Option (D) gives the perfect logic behind increase in physical books.
1- New authors are introduced to readers via online sites
2- It is difficult to read online, so readers purchase other books of the new writers. It is also possible that not all books of the writer are available online,

Leading book publishers had predicted that the rampant illegal sharing of books online would have an extremely detrimental impact on the sale of their books. However, the more illegal online sharing sites increase in popularity, the more physical books are being sold.

Which of the following options best explains why the sales of physical books have been increasing with the increase in online piracy?


(A) The illegal sharing of books online has not become as popular as was expected.- Irrelevant

(B) People in general find it more difficult to read books on a computer screen than reading a physical book. - We have to explain for this specific case "why the sales of physical books have been increasing with the increase in online piracy" not in the generalised way. - Wrong

(C) Book publishers have, in the last few years, invested heavily in advertising their books.-Out of scope

(D) A lot of people have discovered new authors through online book sharing sites and subsequently bought other books written by these authors because it is easier to read a physical book. - Hold this

(E) The government has introduced heavy fines for those downloading books from online sharing sites. - We don't know heavy means how much. is it more than rate of market or less? can't say - Wrong

IMO D

Leading book publishers had predicted that the rampant illegal sharing of books online would have an extremely detrimental impact on the sale of their books. However, the more illegal online sharing sites increase in popularity, the more physical books are being sold.

Which of the following options best explains why the sales of physical books have been increasing with the increase in online piracy?


(A) The illegal sharing of books online has not become as popular as was expected. Incorrect

contradict with argument

(B) People in general find it more difficult to read books on a computer screen than reading a physical book. Incorrect

no information about online sharing sites

(C) Book publishers have, in the last few years, invested heavily in advertising their books. Incorrect

not related with online sharing sites

(D) A lot of people have discovered new authors through online book sharing sites and subsequently bought other books written by these authors because it is easier to read a physical book. Correct

(E) The government has introduced heavy fines for those downloading books from online sharing sites. Irrelevant

ANSWER IMO D

notes: explain the results - y sales increased despite more online piracy.

a) irev
b) irev
c) irev
e) irev

(D) this explain sales increase; more people are discovering new books and find it hard to read online.

(A) The illegal sharing of books online has not become as popular as was expected. -> Incorrect

(B) People in general find it more difficult to read books on a computer screen than reading a physical book. -> Incorrect

(C) Book publishers have, in the last few years, invested heavily in advertising their books. -> Out of scope

(D) A lot of people have discovered new authors through online book sharing sites and subsequently bought other books written by these authors because it is easier to read a physical book. -> Correct

(E) The government has introduced heavy fines for those downloading books from online sharing sites. -> Doesn't say anything about increasing popularity of books through online sharing sites,

Which of the following options best explains why the sales of physical books have been increasing with the increase in online piracy?


(A) The illegal sharing of books online has not become as popular as was expected. Not our answer(Irrelevant.)

(B) People in general find it more difficult to read books on a computer screen than reading a physical book. Not our answer (This could be true but if this is true then there wouldn't have been an increase in online piracy.)

(C) Book publishers have, in the last few years, invested heavily in advertising their books. Not out answer (Even if they have invested heavily in advertising books that doesn't give us a viable reason as to why the increase in online piracy has simultaneously lead to an increase in the sale of physical books.)

(D) A lot of people have discovered new authors through online book sharing sites and subsequently bought other books written by these authors because it is easier to read a physical book. This is our answer ( It perfectly states as to why there is a positive correlation between increase in online piracy and an increase in the number of physical books sold.)

(E) The government has introduced heavy fines for those downloading books from online sharing sites. Not our answer(If this were the case then the proliferation of illegal sharing of books wouldn't have happened in the first place.)

Therefore, the OA is D.

IMO the option D best explains the reason behind the increase in sales of physical books along with the increase in online piracy.

(D) A lot of people have discovered new authors through online book sharing sites and subsequently bought other books written by these authors because it is easier to read a physical book.

Official Explanation

An explain question will never contain an argument so don’t waste your time looking for the conclusion, evidence, and assumption. Instead try to quickly paraphrase the contradiction in the stimulus—it was expected that people will stop buying books because they could now download books for free from illegal online book sharing sites. However, as the free illegal book sharing sites gain popularity, the sales of physical books have actually increased. The correct option needs to explain why this has been the case.

Let’s take a look at each option in the question above:

(A) This option directly questions a fact mentioned in the stimulus, which is something that can never be done on any CR question. The arguments states that illegal online book sharing is becoming more and more popular and we need to accept this fact as it is. We just need to show the connection between this and the fact that the sales of physical books have also been growing similarly.

(B) This looks very good. However, notice that it just provides you with a reason why people may not want to read books online. So, in this case the sales of physical books should have remained unaffected or declined marginally. Then why have the sales been increasing? This option doesn’t explain this fact. Remember that the correct answer has to explain both sets of facts and not just one of them.

(C) This again addresses one part of the contradiction—why have the sales of books been increasing. But this option does not show the link between increase in illegal online sharing of books and the increase in sales of physical books.

(D) The correct answer. This choice correctly identifies a link between the two sets of facts mentioned in the stimulus. People discover new authors through online book sharing sites, they like the book that they have read, and so they subsequently buy other books by these authors in the physical format because it is easier to read in this form.

(E) Like B, in this case also the sales of physical books should have remained steady or changed slightly but what explains the increase in sales of physical books?

Based on the above analysis, we can arrive at certain tips to keep in mind while attempting Explain the Paradox questions.
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Made a silly mistake and chose C. I wrongly interpreted the passage as saying that a particular book was being downloaded and also being purchased in physical form. With this misinterpretation, I felt that D was not relevant to the paradox ("Why do we care about other books being purchased?").
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