PrepTest 146, Section 1, Question 15
The production of leather and fur for clothing(44 more words not shown)
The situation described above conforms(9 more words not shown)
- AThe price of(19 more words not shown)
- BIt is more(21 more words not shown)
- CMaterials that require(10 more words not shown)
- DThe appearance of(13 more words not shown)
- ECultural trends tend(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Labor isn't the only thing affecting the price. Leather and fur take a lot of work to produce, and paying for that work helps explain why they have tended to be expensive. But their prices have fallen as fashion has moved away from them. Meanwhile, some more fashionable materials have become more expensive even though they take less work to produce.
What we’re looking for
For the generalization, I'd predict that fashion can affect prices alongside production demands. We don't have to say labor stopped mattering. We just need a statement that captures the price changes associated with changes in what people want to wear.
Working the answers
- A
The passage doesn't establish what matters more for the price of any manufactured good. It gives examples showing that fashion matters, alongside the labor needed to produce materials. Even a noticeable price change doesn't tell us which influence determines more of the price overall. A also extends the comparison to every manufactured good.
- B
More important for what? The passage is about prices, not whether buyers or manufacturers should care more about fashion than practicality. It doesn't even describe how practical these materials are. B adds a comparison the example doesn't make.
- C
Some materials that take less labor to produce have become more fashionable. That doesn't establish a general tendency for low-labor materials to be fashionable. Plenty of other easily produced materials might be out of fashion. The passage connects the prices of particular materials with their changing popularity; it doesn't give this broader pattern between labor and fashion.
- D
Appearance may affect fashion, but we aren't told that it is the only influence. More fundamentally, the passage concerns what happens to prices as fashions change. It doesn't explain why a material becomes fashionable in the first place.
- ECorrect
Fashion is a cultural trend, and the example shows prices moving as preferences shift: less fashionable leather and fur become cheaper, while some more fashionable alternatives become more expensive. That fits the generalization that cultural trends are an important influence on the prices of manufacturing materials.
'Important' doesn't mean 'the only influence' or 'more important than everything else.' Labor can still help account for the prices. E allows both influences to matter, which is what the example illustrates.
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