PrepTest 141, Section 4, Question 11
Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant(74 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- ASome people argue(19 more words not shown)
- BIt would be(21 more words not shown)
- CIf no changes(14 more words not shown)
- DIn planning to(22 more words not shown)
- EFinancial planners should(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A problem can be years away and still require work today. Waiting until retirement to start saving would make the financial planner's advice look pretty bad.
The manager uses that example to challenge the proposed delay in changing the vendor contracts. First, we're told that without changes now, the company's supply chain will develop significant weaknesses. That doesn't guarantee changes will solve every possible problem. It establishes that leaving the contracts alone has a serious downside.
Then comes the response the manager anticipates: the problem is far away, so we can ignore it for now. The retirement comparison is supposed to show what's wrong with that excuse.
Could there be some other reason to delay? Conceivably. If changing the contracts immediately would bankrupt the company, that would be a different argument for waiting. But the position criticized here relies simply on the problem being distant. The manager calls that approach irresponsible.
What we’re looking for
For the main conclusion, I want that judgment about postponing the contract changes. The supply-chain forecast sets up the concern, and the financial planner illustrates the mistake. The point they serve is that distance in time doesn't justify ignoring this problem.
Working the answers
- A
This reports the position the manager opposes. The manager acknowledges that some people will make this argument and then calls their approach irresponsible. Reporting someone else's proposed excuse isn't endorsing it as the main conclusion.
- BCorrect
This captures both the judgment and its target: postponing the contract changes just because the weaknesses won't appear for a long time would be irresponsible. The retirement example supports that judgment by showing a comparable problem with waiting until a future need becomes immediate.
- C
This is the opening forecast. It explains why the company has a problem to address, but the argument goes on to evaluate the proposed response to that problem. C leaves out the manager's point that delay on this basis is irresponsible.
- D
The analogy doesn't require companies and individuals to follow all the same financial practices. It identifies a particular shared mistake: treating a distant problem as a reason not to prepare. We can accept that comparison without adopting D's broad rule about how companies should meet their obligations.
- E
Financial planners appear in an example, not in the overall conclusion. The manager is arguing about the company's contracts. Also, criticizing advice against saving when retirement is distant doesn't mean planners should recommend saving only when retirement is distant.
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