrect. Neither speaker discusses usefulness, so this answer doesn't tie into either set of statements. Note that you can recommend abandoning something that is useful, and something meaningless can also be useful (nonsense words might make a baby happy), so Joshua's comment doesn't guarantee he feels these words are useless.

Incorrect. This answer is the negation/reversal of the jump that Joshua makes.

Incorrect. Similar to (B) there's a shift here between meaninglessness and uselessness. Additionally this answer connects Joshua's premise to his conclusion not his statement to Ashley's. (Ignoring the term shift this answer would be an assumption of his argument.)

Incorrect. Another answer that brings in usefulness and can thus be abandoned for that reason! Also, this answer is essentially the same as (C) with the last word changed, so it's also a negation/reversal.