PrepTest 143, Section 1, Question 21
A new device uses the global positioning system(70 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(14 more words not shown)
- AThe price of(18 more words not shown)
- BAs they graze,(15 more words not shown)
- CThe device has(9 more words not shown)
- DThe device has(14 more words not shown)
- EThe device's maker(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why pay more when a fence would do the job?
The device sounds useful: it detects a cow leaving the pasture and makes noises to steer the cow back. But putting one on every cow costs far more than the other methods. That creates the problem for the maker's prediction that ranchers will buy it at the current price.
Maybe ranchers value something beyond the cheapest way to contain cattle. Perhaps they dislike the look of fences or especially want this technology. Those possibilities could give them a reason to pay extra, but we haven't been given that reason yet.
Or maybe they don't need a device on every cow. What if a few leader cows determine where the rest go? Guiding those few could guide the herd.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to support the sales prediction. I'd look for a reason the stated price is acceptable, either because buyers get another benefit or because containing a herd requires fewer devices than the initial comparison suggests.
Working the answers
- A
The prediction concerns purchases at the current price. A possible future price reduction doesn't explain why ranchers would buy at that price now. The reduction also depends on large-scale production, which isn't established. This changes the price scenario instead of resolving the current one.
- BCorrect
This fits the leader-cow possibility. If the herd follows the same few animals, ranchers could fit those leaders with devices and let the other cattle follow them back. The cost of equipping every cow would then overstate what ranchers need to spend to use the system.
B doesn't tell us the exact total cost or guarantee that it beats a fence. It does remove much of the force of the all-cattle price comparison, making purchases at the stated per-device price more plausible.
- C
Avoiding significant stress is a desirable feature and could remove one concern about the device. But it doesn't explain why ranchers would accept the much higher cost identified in the passage. We still need a reason to prefer this purchase over the available alternatives.
- D
Matching a fence's effectiveness doesn't provide an advantage that explains paying much more. It's useful to know the device works, but the puzzle is why buy this method when a cheaper method already keeps cattle in the pasture.
- E
Discounts describe a lower price for certain purchasers. The maker predicts purchases at the current price, so a different discounted price doesn't directly support that prediction. B instead explains why the current price per device might be workable without outfitting every animal.
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