David@VeritasPrep wrote:cyrwr1 - That sounds about right. A "most useful to know" question is one where the answer supplies missing information. You can treat it as a weaken question as we do in the Veritas Critical Reasoning 2 book. If you do it that way you can take the stimulus and look for what is lacking.

A simplified example: If I conclude that you will never buy "Mountain Stream" bottled water and the evidence is that you do not buy products that have been shipped more than 100 miles, if there is an alternative and of course there are many alternative bottled waters as well as filtered water from the local water system.

What is the gap that needs to be filled - the "flaw" in this argument?


We do not know if "Mountain Stream bottled water is transported more than 100 miles to you." This would be the thing that links together the two sides of this argument. So that is one way to get to the answer you look for what is not supplied by the stimulus.

I would recommend the first approach if you can anticipate the gap and you find that in an answer choice go with it! If you cannot anticipate, then you can work with the likely answer choices to find one that strengthens when you answer the question one way and then weakens when you answer the opposite way.

Hope that is helpful!

David@VeritasPrep wrote:This question is trickier than I thought!

Why would you guys say that the second portion is not a strategy?

Is "charging the maximum possible price for such a product" not a strategy? In fact it is a strategy. It is a strategy that is rejected by the argument -- and it is not the strategy that the argument ultimately recommends - the argument recommends charging "less that the greatest possible price." But charging the most is still a strategy.

Choice C and E each have about the same description of the first bold portion - basically it is a consideration that explains why people adopt a strategy. But E is wrong because the second portion is not "the intended outcome of that strategy." Charging the maximum possible price is a choice and therefore a strategy, it is not an outcome. An outcome would be to "make big profits" or to "get rich" or to "drive competitors out of business." These are things that are more than choices companies make they are the results of choices.

Charging the maximum possible price is not a result it is a decision and it is a strategy.

OA is C.

David@VeritasPrep wrote:This question is trickier than I thought!

Why would you guys say that the second portion is not a strategy?

Is "charging the maximum possible price for such a product" not a strategy? In fact it is a strategy. It is a strategy that is rejected by the argument -- and it is not the strategy that the argument ultimately recommends - the argument recommends charging "less that the greatest possible price." But charging the most is still a strategy.

Choice C and E each have about the same description of the first bold portion - basically it is a consideration that explains why people adopt a strategy. But E is wrong because the second portion is not "the intended outcome of that strategy." Charging the maximum possible price is a choice and therefore a strategy, it is not an outcome. An outcome would be to "make big profits" or to "get rich" or to "drive competitors out of business." These are things that are more than choices companies make they are the results of choices.

Charging the maximum possible price is not a result it is a decision and it is a strategy.

OA is C.

David@VeritasPrep wrote:I am posting this question from the Official Guide Verbal Review, 2nd Edition (this question 74 out of 82) because there have been some really bad versions of the question around.

"A product that represents a clear technological advance over competing products can generally command a high price. Because technological advances tend to be quickly surpassed and companies want to make large profits while they still can, many companies charge the maximum possible price for such a product. But large profits on the new product will give competitors a strong incentive to quickly match the new product's capabilities. Consequently, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new product is to charge less than the greatest possible price.

In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?


(A) The first is a consideration raised to argue that a certain strategy is counterproductive; the second presents that strategy.

(B) The first is a consideration raised to support the strategy that the argument recommends; the second presents that strategy.

(C) The first is a consideration raised to help explain the popularity of a certain strategy; the second presents that strategy.

(D) The first is an assumption, rejected by the argument, that has been used to justify a course of action; the second presents that course of action.

E) The first is a consideration that has been used to justify a certain strategy; the second presents the intended outcome of that strategy."


OA after some discussion.