PrepTest 113, Section 2, Question 18
Some critics of space exploration programs claim that(67 more words not shown)
The passage conforms most closely(7 more words not shown)
- AAttempts to solve(10 more words not shown)
- BSafety risks are(8 more words not shown)
- CSafety is often(11 more words not shown)
- DBureaucratic mistakes can(6 more words not shown)
- ESpace exploration is(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Making the program cheaper might make it more dangerous. That is a frustrating tradeoff: the proposed response to the cost problem can worsen the safety problem.
The opening cost objection makes me wonder about other uses for limited resources. Perhaps there are more pressing needs. But the passage doesn't settle that choice. It adds the risk of an explosion, then explains how pressure to produce results cheaply and quickly can lead to manufacturing flaws. Those flaws make the existing safety concern worse.
What we’re looking for
We're asked which general proposition best fits this account. Stay with the relationship described, rather than deciding for ourselves whether space exploration should continue.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
'Exacerbation' means making something worse. The problem being addressed is cost; the problem made worse is safety. Pressure to make the program cheaper leads to manufacturing flaws that undermine safety. That directly illustrates how an attempt to solve one problem can worsen another.
- B
Undermining safety isn't necessarily ignoring safety risks. People could recognize a risk and still make a decision that worsens it. Also, the pressure described here concerns cost and speed; the passage doesn't explain it as sacrificing safety in the name of scientific progress. B adds a characterization we haven't been given.
- C
Speed does appear in the passage, so we shouldn't reject C by pretending the discussion is only about money. But this example doesn't establish that safety is often sacrificed for speed. A also captures the broader point more closely: efforts to address the program's expense worsen a separate problem. C is tempting, but its claim about how often this happens goes beyond the example.
- D
The passage doesn't identify the manufacturing flaws as bureaucratic mistakes, and it doesn't establish inefficiency as their result. Its stated connection is between pressure for cheaper, faster results and reduced safety. D substitutes a different cause and a different combination of effects.
- E
The passage identifies dangers without concluding that they make continuing the program unacceptable. Deciding that would require a judgment about the risks and benefits. E makes that policy judgment for the author, while A describes the tradeoff the author actually presents.
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