PrepTest 136, Section 2, Question 18
Columnist: It may soon be possible for an(52 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AA society would(20 more words not shown)
- BIt is reasonable(11 more words not shown)
- CNew technology may(12 more words not shown)
- DPeople are right(19 more words not shown)
- EEven though it(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Being able to build the system doesn't mean people will willingly accept it.
The columnist describes a particular cashless system: the government records every transaction electronically. I can see the concern about power. A record of all transactions would give the government extensive information about people's activities. But “never willingly accepted” is a strong prediction. Might people accept the arrangement for convenience despite that concern?
I would also wonder about alternatives run by a private company or some other system without government recording of every transaction. Keep that thought separate from the conclusion here, though. The columnist is objecting to the government-run arrangement just described, not establishing that every possible alternative to paper money must fail.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the overall conclusion. The turning point is “however”: even if this arrangement becomes technologically possible, society will never willingly accept it. The claims about excessive government power and justified distrust explain why the columnist predicts that rejection.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This states the prediction about the described system: society would never willingly accept replacing paper money with government recording of every transaction. It preserves both the specific arrangement and the emphasis on willing acceptance. That is the point the reasons about power and distrust support.
- B
The columnist does say that distrust of an overly powerful government is reasonable. But why bring that up? To explain why people won't willingly accept this system. B states a supporting judgment and leaves out the prediction it is meant to support.
- C
This is the technological possibility acknowledged at the start. The argument then changes direction: possible or not, the system supposedly won't be willingly accepted. C supplies the setup without the main response to it.
- D
This judges people's unwillingness as right. The conclusion predicts that society won't willingly accept the arrangement. The columnist's approval of distrust helps explain that prediction, but a statement about what people are right to refuse isn't the same as the predicted refusal itself.
- E
An inability to operate an economy without paper money goes beyond an absence of willing public acceptance. A government might impose an unwanted system, for example. The columnist explicitly allows technological feasibility and bases the conclusion on society's response, not on a claim that no government could operate it.
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