PrepTest 129, Section 2, Question 6
Studies show that individuals with a high propensity(93 more words not shown)
The reasoning in the argument(5 more words not shown)
- Ainfers from the(11 more words not shown)
- Btakes for granted(11 more words not shown)
- Cconcludes merely from(12 more words not shown)
- Dtakes for granted(16 more words not shown)
- Edraws a conclusion(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A tendency across a group does not tell us what every person in that group is like. Knowing that someone enjoys skydiving would not establish that the person behaves unethically in business. The studies describe associations: risk-taking tends to accompany fewer consciously followed ethical principles, while wanting social acceptance tends to accompany more.
The next connection is understandable. Someone who consciously follows a principle about respecting other people's property might be more likely to leave a note after scraping a parked car. Let's accept the stated association between consciously following ethical principles and behaving ethically.
But can a business school produce that behavior by changing students' attitudes toward risk and social acceptance? First, perhaps those attitudes are difficult to change by the time students arrive. More importantly, even if the school can change them, do those attitudes cause the ethical behavior?
What we’re looking for
Maybe the direction runs the other way: a person's ethical outlook affects which risks the person takes. Discouraging risk-taking would then change a consequence of that outlook without necessarily changing the outlook itself. For the flaw question, I would look for either the unestablished ability to change these traits or, more directly, the jump from an association to a causal intervention.
Working the answers
- A
The argument describes general tendencies, but it does not turn them into a claim about every individual or say the school's approach will always succeed. “Bob takes risks, so Bob must be unethical” would make that sort of jump. The argument instead claims that changing the traits can promote more ethical behavior.
- B
Saying how a school can promote ethical behavior does not rank that goal above all others. The author could think accounting or finance instruction is equally important, or even more important. No claim about sacrificing every other educational goal is needed for this proposed method to work.
- CCorrect
The evidence links risk-taking and desire for social acceptance with ethical principles, then links those principles with behavior. The conclusion treats the first traits as causes that schools can adjust to improve the final behavior.
The associations alone do not establish that direction. If ethical outlook shapes risk-taking, reducing risk-taking need not improve ethics. The proposed intervention requires a causal relationship that the studies have not demonstrated.
- D
The author does not decide whether any particular action is wrong by asking what most people believe. The passage concerns relationships among attitudes, principles, and behavior. It never argues, “Most people condemn this action, so the action is wrong.”
- E
The conclusion adds something: a way for business schools to produce more ethical behavior. That causal claim is not simply one of the earlier descriptions repeated. The problem is the unsupported step from those descriptions to the proposed method, not a failure to offer anything beyond the conclusion itself.
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