Q1 - Children should be discouraged

[ty]

I am confused by the correct answer. I found myself struggling with the question type. For a moment I identified the type as MBT. Is this correct? Also, I identified the "B" as being the correct answer. Can you identify the question type and explain the approach?

Thanks,

[rinagoldfield]

Thanks for your post!

This is a “find your own conclusion” question, which is an example of an inference question. The answer should be as close to MBT as possible, but some inferences are more airtight than others.

The argument here is based on an analogy. The correct answer should follow logically, but it won’t be “MBT” in, say, a “follow the conditional chain” sense. The author says that Jones’s books are like candy, and that candy provides brief happiness but dulls one’s taste for better food. Therefore…

Our task is to complete the analogy. We want something like “Jones’s books provide brief happiness but dull the reader’s appetite for better books.”

(C) completes the analogy; it essentially tells us that Jones’ sbooks dull the reader’s appetite for better books.

(A) incorrectly takes the book-candy analogy literally.
(B) brings in frustration, which is the opposite of what we are looking for. We want to know that Jones’s books are easy pleasures.
(D) talks about parents’ positive messages, which are out of scope.
(E) suggests that children will spend all their time reading, which is not supported by the candy analogy. The author never suggested that children spend all their time eating candy.

Best,
Rina

[ganbayou]

for question like this, would the blank part always be the conclusion? at first I thought the conclusion is the first sentence. which is the conclusion for this question?