PrepTest 152, Section 4, Question 21
If you use a wood stove to heat(67 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AWood pellets are(13 more words not shown)
- BHeating a home(19 more words not shown)
- CUsing a wood-pellet(12 more words not shown)
- DUsing a regular(11 more words not shown)
- EPeople who use(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why use pellets? They might be cheaper, cleaner, or safer, but a recommendation needs a reason.
The author supplies an environmental one: pellets use manufacturing leftovers that would otherwise go to a landfill, so heating with them doesn't cause additional trees to be cut down. Regular wood stoves don't have that same advantage. That is the basis for calling pellet stoves better for the environment.
I'd still wonder about other considerations. What if a pellet stove costs more, provides less heat, or is less appealing to the person using it? The argument hasn't examined those possible drawbacks. We can recognize the environmental reason without assuming it settles every practical concern.
What we’re looking for
Now we're asked for the overall conclusion. What is that environmental case supposed to get us to do? If we use a wood stove to heat our home, choose a pellet stove rather than a regular one. That's the opening recommendation.
Working the answers
- A
This describes the source of the fuel and its alternative destination. It helps explain why using pellets needn't cause additional tree cutting, which in turn supports the environmental comparison and recommendation. It is a starting reason, not the action the author recommends.
- B
This is a conclusion, but it isn't the overall conclusion. The facts about pellets and trees support the environmental comparison; the comparison then supplies a reason to choose the pellet stove. Ask why the author wants us to believe B: to support the recommendation in the opening sentence.
- C
The passage says heating with pellets won't cause more trees to be felled. That is a claim about additional cutting, not a claim that no tree cutting is involved anywhere in producing the by-products. Even setting that wording difference aside, the tree-cutting point supports the recommendation rather than stating it.
- D
The contrast with regular wood stoves is part of the reason offered for choosing pellets. It describes an environmental disadvantage of the alternative. The argument's main point is what existing wood-stove users should choose in light of that comparison.
- ECorrect
This restates the opening recommendation and preserves its audience: people who already use wood stoves to heat their homes. The argument doesn't tell everyone to switch from every other heating system to pellets. It recommends pellets over regular wood stoves, with the environmental discussion supplying its reason.
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