12bhang wrote:
A product that represents a clear technological advance over competing products can generally command a high price.
Surprisingly, perhaps, the strategy to maximize overall profits from a new product is to charge less than the maximum price the market will bear.
Many companies charge the maximum possible price for such a product, because they want to make as much profit as they can and technological advances tend to be quickly surpassed. The drawback is that large profits on the new product give competitors an incentive to quickly develop a product to match the rival product's capabilities
In the argument above, the boldface play which of the following roles?
A) The first is the position that the argument advocates;the second presents grounds for rejecting an alternate position.
B) The first is the position that the argument advocates; the second is an alternative position that the argument rejects.
C) The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal,the second presents a drawback to that strategy;
D)The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal,the second presents grounds for preferring a different goal
E)The first presents a strategy that,according to the argument, is ineffective;the second presents a way of improving the effectiveness of that strategy.
This is the question. It contains a rare example of a split infinitive in official material, "
to quickly develop."
RichaChampion wrote:
#1 A product that represents a clear technological advance over competing products can generally command a high price.
#2 Surprisingly, perhaps, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new product is to charge than the greatest price the market will bear.
#3 Many companies charge the maximum possible price for such a product because they want to make as much profit as they can and technological advances tend to be quickly surpassed.
#4 The drawback is that large profits on the new product give competitors a strong incentive to quickly match the new product's capabilities.
#1 Fact/Evidence
#2 Position/Judgement
#3 Fact/Evidence
#4 Authors Position or Main Conclusion.
BF1: Conclusion, but intermediate one. Intermediate conclusions are also alternative positions.
BF2: Main Conclusion.
Based on our understanding of the argument and BF1 we will get this -
A. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second presents grounds for rejecting an alternative position.
B. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second is an alternative position that the argument rejects.
C. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents a drawback to that strategy.
D. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents grounds for preferring a different goal.
E. The first presents a strategy that, according to the argument, is ineffective; the second presents a way of improving the effectiveness of that strategy.
Moving forward and based on BF2 -
A. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second presents grounds for rejecting an alternative position.
B. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second is an alternative position that the argument rejects
C. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents a drawback to that strategy
D. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents grounds for preferring a different goal
E. The first presents a strategy that, according to the argument, is ineffective; the second presents a way of improving the effectiveness of that strategy.
Mike Mc Garry sir,
Please see if I have done analysis in the right direction. It will be great sir If you can do more analysis on the correct answer choice.
Dear
RichaChampion,
I'm happy to respond.
I finally have a little time to devote to this.
I would say the first statement is a little more ambiguous: we could talk about it as the "
position the argument advocates," or we could say that is it is "
a strategy for achieving a certain goal." The only one that clearly can be eliminated on the basis of the first BF statement is (E), which is completely wrong.
Among the answer choices, there relatively uniformity in the evaluations of the first BF statement, but wild diversity in evaluations of the second. That's really going to be the basis of the decision.
The second BF is part of an argument against something, so (C) & (D) & (E) are all wrong. The subtle split is between (A) & (B)---that's probably what confuses most students. Technically, the alternate position is simply "
charge the maximum profit," and the 2nd BF gives us grounds for rejecting this. I believe you understood all of this.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)