PrepTest 131, Section 3, Question 21
Historian: The standard "QWERTY" configuration of the keys(72 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AMost people who(22 more words not shown)
- BEarly QWERTY typewriters(21 more words not shown)
- CIf the designers(34 more words not shown)
- DThe benefit to(24 more words not shown)
- EIf the keyboard(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why does a keyboard begin QWERTY rather than ABCDEF? The arrangement can seem odd when you're learning to type. The historian gives a reason for making it awkward: early typewriters could jam when adjacent keys were struck too quickly.
So, on this account, limiting speed served a purpose tied to the machinery. Other arrangements can now allow faster typing with less effort. That sounds appealing, but what about the transition?
If you already type without looking down, you've learned where the letters are. Switching their positions means relearning those movements. Even a better arrangement can involve an inconvenient learning curve, as well as expense. The historian identifies those costs as the reason alternatives haven't become widespread.
What we’re looking for
For the supported statement, keep those facts distinct: the original reason for slowing typists, the demonstrated potential of other layouts, and the obstacle to switching. We can examine each choice against those parts of the account.
Working the answers
- A
Experiments show that more efficient configurations can double typing speed. That is not a claim that most people who have ever tried a non-QWERTY keyboard have immediately or eventually typed significantly faster. Some could have tried a less efficient alternative or struggled while learning it. A adds a broad result about users that the passage doesn't provide.
- B
We know early typewriters could jam when adjacent keys were struck quickly. We are not given the corresponding rate for more recent typewriters. B introduces a comparison between generations of machines that the historian never makes.
- C
Foreseeing future technology would not necessarily remove the problem facing early designers. They still had to make a keyboard work with the typewriters available then. The passage doesn't establish that knowing future machines would avoid jamming would have led them to reject a layout addressing the current problem.
- D
The passage describes a possible gain in speed and effort, and it says expense and inconvenience prevent widespread switching. It doesn't calculate the total social benefit against the total cost. We cannot infer that the benefit is significantly greater, nor need we conclude that the cost must be greater simply because people haven't switched.
- ECorrect
The stated reason for designing a layout to limit typing speed was the tendency of early typewriters to jam. A keyboard designed for a computer would not face that mechanical problem. The historian's account therefore supports the inference that it would not have been deliberately designed to slow typing. This follows the given reason for the design rather than inventing a new comparison of people's typing results.
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