PrepTest 158, Section 4, Question 25
Most of the members of Bargaining Unit Number(30 more words not shown)
The conclusion of the argument(11 more words not shown)
- Amost of the(19 more words not shown)
- Bmost members of(13 more words not shown)
- Cmost of the(15 more words not shown)
- Dmost of the(11 more words not shown)
- Emost of the(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More than half the bargaining unit are programmers. To guarantee that at least one programmer works in Hanson, I'd be happy with a statement that the whole unit works there. But we don't need that much. More than half working there would do.
Why? The programmers already occupy more than half of the unit. Another group occupying more than half of that same unit can't fit entirely outside the programmers. The two groups must overlap.
For example, suppose the unit has 100 members, 60 programmers, and 60 people working in Hanson. There are only 40 nonprogrammers. They can't account for all 60 Hanson workers, so at least 20 programmers must work there. The exact numbers can change; the overlap follows from both groups being majorities of the same unit.
What we’re looking for
We're completing the argument with a statement that makes the conclusion certain. “Some unit members work in Hanson” wouldn't be enough, because those few members could all be nonprogrammers. We need an answer that forces the overlap.
Working the answers
- A
This puts nonprogrammers in Hanson. That doesn't help establish that programmers work there too. All the programmers could work somewhere else while most of the unit's nonprogrammers work in Hanson.
- B
We aren't told how the executive committee relates to the programmer group. The committee could be a small group made up entirely of nonprogrammers. Putting most committee members in Hanson wouldn't guarantee that any programmer is there.
- C
Watch which group the percentage describes. Most government employees in Hanson could belong to the unit while constituting only a tiny fraction of that unit. That tiny fraction could consist entirely of nonprogrammers.
Imagine a unit of 1,000 people with 600 programmers. Only 10 unit members work in Hanson, all nonprogrammers, alongside 5 other government employees. Most of Hanson's government employees belong to the unit—10 out of 15—but none is a programmer. C can be true while the conclusion is false.
- DCorrect
Now both majorities are measured within Bargaining Unit Number 17: most members are programmers, and most members work in Hanson. Those groups must share at least one person. Since the unit belongs to the government employees' union, that shared member is a government employee in Hanson who is a programmer.
The argument only needs some, meaning at least one. It doesn't need most Hanson workers to be programmers, and D doesn't establish that broader claim.
- E
Knowing that most people in Hanson are government employees doesn't connect them with the unit's programmers. Government employees include people outside this particular bargaining unit. All of the employees in the building could be nonprogrammers without violating anything E says.
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