PrepTest 114, Section 1, Question 10
Bernard: For which language, and thus which frequency(99 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(14 more words not shown)
- ATypewriters and word-processing(23 more words not shown)
- BTypewriters have been(15 more words not shown)
- CThe standard keyboard(16 more words not shown)
- DA person who(31 more words not shown)
- EIt is now(28 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Bernard's first question doesn't say the keyboard was designed to make typing faster. A designer could study a language's common letter combinations to make those combinations harder to type. Cora is reading an assumption into Bernard's question.
But Bernard's reply has its own problem. Even if the original mechanical limits disappeared, people could have grown used to the arrangement those limits produced. Imagine learning where every letter sits, then being asked to switch to an alphabetical layout. The reason for designing the old layout could be gone while a new reason for keeping it remained: familiarity.
What we’re looking for
We are asked what Cora could use against that last objection. So put aside our criticism of her opening response and focus on Bernard's claim that the unchanged keyboard disproves her explanation. I'd look for evidence that people want to keep the layout they've already learned.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The buyers already know the standard keyboard and demand it in new equipment. That gives manufacturers a present reason to keep the layout even after the old mechanical reason disappears. Bernard's observation is therefore compatible with Cora's account: a design can persist for a different reason from the one that originally produced it.
- B
This says newer equipment inherited the layout, but that is the persistence Bernard is pointing to. It doesn't explain why the layout was carried over. We need a reason the change in technology wouldn't produce a change in keyboard arrangement, not another description of the unchanged arrangement.
- C
Skilled operators can type quickly on the standard layout. That tells us something it allows people to do, but it doesn't show why buyers or manufacturers retain this particular arrangement. Another layout might also permit considerable speed. A answers Bernard more directly by showing a demand tied to the layout people already know.
- D
Read both parts: replacing one learned layout with another is easy, while using both alongside each other is difficult. The second difficulty doesn't explain why the old layout wasn't simply replaced. In fact, the first part makes replacement sound more feasible, so it doesn't provide the reason for keeping the standard that we wanted.
- E
Equipment capable of offering several layouts gives users a choice. It doesn't explain why they would choose or demand the standard one. The ability to change layouts isn't a reason for one layout to persist; A supplies the missing preference.
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