PrepTest 112, Section 4, Question 24

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  This supplies another advantage of voice mail: calls can get through even when the subscriber's line is already in use. The choice explicitly contrasts that with calls to answering-machine owners. It gives customers another reason to prefer the new service, rather than a reason answering machines would remain useful.

• B

  How well answering machines sold when they first appeared doesn't tell us whether they'll survive this new competition. An old product can have been very popular at its introduction and later be replaced. We need a reason customers would keep using it now that voice mail is available.

• C

  Being able to cancel the service isn't a reason to cancel it. If customers like voice mail and see no remaining use for their machines, the cancellation option doesn't change that. C leaves open a return to answering machines without telling us why anyone would want to return. D supplies an actual reason.

• D
  Correct

  Answering machines let customers hear who is calling before deciding whether to pick up. Voice mail doesn't offer that feature. That gives the older product a distinct use: screening calls as they come in.

  For example, a business owner might want to listen to the beginning of a message and decide whether that call needs an immediate answer. If that feature matters to the owner, the machine could be worth keeping despite the other service's advantages. We don't need to show that everyone prefers answering machines. A useful feature gives us a reason to doubt that voice mail will soon eliminate their role.

• E

  This describes a limitation of answering machines, not a reason to keep them. Once the tape fills, the machine can't record further messages on it. We aren't told that voice mail has unlimited capacity, and we shouldn't assume that. But identifying the machine's limited capacity still does nothing to challenge the claim that customers will move to the competing service.