PrepTest 107, Section 1, Question 20
The price of a full-fare coach ticket from(85 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- AA Toronto-to-Dallas full-fare(22 more words not shown)
- BA Toronto-to-Dallas discount(20 more words not shown)
- CAll full-fare coach(16 more words not shown)
- DThe average number(25 more words not shown)
- EThe criteria that(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More people get a discount. How big is the discount?
Imagine that last year a full-fare ticket cost $100 and a discounted ticket cost $50, all measured in constant dollars. With half the passengers paying each price, the average was $75.
This year, suppose full fare is still $100 but the discount fare is $98. Even if 90 percent now get that discount, the average is $98.20. More discounted tickets have been sold, but people pay more on average.
Those are invented prices to show the missing information. The passage keeps the full-fare price steady, but doesn't tell us whether the discount fare has changed. A major bargain last year could have become a tiny reduction this year.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. Keep the comparison in constant dollars throughout; inflation has already been accounted for. I'd look for a fact keeping the discount price from getting worse. If both prices stay the same and more customers pay the cheaper one, the average paid falls.
Working the answers
- A
The quality of service doesn't tell us the price paid. A less pleasant flight could cost more, less, or the same. The conclusion concerns the average ticket price, not whether passengers receive better value or nicer service for their money.
- BCorrect
The discount fare costs about the same in constant dollars as it did a year ago. Now the two price categories remain steady while the share of people paying the lower price rises from 50 percent to 90 percent.
Using our $100 full fare and $50 discount fare, the earlier average was $75. With those prices unchanged and 90 percent buying discount tickets, the new average is $55. B rules out the shrinking-discount scenario that worried us and lets the change in ticket mix support the lower average.
- C
This broadens the unchanged full-fare claim to all of the airline's routes. For the Toronto-to-Dallas route, we already know full fare stayed the same. The unanswered question is what happened to the discount fare on that route. More information about full-fare tickets elsewhere doesn't close that gap.
- D
Fuller planes don't establish a lower average price per ticket. The airline might carry more passengers while each pays more. That fact could matter to total revenue or operating costs, but our conclusion concerns the average amount the passengers pay.
- E
Different eligibility criteria might help explain why more customers now obtain discounts. They don't tell us how much those customers pay. Easier access to a discount of $2 could still leave people paying more than access to last year's much larger discount. We need the price information, not merely a change in who qualifies.
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