Ernesto: Sales of VCRs—videocassette recorders—will decline in the nex

Question

Ernesto: Sales of VCRs—videocassette recorders—will decline in the next few years because the saturation level among U.S. households has virtually been reached.

Milton: Every year a greater number of popular feature films is released on cassette—at least 6 per month. Clearly VCR sales will remain constant, if not rise.

Which of the following is the best logical evaluation of Milton’s response to Ernesto’s argument?

(A) He cites evidence that, if true, disproves the evidence cited by Ernesto in drawing his conclusion.

(B) He points out a gap in the logic followed by Ernesto in drawing his conclusion.

(C) He cites an issue ignored by Ernesto and which outweighs the issues raised by Ernesto.

(D) He does not speak to Ernesto’s point because he fails to raise the issue of whether VCR sales may be linked to sales of other leisure-related products.

(E) He fails to respond to Ernesto’s argument because he assumes that nothing will significantly retard the sale of VCR’s, which was the issue that Ernesto raised.

I see that Milton didn't agree with Ernesto's conclusion and Milton gave an evidence to prove his own conclusion so I don't understand what does "He fails o respond to Ernesto's argument", from option E mean. Moreover I don't understand why option A is incorrect. Milton's evidence that "Every year a greater number of popular feature films is released on cassette—at least 6 per month" should mean that because there are new movies released every year on cassettes he believes that saturation level for VCR's cannot be reached so he is disproving Ernesto's evidence before drawing conclusion.

The official answer is given as E.

Please help me understand the option E and correct me if my understanding of option A is incorrect.

The official answer is given as E.

Please help me understand the option E and correct me if my understanding of option A is incorrect.

piyatiwari · Accepted Answer

E is right.

Ernesto's point " sales of VCRs will decline cause almost every US household already has it"
Milton's point "New films are released on cassettes, so sales of VCR will remain constant, if not rise"

Milton's argument is flawed. He makes a point that can conclude that cassette sale will be constant, but we cannot assume the same for cassette player's - VCR - sale.
Thus Milton fails to respond to Ernesto's argument , which talks about sales of VCRs, not cassettes.

KapTeacherEli · Answer

Bingo!

This is the problem, and the reason E is correct. Well done!

nfr007 · Answer

Ernesto: Sales of VCR's—videocassette—recorders will decline in the next few years because the saturation level among U.S. households has virtually been reached.

Milton: Every year a greater number of popular feature films is released on cassette at least 6 per month. Clearly VCR sales will remain constant, if not rise.

Which of the following is the best logical evaluation of Milton's response to Ernesto's argument?

A) He cites evidence that, if true, disproves the evidence cited by Ernesto in drawing his conclusion.
 B) He points out a gap in the logic followed by Ernesto in drawing his conclusion.
 C) He cites an issue ignored by Ernesto and which outweighs the issues raised by Ernesto.
 D) He does not speak to Ernesto's point because he fails to raise the issue of whether VCR sales may be linked to sales of other leisure-related products.
 E) He fails to respond to Ernestos argument because he assumes that nothing will significantly retard the sale of VCRs, which was the issue that Ernesto raised.

Please provide the reasoning also.

VeritasPrepBrandon · Answer

Ernesto argues that VCR sales are going to decline because almost everyone has a VCR already. Milton completely disregards this point and argues that a lot of cassettes come out every year, so VCR sales will remain steady or even increase.

A) Milton does not attack the evidence cited by Ernesto
B) Milton points out no gaps in logic. He doesn't even address what Ernesto said, except for the conclusion.
C) Milton's "issue" certainly doesn't outweigh Ernesto's argument. Milton's argument doesn't make any sense actually. If you have a VCR, it doesn't matter if a million cassettes come out per month...you already have a VCR to play them on.
D) Out of scope. No one is talking about this.
E) Bingo. Milton ignores Ernesto's valid point.

I hope this helps!!!

semwal · Answer

Ernesto SAYS THAT Sales of VCR's will decline because there is saturation in U.S. households with regards to this item.....

Milton says new film cassettes released every 6 months will ensure VCR sales will remain constant, if not rise. If people already have VCR-----THE SAME CAN BE USED TO SEE THE NEW REALEASES... WHY DO NEW VCRs BE BOUGHT......

miltons argument is logically incorrect..................

E) He fails to respond to Ernestos argument because he assumes that nothing will significantly retard the sale of VCRs, which was the issue that Ernesto raised.

CORRECT ANSWER................

kudos if you please...........

RahulSingh13 · Answer

A is incorrect clearly because Milton doesn't disprove the EVIDENCE cited by Ernesto. He might as well have disproved the conclusion that VCR sales would go down which is an opinion or judgement of Ernesto's but the statement that the market for VCR is saturated is a statement of fact that can't be refuted.

crescendo85 · Answer

Is this sentence correct ?

Every year a greater number of popular feature films is released on cassette—at least 6 per month.

Every year a greater number ...are...?

Mahmud6 · Answer

How can we say that Milton assumes nothing will significantly retard the sales of vcr? Seems extreme in this context.

sayantanc2k · Answer

We may conclude so because Milton makes the following statement:
"Clearly VCR sales will  remain constant, if not rise ."

The above conclusion implies that Milton has not taken into consideration other factors that may result in a (net) drop in sales.

rever08 · Answer

Milton addresses Ernesto's argument by talking about something that does not directly respond to his point. Ernesto talks about VCR sales and Milton talks about more VCR films released this year which will make people buy more VCRs. It may make people buy more tapes, but not necessarily more VCRs.

A is wrong because Milton's evidence would not disprove Ernesto's evidence because even though more VCR tapes might be sold, more VCRs themselves may not follow the same pattern.

B is also wrong because he doesn't point to a gap.

C is also wrong because he does not cite an issue ignored by Ernesto.

D is wrong because nothing is mentioned about other leisure-related products.

We are left with the answer...E.

gmat1393 · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

This rare question stem asks for a logical evaluation of Milton's response. In other words, how does Milton respond, and is his response sound?

Step 2: Untangle the Stimulus

Ernesto's argument is that VCR sales will decline, because the saturation level has been reached. In other words, most people who would buy a VCR have already done so. Milton thinks VCR sales won't decline, because there are new movies coming out every month.

Step 3: Predict the Answer

What do new movies on cassette have to do with the saturation point for VCRs? Nothing. Milton simply ignores Ernesto‘s argument that people already have the machines. The availability of new cassettes doesn’t mean people need to buy or will buy more recorders. Milton ignores the saturation issue and simply assumes that sales of VCR's will continue as before.

Step 4: Evaluate the Choices

(E) evaluates Milton's response properly. Milton does not respond to Ernesto’s reasoning. Despite the fact that Ernesto presented the issue of VCR saturation point, Milton just assumes the sale of VCRs will continue. (E) is therefore correct.

(A) is wrong because Milton's evidence about films being released each month doesn’t disprove Ernesto's evidence about the saturation level for VCR machines being reached. One has nothing to do with the other.

(B) is incorrect because Milton doesn't even deal with Ernesto’s logic, let alone point out a gap in it. To point out a gap in an argument means to demonstrate that the evidence doesn't lead to the conclusion. Milton merely brings up some irrelevant information that has nothing to do with Ernesto’s reasoning.

(C) is right in noting that Milton does cite an issue that Ernesto ignores, but there is no justification for saying that this issue “outweighs” the issue of saturation.

(D) is correct in noting that Milton fails to speak to Ernesto's point, but is otherwise wrong, because Ernesto has absolutely nothing to say about “other leisure-related products.” Thus there was no reason for Milton to raise this issue.

TAKEAWAY: When confronted with an unusual or unfamiliar question stem, simply take a moment to clearly state the task at hand. That will make it easier to determine the best approach and proceed step by step.

JDF · Answer

I don’t know how to tell you this but you’re all wrong, including the OA.

Milton does address VCR sales. He says they will rise. He thinks they will rise because theres lots of content you can play on them that people want.

C is best. Milton raises the issue that VCRs carry such good content that sales will keep rising. Ernesto ignores this factor, focusing solely on saturation. Milton thinks this issue outweighs the importance of saturation.

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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Ernesto: Sales of VCRs—videocassette recorders—will decline in the nex

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Ernesto: Sales of VCRs—videocassette recorders—will decline in the nex

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