PrepTest 108, Section 3, Question 9
In a recent poll of chief executive officers(45 more words not shown)
The argument is most vulnerable(7 more words not shown)
- Afails to define(5 more words not shown)
- Bpresumes, without giving(14 more words not shown)
- Cpresumes, without giving(9 more words not shown)
- Dpresumes, without giving(10 more words not shown)
- Emakes a generalization(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What does making employee training a priority tell us about caring for employees?
A company might train workers so they perform tasks better without doing much for their wider goals. Teaching someone to make a better burger, for example, doesn't necessarily address that person's ambitions. The CEOs do mention welfare as well as training, so we shouldn't pretend the poll only asks about job skills. Still, I want to understand how these priorities establish the broad conclusion about management's behavior.
Notice another detail: the CEOs say employee concerns have the same high priority as customer satisfaction. We can't object that the two might be equally unimportant. The word “high” rules out that reading of what they claim.
What we’re looking for
I might also wonder whether 125 corporations represent all large corporations. If they were all from one industry, that could matter. But we're not told they come from one industry. For the flaw question, we need a criticism established by the argument, not merely a problem we can imagine in the background. Let's look for the actual gap between this poll and the conclusion.
Working the answers
- A
We understand the relevant role of top management well enough to evaluate the argument: the poll asks CEOs, and the conclusion concerns how large corporations' leadership treats employees. A missing formal definition doesn't identify why the poll may fail to establish that behavior.
- B
If something really is a high priority, it is reasonable to distinguish that attitude from indifference. The passage does say “high priority,” so we shouldn't treat the claim as merely ranking two equally unimportant things. The more serious issue concerns what the CEOs' statements show about practice.
- C
The author does not claim that the CEOs have chosen the wrong priorities. The argument uses their statements to defend management against criticism. Saying the priorities are misplaced would add a judgment the author never makes.
- DCorrect
This identifies a clearer gap than the initial question about the meaning of training: saying employees are a high priority doesn't show that management acts accordingly.
A CEO could describe employee welfare as a major concern while the company routinely ignores requests for support or advancement. The poll would still report the stated priority, but the behavior could fit the criticism. The argument assumes those claims are reflected in what management actually does.
- E
We are not given a reason to call the sample unrepresentative. The possibility that all the corporations come from one unusual industry is something we imagined, not something the passage tells us. A sample of 125 large corporations could be representative. The definite flaw in D remains even if it is.
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