PrepTest 139, Section 4, Question 2
For house painting, acrylic paints are an excellent(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- ABadly cracked paint(8 more words not shown)
- BAcrylics are the(12 more words not shown)
- CAcrylics should not(10 more words not shown)
- DIt is not(15 more words not shown)
- EAcrylic paints come(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Can another coat of paint fix what is wrong underneath it?
At first, I'd have questions about the recommendation. Does the paint peel? Could it contain something harmful? But the passage explicitly tells us that acrylics provide everything a good paint should provide. For a question asking what these statements support, we work with that information.
What we’re looking for
The limitation concerns an existing problem, such as a badly cracked layer of paint caused by water damage. Putting another coat on top won't repair the underlying damage. My first prediction would simply be that acrylic paint isn't enough to fix those conditions. Let's see what else follows from calling it an excellent paint despite that limitation.
Working the answers
- A
Why couldn't harsh weather contribute to the problem? Water damage might come from a flood or heavy rain. We don't know that it did, but nothing in the passage rules it out. Saying an underlying problem caused the cracks doesn't establish that harsh weather wasn't involved.
- B
Acrylics could be one of several excellent choices. The passage praises them without comparing them with every other paint. We cannot turn “these provide what a good paint should provide” into “only these provide it.”
- C
What if the existing layer of paint is in good condition? The passage identifies a problem with expecting acrylics to correct defects such as badly cracked paint. It doesn't prohibit putting acrylics over every other type of paint. C extends a specific limitation into a much broader rule.
- DCorrect
The passage says acrylics provide everything a good paint should provide, yet they cannot correct these surface defects. Those two statements fit together only if correcting such defects is not a requirement of a good house paint. This goes beyond my initial prediction about what acrylics can't fix and explains why that limitation doesn't undermine the stated praise.
- E
We haven't been told which colors are available, much less how that range compares with other paints. Even if acrylics came in just one color, nothing in the stated list of benefits would establish that their color range matches every competitor's.
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