PrepTest 127, Section 2, Question 3
Acme Corporation offers unskilled workers excellent opportunities for(33 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AAcme's vice president(15 more words not shown)
- BAcme regularly hires(22 more words not shown)
- CAcme promotes its(17 more words not shown)
- DMs. Garon worked(13 more words not shown)
- EAcme pays entry-level(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Starting on the assembly line and becoming president sounds like an impressive rise. But is Ms. Garon's experience a good guide to what an ordinary unskilled employee can expect at Acme?
What if she were the CEO's daughter? That isn't a fact we're given. It's an example of how a special advantage could explain her promotion without showing that unskilled workers generally have excellent opportunities. One exceptional career isn't automatically representative.
The passage does tell us that the assembly line position requires no special skills. So we shouldn't object that the job itself must have required advanced qualifications.
What we’re looking for
To weaken the argument, I'd look for a reason Garon's starting position is misleading evidence of broad opportunity. My initial guess is some special circumstance, such as the family connection, that makes her an exception.
Working the answers
- A
Another executive who began on the assembly line gives us another example of the pattern the author cites. That doesn't prove unskilled workers have excellent prospects, but it doesn't undermine the argument. If anything, it makes Garon's career look less isolated.
- BCorrect
Acme brings in top business school graduates, puts them briefly through entry-level jobs, and then promotes them to management. That gives us another explanation for a future executive starting on the assembly line: the position may be part of management training.
Imagine an MBA graduate spending a month on the line to learn how the company operates. That person started in a job requiring no special skills, but the person was already highly qualified. Garon's history could fit that pattern. B doesn't prove she followed this route or that ordinary workers cannot advance; it makes her initial job much less convincing evidence that unskilled workers have excellent prospects.
- C
Promoting current employees more often than hiring outside managers is consistent with opportunities inside Acme. We would still want to know which employees advance, but this fact doesn't challenge the author's inference in the way B does.
- D
Twenty years to become president doesn't show that Garon lacked opportunities along the way. She might have received several promotions before reaching the top. More importantly, the elapsed time doesn't tell us whether her experience represents that of other unskilled employees.
- E
Slightly higher starting wages tell us about pay in an entry-level position, not about opportunities to advance beyond it. A company could pay well at the bottom while offering little chance of promotion.
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