PrepTest 140, Section 2, Question 22
If the budget does not allow for more(59 more words not shown)
The conclusion above follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- AIf most of(28 more words not shown)
- BTo keep all(19 more words not shown)
- CAll of the(30 more words not shown)
- DMost of the(29 more words not shown)
- EIf none of(27 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Failing a waste-disposal standard sounds worrying. But does it make most of the district's drinking water likely to become polluted?
The first rule gets us partway there. If the budget doesn't allow more inspectors, most large dairies will fail the standards. The new district budget doesn't allow more inspectors, so we can apply that rule. We don't need to assume every dairy fails.
What remains is the move from failed standards to the water forecast. Waste can seep into streams and groundwater, but “can” doesn't establish that most drinking water is likely to become polluted. We need a rule tying the condition we've established—most large dairies failing—to that particular outcome.
What we’re looking for
Since the question asks us to make the conclusion follow, the answer should complete that chain. We already have the budget restriction and the resulting failure to meet standards; now connect those facts to the forecast about drinking water.
Working the answers
- A
This tells us what happens if most dairies meet the standards. We have the opposite situation: most large dairies won't meet them. A rule describing success doesn't tell us what follows from failure. The water could remain mostly clean for some other reason without violating A.
- B
Even if more inspectors are required to keep all the water clean, failing that requirement would show only that we cannot keep all of it clean. A small amount becoming polluted would be enough for that. The conclusion concerns most of the water being likely to become polluted, which B doesn't establish.
- C
This says that all the water being likely to become polluted requires all the large dairies to fail. It doesn't give a condition that guarantees the conclusion, and it concerns all the water and all the dairies. We have established neither of those all-inclusive claims.
- DCorrect
If most large dairies fail the federal standards, most of the district's drinking water is likely to become polluted. The budget and the first rule establish the condition; D supplies the consequence. Together they take us from no additional inspectors to most dairies failing, then to the exact water-pollution forecast in the conclusion.
- E
None of the large dairies meeting the standards would mean all of them fail. We know only that most fail. Some could still comply, so we haven't established the condition needed to apply E. A rule about the more extreme case doesn't settle the case we have.
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