PrepTest 151

Incorrect. This doesn't explain why those who refused to hand the papers over didn't want to take advantage of the benefits of having those papers scanned in.

Incorrect. If anything, this makes the paradox worse since the salespersons wouldn't have to buy a laptop in order to access the database, removing a necessary step.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
A company tried to save salespersons time and trouble by scanning their important work into a database, but the salespersons refused to turn these documents over to be scanned and rarely accessed the database, so the plan failed.

Answer Anticipation:
A huge benefit to the salespersons of this plan is noted—they would no longer have to "lug[] their paper files all over the country," instead accessing it all via a computer. However, paradoxically, they refused to turn over their papers to be scanned in—a necessary part of getting their documents into the database. Their failure to log into the database makes sense—it didn't have any documents in it—but their refusal to turn the documents over to be scanned doesn't, based on the information provided. The correct answer, therefore, should give them a reason not to turn their docs over to be scanned, despite the benefits.
Answer Explanation:
This answer provides a reason that the salespersons would refuse to turn the papers over to be scanned in—it had personal information that they didn't want in a database. In providing a reason, it resolves the paradox.

Key Takeaway:
We've seen similar arguments many times before—a course of action is explored, but only the benefits (or the downsides) are mentioned. Here, that situation was used to lead into a paradox—why wouldn't the salespersons want these benefits? As in other question types with similar stimuluses, the correct answer deals with the unmentioned outcomes of the course of action. Here, the stimulus mentioned the upsides, and the correct answers mentioned the downside.

Incorrect. This answer establishes both that the employees were all trained ("required") in the software, and it was easy to use. This removes two barriers to using the software, thus making the paradox worse.

Incorrect. The paradox involves the salespersons not turning papers over to be scanned, not the costs involved in creating the database, so this answer is out of scope.