PrepTest 156, Section 4, Question 13
If the natural history museum stays within this(53 more words not shown)
The argument's conclusion can be(10 more words not shown)
- AThe museum will(5 more words not shown)
- BThis year's budget(6 more words not shown)
- CThe museum will(4 more words not shown)
- DThe museum will(9 more words not shown)
- EThe museum will(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why couldn't the museum renovate this year and stay within budget?
The argument can initially sound complete because the renovations are unavoidable and next year's budget is tight. Slow down and separate the years. We know that if the museum doesn't renovate this year, it must renovate next year. We also know that renovating next year will put it over next year's budget.
So far, that gives us a clear chain: no renovation this year, renovation next year, then an overrun next year.
But the conclusion starts with something different: staying within this year's budget. Does that mean no renovation this year? Maybe this year's renovation would be affordable. The museum might get a good deal, or this year's budget might have room for the work. We can't assume that a project that breaks next year's budget must also break this year's.
What we’re looking for
To make the conclusion follow, close that gap. Give us a rule saying renovation this year would also exceed the budget. Then staying within budget this year would force the museum to postpone the work, setting off the chain we already have.
Working the answers
- A
This tells us the museum stays within this year's budget but doesn't tell us whether it can renovate while doing so. The affordable-renovation possibility remains open. Merely asserting the starting condition of the conclusion doesn't supply the missing link to next year's overrun.
- B
Comparing the sizes of the budgets doesn't tell us how this year's renovation costs fit into this year's budget. The budgets could differ by a dollar, while other expenses or renovation prices differ substantially. We need a relationship between renovation and exceeding the budget, not just between the two budget totals.
- C
If the museum doesn't renovate next year, perhaps it renovates this year at an affordable price. That is the very possibility the argument hasn't ruled out. C doesn't establish that staying within this year's budget will lead to exceeding next year's budget.
- DCorrect
Renovating this year would exceed this year's budget. Therefore, if the museum stays within this year's budget, it cannot renovate this year. The passage then requires renovation next year, which will exceed next year's budget.
Every link now connects: within budget this year means no renovation this year; no renovation this year means renovation next year; renovation next year means over budget next year. That is exactly the conditional conclusion we needed to establish.
- E
This says skipping renovation lets the museum stay within this year's budget. It doesn't say renovation would prevent staying within budget. Both options could be affordable this year, and E would still be true. The answer is compatible with the argument, but it leaves the critical gap open.
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