PrepTest 159, Section 1, Question 12
Many hikers now carry cell phones so they(47 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AMost hikers can(3 more words not shown)
- BPoaching has decreased(6 more words not shown)
- CWildlife agents do(5 more words not shown)
- DSome hikers hike(13 more words not shown)
- ECell phones are(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Carrying a phone for an emergency makes sense. I might initially wonder whether a hiker can get service in a remote place, but the passage goes on to tell us that hikers actually use their phones to report poachers and help agents arrive in time. For those reports, the calls clearly get through.
Then we learn that poachers avoid places they know hikers frequent. That also makes sense: they don't want witnesses who can report them. At first, these look like separate observations rather than an argument with an obvious conclusion.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what the information supports. I don't have a precise prediction yet, so I'll check the answers against the facts. We should be especially careful about broad claims concerning how much poaching occurs or how effective phones are overall.
Working the answers
- A
Many hikers carry phones, but that doesn't establish that most hikers can afford them. We get no information about the finances of hikers generally. Even if an answer seems plausible from everyday experience, it still needs support from this passage.
- B
The calls help agents reach some poachers before they leave. That doesn't tell us whether total poaching has decreased. Poaching could remain steady or increase despite those interventions. We aren't given the broader trend needed for this answer.
- C
The phones belong to the hikers in the information we're given. We aren't told whether wildlife agents usually carry phones of their own. Calling an office doesn't establish what equipment the responding agents have.
- DCorrect
Now the second and third observations fit together. Hikers encounter poachers and report them. Yet poachers avoid areas they know hikers frequent. So at least some of these encounters must occur where the poachers don't know hikers frequent the area.
The distinction is between where hikers actually go and where poachers know they go. Hikers can appear somewhere the poachers did not expect them. That lets us accept both the sightings and the poachers' avoidance of known hiking areas.
- E
Helpful isn't the same as one of the most effective. The passage describes a useful way to report particular incidents, but it never compares phones with other tools for protecting wildlife. We can't supply that ranking simply because the example shows a benefit.
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