#13 - Architect: Obviously, a dirty stone building is less attractive than a clean one.

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Method of Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[ashpine17]

I am so confused and heartbroken honestly. I thought I anticipated the answer. I thought the engineer didn’t directly dispute the architect’s conclusion but doenst d suggest the opposite?

[ashpine17]

the engineer pointed out an assumption the architect was making but didn't reach a conclusion himself so doesn't d suggest that the engineer concluded that the architect wrong?

[ashpine17]

when i read "not so fast," I read that as the engineer saying "slow down, there's this one other piece of evidence you forgot to consider because you assumed that water was the only way to clean the stone," NOT as you are wrong that the stone wall must remain dirty.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi ashpine,

Don't get so locked into a prephrase that you ignore an answer that is the best of a set of five. I don't see you clearly identifying a better description of the reasoning in answers A, B, C, or E, and that's because there isn't one! Those four answers have clear inaccuracies that make them wrong.

With answer choice D, what you should ask yourself is, do the facts the engineer adduced (that advanced technology makes it possible to clean stone buildings with non-penetrative, mild chemicals, instead of water) show that stone buildings do NOT have to remain dirty? I'd say yes: you can use these chemicals to clean them, they won't penetrate the walls and cause the same problems as water, and so the buildings don't have to remain dirty. That's enough to get comfortable with answer choice D. If you've eliminated four answers, and aren't convinced the remaining one is perfect, but it's pretty close to what you prephrased, pick it and be confident! That happens to me all the time on this test. It's not an indication that you're wrong, or that the test is wrong, it's just an indication that we sometimes have slightly varying approaches to what we would consider the IDEAL answer to be. But this test isn't about selecting IDEAL answers, it's about selecting the best answer of 5.