PrepTest 108, Section 3, Question 18
Chelas and Stelma are required to leave their(70 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(9 more words not shown)
- AChelas and Stelma(8 more words not shown)
- BStelma left her(8 more words not shown)
- CChelas left his(8 more words not shown)
- DA prisoner attempted(23 more words not shown)
- EA prisoner attempted(21 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Chelas could break the rules by staying put. Chelas could also break them by leaving. Which one is wrong depends on whether there's a prisoner to pursue.
If a prisoner attempts to escape from their sector, both guards must leave immediately to give chase. Without that pursuit, they must stay at their stations until their replacements arrive. So leaving isn't automatically a violation, and being at the station isn't automatically proof of good behavior.
We know Chelas broke a rule and Stelma didn't. We don't know which rule Chelas broke. Maybe an escape attempt happened and Chelas failed to pursue. Maybe there was no escape attempt and Chelas left anyway.
What we’re looking for
This is a could-be-true EXCEPT question. We want the situation that cannot fit those facts. For each choice, try to build a possible story where Chelas violates a rule and Stelma follows the rules. If the choice forces Stelma to have violated a rule too, it cannot work.
Working the answers
- A
This could happen. Suppose Chelas left without a prisoner to pursue at 6 P.M., then returned before 9 P.M. Stelma stayed at her station the whole time. Both could be at their stations when the replacements arrived, even though Chelas had broken a rule earlier. A tells us where they ended up, not everything they did during the shift.
- B
This could happen if a prisoner attempted to escape. Stelma would leave immediately to pursue, as required. Chelas would stay at the station and violate the pursuit rule. It might feel backward that the guard who leaves is following the rules, but the escape attempt is exactly what makes leaving required.
- C
This could happen if no prisoner attempted to escape. Chelas leaves before the replacements arrive and violates the rule against leaving. Stelma stays at her station and follows the rule. This is the other possible story we considered: leaving without a pursuit, rather than failing to leave for one.
- DCorrect
An escape attempt at 7 P.M. requires both guards to leave immediately. If neither leaves before 9 P.M., Stelma has violated the pursuit rule along with Chelas. That contradicts the given fact that Stelma did not violate the rules. There is no way to preserve D's events while keeping her conduct compliant.
- E
This could happen. Suppose Chelas leaves at 6 P.M. when there is no prisoner to pursue, returns, and then both guards immediately pursue the prisoner who attempts to escape at 7 P.M. Stelma has followed the rules throughout. Chelas follows the pursuit rule at 7 but already broke the other rule at 6.
E doesn't say the escape attempt was the only relevant event during the shift. Both guards could do the right thing then without erasing Chelas's earlier violation.
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