PrepTest 125, Section 2, Question 13

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  The conclusion concerns companies offering neither extreme. Saying that no company manages both extremes doesn't settle that case. Even if no product combines the very best quality with the very lowest price, a good middle option could still attract customers.

• B
  Correct

  This supplies the missing connection. Products that are neither highest in quality nor lowest in price do not attract consumers. The existing rule then finishes the argument: companies that don't offer products attracting consumers eventually go bankrupt. B rules out the middle option as a way to attract customers, which is exactly what we needed to establish the conclusion.

• C

  This says companies at either extreme are guaranteed to survive. We need to show that companies at neither extreme are guaranteed to fail. Those are different claims. C could be true while moderately priced, good-quality products also kept their companies in business.

• D

  Some consumers not buying purely out of brand loyalty doesn't eliminate the middle option. Those consumers might buy for value, convenience, or another reason. And D doesn't say what all the other consumers do. It can't establish that products outside the extremes attract no customers.

• E

  We don't need failure to meet consumer demands to be the only way a company leaves the market. A company could face some other problem, such as a regulatory restriction, without affecting this argument. What we need to establish is that the specified combination of quality and price leads to failure. E doesn't connect that combination to an inability to attract consumers.