PrepTest 119, Section 3, Question 12
Our computer experts are asked from time to(46 more words not shown)
Of the following, which one(12 more words not shown)
- AWhen senior executives(23 more words not shown)
- BWhen supermarkets choose(25 more words not shown)
- CWhen librarians choose(24 more words not shown)
- DWhen students choose(20 more words not shown)
- EWhen television executives(28 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Are they buying what the company needs, or what they want to play with?
I can see why computer experts would get excited about the latest technology. But the company has a different concern: whether the purchase is a good investment. Expensive equipment with undiscovered problems might be exciting to try and still be a poor choice for the business.
That also makes me wonder who should control the spending decision. Technical expertise helps identify what equipment can do; it doesn't guarantee that personal enthusiasm will line up with the organization's needs. Think of a car enthusiast drawn to a fascinating car that isn't practical for the person who needs to drive it. Knowing and loving the subject doesn't settle which purchase serves that person best.
What we’re looking for
We're looking for another situation that illustrates this principle. Someone chooses within an area of interest, lets personal taste drive the choice, and neglects the needs of the people or organization the choice is supposed to serve. Keep the chooser's own enthusiasm separate from the intended beneficiary's interests.
Working the answers
- A
The executives favor people who share their professional interests, but we aren't told that this produces worse choices for the organization. Nor does having the most education automatically make someone the best promotion candidate. A describes a preference without establishing the same conflict between the decision-makers' enjoyment and the institution's practical needs.
- B
These supermarkets focus on profit. That's the business consideration the computer experts neglect. Healthfulness might be important to customers, but choosing profitable stock doesn't reproduce the example of specialists letting their personal enthusiasm override the organization's financial interests.
- CCorrect
The librarians correspond to the computer experts. The books they personally enjoy correspond to the technology the experts find exciting. The community's interests correspond to the company's practical needs. In each case, people selecting resources for an institution choose according to their own tastes instead of the people or organization they should be serving.
The subject doesn't have to be technology, and the neglected interest doesn't have to be profit. The shared principle is the conflict between the chooser's personal interests and the purpose of the choice.
- D
These students prefer less work to more learning. That could be an unwise priority, but it isn't enthusiasm for a subject overriding the needs of someone they're choosing for. They aren't selecting courses because those are the ones they love, and they aren't acting on behalf of a company or community.
- E
The television executives choose what viewers want. That is attention to the audience, not the executives indulging their own preferences. The choice may favor popularity over artistic quality, but the reason for choosing points in a different direction from the computer example.
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