PrepTest 137, Section 3, Question 3
Unless the building permit is obtained by February(59 more words not shown)
The conclusion drawn follows logically(11 more words not shown)
- AAll of the(18 more words not shown)
- BThe officials in(18 more words not shown)
- CThe application for(21 more words not shown)
- DThe application for(22 more words not shown)
- EIt is not(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What happened to the option of speeding up the work?
The opening gives us two possibilities for avoiding the stated scheduling obstacle: obtain the permit by February 1, or finish some other necessary activities faster than planned. We now know the permit won't arrive by that date. That closes one route, but the author acts as though both routes are closed.
Maybe the permit arrives late and the construction team makes up time elsewhere. We aren't told that this will happen. We only need to notice that the argument hasn't ruled it out. Getting through one of the two conditions wouldn't by itself guarantee an on-time library, but failing just one doesn't establish a late library either.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to make the conclusion follow. Then close the remaining route: none of the other necessary activities can be completed in less time than planned. With neither an on-time permit nor faster work available, the opening rule tells us the library won't be completed on schedule.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Every other necessary activity will take at least as long as planned. ‘At least’ includes taking exactly the planned time or taking longer; either way, nothing is faster. The permit route is already unavailable, and A eliminates the speed-up route. That is enough to apply the rule and establish the delay.
- B
The officials' prediction doesn't eliminate the remaining possibility. They could think a delay is probable and still finish on time because some activities go faster than expected. We need facts that make the conclusion follow, not an additional person's expectation that it is probably true.
- C
This explains why the permit cannot arrive by February 1: an application from January 2 that takes at least two months to process won't be ready in time. But we've already accepted that the permit misses the deadline. We still need to rule out making up time on other activities.
- D
A rejected application and a revised plan add history about the permit. They don't tell us whether the other necessary work can be completed faster than planned. Repeating reasons for the first route's failure doesn't close the second route.
- E
Starting construction before receiving the permit is one possible workaround, but it isn't the remaining possibility the argument identifies. Work could begin after the permit arrives and still go faster than originally planned. E rules out an early start without ruling out faster completion of later activities.
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