PrepTest 104, Section 4, Question 8
People always seem to associate high prices of(25 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- APackaging and advertising(6 more words not shown)
- BMost people buy(7 more words not shown)
- CAll types of(7 more words not shown)
- DLow-quality teas are(7 more words not shown)
- EThe price of(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
An expensive product isn't necessarily a better product. A great inexpensive sandwich can be better than a disappointing expensive one. So the tea example is believable: some of the best teas cost no more than lower-quality teas.
But why does that happen with tea?
What we’re looking for
That's what the question asks us to explain. We aren't being asked whether every shopper always equates price with quality, or whether tea is an unusual exception. Take the price pattern as given and look for something that accounts for it. Perhaps the good tea is inexpensive to make, or perhaps branding keeps the inferior tea expensive. I don't have a single firm prediction, but I want a reason the prices fail to track the quality.
Working the answers
- A
Tripling every price doesn't explain why the prices are comparable. Suppose a lower-quality tea started at $1 and a better tea at $5. Tripling those prices gives us $3 and $15. The better tea is still more expensive. Packaging and advertising could make all tea expensive without explaining this particular mismatch between price and quality.
- BCorrect
Demand keeps the lower-quality tea's price up. Lots of people buy it, so its price can remain high despite its lower quality. That gives us a reason the best tea might cost no more than inferior tea: quality isn't the only thing supporting the price. We don't need to know why people choose the low-quality tea; the answer already tells us that their purchases keep its price up.
- C
High tariffs on all types of tea could help explain why tea is expensive in general. They don't, by themselves, explain why the lower-quality tea costs as much as the best tea. For example, adding a $5 charge to both a $1 tea and a $5 tea would leave prices of $6 and $10. The answer gives us no difference in tariff treatment that would account for the quality-price pattern.
- D
Being easier to obtain doesn't explain why low-quality tea remains relatively expensive. If anything, easier access could point toward lower costs for that tea, leaving us with the same puzzle about why the best tea often costs no more. This doesn't supply B's mechanism of buyers keeping the inferior product's price high.
- E
This compares locations, while the puzzle compares quality levels. Tea could cost the same in different regions and still be priced according to quality within each region. Or it could fail to track quality everywhere. Uniform prices across regions don't explain the relationship we're asked about.
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