PrepTest 124, Section 3, Question 19
An editor is compiling a textbook containing essays(40 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(9 more words not shown)
- AIf the textbook(14 more words not shown)
- BThe textbook will(11 more words not shown)
- CThe textbook will(6 more words not shown)
- DIf the textbook(14 more words not shown)
- EThe textbook will(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Knight brings Jones along. That's the rule that creates the restriction.
The editor must include at least one of Lind, Knight, and Jones, but cannot include all three. If Knight is included, Jones must be included too. Adding Lind to that pair would give us all three, which the passage forbids. So Knight and Lind cannot both be included.
Changing the order doesn't help. Start with Lind, then add Knight: the rule still requires Jones, and we again have all three. On the other hand, Lind and Jones can go together. Jones doesn't bring Knight along; the rule runs from Knight to Jones only.
What we’re looking for
For the must-be-true question, that's the useful prediction: Lind and Knight can't appear together. Test the other claims against allowed selections instead of assuming the book must include a particular author.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
If Lind is included, Knight must be left out. Suppose both were included. Knight would require Jones, producing the forbidden set of all three authors. This is the same restriction we identified, stated starting from Lind instead of Knight.
- B
Only one is too restrictive. The editor could include Knight and Jones without Lind, or Lind and Jones without Knight. Both pairs satisfy the rules. The passage forbids all three, not every group of two.
- C
Knight can appear, provided Jones appears too and Lind does not. The Knight-and-Jones selection gives us a direct counterexample to C. Don't turn a restriction on who can accompany Knight into a ban on Knight.
- D
Nothing says Lind requires Jones. Lind could be the only included author among these three. The requirement to include Jones is triggered by Knight, and Knight isn't present in that example. D attaches the requirement to the wrong person.
- E
The book must include someone from this group, but it needn't be Lind. Knight and Jones without Lind is allowed. The passage also mentions essays by several authors overall; that doesn't require every one of these three particular authors to appear.
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