PrepTest 105, Section 2, Question 11
A certain credit-card company awards its customers bonus(57 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe merchandise that(23 more words not shown)
- BThe bonus points(23 more words not shown)
- CThe credit-card company(28 more words not shown)
- DThe amount credit-card(33 more words not shown)
- EThe merchandise available(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Lower than the suggested retail price isn't necessarily lower than the store's price. “Suggested” matters. A store might discount the same merchandise more aggressively than the credit-card company does.
Suppose an item has a suggested price of $100. The points program offers it for $80, but a store has it on sale for $70. The advertised discount is real, yet using the program doesn't give the customer the lower price.
We could also worry that a rewards program encourages extra spending, but this argument makes a narrower comparison: buying the same merchandise through the program versus in a store. The most direct gap is that we don't know the actual store price.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption the argument requires. I'd expect something ruling out a cheaper store purchase. Keep that prediction in mind without insisting the answer must describe the exact discount scenario we imagined.
Working the answers
- A
Another credit-card company might offer a better deal while this company's deal still beats retail stores. The conclusion doesn't claim that this program is the cheapest option anywhere. It makes a particular comparison with stores, so it doesn't require ruling out every better rewards program.
- B
This concerns whether the catalog includes merchandise unavailable in stores. It doesn't settle the price comparison for the same merchandise bought through either route. The argument doesn't need the company's entire catalog to be duplicated in retail stores for its comparison of shared products to work.
- C
A customer might need a large number of points before qualifying and still get a lower price once qualified. We aren't deciding whether earning the points is easy. The conclusion concerns what customers spend when they use them to make the described purchases. A low entry requirement isn't necessary for that price advantage.
- DCorrect
Here's another way the promised savings could disappear: shipping. This isn't the retail-discount answer I predicted, but it attacks the same comparison of what customers actually spend.
Suppose the item costs $80 through the program and $90 in a store, but mail shipping adds $20. The mail-order total is $100, so the customer spends more. The argument must rule that out. D says shipping doesn't push the total above the store price.
Notice that D doesn't guarantee the conclusion by itself. A total equal to the store price would satisfy D without being cheaper. But if shipping did push the total above the store price, the conclusion would fail. D is a required limit, not a complete proof of savings.
- E
Stores don't have to charge above the suggested price. With a suggested price of $100, a store could charge $90 while the program's total is $80. The program would still save money. E's claim about prices exceeding the suggested figure is therefore unnecessary, regardless of how frequently it happens.
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