PrepTest 137, Section 4, Question 17
In order to save money, many consumers redeem(82 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AMany consumers who(11 more words not shown)
- BRetail stores that(19 more words not shown)
- CThe profits of(22 more words not shown)
- DAt least some(17 more words not shown)
- EThe undiscounted price(35 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A dollar off blueberries sounds like a saving. But someone has to pay for producing and distributing the coupon.
The passage says the stores pass that expense on to consumers rather than accept lower profits. It also gives us a comparison of the same products: coupon stores generally charge more on average, even after coupon discounts are included. That makes me question whether the apparent bargain is as good as it looks.
What we’re looking for
Still, we need to keep 'on average' in view. A higher average across products doesn't make every single item more expensive or tell us exactly what any shopper buys. For the inference question, I'd follow the stated explanation of how stores recover coupon costs, while being careful about a broader claim that coupons never save anyone money.
Working the answers
- A
This sounds like the concern we had about apparent bargains, but the passage doesn't tell us enough about individual shoppers' purchases. A consumer could redeem coupons only on items that are good deals and buy the rest elsewhere. A higher storewide average doesn't establish how much that shopper saves.
- BCorrect
This follows the explanation given. Coupons are expensive to produce and distribute, and the stores pass those costs to consumers rather than reduce profits. Charging higher prices on certain products explains how they recover the expense and why the average remains higher even after discounts. The answer doesn't require every product's price to be higher.
- C
The stores want to avoid reducing their own profits because of coupon costs. That isn't a comparison of their profits with other stores' profits. A coupon store could preserve its profit level while still earning much less than a similar store without coupons.
- D
Stores without coupons can still have rent, wages, and other expenses that they pass on to customers. Eliminating this particular expense doesn't mean eliminating all expenses or all price increases used to cover them. The passage gives no reason to think some noncoupon stores pass along no expenses at all.
- E
The passage compares the same products across stores, but it gives an average. E makes a claim about the undiscounted price of any particular product offered with a coupon. Some products could be priced lower while others were sufficiently higher to raise the average. The overall comparison doesn't establish this item-by-item rule.
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