The total number of book titles published annually in North America

Question

The total number of book titles published annually in North America has approximately quadrupled since television first became available. Retail sales of new titles, as measured in copies, increased rapidly in the early days of television, though the rate of increase has slowed in recent years. Library circulation has been flat or declining in recent years.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

(A) Television has, over the years, brought about a reduction in the amount of per capita reading in North America.
(B) The introduction of television usually brings about a decrease in library use.
(C) Book publishers in North America now sell fewer copies per title than they sold in the early days of television.
(D) The availability of television does not always cause a decline in the annual number of book titles published or in the number of books sold. 
(E) The introduction of television expanded the market for books in North America.

AshutoshB · Answer

Type: Inference

(A) Television has, over the years, brought about a reduction in the amount of per capita reading in North America. cant be inferred
(B) The introduction of television usually brings about a decrease in in-library use.
(C) Book publishers in North America now sell fewer copies per title than they sold in the early days of television. This cant be inferred as we are talking about NEW Titles here
(D) The availability of television does not always cause a decline in the annual number of book titles published or in the number of books sold. Correct
(E) The introduction of television expanded the market for books in North America.

DM if you have any queries.I would love to help

shameekv1989 · Answer

Since both the facts 
i) the number of books published 
ii) Sales increased

point to an increase, it means that the availability of television does not  always cause a decline  in the above stats.

Answer - D

SkyBulb · Answer

i get why D is answer but how to eliminate E. More sales mean market expansion right?

SM15 · Answer

Why is C wrong ? Option D also doesn't talk about "new titles". I get it D is correct but Could not eliminate option C with reasoning.

2448 · Answer

My reasoning behind eliminating C is that the argument states that the rate of increase has slowed, which still means that the demand/supply has still increased, just at a slower rate. Hope this helps!

guddo · Answer

The total number of book titles published annually in North America has approximately quadrupled since television first became available. Retail sales of new titles, as measured in copies, increased rapidly in the early days of television, though the rate of increase has slowed in recent years. Library circulation has been flat or declining in recent years.
 
 Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

The passage says that after television became available, the number of book titles increased greatly, and sales of new titles also increased, at least for some period.  So the safest conclusion  is that television did not always coincide with a decline in book publishing or book sales.

(A) Television has, over the years, brought about a reduction in the amount of per capita reading in North America.

This is not supported. The passage gives no information about per capita reading.

(B) The introduction of television usually brings about a decrease in library use.

This is not supported. The passage mentions recent library circulation trends in North America, not what usually happens when television is introduced.

(C) Book publishers in North America now sell fewer copies per title than they sold in the early days of television.

This is not supported. We know total titles increased and total sales increased at some point, but we do not have enough data to compare copies sold per title.

(D) The availability of television does not always cause a decline in the annual number of book titles published or in the number of books sold.

This is correct. Since book titles have quadrupled and sales of new titles increased after television became available, television availability clearly did not always cause a decline in those measures.

(E) The introduction of television expanded the market for books in North America.

This is too strong. The passage shows that the book market expanded after television became available, but it does not prove that television caused that expansion.

Answer: (D)

guddo · Answer

The total number of book titles published annually in North America has approximately quadrupled since television first became available. Retail sales of new titles, as measured in copies, increased rapidly in the early days of television, though the rate of increase has slowed in recent years. Library circulation has been flat or declining in recent years. 
 
Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

The passage says that after television became available, the number of book titles increased greatly, and retail sales of new titles also increased.  The safest supported conclusion  is that television did not always lead to a decline in book publishing or book sales. We cannot infer stronger claims about  causation .

(A) Television has, over the years, brought about a reduction in the amount of per capita reading in North America.

This is not supported. The passage gives no information about per capita reading.

(B) The introduction of television usually brings about a decrease in library use.

This is not supported. The passage mentions recent library circulation in North America, not what usually happens when television is introduced.

(C) Book publishers in North America now sell fewer copies per title than they sold in the early days of television.

This is not supported. We know titles increased and sales increased, but we do not know the number of copies sold per title now versus earlier.

(D) The availability of television does not always cause a decline in the annual number of book titles published or in the number of books sold.

This is correct. Since titles have quadrupled and sales of new titles increased after television became available, television clearly did not always cause a decline in those measures.

(E) The introduction of television expanded the market for books in North America.

This is too strong. The book market expanded after television appeared, but the passage does not show that television caused that expansion.

Answer: (D)

egmat · Answer

Hi SkyBulb,

You're right that sales went up, and D captures exactly that. The slip with E is one word:  "expanded."

Look at what E actually claims:

"The introduction of television  expanded  the market for books."

That's a  cause-and-effect  statement - it says television  made  the book market grow. But the passage only tells you two things happened around the same time: TV became available, and book sales/titles rose. Timing together is  correlation , not proof that one caused the other.

The sales could have grown for reasons that have nothing to do with TV - population growth, rising literacy, cheaper printing, more disposable income. The stimulus never rules those out, so we can't pin the growth on television.

That's the difference between D and E:

-  D  only says TV  does not always cause a decline  - a safe, negative claim that the rising numbers directly back up.
-  E  says TV  actively caused  the growth - a positive causal claim the facts don't establish.

Turn one word and feel it:

- If E said "Since television appeared, the book market has grown" - would you accept it? (Yes - that's just describing what happened.)
- As written, "television  expanded  the market" - now it's claiming TV is the  engine  of the growth. Where's the evidence for that?

Same facts, but the second version demands a causal link the passage never gives. Whenever an answer choice quietly says "X caused Y" off nothing more than "X and Y both happened," that's your signal it overreaches.

Answer: D

The total number of book titles published annually in North America

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The total number of book titles published annually in North America

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