PrepTest 138, Section 4, Question 12
The government has recently adopted a policy of(56 more words not shown)
The reasoning in the argument(10 more words not shown)
- Afails to consider(19 more words not shown)
- Bpresumes, without providing(15 more words not shown)
- Cpresumes, without providing(16 more words not shown)
- Dpresumes, without providing(17 more words not shown)
- Efails to consider(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Incomplete information can still tell us something useful.
When the government starts publishing airline safety statistics, we might worry about how people will interpret them. A large airline could have more near collisions simply because it operates far more flights. But that isn't the objection this author makes. The author says airlines will become less willing to report everything once those reports are public. Let's accept that concern and ask what happens to the public's knowledge.
What if people previously received very little of this information? Publishing an incomplete account could still reveal safety violations they otherwise wouldn't know about. We haven't proved the policy works, but we have a way for reporting to become less complete while the public becomes better informed.
What we’re looking for
The flaw is treating the loss of completeness as enough to show that disclosure undermines the informational goal. We need a comparison with what the public would learn without the policy. Missing some information isn't the same as providing no useful information.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Even an incomplete report could supply important safety information. Suppose it reveals a serious violation that hadn't previously been disclosed. That is something the public can now learn despite the report's omissions. The author needs to consider the informational benefit as well as the reduced completeness before concluding that the policy undermines the goal.
- B
A right to information is different from whether a policy helps people become informed. The author can assess that effect without taking a position on whether the public is entitled to every safety-related fact. No such rights claim is used as a premise.
- C
The argument doesn't require government disclosure to be the only possible source. Safety information might also come from independent reporting or other records. The stated concern is that making airline reports public will discourage complete reporting, not that no other source exists.
- D
We aren't deciding who should be held responsible for accuracy. A responsibility rule wouldn't settle whether incomplete public reports can still improve public knowledge. D moves from the policy's effect to assigning a duty.
- E
Publication might affect airline revenue, but that doesn't identify the gap between less complete reporting and a less informed public. To matter here, any revenue effect would need a further connection to the amount or quality of information people receive. The answer doesn't supply one.
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