PrepTest 141, Section 4, Question 12
Worldwide, more books were sold last year than(56 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- ALast year there(15 more words not shown)
- BThe best-selling cookbook(10 more words not shown)
- CSales of cookbooks(11 more words not shown)
- DMost of the(15 more words not shown)
- EProblem-Free Cooking sold(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Being available everywhere doesn't tell us how well Problem-Free Cooking sold.
One limit does follow from its being a beginner's cookbook: it couldn't account for more than half of last year's cookbook sales. Most of those sales were books not intended for beginners, so all beginner books together made up less than half. This one beginner book could still be the single best seller if the other sales were spread among many titles.
What we’re looking for
That's my first connection among the facts. But the question asks for whatever is most strongly supported, so we shouldn't insist that the answer involve this particular book. Keep the other facts separate too: the audience a book is written for isn't necessarily the person who buys it. A professional cook could buy a beginner's book, and an amateur could buy an advanced one.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Combine the record total of cookbook sales with the first majority for books not intended for beginners. We now have a larger overall pie, and more than half of that pie consists of nonbeginner books. In every previous year, those books accounted for at most half of a smaller total. Their number sold must therefore be greater last year than in any earlier year. This connection doesn't need the information about professional buyers or the final sentence about Problem-Free Cooking.
- B
We aren't told which individual title sold best. The nonbeginner category could lead overall while sales in that category were divided among many books, allowing one beginner book to lead individually. The reverse is possible too. Category totals don't establish the best-selling title.
- C
A smaller share doesn't necessarily mean fewer copies. Suppose an earlier year had 10 cookbook sales: 6 beginner books and 4 nonbeginner books. Last year could have had 10,000 sales: 4,000 beginner books and 6,000 nonbeginner books. The beginner share drops from 60 percent to 40 percent, yet beginner sales rise from 6 to 4,000. Those numbers fit the change described. The expanding market means we cannot conclude that beginner sales fell.
- D
More purchases by professional cooks doesn't mean that professionals bought most nonbeginner books. 'More' compares their purchases across time; 'most' would require over half of this particular category. We also cannot treat every nonbeginner book as a book bought by a professional.
- E
Worldwide availability doesn't give us a sales ranking. Problem-Free Cooking could be stocked on every continent and still sell fewer copies than a book with narrower distribution. Nothing compares its sales with those of cookbooks written for professionals.
More Must Be True questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Must Be True questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.