PrepTest 107, Section 1, Question 9
Jean: Our navigational equipment sells for $1,100 and(82 more words not shown)
Jean's and Tracy's statements most(12 more words not shown)
- AThere is a(15 more words not shown)
- BThe proposed cheaper(19 more words not shown)
- CThe company could(14 more words not shown)
- DThe company would(13 more words not shown)
- EDecreased sales of(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More units sold doesn't automatically mean a better business. Jean points to competitors selling more equipment at lower prices. I'd want to know the costs and profit margins before deciding which position is better. And adding a cheaper model brings another risk: what if people who would have paid $1,100 for our existing model simply buy our cheaper one? We could take sales away from ourselves.
Tracy raises a related but different concern. Customers associate the company with quality. Entering the low-cost market could damage that position and put high-end competitors on equal footing. That is a concern about the company's reputation and competitive advantage, not an explicit claim that customers will switch between its two models.
What we’re looking for
We're asked where Jean and Tracy disagree. My broad prediction is whether adding the low-cost line is a good move. Jean expects increased overall sales while keeping the high-end advantage; Tracy challenges that optimistic picture. We need an answer that both speakers actually take opposing positions on, even if our own objection also sounds sensible.
Working the answers
- A
Neither speaker compares the two markets' potential profits. Jean hopes to add low-cost sales while retaining the high-cost business, so the proposal doesn't require the low-cost market to be more profitable. Tracy's concern about losing an advantage also doesn't establish a view on which market has greater profit potential.
- B
This was our concern about existing customers buying the cheaper model. But neither speaker explicitly argues that this shift will occur. Tracy focuses on the company's position against high-cost competitors. A reasonable objection of our own isn't automatically the point these two speakers dispute.
- C
Jean says the new model would increase overall sales, not that the company would dominate the low-cost market. Tracy likewise doesn't deny that low-cost domination is possible. Without those opposing commitments, we can't identify this as their disagreement.
- DCorrect
Jean says the company can add the model while continuing to dominate the high end. Tracy says the move would put high-cost competitors on an equal footing with the company. Equal footing means the company would lose the dominance Jean expects to preserve. D isolates a specific disagreement inside their broader dispute about the proposal.
- E
Neither speaker says declining sales of the expensive model would cause poor sales of the cheaper one. Tracy worries that entering the low-cost market could hurt overall sales by weakening the existing high-end position. That is a different relationship from the causal claim in E.
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