PrepTest 119

Incorrect. The conclusion in the stimulus is about what consumers should do, not what chain bookstores should do, so this principle is out of scope.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Recommendation - Consumers should buy books only from independent stores
Reasoning - They carry a wider variety of books, and chains (in threatening indie stores) reduce the variety of books available

Answer Anticipation:
Strengthen (Principle) questions generally reach judgments in the conclusion that are backed up by details in the premises.

Here, the conclusion takes the form of a recommendation—consumers should buy books only from independent stores. Why is this the case? Because buying from chain stores tends to reduce the variety of books available to consumers.

However, the argument never establishes that consumers should care about variety! When making a recommendation, the criteria used to determine the proper action needs to be brought up. Here, the Owner is assuming a principle—that consumers should act in a way that maximizes the variety of options they have. However, it could be the case that consumers don't care about the variety of books they have available to them, instead prioritizing price or always having stock of popular books.

As such, we should look for an answer establishing that the variety of books available as the determining factor in where consumers should buy books from.

Answer Explanation:
This answer establishes variety as the key determinant in where consumers should buy books. Chain stores do reduce the variety of books available to consumers, so this answer justifies not buying from them and instead buying from independent stores.

Key Takeaway:
When a conclusion makes a recommendation, always identify who the recommendation is aimed at. Here, it was a recommendation made to consumers. As such, any answer that talked about what a different group "should" do could be eliminated as out of scope.

Incorrect. This answer is about the interests of the bookselling industry, not the consumers, so it's out of scope in an argument about what those consumers should do.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the chain stores deliberately putting other stores out of business, so this answer doesn't necessarily apply to the situation described in the stimulus.

Incorrect. The Owner's conclusion is about buying from independent stores, so buying from chain stores—no matter what the conditions are that lead to it—runs counter to it.