Q19 - Dillworth: More and more people

[tian.z.zheng]

D&E were my final two contenders.

I thought D is wrong because it is too general. Travers isn’t saying, Hey, all kids reject their parents’ values, so don’t even hope to pass yours along through your progeny. She simply argues that Dillworth shouldn’t be so quick to ignore some of the reasons people use to opt out of child rearing. Consequently, I picked E.

Am I making sense with this thought process?

[dan]

I think you've basically got it.

Dillworth is saying that parents should not dismiss the idea of having children simply b/c these children are ungrateful for the sacrifices that parents make. He says passing on values is more important, and probably trumps this notion of ingratitude.

Travers simply states that there is an additional consideration that needs to be made: usually, when children are ungrateful to parents it is b/c these children reject their parents' values.

So, Travers is saying that if you're going to make a decision to have children based on the notion of perpetuating values, you need to consider whether or not your children are ungrateful to you. He says the two are linked. This is what answer choice (E) expresses.

Answer (D) implies that Travers believes values shouldn't be a consideration at all. Travers never says this.

dan

[RAANZ439]

My breakdown of the arguments


Dillworth
Premise:
Many people choose not to have children partly because children are ungrateful.
Having children preserves the greatest chance of ensuring the continuance of parents’ value.
Conclusion:
Not having children for their possible ungratefulness might be a mistake for people with strong values.

Travers
Premise:
Children’s be ingratitude usually stems from their rejection of parents value (if children rejects parents’ value, they are very likely to be ungrateful).
Possibility of ungrateful children rejecting parents’ value is not nonexistent
Intermediate conclusion:
Rejecting children for fear of their ingratitude, can sometimes free parents with strong values from the possibility of children not carrying on their value
Conclusion:
Dillworth’s argument is flawed because it presumes rejecting children for fear of their ingratitude is irrelevant to continuance of parents’ values.