The highest rated television shows do not always command

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

You know you’re dealing with an inference question before you read through the argument because you’ve read the question first and it contains the word inferred. Focus on the premises of the argument as you read it. Then look through the answer choices and eliminate any that don’t address one of the premises or that present inferences that require additional information.

The argument says nothing about advertising research or whether the particular advertising practice is wise, so you can eliminate Choice (A) immediately. You’re stretching beyond the scope of the information if you infer that advertisers are unwise. Likewise, Choice (D) mentions the preferences and assumptions of advertisers, but none of the premises discuss advertisers, so you can get rid of Choice (D). The inference in Choice (E) relates to the conclusion rather than any of the premises, so you can probably eliminate it right away. Furthermore, just because sporting events ads are “often more expensive” than other ads doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re always the most expensive. This leaves you with Choices (B) and (C).

Choice (B) contradicts information in the argument. The author implies that some sporting events have lower overall ratings even though they have higher advertising rates. You’re left with Choice (C). You need an explanation for the information in the second sentence that states that advertising is often more expensive for lower-rated shows viewed by males who are between 19 and 34 years old. This practice would be logical only if males of these ages were more susceptible to advertising than other groups. It makes sense that Choice (C) is the correct answer.

Remember to check your outside knowledge about the critical-reasoning subjects at the door! You may know that Super Bowl ads are the most-expensive ads, which may tempt you to pick Choice (E). Using your own knowledge rather than what’s expressly stated in the test questions will cause you to miss questions that someone with less knowledge may answer correctly.

I am not too sure why option E is incorrect. In the passage, we are given that ads are often more expensive because the audience for those shows includes a high proportion of males. Sporting events = more expensive = a higher proportion of males. Based on this, can't we infer E? If the biggest sporting events are the most expensive, that would imply that we must have a large proportion of males watching such events; therfore, making the ads more expensive.