PrepTest 132, Section 4, Question 25
Cities with healthy economies typically have plenty of(26 more words not shown)
The reasoning in which one(13 more words not shown)
- AOlder antiques are(31 more words not shown)
- BAntique dealers who(42 more words not shown)
- CAntiques that have(35 more words not shown)
- DMany antique collectors(43 more words not shown)
- EMany antiques increase(38 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
If I need a job, why not look at the job openings directly?
A high-tech city might be a promising place to look, but it isn't a guarantee. And if I'm a plumber, a list of openings for software engineers may not help me. The advice uses the presence of high-tech businesses as an indirect sign of what a job seeker actually wants.
Still, this question asks us to match the reasoning, not improve the advice. Follow the chain: high-tech businesses tend to go with a healthy economy, and a healthy economy tends to go with plenty of jobs. Therefore, someone seeking jobs should go to a place with high-tech businesses.
What we’re looking for
We need the same two connections and recommendation. Identify what stands for the desirable result, what stands for the middle link, and where we're being told to go to get it.
Working the answers
- A
Valuable antiques correspond to jobs, and old age could correspond to a healthy economy. But the second premise doesn't say dealers tend to carry older antiques. It says they authenticate ages. Knowing an item's age doesn't make it old. The middle link changes, so the two premises don't form the original chain.
- B
The first premise says dealers who authenticate ages tend to have plenty of antiques. The next premise links value to authenticated age, not to having plenty for sale. The quantity of stock doesn't connect the dealer to valuable antiques in the same way that a healthy economy connects high-tech businesses to jobs.
- CCorrect
Authenticated age is the middle link, corresponding to a healthy economy. Value is the desired result, corresponding to job openings. Antique dealers are the place to go, corresponding to cities with high-tech businesses.
The chain is: dealers generally carry authenticated antiques; authenticated antiques tend to be valuable; therefore, people wanting valuable antiques should buy from dealers. The two tendencies support the same kind of recommendation as the original.
- D
This concludes that collectors tend to buy from dealers, describing what they actually do. The original recommends what job seekers should do. D also introduces collectors' knowledge and says authenticated antiques are always the most valuable, rather than building the same two-tendency chain. Those changes matter beyond the shared antique vocabulary.
- E
Increasing in value isn't the same as being among the most valuable antiques. An inexpensive item could rise in value and still be worth little. E then directly says dealers have plenty of valuable antiques, rather than reaching that result through the authenticated-age link. Its recommendation rests on that direct stock claim, so the structure differs from the original chain.
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