PrepTest 141, Section 4, 2. Residents of a coastal community…

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

Only the right answer will add support for the conclusion in the passage.

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

resisting the efforts of one family to build a large house on the family’s land.

[BACKGROUND/CONCLUSION]. Although [BACKGROUND]. Residents argue that [SUPPORT].

The structure of the argument is a little funny, since we’re used to seeing a conclusion get stated more clearly and directly. But the prompt told you to justify the argument being made by “residents opposed to building the house”, so it should be clear that their opposition is what the right answer will give support for.

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

(A) …to preserve historic buildings…

The passage is about building a building, not preserving one.

(B) …should purchase those properties…

There’s nothing in the passage about a “purchase” or ownership of the land being a part of the solution.

(C) Artists…have the right to demand…

The artist is dead, so they’re not the one making the demand.

(D) The right to build on one’s own property is constrained by the artistic and historical interests…

All this maps. The passage says it’s “the family’s land” they want to build on, and “artistic and historic heritage” is the reason the support gives. Boom.

(E) …regulations should prohibit construction that obstructs access to historic sites.

This doesn’t quite map to the support, which was about preserving “heritage”, not about “access”. Close but no cigar.

(D) is the correct answer.