PrepTest 148, Section 1, Question 6
Citizen: Our government has a large budget surplus,(74 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AHomeowners should not(18 more words not shown)
- BIt does not(16 more words not shown)
- CA homeowner's personal(15 more words not shown)
- DBecause of underfunding,(12 more words not shown)
- EGovernment leaders want(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Paying down debt sounds sensible, but what else needs the money? If a debt carried no interest while urgent repairs went undone, rushing to pay it early would be harder to justify. The citizen points to that kind of priority problem: the country has extra money while its military, cities, and highways are underfunded.
The homeowner example makes the concern concrete. Imagine putting every spare dollar toward the mortgage while refusing to replace a broken refrigerator or repair a deteriorating house. Reducing the loan balance wouldn't automatically leave the homeowner better off. The citizen wants us to see the government's choice the same way.
What we’re looking for
We could still ask how urgent the country's debt problem is; we haven't been given the whole financial picture. But the question asks for the citizen's conclusion, not our final budget recommendation. The point being supported is that using this surplus to pay down the national debt makes no sense given the competing needs.
Working the answers
- A
This gives the judgment in the homeowner analogy. The citizen uses that comparison to make a point about the government. A stops with what homeowners should do and leaves out the national budget decision the argument is actually addressing.
- BCorrect
This captures the citizen's judgment about the proposed use of the surplus. The underfunded services and the homeowner analogy are reasons offered for rejecting that plan. It isn't a blanket claim that governments should never repay debt; it challenges this use of the surplus in the circumstances described.
- C
The citizen relies on a relevant similarity between the homeowner and the government. But establishing that similarity isn't the final goal. It helps support the further judgment that the government shouldn't prioritize paying down debt over the neglected needs described here.
- D
These inadequate services supply a reason to use the extra money elsewhere. The author isn't merely reporting underfunding; the author uses it to criticize the debt-repayment proposal. D gives the problem that supports the conclusion without giving the conclusion itself.
- E
This states the leaders' plan, which sets up the criticism. The citizen then says that plan makes no sense and explains why. Describing a proposed action and judging that action are different roles; the judgment is the conclusion.
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