Logical reasoning PrepTest 104 · Section 1 · Question 7

Question prompt

Because of the recent Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Paradox Questions

Stimulus Summary

A recession is causing advertising revenue in magazines to decrease
Most widely read magazine - Doubtful they’ll survive
But - More people are reading magazines, and successful magazines are up in number

Answer Anticipation

As with all Paradox questions, we should start by defining the paradox. Here, it’s that the most widely read magazines are in danger of failing, despite there being more readers and more successful magazines than ever before.
This paradox suggests that this Paradox question deals with a common type of logic for this question type - comparisons. There must be something different about the most widely read magazines compared to the other magazines that are financially successful during this recession.
Is there any hint as to what that might be in the stimulus? Well, we learn two things. First, readership is up. Second, advertising revenue is down. Anything that connects either of these phenomena to the differences between the magazines would serve to potentially explain the different outcomes. For example, it’s possible that the most widely read magazines have traditionally relied on advertising to make money, whereas the other magazines rely on subscription fees. As such, ad revenue being down and readership being up would explain the failure of the former and success of the latter!

Answer choices

  1. A
    Most magazines reduce the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer does nothing to explain why there are so many magazines that are financially successful during this recession, since they, too, would be lowering ad rates.

  2. B
    The audience for a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Television shows are out of scope of this situation, especially since this answer doesn’t discuss their success.

  3. C
    Advertising is the main Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer brings up a relevant difference between the most widely read magazines and the other ones, tying into what we know about advertising revenue being down and circulation/readership being up. Since it brings up a relevant difference that explains the divergent outcomes, this is the correct answer.

  4. D
    Because of the recession, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    If anything, this answer makes the paradox worse. If people are borrowing magazines more and subscribing less, then that would mean subscription prices aren’t generating more revenue, and advertisers should be willing to pay for ads that are getting to more people!

  5. E
    More of the new Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    But why? This answer does nothing to explain why they’re surviving when the most widely read magazines are at risk, so it doesn’t resolve the paradox.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 18%
  2. B 2%
  3. C Credited 72%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 2%

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