Advice columnist: Parents should not encourage their children to place great value on outdoing others. Being motivate...

Skylar on August 2, 2020

@disniaperera, happy to help!

The passage tells us that "parents should not encourage their children to place great value on outdoing others" because it "fosters resentment" and "makes one less happy." We are asked to identify a principle that justifies this reasoning. Answer choice (C) says "one should never encourage a person to acquire a trait if having the trait would make that person less happy." This is correct because it corresponds to the logic in the passage- one (parents) should never encourage a person (their children) to acquire a trait (to place great value on outdoing others) if doing so would make them less happy. In other words, the passage tells us that parents should not encourage their children to value outdoing others because it will make their children less happy, and the correct answer says that one should not encourage another to do something that will make them less happy. Therefore, (C) provides a principle that justifies the reasoning in the passage.

Answer choices (A), (B), and (D) are beyond the scope of the passage and all focus on what parents should do, whereas the passage and answer choice (C) discuss what parents should not do. Answer choice (E) misses the point and is not supported by the passage.

Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions!