PrepTest 154, Section 1, Question 17
Beads were used as currency for centuries.(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- AThe similarity between(20 more words not shown)
- BThe similarity between(20 more words not shown)
- CAn object having(20 more words not shown)
- DAn object cannot(13 more words not shown)
- EThe more an(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A pretty object isn't automatically a good form of money. Imagine using attractive stones from the backyard as decoration. If everyone can pick up thousands of identical stones whenever they want, their ready availability might make them a poor way to store or exchange value. That is a possible consideration besides appearance. We haven't been told that being decorative is the only feature that matters.
Now picture a large collection of decorative objects. Some of them—gold, silver, feathers—later became currency. Knowing that those examples made the transition doesn't establish that another decorative object, such as beads, would naturally make it too. There could be many objects in the collection that never did.
What we’re looking for
Still, the question asks us to support the author's explanation. Our job is to supply a principle connecting the original decorative use with the later use as currency. I would look for a rule making the beads' decorative role a reason to expect their use as money. We can support that connection for this question even though we initially questioned it.
Working the answers
- A
This begins with similar secondary uses and uses them to explain a primary use being transferred. The argument starts with the earlier use as decoration and moves to the later use as currency. A runs the comparison from the later role back toward the earlier one, rather than supporting the direction the argument takes.
- B
This is tempting because it starts with similar primary uses and discusses transferring a secondary use. But “can cause” gives us a possible process. It doesn't say that sharing an original use makes objects likely to share a later use, which is the connection that would explain why the beads' development was natural.
Also, a primary use is a main use; it isn't automatically the first use in time. The passage's point is specifically about what these objects were used for originally and what they came to be used for later. C addresses that sequence and the likelihood directly.
- CCorrect
Fill in each role. The object is beads. The original use is adornment. The derivative, or later, use is currency. Other objects with that original decorative use—gold, silver, and feathers—became currency. C says an object with the same original use is likely to have that same later use.
That supplies the support we wanted. We don't have to accept an absolute rule that every decoration becomes money. A principle making the shared later use likely is enough to help justify the claim that the beads' transition was natural.
- D
This would require the old use to disappear before the new one could begin. The argument never says beads stopped being decorative, nor that gold or silver stopped serving that purpose. D introduces a restriction without giving a reason the decorative history supports becoming currency.
- E
Representing value in general points toward the currency role. Being valued for a particular use could include decoration. E moves from the currency role toward particular uses; the argument moves from an earlier particular use as decoration toward currency. It explains a different direction of development.
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