Reading Comprehension

When children experience emotional upset or trauma, their problems are sometimes made worse by well-meaning adults who either don't notice their distress or insist that they express themselves through an adult medium: verbal language. Play therapy, on the other hand, recognizes that imaginative play is the mode of expression most comfortable and natural to children and focuses on helping them express their emotions. A form of psychodynamic treatment, play therapy takes for granted the fact that, once aided in expression, children are able to resolve their anxieties themselves.

The equipment of play therapy is simple and familiar. Dolls, play dishes, soldiers, stuffed animals, and sandboxes all have their place in the play therapy room. The job of the therapist, however, is a bit more challenging, because he or she must refrain from guiding the child in a particular direction or asking pointed questions. The therapist's task is partly to observe the child's play and recognize the child's emotions and help bring them to expression. The second, very important, task is for the therapist to accept the child unconditionally.

A well-known example of successful play therapy is documented in Dr. Virginia Axline's book Dibs in Search of Self. Dibs is an emotionally disturbed 5-year-old whose teachers fear he may have brain damage. In his play therapy sessions with Dr. Axline, however, a different picture emerges. Dibs' play with a dollhouse and several dolls reveals that he feels cut off from his family and that he is angry with them for locking him in his room. This theme is repeated in play with animals in the room's sandbox; he frees them from captivity again and again. During the sessions, Dr. Axline is careful not to express preference for any of Dibs' activities, and most of her comments are simply reflecting back to him what he has just said. Additionally, through her choices to help him express his anger rather than offering him comfort in it, Dr. Axline fosters in Dibs a sense of emotional independence. At the end of the case study, Dibs has emerged as a content, intelligent, compassionate child.


The primary purpose of the passage is to

convince the reader that adults often misunderstand children.

discuss the goals and procedures of a form of psychological treatment.

demonstrate the effectiveness of an approach using examples.

relate the history of an emotionally disturbed child.

offer guidance to adults who wish to better understand children

my question is :is C a bad answer coz the passage has just talked of one example while showing the effectiveness of the approach while C talks of "examples"


in other words wud C be an answer had it been structured :demonstrate the effectiveness of an approach using example

i somehow feel that that whole passage was concerned abt showing the importance of this one particular method .many a times i get stuck with 2 choices (very close ) how to come out of this predicament ?

You have to make sure that the answer is entirely correct. So you are right that the fact that there is only one example does come into play, as the answer does say "examples."

But you have to ask yourself - in connection with choice C - does the author really seek to demonstrate the effectiveness? I mean take a close look at choice B and at the passage. Doesn't the passage discuss the goals and procedures of play therapy? That whole last paragraph seems to me to be about the procedures. Yes the example is a successful one, but it seems much more focused on what she did and how play therapy works as opposed to just showing that it was successful.

Does that make help?

Can some one tell why is option E incorrect?

I was going with A or E but E looks more relevant here to me.Because the purpose of the mentioned example is to guide the adults to know about problem of the child.

b seems wrong as he tells about goals and procedure,whereas no goals are mentioned in the passage.

IMO B.

Wat's the OA ?

'manpreet singh wrote:Can some one tell why is option E incorrect?

I was going with A or E but E looks more relevant here to me.Because the purpose of the mentioned example is to guide the adults to know about problem of the child.

b seems wrong as he tells about goals and procedure,whereas no goals are mentioned in the passage.

Adults are mentioned just once in the passage (lines 2-3), that too, in passing. The primary purpose is most certainly not to guide adults or prove that they do not understand children - the focus of the passage is on play therapy itself. The mention of adults is made only to form the introduction to this topic. This is why options A and E are both incorrect.

Now let's come to choice B: Look at lines 3 to 5 of the passage: Play therapy, on the other hand, recognizes that imaginative play is the mode of expression most comfortable and natural to children and focuses on helping them express their emotions. This summarizes the objective (in other words, goal) of play therapy. Similarly, the procedures associated with play therapy are indicated in the second paragraph - equipment, role of therapist etc.

Takeaways:
1. Just because something is mentioned in the first paragraph does not mean that it is necessarily a core theme of the passage. i.e. The core theme is usually mentioned in the first paragraph, but not necessarily vice versa.
2. Don't look for words given exactly in the passage ('goals', 'procedures') - instead, see if the passage satisfies the factors mentioned in the answer choices.

David@VeritasPrep wrote:You have to make sure that the answer is entirely correct. So you are right that the fact that there is only one example does come into play, as the answer does say "examples."

But you have to ask yourself - in connection with choice C - does the author really seek to demonstrate the effectiveness? I mean take a close look at choice B and at the passage. Doesn't the passage discuss the goals and procedures of play therapy? That whole last paragraph seems to me to be about the procedures. Yes the example is a successful one, but it seems much more focused on what she did and how play therapy works as opposed to just showing that it was successful.

Does that make help?

Hi,

Could you please provide your comments for following question.

According to the passage, which of the following is a reason that play therapists help disturbed children express their emotions?

(A) Children express themselves through a different medium than adults.
(B) Children sometimes experience emotional upset or trauma.
(C) The therapist's task is to accept the child unconditionally.
(D) Therapists observe children's behavior and recognize the emotions being expressed.
(E) Children can resolve their own anxieties once they have been aided in expression.

Thanks