PrepTest 120, Section 1, Question 24
Consumer advocate: The manufacturer's instructions for assembling a(31 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(21 more words not shown)
- AThe typical consumer(15 more words not shown)
- BOften the store(20 more words not shown)
- CFor the typical(17 more words not shown)
- DUsually a consumer(17 more words not shown)
- ESome consumers refer(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Instructions should make assembly easier. That sounds reasonable. If you've tried to put together furniture and found the directions more confusing than the pieces, you can see what the advocate wants to avoid.
But read the proposed standard carefully: most consumers must find assembly much easier with the instructions than without them. Being understandable isn't the whole requirement. The instructions have to make a substantial difference.
What we’re looking for
The question asks why that standard cannot always be met. That's a harder task than finding an example of badly written directions. Maybe some products are so complicated that people struggle even with help—but then the instructions might still make a difficult job much easier. I don't yet have a clear exception. Let's look for a situation where even well-written directions couldn't deliver the required improvement.
Working the answers
- A
A difficult task can still be easier with instructions. Suppose assembly is very hard with the manual but almost impossible without it. The consumer's continued difficulty would not show that the manual failed to help substantially. A gives us only the experience with instructions, so it doesn't establish that the advocate's comparison cannot be satisfied.
- B
Paying the store to assemble a product is an alternative to doing it yourself. It doesn't show why useful instructions couldn't be written for consumers who do assemble it themselves. We shouldn't add a claim that the manual is intended only for employees; the answer doesn't say that.
- CCorrect
The task is already very easy for most consumers without instructions. That leaves little room for instructions to make it much easier.
That's the exception: a manufacturer could write perfectly clear directions for a simple product and still fail to deliver the large improvement this principle demands. The problem isn't just that people don't consult the manual. It's that they already have such an easy time without it. We don't need to claim that reading directions would necessarily make things worse; the standard can be unreasonable simply because there isn't much improvement left to provide.
- D
Understanding the directions doesn't tell us how much easier the directions make assembly. And evidence that consumers usually understand them supplies no obstacle to writing them well. We need a reason the required improvement sometimes can't be achieved, not a report that existing instructions are understandable.
- E
Some people wait until they have trouble before consulting the manual. The instructions might then clear up the problem and make assembly much easier. Unlike C, this doesn't tell us that most consumers already find assembly very easy without help. Waiting to seek help isn't a reason that help cannot make a substantial difference.
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