Q16

[yoohoo081]

Could someone please explain why B is the correct answer?

Is this answer inferred because of the contrasting the writing keeps doing in paragraph 2 & 3?

I guessed C and realized that I glanced at line48 too fast. Efficient and less damaging both applies to family mediation. :p

[ohthatpatrick]

We would get our support for choice (B) from lines 48-53.

Within this 3rd paragraph, the author is listing the reasons he thinks family mediation is a better option for resolving family disputes than is court adjudication.

One reason listed is that family mediation involves the two disputing parties working towards a common agreement, fostering "a spirit of cooperation that can lead to greater compliance with their agreement". Basically, this is saying that the disputing family members are at peace with the outcome of mediation because they both had a hand in shaping it.

This is what (B) is referring to when it discusses "the attitudes of the participants toward the outcomes reached".

We're allowed to infer that court adjudication is NOT similar in this regard, both from the fact that court adjudication involves a judge ultimately deciding in favor of one party or the other (leaving the losing party, presumably, unhappy with the outcome) and from the fact that the author in the 3rd paragraph is seeking to make a contrast with court adjudication.

I would have been initially put off by the language in (B) that says "they are so different that ..."

However, ultimately I can live with it because the other choices have more concrete problems (and the logic of the passage implies that the author thinks there is a very meaningful difference between court adjudication and family mediation).

A) goes against the main thrust of the passage, found in lines 44-46
C) just like you said, both of those familiar terms came in reference to mediation
D) makes a "false distinction" based on the level of the mediator's expertise -- something never discussed
E) also contradicts lines 44-46

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want some clarification.

In general, when you're practicing these Inference questions
("inferred", "implies", "suggests", "most likely to agree"), you'll have to prove your answer is right by pointing to a line reference and prove the others are wrong by identifying what's broken in each one. Often, you have to use the language of the answer choice to find the appropriate window of text.

For example, you used "damaging and efficient" to find the window of 47-48 ... and had you been reading more cautiously, you could have used that window to confidently eliminate C, which says something different.

For choice (B), I had to ask myself, "where did this passage ever talk about 'the attitudes of the participants towards the outcomes reached'?"

You'll notice that in correct answers, familiar details get paraphrased (so that their window of proof is not obvious).

Whereas in wrong answers, the familiar details are expressed verbatim (so that they temptingly "ring a bell").

Patrick

[erikwoodward10]

I think that the study described at the end of paragraph 3 also lends support to B. But yes, this is a weak inference question and requires more of a leap than i initially felt comfortable with--we're not explicitly told about this comparison. POE helps cause all of the other answers are contradicted or unsupported.