PrepTest 141, Section 2, 12. The chairperson should not have released…

How will the right answer fit in terms of support and conclusion?

Only the right answer will add support that guarantees the conclusion.

Highlight the main conclusion in the passage, if there is one:

The chairperson should not have released the Election Commission’s report to the public

[CONCLUSION], for [SUPPORT].

To guarantee the conclusion, we need an explicit connection between the wording in the support and the wording in the conclusion. So the right answer has to say that if “the chairperson did not consult any other members of the commission…”, then they “should not have released the…report”.

Map the wording of the answers to the wording of the passage:

(A) It would have been permissible…only if most other members…

We know from the passage that most other members did NOT consent, since they weren’t even consulted. If that’s the “only” way it would have been permissible, then the chairperson totally shouldn’t have released it. Aaand the conclusion is 100% guaranteed.

(B) All of the members…had signed the report…

Signed? Don’t assume that means they consented. That seems reasonable, but the author would still have to explain that since it’s not just common sense. And of course, if signed does mean gave consent then this would conflict with the conclusion. So…out.

(C) The chairperson would not have been justified…if any members of the commission had serious reservations…

Love the first part, since it maps perfectly to the conclusion. Buuut, did any members have serious reservations? We don’t know. We know they never had a chance to raise reservations, but that doesn’t mean they would have had any. So this can’t guarantee the conclusion.

(D) …had they been consulted.

If you cut this off the end, this could be the right answer. But since it carves out this qualification, it becomes totally meaningless. Would they have agreed if they had been consulted? We don’t know, since the passage says they weren’t consulted. So this can’t guarantee the conclusion.

(E) Some members…would have preferred…

“Some” is weak sauce. That word rarely leads off support that guarantees anything. Also, there’s nothing in the passage about what anybody prefers, so this doesn’t map well at all.

(A) is the correct answer.

Common pattern/s in this question: When you’re asked for support that guarantees the conclusion, right answers pretty frequently fit the form ‘If [SUPPORT], then [CONCLUSION]’, just like this one did.