PrepTest 104, Section 1, Question 22
Some people believe that saying that an organization(37 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(15 more words not shown)
- AThe Public Works(14 more words not shown)
- BAny organization that(5 more words not shown)
- CFrom the fact(16 more words not shown)
- DNot all hierarchical(6 more words not shown)
- EWhether or not(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Knowing who reports to whom doesn't tell me everything about an organization.
A hierarchy could exist in a law firm, a bank, or another kind of organization. That tells us something about its structure, but I wouldn't assume the organizations all operate alike. So I'm already skeptical of the opening belief that “hierarchical” tells the whole story.
The passage then gives us a concrete reason for that skepticism. All bureaucratically controlled organizations are hierarchical. The Public Works Department belongs to that group, yet it operates differently from most other members. Those other members are hierarchical, too. We have organizations sharing the label while operating differently.
What we’re looking for
That directly challenges the opening belief. The question asks what must be true, so the natural prediction is that the shared hierarchy does not make all of these organizations operate the same way. We'll still check the wording of each choice against what the example actually establishes.
Working the answers
- A
Being different from most other bureaucratically controlled organizations doesn't tell us what the Public Works Department resembles instead. The difference could concern its schedule, procedures, or some other detail. We have no comparison showing that it operates more like organizations outside the bureaucratically controlled group. A supplies a particular kind of difference the passage never identifies.
- B
This switches which group has to belong to which. We know every bureaucratically controlled organization is hierarchical. That leaves room for a hierarchical organization that isn't bureaucratically controlled. For example, a structure with people reporting to a leader could meet the hierarchy description without necessarily belonging to the bureaucratically controlled category. B closes off that possibility without support.
- C
Not everything is very different from nothing. The Public Works example shows that the hierarchy label doesn't settle every detail of how an organization operates. It doesn't show that the label provides no reliable information at all. C turns a limited challenge into a complete dismissal.
- DCorrect
The Public Works Department is bureaucratically controlled, so it is hierarchical. The other bureaucratically controlled organizations are hierarchical as well. Yet the department operates differently from most of them. Those facts give us different ways of operating within the hierarchical group, which is enough to establish that they do not all operate alike. We don't have to know the particular differences.
- E
The passage does not establish that bureaucratic control has nothing to do with an organization's operation. It establishes that bureaucratically controlled organizations can differ. A shared feature can matter without determining every detail. As with C, E goes much further than the evidence.
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