PrepTest 116, Section 2, Question 5
Shipping Coordinator: If we send your shipment by(71 more words not shown)
The customer's response can best(19 more words not shown)
- AGround carrier is(8 more words not shown)
- BIf the shipment(9 more words not shown)
- CGround carrier is(6 more words not shown)
- DUnless the shipment(10 more words not shown)
- EThe greater the(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The cheaper shipment could still arrive tomorrow.
Air express guarantees arrival tomorrow morning. That tells us one way to get the shipment by then; it doesn't automatically rule out every other way. And the coordinator actually names another possibility: ground shipping will arrive either tomorrow or the following day. Ground offers a chance of tomorrow's delivery without a guarantee.
How much does that uncertainty matter? If I'm ordering pens and still have plenty, I might happily save the money and wait. If I absolutely need the shipment tomorrow, paying extra for the guaranteed service could make sense. The choice to pay more isn't itself the problem.
What we’re looking for
The problem is the customer's claim that without air express, the shipment will not arrive tomorrow. That's stronger than what the coordinator said. “It might not arrive tomorrow” has become “It definitely won't.” The question asks what mistaken reading explains the customer's response. Look for the idea that air express is the only way to get tomorrow's delivery, rather than the option that guarantees it.
Working the answers
- A
The customer isn't treating ground shipping as equally reliable. If anything, the customer is ruling it out for tomorrow altogether. This answer doesn't capture the mistaken certainty about ground shipping's arrival date.
- B
The coordinator really does say this. Air express arrives tomorrow morning, so it arrives tomorrow. The customer can understand that guarantee correctly and still misunderstand what happens with ground shipping. B leaves out the mistake.
- C
The coordinator says ground shipping is less expensive, and the customer understands that air express costs extra. Ground being no more expensive isn't the confusion that produces the response. We need an error about arrival time.
- DCorrect
This says that without air express, the shipment will not arrive tomorrow. That's exactly the customer's mistaken reading. It rules out tomorrow's delivery by ground, although the coordinator explicitly leaves that possibility open.
Compare the two claims: air express guarantees tomorrow; only air express can arrive tomorrow. The first allows a ground shipment to arrive tomorrow too. The second doesn't. The customer has moved from the first claim to the second.
- E
The customer doesn't offer a general rule that higher shipping prices always mean faster arrival. The reasoning depends on believing ground shipping cannot arrive tomorrow and air express can. A mistaken rule about cost and speed isn't needed to explain that response, and it doesn't state the specific timing error D identifies.
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