PrepTest 140, Section 2, Question 21
Editor: Most of the books of fiction we(57 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AMost unrequested manuscripts(10 more words not shown)
- BMost of the(16 more words not shown)
- CIf a manuscript(23 more words not shown)
- DThe publishing house(27 more words not shown)
- EAny unrequested manuscripts(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Keep fiction and nonfiction in separate piles first. The editor gives them different rules.
For the fiction that actually got published, most came through agents. The rest came directly from writers after the publisher requested their work. That divides the published fiction into two routes; it doesn't tell us how many manuscripts were submitted or rejected. An agent's submission also isn't automatically something the publisher requested.
For nonfiction, serious attention requires either a renowned author or a request following review of a proposal. Publication requires clearing that hurdle too. A famous public figure could qualify through the first route; an unknown writer with a promising proposal could qualify through the second.
What we’re looking for
We need an inference supported by these rules. I don't have a particular numerical conclusion to predict. We know the permitted routes, but not the sizes of the fiction and nonfiction piles or the numbers of submissions that never got anywhere.
Working the answers
- A
Receiving a manuscript isn't the same as publishing it. We don't know how many unrequested submissions arrive, how many come from renowned figures, or how many get serious attention. The rules about the published books and nonfiction consideration don't establish this majority.
- B
Requested nonfiction from unknown writers could make up a large share of the published books. The passage gives no comparison between that group and fiction by unknown writers. Knowing most published fiction comes through agents doesn't establish which kind of book dominates this different group.
- C
This leaves out the requested nonfiction route. An unknown writer's nonfiction manuscript could receive careful attention because the publisher requested it after reviewing the proposal. It needn't be fiction or the work of a renowned figure.
- D
More published fiction arriving through agents doesn't establish a higher consideration rate for agent submissions. We'd need the numbers submitted through each route, not just their shares of the published fiction. D also broadens beyond fiction and changes publication to consideration.
- ECorrect
Take a published manuscript that was neither requested nor submitted by an agent. It cannot be fiction: every published fiction book came through an agent or through a direct request.
So it must be nonfiction. Published nonfiction had to come from a renowned figure or have been requested after proposal review. We've already ruled out a request, leaving a renowned figure. By eliminating the other routes one at a time, we can establish E without knowing any totals.
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