PrepTest 157, Section 3, Question 2
Banking industry visionaries foresee a bright day in(66 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AIn the near(22 more words not shown)
- BEnabling bank customers(26 more words not shown)
- CAs banks eliminate(19 more words not shown)
- DEliminating branch offices(8 more words not shown)
- EEnabling customers to(25 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Doing my banking from home sounds convenient. One fewer errand is a benefit to me. So why might the banks have more to celebrate than their customers?
Think about what a bank could save by closing branches: buildings to maintain and employees to pay. Meanwhile, the customer takes over work a teller used to do. The author adds that customers will pay more transaction fees for doing that work themselves. Those are the reasons for saying this future may be more of a paradise for banks.
I'm still interested in the convenience for customers. Avoiding a trip to the bank could be worth a lot to someone. But we don't have to settle that objection to identify the conclusion. We're being asked what the author is trying to convince us of, not whether the author has fully proved it.
What we’re looking for
The point is the comparison: moving banking into customers' homes may benefit banks more than customers. Keep the word “may,” and keep both sides of that comparison. The argument doesn't need to say customers receive no benefit at all.
Working the answers
- A
This is the future the banking visionaries predict. The author introduces that prediction and then questions who benefits most. Repeating the setup leaves out the author's response to it.
- BCorrect
This captures the entire comparison: at-home banking may be more beneficial to banks than to customers. The savings for banks and the extra work and fees for customers support that claim. We can identify it even if we think the author should give more weight to convenience.
- C
This supplies the reason for the conclusion. If customers must do the teller's work and pay extra fees, we can see why the author doubts this is primarily a paradise for them. But the answer stops with those costs instead of stating what the author concludes from them.
- D
A benefit to banks is part of the picture, but the conclusion compares their benefit with the customers' benefit. Both groups could gain something. The author's point is that the change may be better for one group than the other, and D leaves out that comparison.
- E
This explains an operational consequence of at-home banking: banks could eliminate branches and employees. That helps us understand their potential savings. It doesn't express the author's judgment about who benefits more. Something can be part of an argument without being its main point.
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