PrepTest 155, Section 1, Question 15
Most cats like to go outside to play(43 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AIf Jamil's cat(8 more words not shown)
- BIf Jamil's cat(12 more words not shown)
- CIf the sun(12 more words not shown)
- DIf at least(13 more words not shown)
- EIf the sun(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The cat needs a person outside. The person needs sunshine or heat.
Those are the rules that determine what Jamil allows. The opening fact about most cats liking outdoor play above freezing doesn't tell us what this particular cat enjoys. More importantly, a preference isn't a restriction: liking warm weather doesn't mean a cat can never be outside when it's cold.
My first thought is to work back from bad weather: perhaps if it isn't sunny, the cat stays inside. But check the other option. Jamil's family may go out when it's hot even if the sun isn't shining. To rule out the family being outside, we must rule out both sunshine and heat.
What we’re looking for
With neither one, no family member is outside. And without a family member outside, the cat can't be outside either. That's a solid inference to look for. Favorable weather, by contrast, doesn't force anyone to go out; it only meets one requirement for doing so.
Working the answers
- A
The passage says most cats like to play outside above freezing, not that being above freezing is required for Jamil's cat to go out. It could be a sunny but cold day, with a family member outside. We have no rule saying the cat cannot join that person merely because the temperature is low.
- B
The cat could be inside for another reason. Perhaps nobody in the family is available to take it out even though the weather is sunny and hot. We can use bad weather to rule out an outdoor trip, but an absent cat doesn't tell us the weather must be bad.
- C
Sunshine or heat makes an outing possible under the weather rule. It doesn't tell us how often the family actually goes out, whether someone is available, or whether the cat joins them. Without that information, we can't conclude that the cat is probably outside.
- D
A family member outside satisfies a requirement for the cat to go out. It doesn't guarantee that the cat follows. Jamil's rule isn't 'Whenever someone goes outside, take the cat.' The cat could stay indoors while someone in the family is outside.
- ECorrect
No sunshine and no heat means the family has neither of the weather conditions required for being outside. So no family member is outside. The cat is only allowed outside with at least one family member, so it stays inside too. E follows both links and includes both parts of the weather restriction.
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