Kagan maintains that an infants reactions to its first stressful expe

Question

Kagan maintains that an infant’s reactions to its first stressful experiences are part of a natural process of development, not harbingers of childhood unhappiness or (i) _________ signs of adolescent anxiety.

A) prophetic
B) normal
C) monotonous
D) virtual
E) typical

Show Answer

Official Answer

A

A) prophetic
B) normal
C) monotonous
D) virtual
E) typical

carcass · Answer

We see that the sentence says that "an infant’s reactions to its first stressful experiences are part of a natural process of development" and that they are NOT "___________ signs of adolescent anxiety."

So, the word that fills the blank must express something that the reactions are not if they are "part of a natural process of development."

(B) normal is in line with "part of a natural process of development." After all, something normal would be part of a natural process of development. So, normal is not something the reactions would not be.

(C) monotonous (dull and repetitious) isn't something the reactions would clearly not be. Something that's part of a natural process could be dull and repetitious.

(D) virtual (existing in essence but not in fact) doesn't fit the scenario at all. There's no reason to believe that the reactions are or are not virtual.

(E) typical (usual for a particular person or thing) is similar to "normal." So, typical is also in line with "part of a natural process of development." After all, something typical of an infant would likely be part of a natural process of development. So, typical is not something the reactions would not be.

Notice that, because "normal" and "typical" are in line with "part of a natural process of development," these choices are tricky. If we don't see exactly what's going on in the sentence, we can choose "normal" or "typical" because they seem to fit the topic.

(A) prophetic (predicting the future) makes sense because it makes sense that reactions that are "part of a natural process of development" would NOT be signs predicting adolescent anxiety, which is presumably not usual for a growing child.

The correct answer is (A).

euphemism100 · Answer

The blank is in the wrong position. Please rewrite this question!

carcass · Answer

Fixed. Thank you

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

The sentence contrasts the infant’s reactions, part of a normal developmental process, with future unhappiness and anxiety. The missing word describes signs of adolescent anxiety as they relate to the infant. Choice A is correct: “prophetic” signs, like harbingers, foretell future occurrences, and for the infant, adolescent anxiety is a future occurrence. Since an infant cannot literally display signs of adolescent anxiety, “normal,” “monotonous,” and “typical” are all incorrect. And “virtual” is incorrect, because virtual signs are not real signs, and what Kagan is denying is that the infant’s reactions are not real signs of later unhappiness. Thus the correct answer is  prophetic  (Choice A).

Answer: A

Kagan maintains that an infants reactions to its first stressful expe

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