PrepTest 139, Section 1, Question 1
Police chief: This department's officers are, of course,(37 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- AOnly very experienced(9 more words not shown)
- BMany nightclub patrons(14 more words not shown)
- COver the last(13 more words not shown)
- DMost police officers(16 more words not shown)
- EFor the most(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why aren't you drinking? Are you a cop?
That's the problem I can imagine for an undercover officer in a nightclub. The general ban on drinking makes sense, but refusing a drink might draw attention to the very thing the officer needs to hide. An officer who is discovered may have trouble carrying out the investigation.
So I can see a reason for the exception. The department isn't encouraging drinking for its own sake; a drink might help an officer blend in and do valuable work. Notice that the exception permits drinking in moderation, not getting drunk.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to help justify that exception. I'd look for a connection between drinking and doing the undercover job successfully. If refusing alcohol makes patrons suspicious that someone is an officer, that gives the department a practical reason to relax its usual rule.
Working the answers
- A
Experience might matter when choosing officers for difficult assignments. But an officer could have one year of experience or twenty, and we'd still need to know why drinking helps with this assignment. Restricting undercover work to experienced officers doesn't supply that reason.
- BCorrect
Refusing to drink would make many patrons suspect that someone is a police officer. That could interfere with an investigation whose success depends on concealing the officer's identity. Allowing moderate drinking helps avoid that problem and supports making this particular exception. We don't need every patron to become suspicious or every sober person to be exposed.
- C
The department is doing more undercover work. That tells us how often the exception might come up, not why the exception is justified. One investigation and a hundred investigations raise the same question: what does allowing drinking contribute to the work?
- D
The officers' belief offers some reassurance about possible problems, but it doesn't explain what drinking contributes to an investigation. Believing a practice causes little harm is weaker support for this exception than B's concrete reason that refusing drinks can threaten an officer's cover. The belief also doesn't establish that the officers are right.
- E
Knowing the department allows undercover officers to drink doesn't explain why it should allow them to drink. And knowing that policy wouldn't tell a patron which particular person is an officer. Public awareness leaves the practical reason for the exception unanswered.
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