PrepTest 101, Section 3, Question 15
Dr. Z: Many of the characterizations of my(22 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- ASome of Dr.(17 more words not shown)
- BAll of Dr.(21 more words not shown)
- CAll of the(24 more words not shown)
- DIf the characterization(15 more words not shown)
- EAt least one(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
An imprecise description isn't automatically false. Someone might describe a work broadly and still say something accurate about it. So I can see a question to ask Dr. Z: why does the lack of precision make these descriptions inadequate for sound criticism?
But we aren't asked to argue that point. We are asked what follows from Dr. Z's statements. Take the claims as given: many of Dr. Q's descriptions are imprecise, and descriptions of that kind don't provide an adequate basis for sound criticism of Dr. Z's work. Then at least some of Dr. Q's descriptions fail to provide that basis. That's the modest conclusion I'd predict.
What we’re looking for
We haven't been told about every description, and we haven't been told that precision by itself makes a description a good basis for criticism. Keep both limits in view when the answers start talking about all, precise, and adequate.
Working the answers
- A
Some descriptions being inadequate doesn't establish that other descriptions are adequate. The remaining ones could be adequate, or they could fail for other reasons. Dr. Z gives us some failures, not a guaranteed example of success.
- B
This concerns Dr. Q's descriptions that aren't imprecise. We aren't told that those descriptions, if there are any, supply an adequate basis for criticism. Removing one problem doesn't remove every possible problem. A perfectly precise description of an irrelevant detail could still fail to support a criticism of the work.
- C
This says every inadequate description must be imprecise. But Dr. Z only identifies imprecision as a reason for inadequacy; there could be other reasons. The precise-but-irrelevant description from B would be an example. C incorrectly makes this one failing the explanation for every failure.
- D
Precision alone doesn't guarantee a sound basis for criticism. We know that the imprecise descriptions don't provide such a basis; we don't know that every precise description does. D also expands the claim from these descriptions of Dr. Z's work to descriptions of anyone's work. Neither expansion is established.
- ECorrect
Many of Dr. Q's descriptions are imprecise, and those descriptions don't provide the required basis. So at least one of Dr. Q's descriptions fails to do so. We don't have to establish that the descriptions are false or that every criticism Dr. Q might make would be unsound. E stays with the narrower claim about an inadequate basis.
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