2024 CSAT — Q44

Locate. Find the claim the whole passage supports. The adolescent feels “quite capable of managing his own affairs”; the parents’ solicitude is “often a disguise for love of power”; their opinions are “so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret.” The thesis: as the child grows toward adulthood, parents (in this dogmatic mode) are not much help.

Test (thesis-vs-detail + scope-fit, with hedge discipline). The right option must span the passage and preserve its hedge. (a) — “parents in general may not be of much help when children are on their way to becoming adults” — matches both the content (the young go their own way, don’t confide) and the qualifier (the passage hedges; so does (a)). It fits the scope without overreaching.

Eliminate by anatomy. (b) is too strong for what the passage says, flipping its caution into certainty — “involvement… is unnecessary” upgrades “the young seldom confide” into a flat verdict that parents are not needed. (c) is a claim the passage never actually makes — “nuclear families… not capable” introduces family structure the passage never mentions. (d) is a claim the passage never actually makes — “stubborn, disobedient and careless” and “modern societies” are nowhere in the text; the young here are secretive, not delinquent. The transferable rule: the central idea preserves the passage’s hedge (“may not be of much help”), and rejects both the over-strong upgrade and the out-of-scope import. Key: (a).

The adolescent “considers himself to be by now quite capable of managing his own affairs,” parental solicitude “is often a disguise for love of power,” and the parents’ opinions are “so dogmatic that the young seldom confide in them, and usually go their own way in secret” — so parents may not be of much help as the child becomes an adult, exactly (a) (note the hedge “may not,” matching the passage’s tone).

The passage describes the adolescent–parent conflict: the adolescent thinks himself self-sufficient; the parents’ controlling, dogmatic stance drives the young to keep their own counsel and act in secret. The upshot: parents, in this mode, may not be of much help during the transition to adulthood.

(a) states exactly this, hedge intact. (b) overstates it (“unnecessary”), (c) imports “nuclear families,” and (d) imports “stubborn, disobedient, careless” — none matches the passage.

Answer: (a).

The discriminating feature is the hedge. The passage is measured — parental opinions are “often” a disguise for power; the young “seldom” confide. The central idea must keep that measured tone, which (a)‘s “may not be of much help” does. (b) flips the hedge into an absolute; (c) and (d) leave the passage entirely. CSAT central-idea keys reward the option whose strength matches the passage’s, not the loudest claim.