PrepTest 111, Section 3, Question 4
For next year, the Chefs' Union has requested(61 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(6 more words not shown)
- AThe Chefs' Union(10 more words not shown)
- BThe Chefs' Union(23 more words not shown)
- CThe current salaries(23 more words not shown)
- DThe average dollar(33 more words not shown)
- EThe members of(38 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Ten percent of how much? The chefs are asking for a larger percentage raise. That doesn't yet tell us they're asking for more dollars. We need the salaries those percentages apply to.
Suppose a chef makes $50,000 and a manager makes $100,000. Ten percent of the chef's salary is $5,000; eight percent of the manager's salary is $8,000. The chef asks for the larger percentage but the smaller dollar increase. Those aren't the salaries the passage gives us—it gives us none. The example shows why the percentages alone can't settle the comparison.
What we’re looking for
To strengthen the argument, give us the missing salary comparison. If the chefs' average salary were at least as high as the managers', applying the larger percentage would give the chefs the larger average requested raise. That's the kind of information I want to find.
Working the answers
- A
More members could affect the total money requested by a union, but the conclusion concerns the average raise per member. A union with many lower-paid members could ask for a larger total while still asking for a smaller average increase. The size of the membership doesn't supply the missing salary comparison.
- B
Getting a raise and asking for a raise are different things. A powerful union might be more likely to win what it requests, but the conclusion is about the dollar amount requested. That amount can be compared before we know whether either request succeeds.
- CCorrect
The chefs' current average salary is higher. They're therefore asking for a larger percentage of a larger average amount. Since each chef requests 10 percent of their salary, the average requested raise is 10 percent of the chefs' average salary; the managers' average request is 8 percent of theirs. C supplies exactly the missing information needed to support the claimed dollar comparison.
- D
Equal raises last year don't establish equal current salaries. The groups could have started at very different salary levels and received the same dollar increase. We need to know the current amounts to which this year's requested percentages apply. Last year's increases don't give us those amounts.
- E
This repeats the percentage problem over earlier years. A lower-paid group could receive a larger percentage increase two years running and still have lower salaries now. Without the original dollar amounts, those past percentages don't settle the current salary comparison or the dollar amounts requested for next year.
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