PrepTest 125, Section 2, Question 26
The government will purchase and install new severe(74 more words not shown)
The argument's conclusion follows logically(11 more words not shown)
- AIf public safety(19 more words not shown)
- BThe newspaper was(20 more words not shown)
- CThe local company(22 more words not shown)
- DReplacement parts for(23 more words not shown)
- EBecause the local(31 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Can't we buy the replacement parts somewhere else?
The old supplier going out of business doesn't automatically make the parts hard to obtain. Another company might sell them, perhaps online. If getting parts is still easy, the government's stated reason for installing new sirens hasn't been triggered.
That's important because the newspaper only tells us what would happen if new sirens were installed: public safety would improve. It doesn't tell us the installation will happen. To reach the conclusion, we need to complete the chain from the closed supplier to new sirens.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. Give us a reason the supplier's closure makes replacement parts difficult to obtain. Then the government will purchase and install new sirens, and, if the newspaper is correct, those new sirens will make the public safer. We can prove the conclusion under its stated condition without separately proving the newspaper right.
Working the answers
- A
This says improved safety would have to come from new sirens. It doesn't establish that safety will improve or that any sirens will be installed. We need to get the installation to happen, not add a rule about what would have caused an improvement if one occurred.
- B
Even if the newspaper is correct about the benefit, what if the government never installs the new sirens? The newspaper's claim would still be true, but we wouldn't have established the promised improvement. B doesn't close the gap between the supplier's closure and the installation.
- C
The only seller in the area need not be the only convenient seller. What if a company outside the area can ship the parts quickly? An online order could still make replacement parts easy to obtain. C might suggest a problem, but this question requires enough to establish the conclusion. The geographical limit leaves an opening.
- DCorrect
The old supplier has gone out of business, so the government can't obtain parts from that company. D says that makes the parts difficult to obtain. The first premise then commits the government to buying and installing new sirens. Finally, if the newspaper is correct, installing them improves public safety. D supplies the missing link that lets every step go through.
- E
Poor-quality parts aren't the same as hard-to-obtain parts. The government might be able to buy inferior replacements easily and choose to use them anyway. We aren't given a policy requiring new sirens whenever replacement parts are unreliable. We are given a policy triggered by difficulty obtaining parts, and E doesn't establish that condition.
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