V05-32

Question

Our reading program teaches third graders to use phonics to sound out multi-syllabic words by pronouncing prefixes and suffixes separately from base words, and then reading the word parts all together. Since children are still primarily reading aloud at this age, this approach ensures comprehension even in books that contain a high percentage of multi-syllabic words.
 
The approach of the summer reading program assumes which of the following about third graders’ comprehension of multi-syllabic words?

A. Students will recognize multi-syllabic words when they hear them.
B. Multi-syllabic words are all composed of prefixes and suffixes.
C. Third graders struggle more than other students with multi-syllabic words.
D. Comprehension is less important than sounding out words.
E. Other reading programs do not focus on multi-syllabic words.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

Our reading program teaches third graders to use phonics to sound out multi-syllabic words by pronouncing prefixes and suffixes separately from base words, and then reading the word parts all together. Since children are still primarily reading aloud at this age, this approach ensures comprehension even in books that contain a high percentage of multi-syllabic words.
 
The approach of the summer reading program assumes which of the following about third graders’ comprehension of multi-syllabic words?

A. Students will recognize multi-syllabic words when they hear them.
B. Multi-syllabic words are all composed of prefixes and suffixes.
C. Third graders struggle more than other students with multi-syllabic words.
D. Comprehension is less important than sounding out words.
E. Other reading programs do not focus on multi-syllabic words.

Situation : A reading program teaches third-graders to sound out multi-syllabic words in order to understand them.
 
 Reasoning : Which identifies the assumption underlying the program’s approach? The reading program teaches students a way of breaking down words and sounding them out. This strategy, together with the fact that children are still primarily reading aloud at this age, makes it clear that children are expected to recognize the words once they hear them.
 
 A. CORRECT.  The program’s emphasis is on using sounds to figure out long words, making clear the assumption that children will recognize the words if they can only pronounce them. Negation test: If children read by syllables and parts but can't recognize the word, then this program/plan will fail.
 
B. The passage does not tell us that every long word has prefixes or suffixes, and the plan does not need that to be true. Students will break words into parts when those parts exist; when they do not because the base is longer, the word can be read as a whole. Having a longer base is not a problem per se as the base would always be read together as one word. So even if the word does not have prefixes or suffixes, the program still functions, and thus statement B is not a required assumption.
 
Another way to eliminate this choice comes from the question prompt itself. If you look at the question prompt: "... about third graders’ comprehension of multi-syllabic words?", you will notice that based on the prompt that only A) would fit as an answer. B) does not answer the question asked as the question and assumption are about third graders' comprehension of words, not about words themselves, so having some words not have suffix or prefix in this fashion is not an assumption needed for comprehension. 
 
C. This is an irrelevant statement, not an assumption as third graders are not compared with other students in the text.
 
D. This distorts the meaning and definitely not an assumption since the passage states that words are sounded out so that comprehension can be ensured.
 
E. This is also an irrelevant statement since other reading programs are not compared in the premise.

Answer: A

forsellingonline1 · Answer

What if there are students who are not able to hear?
How will option A work in that case?

venkateshksep24 · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

tejasa07 · Answer

Good question.
Please evaluate my approach: Negate option A, the statement is weakened.

sahilvijay · Answer

Then he will not be sitting in phonics class but he will be sitting in visual expression class..

shivarora306 · Answer

My question is -
Is "recognizing" a word considered equivalent to "comprehending" it in the deemed correct answer choice?

Posted from my mobile device

shaarang · Answer

comprehension
noun /ˌkɑːm.prəˈhen.ʃən/
the ability to understand completely and be familiar with a situation, facts, etc.

Comprehension and recognizing have two fundamentally different meanings. While the other answer choices don't make sense either, " recognize " threw me off and I ended up selecting an answer choice I knew made little sense. I only say this because I encountered this problem on the test, and I hope it gets fixed, and if there's no reason to fix it, I'd like an expert's explanation reconciling the discrepancy.

I've never encountered anything like this in an official GMAT problem and usually, the gap between "comprehension" and "recognize" is why answers are incorrect.

StringArgs · Answer

Here the assumption is actually:  hearing the words helps better comprehend the words.

My interpretation of A was:
 A. Students will recognize multi-syllabic words when they hear them:  How does recognizing if a word is a tough one help the a child better understand/comprehend it? I marked B instead as I found A irrelevant.

B said that: Multi-syllabic words are all composed of prefixes and suffixes.  Even though this isnt quite the main assumption of the statement one can say that the kids better comprehend all big words because they can read aloud the prefix and the suffix (assuming all big words have prefix and suffix)

In the Answer provided however it is assumed that recognize=comprehend (which I dont think is quite right, i'd say one would not face such an issue with a official question). If we let that pass we get the main assumption i.e. The students will recognize/understand the word when they HEAR them aloud.

Saksham337 · Answer

Recongize does not mean comprehend. Negating option A, provided the correct meaning of recognize, does not destroy our conclusion. Option B, while extreme, is a required assumption because the whole concept of the reading program was to use sounds by pronouncing prefixes and suffices, which leads to comprehension. If the multi-syllabic words are not all composed of pre/suf then how would the logical flow work behind the concept? I understand "all" is a put-off but this option is the best of the lot, in spite of that, in my opinion.

bb · Answer

Thank you for the point. I agree about the recognize vs. comprehend. I have updated the question appropriately.

In terms of the option B, that's a trap assumption. It is indeed an assumption that the words that kids are reading have prefixes and suffixes. However, the question asks

The approach of the summer reading program assumes which of the following about third graders’ comprehension of multi-syllabic words?

The subject is not words but third grader's comprehension. The question is looking for assumptions related directly to how third graders comprehend multi-syllabic words. The assumption needs to be something that underpins the teaching strategy employed by the program, specifically aimed at aiding comprehension. Answer B, stating that "Multi-syllabic words are all composed of prefixes and suffixes," discusses the structure of words rather than how children comprehend them, and is not relevant to the question asked (relevant to the reading program but not the question). There are other reasons why B is wrong but this is the easiest to explain for me.

Saksham337

Recongize does not mean comprehend. Negating option A, provided the correct meaning of recognize, does not destroy our conclusion. Option B, while extreme, is a required assumption because the whole concept of the reading program was to use sounds by pronouncing prefixes and suffices, which leads to comprehension. If the multi-syllabic words are not all composed of pre/suf then how would the logical flow work behind the concept? I understand "all" is a put-off but this option is the best of the lot, in spite of that, in my opinion.

Saksham337 · Answer

That makes sense. Thank you so much!

saynchalk · Answer

negating option B works as well though,

If multi syllable words don't have prefixes and suffixes, then the method will not work

alrightalright · Answer

A. Students will recognize multi-syllabic words when they hear them.

I eliminated option A under the understanding that the paragraph is talking about READING ALOUD, so whether or not the kids can recognize multi-syllabic words when they HEAR them is irrelevant. they need to recognize it when they are READING.

hr1212 · Answer

Hi  alrightalright ,

The conclusion here is that students are able to comprehend multi-syllabic words when they sound them out and read them aloud and not just through silent reading. For this to hold true, it must be the case that students can recognize and understand words when they hear them, which is exactly what Option A captures. The subtle but important distinction is that the argument centers around sounding out or reading aloud, not just reading in general.

kabirgandhi · Answer

Question on  choice B

The passage says that  phonics are being used to teach third graders how to read multi-syllabic words. The method involves some use of prefixes and suffixes.

Conclusion: This method  ensures  comprehension, even in books with high levels of multi-syllabic words.

To  ensure  comprehension, we would have to cover all multi-syllabic words.

Answer choice analysis:

B) Multi-syllabic words are all comprised of prefixes and suffixes. - If this is not the case, then there will be some multisyllabic words that will not undergo our method, meaning that comprehension cannot be  ensured.

A) Students will recognise multi-syllabic words when they hear them. - Even if students do not recognise these words upon hearing, the passage is talking about  reading out loud. " Hearing" makes it sound like someone else is reading them the words. Even if that is not the case, reading out loud could still ensure comprehension. If this choice said "reading out loud" instead of hearing, it would make sense, however, they're fundamentally 2 different things.

Could someone help me with the logic for choosing A? and for eliminating B?

bb   Bunuel

bb · Answer

1. This is an evil question. Does not make it bad though

I just got it wrong myself. I have updated the explanation for B. 2. However, I spent 5 mins digging into it and found an interesting shortcut (not sure if that's an official way of solving questions but it is definitely one - look at the question prompt: The approach of the summer reading program assumes which of the following about third graders’ comprehension of multi-syllabic words ? You can see based on the prompt that only A would fit into it. B does not answer the question asked as the question is about third graders' comprehension of words, not about words themselves. A. Students will recognize multi-syllabic words when they hear them. B. Multi-syllabic words are all composed of prefixes and suffixes.

nimiSha18 · Answer

I don’t quite agree with the solution. I read the entire discussion proving A to be right, still A does not make too much sense

bhanu29 · Answer

Can you please point out to the specifics? What exactly you did not understand? Please be as descriptive as possible.

V05-32

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