Critical Reasoning

BTGmoderatorRO wrote:A company that makes electric razors recently introduced a new model that offered various features that ensured a degree of precision not possible with older models. After a year on the market, the new model proved to sell poorly compared to its older counterparts, leading the company to conclude that precision was not an important concern for consumers. However, this view was seriously challenged by a later finding that __________.

(A) Around the time the new razor was unveiled, a consumer guide reported that many shoddy haircuts and shaves were the result of faulty precision features in razors.
(B) Razor users typically find that they get the best results from older razors because they are most familiar with their features.
(C) The company does a significant part of its business with hair salons and barber shops, which are frequented by people who do not own electric razors themselves.
(D) Despite the addition of new precision features on the new razor model, the razor did not significantly increase in price.
(E) Other razor-making companies introduced new models with similar precision features, and these went on to sell relatively well.
OA is b
what would be the best option to complete this sentence?

I am happy to help. This is what we call a Fill in the Blank question. One of the ways to approach an FITB question type is to treat it as a Strengthen question in which we need to strengthen the last line of the passage (i.e., the sentence containing the blank).

Coming to the above question, let us break this statement into its premises and conclusion:

Premise 1: The razor company introduced a new model of razors which offered greater precision than its older counterparts
Premise 2: The new razors sold poorly as compared to the older razors

Company's conclusion: Precision was not an important factor for consumers

Argument to strengthen (in the blank): Precision is an important factor for consumers, and there must be some other reason as to why they did not purchase the new models. The correct answer should tell us something along the lines that consumers were perhaps not aware of the new precision features - maybe the new razor wasn't marketed properly - or that the older razors offered some other features not offered by the newer models.

A. Around the time the new razor was unveiled, a consumer guide reported that many shoddy haircuts and shaves were the result of faulty precision features in razors - So the new razors should have sold more on the market. This is the opposite of what we are looking for - INCORRECT

B. Razor users typically find that they get the best results from older razors because they are most familiar with their features - This closely matches our line of pre-thinking. The older razors offered something - familiarity - that the new razors couldn't match. This is the CORRECT answer

C. The company does a significant part of its business with hair salons and barber shops, which are frequented by people who do not own electric razors themselves - No reason then why the newer models should sell less than the older models. INCORRECT

D. Despite the addition of new precision features on the new razor model, the razor did not significantly increase in price - If the newer razors are offering additional features at the same price, they should definitely sell more if precision were an important factor to the consumers. This is, again, the opposite of what we are looking for - INCORRECT

E. Other razor-making companies introduced new models with similar precision features, and these went on to sell relatively well - This is interesting, but it doesn't tell us whether these other companies' razors or their consumers are/were similar those of this company. It could be that the other companies' razors sold well due to factors other than precision. This is slightly vague and unclear - INCORRECT

Hence, B is the best answer.

Please let me know in case anything doesn't make sense.