PrepTest 149, Section 1, Question 18
If the standards committee has a quorum, then(26 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AIf the general(15 more words not shown)
- BIf the standards(13 more words not shown)
- CIf the general(13 more words not shown)
- DIf the general(15 more words not shown)
- EIf the standards(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The assembly can't begin twice.
The first rule says a standards-committee quorum guarantees a 6:00 start. It doesn't say that is the only way to get a 6:00 start. Think of saying, 'If I drink milk, the sun will rise tomorrow.' Even if that statement is true, seeing the sunrise wouldn't tell you whether I drank milk. The result could occur without the stated condition.
What we’re looking for
Now add the awards committee: its quorum guarantees a 7:00 start. We can't have both quorums, because the same assembly would have to begin at both times. That is the conclusion I'd predict. At least one committee must lack a quorum; the rules don't say one of them must have one.
Working the answers
- A
Not starting at 6:00 rules out a standards-committee quorum. It doesn't establish an awards-committee quorum. Perhaps neither committee has one and the meeting begins at 5:00 under some other arrangement. That situation follows both given rules and makes A false.
- B
Both committees could lack a quorum. Nothing requires the awards committee to have one whenever the standards committee doesn't. For example, a different committee could arrange a 5:00 start while neither of these two has a quorum. We mustn't turn 'they can't both have one' into 'exactly one has one.'
- C
A 6:00 start could have another explanation. Perhaps another committee arranged that time while the standards committee lacked a quorum. This is the same problem as inferring milk drinking from the sunrise: the rule tells us a condition that guarantees a result, not the only condition under which that result can occur.
- D
Not starting at 7:00 rules out an awards-committee quorum, but doesn't give the standards committee one. Again, the assembly could begin at 5:00 with neither quorum. D wrongly treats eliminating one stated route as establishing the other.
- ECorrect
A standards-committee quorum means the assembly begins at 6:00. If the awards committee also had a quorum, it would have to begin at 7:00 as well. Since those can't both be the beginning of this assembly, a standards quorum rules out an awards quorum. E states exactly that incompatibility.
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