PrepTest 143, Section 3, Question 15
Ninety percent of recent car buyers say safety(47 more words not shown)
The argument's conclusion follows logically(8 more words not shown)
- ASomeone who claims(21 more words not shown)
- BAdvertisements and promotional(7 more words not shown)
- CRecent car buyers(17 more words not shown)
- DMost consumers are(14 more words not shown)
- EAnyone to whom(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe they cared about safety and trusted the wrong source.
The buyers say safety mattered. Some checked objective information, while others relied on advertising and promotional material. I can see why we'd question the second group's research. A dealership's promotional claims aren't the same as an independent safety assessment.
But poor research doesn't automatically establish a lack of concern. Imagine a buyer who wants a safe car and naively believes the dealer's reassurance. That person could genuinely care about safety while never consulting an objective source.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to make the conclusion follow, so we need a rule that rules out that possibility: if safety is an important factor for a buyer, the buyer will consult objective safety information. With that rule, failing to consult it would show that these buyers were mistaken about safety's importance to their purchase.
Working the answers
- A
Something can be important without being the most important consideration. But the argument doesn't accuse these buyers of falsely calling safety their top priority. It says they were mistaken even in calling it important. A doesn't connect their choice of information source to that claim.
- B
Incomplete information could lead to a poorly informed choice. It doesn't prove the buyer lacked an important concern for safety. Someone could care deeply and unknowingly rely on incomplete advertising. This describes a problem with the information, not what must have mattered to the buyer.
- C
Saying car buyers don't necessarily tell the truth leaves open that these buyers did tell the truth. We need to establish that this particular group was mistaken, not merely that some buyers might misreport their reasons. C also doesn't connect any misreporting to relying on promotional materials.
- D
Even if most consumers recognize that advertisements aren't objective, we don't know that all these buyers did. And knowing a source is promotional still doesn't by itself prove safety wasn't important. A buyer might think the promotional information was adequate. D falls short of the required connection.
- ECorrect
This makes consulting an objective source something every buyer who treats safety as important will do. The buyers under discussion did not do it. Under E's rule, they therefore cannot belong to the group for whom safety was important. That establishes the conclusion rather than merely suggesting their research could have been better.
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