PrepTest 158

It's reasonable enough to conclude that a math teacher helping her students understand mathematical principles (her first objective) will help her students apply these principles to everyday life (her second objective). Understanding the principles could make it easier for students to apply the principles. Therefore, applying the analysis "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" to this situation seems logical. It's close enough, at least, to meet the low bar of "could be appropriate" set by the question stem.

It makes some intuitive sense to conclude that a software manufacturer making its customers more satisfied with its products (its first objective) would result in fewer calls to the customer service representatives (its second objective). After all, if the customers are satisfied with the product, they probably know how to use it, and they will probably not need to place as many calls to customer service. Therefore, applying the analysis "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" to this situation makes sense. It's close enough, at least, to meet the low bar of "could be appropriate" set by the question stem.

It makes some sense to conclude that having fewer books lost or stolen from a library (the librarian's first objective) would result in more books being returned on time (the librarian's second objective). After all, if fewer books are lost or stolen, it's probably the case that they're being returned on time, which would result in a higher percentage of the books being returned. Therefore, it's reasonable enough to apply the analysis "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" to this situation. It's close enough, at least, to meet the low bar of "could be appropriate" set by the question stem.

Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Cannot Be True

Stimulus Summary:
The situation describes a physical therapist who wants her patients to enjoy developing physical skills and spend more time practicing those skills.

The analysis is that success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective.

Strategy Overview:

1. Argument or facts in passage?
   1. If argument, identify premises and conclusions
2. Sufficient/necessary conditions in the passage?
   1. If so, diagram statements and draw any deductions
      1. Then falsify the statement — a case where the sufficient condition is present and the necessary is not
   2. If not, anticipate what must be true
      1. Then falsify the statement — a case in which that deduction is NOT true
3. Use anticipations to find the answer choice that is absolutely, 100% NOT true

Answer Anticipation:
It's a little challenging to determine which type of question this is. The question stem tells us that analysis applied to the situation with the physical therapist "could be appropriate" to each of the answer choices, except for one. "Could be appropriate," for our purposes, can be roughly translated to "could be true." We're going to eliminate four answer choices that feature a situation close enough to the physical therapist's — close enough that the analysis "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" could be true in that situation. The remaining answer choice, the correct one, will describe a situation in which the analysis could not be true.

It's not prudent to try to predict what the correct answer will say. But we can formulate some idea about the characteristics present in the incorrect and correct answer. The incorrect answers will resemble the situation in the passage. A physical therapist who helps her patients enjoy developing skills more (the first objective) will, in turn, help her patients spend more time practicing their skills (the second objective). Since most people would probably spend more time practicing a skill they enjoy practicing, we can say that "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" in that situation. The incorrect answers will all describe something similar: situations in which satisfying your first objective can help you satisfy your second.

The correct answer will present a circumstance in which fulfilling your first objective has no impact on the likelihood of fulfilling your second objective, or one in which fulfilling your first objective makes it less likely you will fulfill the second.

Answer Choice Explanation:
Unlike the other answer choices, this one presents two objectives that appear to be, if not mutually exclusive, at least in direct competition. Constructing a new, expansive warehouse would certainly not help "bring about success" in getting employees to plan how to expand the old warehouse. Making the new, large warehouse would obviate the need to expand the old warehouse. Therefore, we cannot apply the "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" to this situation.

Key Takeaway:
Pay attention to the level of proof required to eliminate or select answer choices. No incorrect answer choice described a situation in which we knew with certainty that "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective," a wrinkle that could have thrown off some test-takers. But noticing that the incorrect answer choices only needed to meet a lower bar of "could be appropriate" would have helped an attentive test taker eliminate these choices.

It wouldn't be unfounded to conclude that a concert director introducing a more varied repertoire to the concerns (the first objective) would result in new patrons attending the concerts (the second objective). After all, more variety to the music presented could attract previously uninterested people to attend the concert series. So it's plausible enough to apply the analysis "success in the first objective success will bring about success in the second objective" to this situation. It's close enough, at least, to meet the low bar of "could be appropriate" set by the question stem.