PrepTest 103, Section 3, Question 21
The companies that are the prime purchasers of(55 more words not shown)
The conclusion above follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- AIf most prime(13 more words not shown)
- BCommercial computer software(17 more words not shown)
- CCommercial computer software(9 more words not shown)
- DIf the initial(21 more words not shown)
- EThe more difficult(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What if the software only needs to be learned by one person?
My initial reaction is to question how much the training burden matters in a particular case. A CEO might be willing to learn a complicated program without training an entire staff. Or the unfamiliar commands might be part of what lets a program do something useful. Simpler isn't automatically better for every customer.
But the passage gives us a definite rule about the prime purchasers: they won't buy when staff training is expensive. We're also told memorizing unfamiliar commands makes that training expensive. So software requiring those commands loses those purchasers. We need to accept that connection.
The question asks what would make the conclusion follow. Now the larger gap becomes clearer: why must losing these purchasers mean the software can't succeed? What if it succeeds by selling to individual consumers or smaller businesses instead?
What we’re looking for
That gives us a more direct prediction than my initial questions about complexity. We need to make purchases by these prime buyers necessary for commercial success. Then their refusal to buy would explain why the software can't succeed while requiring unfamiliar commands.
Working the answers
- A
This gives a way to succeed: get most prime purchasers to buy. We need a requirement for success: without prime purchasers, the product can't succeed. A leaves open the possibility of succeeding through other customers. It therefore doesn't let us infer failure from the prime purchasers' refusal to buy.
- B
This compares the software's price across two kinds of products. The argument's cost premise concerns training staff, and its conclusion concerns success. Even if easy-to-learn software costs no more to buy, we still don't know whether sales to other customers could make a demanding program successful.
- CCorrect
The product cannot succeed unless prime purchasers buy it. Now all the steps connect: unfamiliar commands make training expensive; expensive training means these purchasers won't buy; and without their purchases, the software cannot succeed.
Therefore a successful product cannot require users to memorize those unfamiliar commands. C rules out the alternative customer base that would otherwise leave room for success. It doesn't claim that removing the commands guarantees success—other obstacles might remain.
- D
This describes a different case, with low training costs despite a high initial price. Our argument concerns programs whose unfamiliar commands make training expensive. More importantly, D says when prime purchasers will buy, not whether their purchases are required for success. It doesn't close the gap between losing them and failing commercially.
- E
This gives a broader relationship between learning difficulty and training expense. But we already have the relevant expense premise for software requiring unfamiliar commands. More detail about training cost still wouldn't establish that success depends on the prime purchasers. E leaves the missing customer-to-success connection untouched.
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