PrepTest 108, Section 2, Question 14
Essayist: Some researchers criticize British governmental security agencies(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(8 more words not shown)
- AThe British government(7 more words not shown)
- BThe British government(17 more words not shown)
- CThe British government(20 more words not shown)
- DThe British government(12 more words not shown)
- EThe British government(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
An unidentified flying object isn't automatically an alien spacecraft. It could be a drone, a military aircraft, a mistaken sighting, or something else the observers haven't identified.
And there could be reasons to keep information about it private that have nothing to do with aliens. Suppose the report reveals how a security agency detects another country's aircraft. Releasing it might disclose something about that agency's capabilities. That's only a possible explanation, but it shows why secrecy alone doesn't establish an extraterrestrial origin.
What we’re looking for
The essayist moves from officials withholding information to suspicion that spacecraft from beyond Earth have been sighted. How could we make that suspicion better supported? I'd want something that rules out the ordinary explanations and ties the secrecy to an extraterrestrial origin. We need a reason to think the withheld information points specifically to objects from other planets.
Working the answers
- A
A general habit of withholding secure information could explain these refusals without telling us anything about aliens. If the government routinely keeps sensitive material private, its behavior here need not indicate anything unusual about the objects. A doesn't supply the missing connection.
- BCorrect
This gives us that connection: the government would withhold UFO information only if the objects had been established to come from other planets. We know it is withholding the information. With B in place, that conduct points to an extraterrestrial origin.
The answer is stronger than simply saying aliens are one possible reason for secrecy. It makes that finding a requirement for withholding the information, ruling out the alternative explanations we raised for this behavior.
- C
Having something to hide doesn't tell us what is being hidden. It could be information about another country's aircraft or the government's own detection methods. C may connect refusal with secrecy, but the argument needs to connect secrecy with alien spacecraft. That further step is still missing.
- D
Less trust in civilian researchers could help explain why their requests are refused. It wouldn't establish where the objects came from. The government could distrust those researchers while the sightings concerned entirely ordinary objects.
- E
Denying the existence of UFOs doesn't establish that they are extraterrestrial. The important distinction is between an object being unidentified and its being a spacecraft from another planet. A history of denial doesn't resolve that distinction or show what these particular objects were.
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