PrepTest 106, Section 2, Question 17
Using fossil energy more efficiently is in the(47 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(8 more words not shown)
- AIt would be(17 more words not shown)
- BThere are products,(34 more words not shown)
- CWhenever a new(26 more words not shown)
- DWhen energy prices(22 more words not shown)
- EOften the purchaser(33 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Saying “leave it to the market” doesn't yet explain how the least efficient products will disappear. The original proposal aims at major efficiency improvements; the objection says market decisions are preferable. What reason do we have to expect those decisions to deliver the improvements?
We don't need to settle a broad political debate to answer this. The question specifically asks us to undermine the objection. I'd look for a reason market choices may fail to favor energy efficiency. That would give the government-standards proposal an answer to this particular criticism.
What we’re looking for
The target isn't whether every regulation works or whether all market decisions are bad. It's the claim that these energy-use decisions are best left to the market.
Working the answers
- A
Maximum efficiency all at once is much stronger than the proposed major improvements. More importantly, this says nothing about whether gradual progress would come more reliably through standards or market choices. The unrealistic speed of one ambitious goal doesn't undermine the objection's preferred method.
- B
This gives buyers a reason to notice unusually inefficient products. That could help the market discourage those products, since people can take their energy use into account when buying. It does not undermine reliance on market choices. Also, the comparison is with other products, not a claim that a particular car's mileage has suddenly deteriorated.
- C
A new fuel may need new distribution systems, but the proposal concerns using fossil energy more efficiently. We aren't told that it requires a new fuel or that creating support systems favors either market decisions or government standards. This logistical fact doesn't answer the objection.
- D
This describes a way market incentives can encourage efficiency: when energy costs rise, consumers seek ways to spend less on energy. That gives the objection some support rather than undermining it. Prices are relevant to market decisions; the problem is that the answer works in the wrong direction for our task.
- ECorrect
The person choosing the product doesn't always pay its energy bill. A landlord might buy a cheap, inefficient appliance because the tenant will pay to run it. The landlord saves on the purchase, while someone else bears the extra operating cost.
That separates the incentive at the moment of purchase from the benefit of saving energy. Even if the tenant would prefer a more efficient appliance, the tenant isn't the buyer making this decision. So we have a concrete reason that leaving purchases to the market may preserve inefficient products.
This doesn't prove that every market choice fails or that the proposed standards solve every problem. It directly challenges the objection by explaining a recurring situation in which the buyer's financial interest does not favor energy efficiency.
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