PrepTest 141, Section 4, 19. Young people believe efforts…

How will the right answer fit in terms of support and conclusion?

Only the right answer will be support that must be true if the conclusion is true. A less technical but totally accurate way to say it is that only the right answer be support for the conclusion that doesn’t bring in anything new.

Highlight the main conclusion in the passage, if there is one:

must enable our children to believe that better futures are possible

[BACKGROUND]. [INTERMEDIATE CONCLUSION], because [SUPPORT]. [INTERMEDIATE CONCLUISIO] and therefore [CONCLUSION].

This passage is a little weird, since two intermediate conclusions almost never appear together. You’re only being asked about an assumption used by the main conclusion though. That’s the one that isn’t used as support. You should recognize clearly that this author changes the subject. The main conclusion uses wording that isn’t used or referenced anywhere else in the passage.

If we “must enable our children to believe…” because we have to “prevent this loss of motivation”, then the clear implication is that enabling our children to believe in better futures will prevent the loss of motivation. If you agree, recognizing the right answer is gonna be easy.

Map the wording of the answers to the wording of the passage:

(A) Motivating people…will enable them to believe that the future can be better.

I get that this can be confusing, but you need to recognize that the author said it the other way around in the passage. Based on the passage, “motivating people” can’t happen without the enabling them to believe part. You know that because the conclusion says “must”. So this info is basically contradicting the passage, not supporting it.

(B) Enabling people to believe that better futures are possible will help prevent the loss of motivation…

Boom! When the conclusion changes the subject, the right answer pretty much always links wording in the support to the new wording in the conclusion. Just like this pitch perfect answer choice does.

(C) Optimism about the future is better than pessimism…

This comparison between optimism and pessimism isn’t actually made in the passage, and since the author tells us explicitly that “pessimism is probably harmful”, we don’t really need this info to be true.

(D) …pollution, poverty, and war will be eliminated.

Nobody picked this right? This is way too strong. The author’s conclusion can totally work even if their proposed solution doesn’t result in these problems being completely “eliminated.”

(E) …stems from previous’ generations inability…

Whoa, cause-and-effect alert. The author makes no claim about where any of the problems they mention “stems from”. That should be clear since “previous generations’ inability” doesn’t map to anything stated in the passage.

(B) is the correct answer.

Common pattern/s in this question: This one is a classic example of a conclusion that changes the subject. Be super sensitive to new wording in the main conclusion of a passage, and you’ve already done most of the work to recognize the right answer.