PrepTest 118, Section 4, Question 22
The only preexisting recordings that are transferred onto(40 more words not shown)
The conclusion above follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- AFew of the(17 more words not shown)
- BFew compact discs(9 more words not shown)
- CThe only recordings(19 more words not shown)
- DMost record companies(13 more words not shown)
- ENo recording that(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What does being played on the radio have to do with whether a recording will sell?
The companies' rule makes sense: they won't put an old recording on CD unless they believe it will be profitable. But the author rules out most classic jazz by telling us that few of those recordings get radio play. Listeners might buy music they never hear on the radio. Perhaps jazz fans already know the recordings they want. We haven't connected airplay with the companies' expectations of profit.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. We need radio play to be a requirement for the companies to expect a profitable CD. Then most classic jazz recordings, which don't get radio play, will fail that requirement. Without the expectation of profit, they won't be transferred. That's the missing link.
Working the answers
- A
Watch which group we're counting. A says classic jazz makes up only a small part of the recordings the companies expect to be profitable. That doesn't mean only a small part of classic jazz is expected to be profitable.
Imagine there are 10 classic jazz recordings and 990 other recordings, and the companies expect all 1,000 to be profitable. Jazz would be a tiny share of the profitable group even though every jazz recording could be transferred. A doesn't establish our conclusion about most jazz recordings.
- B
This again tells us that little classic jazz gets played on the radio, now specifying CDs. It doesn't explain why a recording without airplay can't be expected to sell profitably. More information about low airplay cannot replace the missing connection to transfer decisions.
- C
This tells us what companies believe about recordings that do get played: they expect those recordings to be profitable. But what about recordings that don't get played? C doesn't rule out expecting profits from them too.
Our argument needs to exclude most classic jazz because it lacks airplay. A rule approving recordings with airplay doesn't establish that recordings without it fail. Jazz fans could still buy those unplayed recordings, and C could still be true.
- D
The desire to make a profit doesn't tell us which recordings the companies expect to make money. Even a company interested only in profit could transfer lots of classic jazz if it thought fans would buy it. We still need to connect the lack of radio play with the lack of expected profit.
- ECorrect
Read the negatives one step at a time. Take a recording that isn't played on the radio. E says the companies do not believe that recording would be profitable on CD.
Most classic jazz recordings are in that unplayed group. The companies therefore don't expect them to be profitable, and the original rule says such recordings aren't transferred. E completes the chain from little airplay to few transfers without requiring us to guess how profitable jazz really is.
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