Critical Reasoning

4seasoncentre said (my emphasis):

4seasoncentre wrote:C makes more sense to me, because a human broker can be referred to determine whether a stock is a good investment

you can't assume this. there is NOTHING in the passage from which you can make this deduction, so it's completely unjustified.

remember, you CANNOT MAKE EXTRA ASSUMPTIONS, and you CANNOT BRING IN OUTSIDE KNOWLEDGE.

so, as far as you are concerned in CR, (c) is totally and completely irrelevant to the passage.

this stuff becomes less difficult if you just remember that you have to stay totally literal and never EVER make any assumptions that are not justified by the actual content of the passage.

if you keep these standards in mind, then the elimination in this problem is pretty straightforward.

ALL YOU CAN USE IS:
* Individuals who hire a full-service investment broker are paying for more than the service of buying and selling stocks
--> i.e., we need to focus on what "more than the service of..." refers to

* They want to receive individualized attention to their financial interests.
--> this is the ONLY THING that we can justify, beyond the service of buying and selling stocks. ANYTHING ELSE IS IRRELEVANT AND/OR UNJUSTIFIED.

* Computerized trading and automated telephone systems will not benefit a full-service brokerage because ___________.
--> this can ONLY be filled with something that has to do with the above considerations.

A) low- to middle-income investors represent an increasing percentage of the volume of shares traded.

wrong, since this has nothing to do with "individualized attention to their financial interests".

B) gaining repeat business relies on maintaining a feeling of personal contact between customer and broker.

this has to do with "individualized attention to their financial interests", so this is CORRECT.

C) investors are as concerned with the level of net return on their investments as with the price they pay for brokerage services.

wrong, since this has nothing to do with "individualized attention to their financial interests".

D) increased efficiency and decreased customer service response time will increase profit margins without endangering current revenue.

wrong, since this has nothing to do with "individualized attention to their financial interests".

E) salaries paid in a full-service brokerage are not necessarily higher than salaries at a discount brokerage.

wrong, since this has nothing to do with "individualized attention to their financial interests".

NONE of the other four choices has ANYTHING to do with the required connection, unless you make up connections that are completely unjustified by the information that's actually contained in the passage (as did poster "4seasoncentre" in one post above). this is easy to do, so you must struggle to avoid it.

once you stop trying to do this, and learn to stick to the actual content of the passage, you'll find that problems like this one will get much easier.

4seasoncentre wrote:^
that's really uncalled for

in the future I will ask that you not refer to any of my posts

i'm not being rude; i'm sorry if it came across that way.

since this is an anonymous internet forum, i find that students learn the most if i post points in as direct and constructive a fashion as possible.

if posters commit errors that betray a lack of understanding of the fundamental rules of a problem type - as happened in this problem - then i tend to point out those errors more emphatically than others, because the same errors will cost you problem after problem on the real exam.

i would certainly not address you in person with the same bluntness with which i post on this forum.

you have learned more about this question type from my post, no?

-- ron