PrepTest 115, Section 2, Question 13
Jenkins: Research on the properties of snow at(84 more words not shown)
The dialogue lends the most(11 more words not shown)
- Athere is a(12 more words not shown)
- Bit is impossible(13 more words not shown)
- Cfunding will be(15 more words not shown)
- Dthe temperatures at(17 more words not shown)
- Eresearch funding considerations(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why January and February? Jenkins wants the snow cold enough that it won't melt before the researchers can study it. I can see the financial concern: sending a research team after the snow has melted could waste the money spent on the trip. But how much protection do those early months buy, and what might they cost the researchers?
Lurano points to that other cost. Going in April or May would reduce the risk of dangerous exposure to cold, while the weather would likely still be cold enough for the work. That doesn't make the later trip risk-free. It gives a reason to prefer it despite Jenkins's concern about a wasted research trip.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what they disagree about. My first prediction is the best time to send the team: Jenkins favors January and February; Lurano favors April and May. As we read the choices, look for that conflict or the competing priorities behind it. Jenkins puts avoiding wasted funding ahead of the case for waiting; Lurano thinks the researchers' safety gives us a reason to go later.
Working the answers
- A
Lurano doesn't say melting is impossible in April or May. “Likely still quite cold” leaves uncertainty. Jenkins worries about waiting, but nothing in Lurano's reply rules out the possibility of melting. They can disagree about the best decision while both allowing some risk.
- B
Jenkins says that waiting creates a risk of being unable to conduct successful research. That isn't a claim that research after February is impossible. A possible failure and a guaranteed failure are very different, so B gives Jenkins a stronger position than the passage supports.
- C
Again, watch the strength of the claim. Jenkins fears that funding could be wasted, not that it will inevitably be wasted whenever research occurs after February. We can't identify a disagreement by assigning a definite prediction to someone who expressed a risk.
- D
Lurano's reason for waiting fits with the later months being less cold. That isn't a challenge to Jenkins's concern about the early months keeping the snow frozen. The dispute is about what to do given the temperature difference, not whether the temperature difference exists.
- ECorrect
This captures the priorities behind the two recommendations. Jenkins argues for the earlier trip to avoid risking research funds. Lurano argues for the later trip because it is likely still cold enough and poses less danger to the researchers. They differ on whether the funding concern warrants accepting the greater cold-exposure risk.
We don't have to say Jenkins cares only about money or Lurano doesn't care about money at all. The disagreement is about which consideration should carry more weight in this decision.
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