PT11.S2.Q24 - Since Mayor Drabble always repays...

md753

why is it not required to block out that Mayor Drabble could repay her debt to Lee immediately in some other way? Why is the temporal aspect more important by the stimulus? Was stuck between A and E. #help

georgianablythe16

We're concerned with the temporal aspect because of this: "Since Mayor Drabble ALWAYS repays her political debts AS SOON AS POSSIBLE." If we're taking the stimulus as 100% factual (which we should be), then we must be literal about Mayor Drabble always repaying her debts as soon as she is able. Here's how I approached the questions:

A - Correct answer. If Mayor Drabble had a political debt that is of longer standing than Lee's, she MUST repay that first. And if the person she's repaying would settle their debt with Mayor Drabble through their appointment to the be the new head of the arts commission, than Mayor Drabble must pay that debt. Negating this answer choice destroys the argument/conclusion.

B - So what if she owes MORE of a debt to someone else? She's concerned with paying of debts AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Maybe the person she owes a larger debt to has only been owed this debt for the last hour? Or, say they do have a longer standing debt than Lee - maybe they don't want to be appointed to the arts commission. Maybe they want money or a trip to Cancun. She could still easily repay Lee through the appointment to the arts commission.

C - Again this doesn't matter because of the "as soon as possible" thing. This could be true, that she could repay a debt to someone else through the appointment to the arts commission, but so what? Lee could still have been the first one she owed a debt to. Therefore, his repayment comes first.

D - Irrelevant to the conclusion. Our conclusion is that Lee will get the appointment because Mayor Drabble is greatly indebted to him and he wants it. We don't have any basis for worry about whether Mayor Drabble is concerned about qualifications. We're only talking about debts owed and paying them off.

E - This is an attractive answer choice, but incorrect nonetheless. If we negate this answer choice it shows us why it is incorrect. Negated - "Appointing Lee to head the arts commission IS NOT the only way Mayor Drabble can repay her debt". Great, that still lines up with our conclusion that "Lee will almost certainly be appointed to head the arts commission". Our conclusion is leaving some wiggle room there. We're not saying that Lee will absolutely, certainly, 100% be appointed. If that was the argument than this answer choice could be correct. But negating this answer choice simply says "there's another way that Mayor Drabble can repay her debt", that doesn't mean she won't appoint Lee to the commission, it just means she doesn't HAVE to.