PrepTest 105, Section 1, Question 8
Economist: In the interaction between producers and consumers,(52 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AIt is never(14 more words not shown)
- BNo one expects(12 more words not shown)
- CAny product defect(7 more words not shown)
- DA product defect(13 more words not shown)
- EThe best interests(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Never obligated to reveal a defect? Couldn't revealing one sometimes help the producers? My first thought is that a producer might want to point out a problem with a competitor's product. That at least makes me question the idea that disclosure must always run against a producer's interests.
We need to be careful about the economist's rule, though. It says to act for one's own side, not merely for oneself as an isolated buyer or seller. The consumer half has explicit support: distributing defect information serves consumers' interests. The producer half lacks the corresponding claim about what serves producers' interests.
Perhaps disclosure could protect trust in an industry, for example. We aren't told it could never benefit their side.
What we’re looking for
For the required-assumption question, that is the gap to close. To conclude that producers are never obligated to disclose, the economist needs disclosure never to be in producers' best interests. Otherwise, the very rule used in the argument could require disclosure in that situation.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This blocks the possibility we raised. If revealing a defect sometimes served producers' best interests, their obligation to act in their side's best interests could require them to reveal it. The conclusion says they are never obligated, so the author needs disclosure never to serve those interests. The strong wording matches the strength of that conclusion.
- B
What others expect is different from what an obligation requires. People could expect producers to act generously, selfishly, or unpredictably without changing the economist's stated rule. The argument doesn't need a claim about everyone's expectations.
- C
The conclusion concerns defects consumers discover. It can tell those consumers what they are obligated to do without assuming that every defect will probably be discovered. Some defects could remain hidden and the rule would still apply whenever a consumer finds one.
- D
Comparing who is more likely to find a defect doesn't answer what each side should do after finding it. Producers could discover most defects or consumers could discover most; the missing premise still concerns whether disclosure serves producers' interests.
- E
This goes much further than necessary. The argument needs a claim about the interests involved in revealing product defects, not permanent opposition between consumers and producers on every subject. Both sides might benefit from reliable transportation for goods, for instance. That shared interest wouldn't prevent the economist from making the particular claim about disclosure. A stays with the action the conclusion addresses.
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