PrepTest 155, Section 4, Question 25

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  Appiah has two requirements: no rent increase and permission to have a pet. Her landlord fails both, so she won't renew. That reasoning can work, but it doesn't use two alternatives that each fail a different requirement. It's one lease with two disqualifying features. To match the original more closely, we'd want one possible apartment that fails the rent condition and another that fails the pet condition, with those as the only options.

• B

  This does have two requirements: the class must meet in Diaz Hall and in the afternoon. It also offers two courses. But look at the result. Ethics is ruled out, while political theory is presented as a course that can meet the conditions. The argument therefore selects political theory rather than ruling out both options.

  There is also a jump from a class being possible to Myers definitely teaching it. Meeting eligibility conditions needn't guarantee that the class will be taught. Either way, the pattern differs from showing that each available site fails a requirement.

• C

  Finch needs inexpensive tickets or a place to stay with a friend. That means one is enough. Expensive tickets to Bridgeport wouldn't rule the trip out if he could stay with a friend there. Being unable to stay with a friend in Hazleton wouldn't rule that trip out if the tickets were inexpensive.

  Our shopkeeper needs visibility and growth, so each site's missing condition is disqualifying. C changes that crucial relationship and then eliminates the options as though both conditions were required.

• D
  Correct

  Selling out requires a small venue and a downtown location, just as relocating requires visibility and growth. The two concert options are Jensen Arena and Pembroke Hall, corresponding to Maple Street and West Avenue.

  Jensen is large, so it fails the small-venue requirement. Pembroke is outside downtown, so it fails the location requirement. Each of the only two options fails a different necessary condition. Therefore the concert won't sell out, just as the shopkeeper won't relocate to the new center. This matches the entire structure.

• E

  This also begins with two requirements, but then one proposed way to meet the lighting requirement would interfere with the scenery requirement. That is a conflict involving a method, not two available locations each failing a different condition.

  Also, lamps near the riverbank are described as a way to light the park, not the only possible way. Perhaps another lighting arrangement would preserve the scenery. The answer doesn't establish that meeting both requirements is impossible. It lacks the original's exhaustive pair of alternatives and the separate reason each one fails.