PrepTest 124, Section 2, Question 19
Renting cars from dealerships is less expensive than(53 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(5 more words not shown)
- ATo encourage future(17 more words not shown)
- BTourists renting cars(17 more words not shown)
- CTravel agents generally(12 more words not shown)
- DMany local residents(9 more words not shown)
- EFor local residents,(22 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A cheaper rental price isn't necessarily a cheaper or easier trip.
A tourist has to find a dealership that rents cars, then pay to get there from the airport. If the rental saves only ten dollars, the extra travel and effort might wipe out the advantage. If it saves a thousand dollars, the same hassle might be worthwhile. Those are illustrations of the tradeoff, not prices the passage gives us.
Locals might have an easier time. They may already know the dealers and how to reach them. But that's exactly what I'd want to check: do locals avoid the headaches tourists face, or do they face similar ones? Knowing that tourists have a problem doesn't by itself establish that locals have a better deal.
What we’re looking for
The strengthen EXCEPT question gives us four ways to support that difference. Evidence of easier access or better local knowledge would help; evidence that tourists have a convenient alternative could help too. We want the choice that adds no support for the claimed local advantage.
Working the answers
- A
Free delivery and pickup spare local residents the trip to the dealership. They can get the lower rental price without paying a taxi fare or arranging that travel. That supplies a concrete reason dealership rentals are especially worthwhile for locals, so eliminate it.
- B
This matters even though it talks about national rental firms. The conclusion compares those firms with dealerships. Tourists generally avoid taxi costs with the national firms but face long taxi rides to dealerships. That makes switching to a dealership less attractive for tourists and supports the argument's comparison.
- C
A travel agent can't generally solve the tourist's problem of finding a dealership that rents cars. That leaves the tourist with the search the argument describes, rather than providing a convenient way around it. C reinforces a cost of choosing a dealership as a tourist.
- D
These local residents already have information tourists need to obtain. They know where to find low-priced dealership rentals. Removing that search burden for locals helps explain why using a dealership can be more worthwhile for them.
- ECorrect
“No less expensive” means the taxi fare to a dealership is equal to or greater than the fare to a national rental firm. This supplies no saving on transportation for locals who choose dealerships. It could even add an extra cost.
Don't turn that into a claim that dealerships must be worse overall: their rental price is still lower. But that price advantage was already given. E adds no help with the particular claim that switching to dealerships is more worthwhile for locals than for tourists. The other choices identify a relevant convenience or information advantage; this one doesn't.
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