PrepTest 134, Section 2, Question 1
Certain companies require their managers to rank workers(80 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ASome companies require(11 more words not shown)
- BUnder the ranking(22 more words not shown)
- CThe ranking system(12 more words not shown)
- DWorkers in exceptionally(10 more words not shown)
- EManagers often give(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Ranking employees sounds useful. A company wants to recognize strong work and address poor work. But why must every group have a bottom 10 percent that deserves punishment? What if everyone in the group does a good job?
Imagine a team of excellent workers. Someone still has to come last, because the system requires each worker to have a different ranking. That person could be doing excellent work and still face a penalty. Being worse than exceptionally good coworkers doesn't make you a bad employee.
The author raises that problem, then adds another: managers often give the highest rankings to people who share their outside interests. Now the rankings may reflect who gets along with the manager rather than who does the best work.
What we’re looking for
Those concerns explain the author's objection to the system. We might want more information about how often good workers actually get punished, but we don't need to resolve that to identify the conclusion. The question asks what the author is arguing, and both concerns support the same claim: this system is unfair to workers.
Working the answers
- A
This introduces the system the author will criticize. It tells us what some companies require, but it doesn't express the author's judgment about that requirement. The argument moves from describing the rankings to explaining why using them is unfair.
- B
These are the consequences attached to the rankings. They explain why receiving a low ranking matters, but the author isn't trying to establish that the rewards and penalties exist. The point is that distributing them this way is unfair.
- CCorrect
This captures the judgment supported by both objections. Good workers can be penalized because their coworkers are unusually strong, and favored workers can be rewarded because they share a manager's interests. Those are reasons to call this an unfair way to determine rewards and penalties.
- D
This focuses on the first objection: a good worker can get a low ranking in an exceptionally strong group. That concern supports the broader criticism of the system. It doesn't capture the full conclusion, which is also supported by the separate concern about favoritism.
- E
Favoritism is the second reason for criticizing the system. Ask why the author brings it up: to show that the rankings, and therefore the rewards and penalties based on them, are unfair. E gives us support for that judgment rather than the judgment itself.
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