PrepTest 105, Section 4, Question 4
Maude is incessantly engaging in diatribes against people(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- APossessions that come(12 more words not shown)
- BSentimental attachment to(6 more words not shown)
- CPeople who care(14 more words not shown)
- DMaude's watch is(9 more words not shown)
- EPeople who are(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Caring about a gift from your grandmother isn't obviously the same as being materialistic. Maude might treasure the watch because it reminds her of her grandmother, not because she values accumulating expensive possessions.
A “diatribe” is a forceful verbal attack. Maude repeatedly attacks materialistic people, and the author accuses her of hypocrisy because she carefully protects this watch. I can see what would make the criticism work: if her treatment of the watch shows that she is materialistic herself, she would be practicing what she condemns.
What we’re looking for
But the evidence establishes sentimental attachment, and the accusation needs materialism. The necessary-assumption question asks for the connection between those ideas. My prediction is that this kind of attachment counts as evidence of being materialistic; otherwise the watch example hasn't established the alleged hypocrisy.
Working the answers
- A
We don't need to compare gifts from relatives with other possessions. Maude could take equally careful care of something she bought herself, or less careful care of another relative's gift. Neither possibility settles whether the attachment to this watch makes her materialistic.
- BCorrect
The author uses sentimental attachment to this one possession as evidence that Maude is materialistic. B supplies that connection. Without it, she could cherish the watch for its personal meaning while consistently objecting to materialism. The passage's facts about careful storage would remain true, but the accusation would lack its stated basis.
- C
This starts with people who care about material things generally and says how they tend to treat their possessions. We need to move from Maude's care for one possession to the claim that she is materialistic. A tendency among an already identified group doesn't establish that everyone who shares one behavior belongs to that group. C also talks about all possessions, while the evidence concerns just one.
- D
The author doesn't need more cherished objects; the watch is presented as sufficient evidence of hypocrisy. Claiming that Maude also cares about another thing doesn't explain why sentimental care indicates materialism. Even several meaningful gifts could leave that connection in question.
- E
This associates sentimental attachment with people who are not materialistic. It doesn't establish that Maude's sentimental attachment makes her materialistic, which is what the accusation needs. Nor would it prove that she is not materialistic: a tendency among nonmaterialistic people doesn't tell us that everyone with that attachment belongs to their group.
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