PrepTest 144

Incorrect. Vernon doesn't bring up health at all, so this answer is out of scope.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/Flawed

Question Type:
Methods of Reasoning (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
W: Artists need stimuli to spur creativity, so I keep a lot of things in my studio.

V: But the stimuli should be quality, not dirty laundry.

Answer Anticipation:
Wanda brings up an interesting idea—that artists need to be stimulated and inspired by the things around them. As a visual artist, then, she insists that all of the clutter in her studio is there for inspiration.

Vernon doesn't question the need for such inspiration, stating that writers do need to read good writing. However, he brings up a separate consideration—quality. He suggests that Wanda can't be inspired by low-quality visual stimuli such as dirty laundry and empty bottles. So the principle underlying his rebuttal has to deal with the quality of stimuli that artists are inspired by.

Answer Explanation:
Vernon's rebuttal brings up the quality of stimuli in an artist's environment—it needs to be like good writing, not a supermarket tabloid or literal garbage. This answer underlies his rebuttal, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
When asked to find a principle underlying an argument, it can be helpful to start by identifying a key idea. Here, Vernon was big on quality, and so was the correct. answer.

Incorrect. First, this answer refers to a part of an analogy which won't serve as an underlying principle. Second, Vernon doesn't even argue that tabloids aren't stimulating, but rather that they aren't inspiring.

Incorrect. Not too far off the mark, but Vernon specifically notes in his analogy that the writing needs to be "good" writing, not a supermarket tabloid. That's about quality, not messiness, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. Vernon agrees that artists need stimuli and sources of inspiration, he just questions whether certain things do a good job of that.