PrepTest 152, Section 4, Question 9
Office manager: Every vacation an office worker takes(50 more words not shown)
The office manager's argument is(11 more words not shown)
- AIt takes for(25 more words not shown)
- BIt overlooks the(27 more words not shown)
- CIt overlooks the(26 more words not shown)
- DIt fails to(44 more words not shown)
- EIt fails to(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A vacation helps. But how much does a long vacation help compared with a short one?
Even the claim that every vacation significantly reduces exhaustion might make me wonder about taking breaks so frequently that each adds little. But let's accept the stated benefit. It still doesn't follow that dividing the same vacation time into more pieces produces the greatest total relief. A longer break might let someone recover much more deeply than a short break.
What we’re looking for
Suppose we are deciding how to use ten days: several short breaks or one longer trip. Knowing that each break has a benefit doesn't tell us which arrangement is better. For the flaw, I'd look for the missing comparison between the effect of a long vacation and that of a short vacation.
Working the answers
- A
This compares short vacations with other short vacations. Our concern is the comparison between short and long vacations. The manager's recommendation could allow different short breaks to produce different amounts of relief; they needn't all have exactly the same effect. A doesn't identify the missing comparison behind choosing several short breaks over fewer long ones.
- B
Meditation or better sleep might also reduce exhaustion, but the recommendation concerns how to divide vacation time. Other effective methods could be available alongside either vacation schedule. Their existence doesn't establish whether splitting the vacation time is the better arrangement.
- C
Different workers might benefit by different amounts. That doesn't tell us whether a given worker benefits more from several short vacations or fewer long ones. The choice changes the comparison from lengths of vacations to different people, leaving the central gap untouched.
- D
The total amount of vacation time is held constant when we divide a person's available time in different ways. Even if the total matters much more than the number of breaks, the arrangement could still make some difference, and the manager wants as much relief as possible. D doesn't show which arrangement is better for the same total time. It also doesn't give us E's reason that a longer break could produce much greater relief.
- ECorrect
A long vacation could reduce exhaustion much more than a short vacation. If so, multiplying the number of breaks could sacrifice enough benefit from longer breaks to make the recommendation worse. The fact that every vacation helps doesn't establish that the arrangements help equally, or that several short ones provide the greatest relief. The manager needs that further comparison.
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