Logical reasoning PrepTest 123 · Section 2 · Question 8

Question prompt

Proponents of the electric Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Facts

Question Type

Argument Completion Questions

Stimulus Summary

Some say the electric car, once adopted, will help the environment. However, charging these cars will require dams, nuclear, or coal, each of which hurts the environment. Therefore . . .

Answer Anticipation

The argument pivots away from those who believe the electric car will help the environment. This generally means that the main point of the argument will be that the initial viewpoint is wrong, or that's it's unsupported. Here, the author doesn't point out a flaw in the opposing viewpoint, but rather she brings up a consideration that points out a downside to electric cars. In other words, the author thinks that the proponents of the electric car have overlooked something that might balance out the upsides of the electric car. The completion of the argument should reflect that.

Answer choices

  1. A
    will have worse environmental Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Correct. This answer reflects the argument. The proponents overlooked the need for dams, or nuclear or coal plants, to charge the electric vehicles, which will damage the environment. The impact of electric cars, therefore, won't be as positive as the proponents state, so this answer completes the argument.
  2. B
    will probably remain less Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. While the opposing point does mention popularity ("will be widely used"), the argument deals with the environmental impact, not this popularity. As such , the argument wouldn't be logically completed by going back to discussing popularity.
  3. C
    requires that purely technical Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. While the argument does bring up technical problems (battery design, sources of charging electricity), it never mentions that these are the only things holding it back. Additionally, the information after the pivot discusses the impact on the environment, so talking about solving technical problems before success doesn't logically complete the argument.
  4. D
    will increase the total Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. This is a tempting answer choice! However, the author, after the pivot, discusses environmental damage, but not emissions in particular. The author discusses dams, nuclear, and coal, only one of which definitively releases a lot of emissions. This shift between the environmental damage of the stimulus and the emissions of the answer means this answer is wrong.
  5. E
    will not produce a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. Another tempting answer choice! However, while the author does bring up a consideration showing that electric cars will cause some environmental degradation, she doesn't compare it to the current situation. The author could believe that the damage caused by dams/nuclear/coal to charge these cars is still better than the emissions from current cars, but that we need to be honest with how much good electric cars will do.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 44%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 8%
  4. D 9%
  5. E 35%

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