PrepTest 122, Section 2, Question 15
The greater the number of people who regularly(64 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(14 more words not shown)
- AWhether or not(23 more words not shown)
- BIt is very(22 more words not shown)
- CThe more people(30 more words not shown)
- DIf one type(29 more words not shown)
- EIt is generally(36 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More users could mean more people exposed to a product's risks. Does that automatically make testing it more important?
The argument says more people regularly use household maintenance products than prescription medicines. Accept its rule that this puts more people's health potentially at risk. I still want to know how the products differ. Taking a medicine into your body isn't the same kind of exposure as using a cleaner on a surface. Perhaps the seriousness or likelihood of the danger matters too.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for a principle that helps justify the conclusion. My initial thought is to make the comparison fairer: perhaps the household products are at least as dangerous. But the conclusion is specifically about the importance of testing. A useful principle needs to explain why the larger group potentially at risk makes careful testing more important for household products.
Working the answers
- A
This says testing importance depends mainly on the number of regular users, which seems relevant. But it doesn't say how the number affects importance. We need the direction: more people potentially at risk means more important to test. A names a factor without giving the clear comparative rule C supplies.
- B
This could establish that testing household products is very important. It could also establish that testing prescription medicines is very important. The conclusion compares the two and ranks household products higher. Calling both important doesn't establish that ranking.
- CCorrect
This connects the argument's larger at-risk population to its conclusion about testing priority. More people use household products; under the given premise, more people's health is potentially at risk. C then says that the greater that number is, the more important careful safety testing becomes. That produces the comparison the author wants.
- D
This compares one medicine with another by how frequently each is taken. Our comparison is between medicines and household products, and our evidence concerns how many people use them. D gives us a different comparison based on a different measure.
- E
Read the exception carefully. Ordinarily, this rule ranks medicine testing above nonmedical-product testing, unless the nonmedical product puts more people's health at risk. Our case falls within that exception.
But removing the usual ranking doesn't establish the opposite ranking. The two products might then be equally important to test, or some other factor might decide. E stops short of saying that household-product testing becomes more important—the result C expressly supports.
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