PT153 S3 Q15 ExplanationIf the glee club pays cash today to rent

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Too Specific / Weakens1% picked this

   At least some influential members of the club?s party committee are interested in the savings available by renting the equipment today rather

   There's no way we could derive from this paragraph that our author is clearly envisioning this specific scenario about internal disagreements between some influential members and the rest of the committee. Furthermore, if we negated this, it would be saying, "There are not any influential members pushing the committee to rent the equipment today", and that would just strengthen the author's case.

   1%
2. B

   Too Strong: most5% picked this

   Most members of the club?s party committee are aware of the glee

   The word "most" is wrong on Necessary Assumption 99% of time we see it, because arguments don't usually hinge on whether something is at least 51% or at most 49%. If we negate this, we're just saying, "at most 49% of the party committee is aware of the glee club's financial situation". Does that badly weaken the argument? No. Maybe people would think, "it shows that the decision to wait until next Saturday is a minority decision, so maybe this minority doesn't care about saving money, but the remaining majority does." The problem is that "being aware of the club's financial situation" is not necessary in order to weigh in on whether to rent the equipment today vs. next Saturday. There are plenty of rich people who have a very secure financial situation but still care a lot about saving money. In other words, you wouldn't base your decision about whether to rent today or next Saturday on your financial situation. In any financial situation, cheaper = better, if you care about saving money.

   5%
3. C

   Out of Scope: other agencies policies5% picked this

   At least one rental agency will not accept a lower price for equipment rental today than it

   This is saying that the author has to assume that there is at least one rental agency out there that doesn't offer this "early-bird discount". Why would the author need to assume there's a rental agency that doesn't offer this pre-pay discount? If we negate this answer, it's saying "all rental agencies will accept a lower price today than they will next Saturday". If anything, that negation would strengthen the author's argument. He could say, "Everybody's prices will be higher next Saturday, so the fact that they're waiting shows they don't care about saving money."

   5%
4. D

   Weakens8% picked this

   The club?s party committee has a number of responsibilities that take priority

   This actually seems to offer an alternative explanation for why the club is waiting. They would like to save money by renting the equipment today, sure, but they have a number of other responsibilities that take precedence. If we negated this, it would say, "the club has no higher responsibility than saving money", which would only strengthen his position that waiting until next Saturday shows they don't really care about saving money.

   8%
5. E

   Correct80% picked this

   There is enough cash available to the glee club today to pay for the equipment rental

   Why this is right

   We could say this establishes a minimum plausibility for the author's explanation that the glee club knows about this discount opportunity, has the means to take advantage of this discount opportunity, but is eschewing it anyway. We could also say this rules out an alternate explanation for why the glee club isn't renting the equipment today. If we negated this, it would say that the glee club doesn't have enough cash to rent the equipment today. Would that weaken? Yes, a ton. It would allow us to say, "Yo, author -- the committee cares a lot about saving money. The real reason they're not renting it today, at a cheaper rate, is that they just don't have cash to do so." The paragraph never specified that this early-bird discount needed to be paid in cash, but the sufficient trigger that allows them to get the discount does specify "paying cash today". In order for the author to conclude that the glee club is carelessly passing up the sweet discount offer that she has presented for us, she has to assume that the glee club has the ability to take advantage of that offer in the first place.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   80%