PrepTest 154, Section 4, Question 8
Advertisement: At BigFoods, we compare prices for you.(41 more words not shown)
The statements in the advertisement,(10 more words not shown)
- ABigFoods lowered its(8 more words not shown)
- BShoppers who usually(13 more words not shown)
- CSome of the(16 more words not shown)
- DFew of the(20 more words not shown)
- EThe items that(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Cheaper than Grocerytown doesn't mean cheaper than every store. What about Kroger or Trader Joe's? And what about less commonly purchased items? BigFoods might beat Grocerytown on a sample of popular purchases while charging more for some of the unusual things a shopper needs. Those possibilities keep the advertisement's appeal in perspective.
But notice that the advertisement doesn't actually state a sweeping conclusion that BigFoods is always the best deal. It gives us a comparison: a varied sample of its frequently purchased items cost 10 percent more at Grocerytown, and the BigFoods prices weren't sale prices.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what those statements support, so accept the comparison and stay close to it. We should be able to say something about lower prices for some of the common items at BigFoods. We can't turn that into a claim about every item, every competitor, or why particular customers choose their store.
Working the answers
- A
The comparison gives us prices at the time of the study, not a history of price changes. BigFoods might have lowered its prices, but they might have been lower all along. Calling them everyday prices doesn't establish that they were recently reduced.
- B
Grocerytown's shoppers might care very much about prices and simply not know about BigFoods' prices. They might also buy a different mix of products from the sampled items. We aren't told their reasons for shopping there. A limited price comparison cannot settle their preferences.
- CCorrect
At least some of those popular items must be cheaper at BigFoods for the sampled collection to cost less there. If none were cheaper, the collection couldn't produce the stated savings.
We don't need to claim every item in the sample is cheaper, much less every item in the store. C makes the limited claim supported by the comparison: some of the items BigFoods shoppers buy most often cost less there than at Grocerytown.
- D
The advertisement tells us that none of the sampled items were on sale at BigFoods. It doesn't tell us what was on sale at Grocerytown. Grocerytown's sampled prices could include sales or could all be ordinary prices. Don't move a fact about one store to the other.
- E
We know which items BigFoods identified as popular with its own shoppers. We don't know Grocerytown's most popular items. Perhaps its customers buy different things; perhaps both groups frequently buy the same staples. Either possibility fits the price comparison, so a difference in their shopping patterns doesn't follow.
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