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Acquiring complete detailed information about all the pros and cons
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04 Nov 2019, 10:27
04 Nov 2019, 10:27
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Acquiring complete detailed information about all the pros and cons of a product one might purchase would clearly be difficult and expensive. It is rational not to acquire such information unless one expects that the benefits of doing so will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so. Therefore, consumers who do not bother to acquire such information are thereby behaving rationally.
The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Rational consumers who do not expect that the benefits outweigh the cost and difficulty of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase usually do not bother to acquire such information.
(B) Whenever it is rational not to acquire detailed information about a product, it would be irrational to bother to acquire such information.
(C) The benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product one might purchase usually do not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
(D) Rational consumers usually expect that the benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase would not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
(E) Consumers who do not bother to acquire complete detailed information about a product they might purchase do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Rational consumers who do not expect that the benefits outweigh the cost and difficulty of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase usually do not bother to acquire such information.
(B) Whenever it is rational not to acquire detailed information about a product, it would be irrational to bother to acquire such information.
(C) The benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product one might purchase usually do not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
(D) Rational consumers usually expect that the benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase would not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
(E) Consumers who do not bother to acquire complete detailed information about a product they might purchase do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.
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Joined: 13 Aug 2019
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GMAT 1: 600 Q47 V26 
Acquiring complete detailed information about all the pros and cons
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04 Nov 2019, 11:12
04 Nov 2019, 11:12
Imo E
OE by powerscore cr team
Answer choice (A): Although this answer choice is rather complex and contains some of the “keywords” we are looking for, its contrapositive would read, “Rational consumers who do acquire information usually do expect that the benefits of doing so would outweigh the costs.” This is almost a restatement of the author’s premise, and cannot help justify the conclusion.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice can be immediately eliminated, because it does not address the issue of whether or not consumers expect the benefits to outweigh the costs.
Answer choice (C): This is an attractive answer, because it establishes that the benefits of acquiring detailed information usually do not outweigh the costs—a statement that is relatively close to our initial prephrase. There are two reasons, however, why this answer choice is still incorrect: First, we are looking for a statement that addresses the consumers’ expectations of whether the benefits of acquiring detailed information would outweigh the costs. By contrast, answer choice (C) states a fact. You should not assume that consumers’ expectations are consistent with reality. Secondly, the word “usually” in this answer choice weakens the strength of the statement. We are looking for a definitive statement that justifies the conclusion, not a probabilistic statement describing what usually happens.
Answer choice (D): This is another attractive answer, because it establishes the consumer expectation that the benefits of acquiring information do not outweigh the costs. This is extremely close to our initial prephrase. Unfortunately, as with answer choice (C), the word “usually” weakens the strength of this statement. Given the definitive nature of the author’s conclusion, we need an affirmative statement that matches the author’s language and justifies the conclusion 100%, not a probabilistic statement describing what usually happens.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Since the entire argument revolves around consumers who do not bother to acquire certain information, this answer choice addresses the right group of people. If they do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information to outweigh the costs, it is reasonable to conclude that they are behaving rationally by not acquiring such information
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OE by powerscore cr team
Answer choice (A): Although this answer choice is rather complex and contains some of the “keywords” we are looking for, its contrapositive would read, “Rational consumers who do acquire information usually do expect that the benefits of doing so would outweigh the costs.” This is almost a restatement of the author’s premise, and cannot help justify the conclusion.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice can be immediately eliminated, because it does not address the issue of whether or not consumers expect the benefits to outweigh the costs.
Answer choice (C): This is an attractive answer, because it establishes that the benefits of acquiring detailed information usually do not outweigh the costs—a statement that is relatively close to our initial prephrase. There are two reasons, however, why this answer choice is still incorrect: First, we are looking for a statement that addresses the consumers’ expectations of whether the benefits of acquiring detailed information would outweigh the costs. By contrast, answer choice (C) states a fact. You should not assume that consumers’ expectations are consistent with reality. Secondly, the word “usually” in this answer choice weakens the strength of the statement. We are looking for a definitive statement that justifies the conclusion, not a probabilistic statement describing what usually happens.
Answer choice (D): This is another attractive answer, because it establishes the consumer expectation that the benefits of acquiring information do not outweigh the costs. This is extremely close to our initial prephrase. Unfortunately, as with answer choice (C), the word “usually” weakens the strength of this statement. Given the definitive nature of the author’s conclusion, we need an affirmative statement that matches the author’s language and justifies the conclusion 100%, not a probabilistic statement describing what usually happens.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Since the entire argument revolves around consumers who do not bother to acquire certain information, this answer choice addresses the right group of people. If they do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information to outweigh the costs, it is reasonable to conclude that they are behaving rationally by not acquiring such information
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Acquiring complete detailed information about all the pros and cons
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05 Nov 2019, 01:39
05 Nov 2019, 01:39
Acquiring complete detailed information about all the pros and cons of a product one might purchase would clearly be difficult and expensive. It is rational not to acquire such information unless one expects that the benefits of doing so will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so. Therefore, consumers who do not bother to acquire such information are thereby behaving rationally.
conclusion :consumers who do not bother to acquire such information are thereby behaving rationally.
reason : unless benefits of acquiring detailed information outweighs the costs and difficulty of doing so
underlying assumption : the benefits do not outweigh the costs and difficulty of finding out for these customers!
(A) Rational consumers who do not expect that the benefits outweigh the cost and difficulty of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase usually do not bother to acquire such information.- option A talks only about one segment of consumers(rational consumers) whereas we need an assumption that satisfies for consumers in genera!-wrong!
(B) Whenever it is rational not to acquire detailed information about a product, it would be irrational to bother to acquire such information.- this is not a definite conclusion and definitely not the underlying assumption!-wrong!
(C) The benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product one might purchase usually do not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- we are finding an assumption for the cases when consumers do not bother to acquire information- these cases may include benefits(unusual cases) and may not include benefits(usual cases). therefore this option only talks about certain cases(usual cases)- wrong!
(D) Rational consumers usually expect that the benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase would not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- this is not a must be true as we need an assumption that holds for all consumers and not just for the rational consumers!- wrong!
(E) Consumers who do not bother to acquire complete detailed information about a product they might purchase do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- is in line with our reasoning!-correct!
conclusion :consumers who do not bother to acquire such information are thereby behaving rationally.
reason : unless benefits of acquiring detailed information outweighs the costs and difficulty of doing so
underlying assumption : the benefits do not outweigh the costs and difficulty of finding out for these customers!
(A) Rational consumers who do not expect that the benefits outweigh the cost and difficulty of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase usually do not bother to acquire such information.- option A talks only about one segment of consumers(rational consumers) whereas we need an assumption that satisfies for consumers in genera!-wrong!
(B) Whenever it is rational not to acquire detailed information about a product, it would be irrational to bother to acquire such information.- this is not a definite conclusion and definitely not the underlying assumption!-wrong!
(C) The benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product one might purchase usually do not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- we are finding an assumption for the cases when consumers do not bother to acquire information- these cases may include benefits(unusual cases) and may not include benefits(usual cases). therefore this option only talks about certain cases(usual cases)- wrong!
(D) Rational consumers usually expect that the benefits of acquiring detailed information about a product they might purchase would not outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- this is not a must be true as we need an assumption that holds for all consumers and not just for the rational consumers!- wrong!
(E) Consumers who do not bother to acquire complete detailed information about a product they might purchase do not expect that the benefits of acquiring such information will outweigh the cost and difficulty of doing so.- is in line with our reasoning!-correct!
