PrepTest 138, Section 4, Question 2
All the books in the library have their(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- AAn observation about(17 more words not shown)
- BA deficiency in(22 more words not shown)
- CA conclusion about(24 more words not shown)
- DA generalization is(12 more words not shown)
- EThe conclusion is(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Where did Horatio's book go? My first guess would be that someone checked it out. The argument closes that route: it isn't checked out. Nobody in the library is using it, either. It isn't waiting to be put back on the shelf, and it isn't in a special display. Each fact removes an ordinary explanation for why the book is missing from its assigned place.
What we’re looking for
That leaves the author's proposed explanations: someone misplaced it or stole it. Could there be another possibility? Perhaps, but we don't need to invent one to answer this question. We're being asked how the argument works, not to show that the conclusion is wrong. Its method is to rule out alternatives and then point to what remains.
Working the answers
- A
That would be something like, 'Horatio's book is missing, so many of the library's books must be missing.' Our conclusion stays with the particular book. It doesn't generalize from that one object to similar objects.
- B
We aren't told that the catalog or shelving system is defective. A perfectly useful system could still have a book stolen or put in the wrong place. The author proposes explanations for the book's absence without identifying a deficiency in the system itself.
- C
Nothing here starts with a conclusion about the book and then rebuts it using an exception to a general rule. The author builds a conclusion about what happened to the book. C describes a different direction of argument.
- D
The passage does begin with a general statement about books having assigned locations recorded in the catalog. But it doesn't reject that statement. A book can have its proper location recorded and still be missing from that location. Missing from the shelf doesn't mean missing from the catalog.
- ECorrect
The observed fact is that the book isn't where it belongs. The author rules out borrowing, use within the library, awaiting shelving and a special display, then concludes that it was misplaced or stolen. Eliminating those competing explanations is what supports the conclusion.
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