Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 2 · Question 6

Incorrect. If anything, this calls the truthfulness of Gem World's certificates into question by showing that they're similar to other places, where the assessors and the sellers are the same people.

Incorrect. That doesn't mean that they're truthful! They could be the sellers, and they know exactly how much they're overcharging customers.

Incorrect. Even if the gems are of higher quality on average, the pricing could still be unfair. The diamonds being worth more doesn't mean that you can't get fleeced by a store charging an arm and a leg for a diamond that's just worth an arm!

Incorrect. If anything, a volatile market with wildly swinging prices suggests that a written certificate would be out of date almost as soon as it was written, thus calling the fairness of pricing based on one into question.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen

Stimulus Summary:
Most jewelry stores - The quality assessor is also the seller, so they may inflate the quality!

Gem World - Quality is certified in writing
Therefore - Gem World pricing is fair

Answer Anticipation:
This Ad is meant to compare Gem World pricing to that of other diamond stores, convincing the buyer of a diamond that the prices at Gem World are fair, whereas they're not in other locations.

What does the ad raise to suggest other prices aren't fair? Well, the person who is assessing the quality (which goes a long way to determining price) is the same person selling it. They have a motive to inflate the quality, and thus inflate the price!

Does Gem World not do this? The ad says that their gems come with a written certificate. But that's no guarantee that the written certificate is unbiased or correct! It's possible that Gem World's written certificates are written out by the same person selling the diamond.

To strengthen this argument, then, we want to know that these written certificates do establish that Gem World is different from the other diamond stores—anything that suggests they're objective or reflect the actual quality of the diamonds will do the trick.

Answer Explanation:
Having their diamonds certified by an independent company removes the issue that is brought up with most diamond companies—a motive to lie about the quality. Since the independent company wouldn't make any more or less money off of selling these diamonds, their certifications are more likely to be correct, thus strengthening an argument that pricing based on them is fair.

Key Takeaway:
Comparative logic is one of the most common types of logic tested on the exam. When you see comparisons being drawn, think about whether relevant similarities or differences will satisfy the question stem as a part of your anticipation.