PrepTest 141, Section 4, 21. The only songs Amanda has ever written…

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

Only the right answer will use the same kind of support and the same kind of conclusion that the passage uses.

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

if the next song Amanda writes is not a blues song, it probably will not involve more than three chords.

[SUPPORT]. [SUPPORT]. So [CONCLUSION].

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

(A) …So if the next pet the Gupta family owns is a parrot…

Nope, the condition in the conclusion of the passage is negative: “if the next song…is NOT a blues song”. The right answer has to match that.

(B) …So if the Gupta family has ever owned…

This is off in at least three ways, so I hope nobody picked it unless you were out of time and guessing randomly. Again, the condition in the conclusion isn’t negative like it is in the passage. It’s also not about the “next” instance like the passage is.

(C) …So any pet the family ever owns…

Nope, the conclusion of the passage is just about the “next” song, so this should only be about the “next” family pet.

(D) …Most parrots are very noisy…it will probably not be very noisy.

The “probably” part of the conclusion in the passage matches the “Most…” statement. This answer throws a “not” in there, which changes the argument for sure.

(E) …will probably be very noisy if it is not a fish.

We get the support about only having two options, and “most” of one of those options has some attribute. So if they don’t go with the other option, they’ll probably end up with something that has the attribute. The “fish”, “parrots”, and “very noisy” map to “blues songs”, “punk rock songs”, and “no more than three chords”, respectively.

(E) is the correct answer.