Predictions that printed books will soon be replaced by books in

Question

Predictions that printed books will soon be replaced by books in electronic formats such as CD-ROM are exaggerated. While research libraries may find an electronic format more convenient for scholars and scientists, bookstores and public libraries will stock books in the format desired by the general public, which will be something other than an electronic format.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) Scholars and scientists find an electronic format for books the most convenient one for quick searching and cross-referencing.
(B) Publishers will continue to print books in the format stocked by bookstores and public libraries.
(C) Scholars and scientists do not usually conduct their research in public libraries.
(D) At some bookstores and libraries, the popularity of books on tape and of videos is beginning to rival that of printed books.
(E) Some members of the general public prefer to purchase books in an electronic format rather than borrow them from the library.

Source: LSAT

yukidaruma · Answer

We are looking for an answer that supports the assumption that printed books will remain, and will not be changed into electronic versions of them.

(A) Scholars and scientists find an electronic format for books the most convenient one for quick searching and cross-referencing. >>  highlights why scholars and scientists prefer electronic format vs printed format. 
(B) Publishers will continue to print books in the format stocked by bookstores and public libraries.>> this answer suggests that book printing will continue, meaning that there is a demand for paper books. 
(C) Scholars and scientists do not usually conduct their research in public libraries.>> Irrelevant 
(D) At some bookstores and libraries, the popularity of books on tape and of videos is beginning to rival that of printed books.>> this weakens the argument, since it implies that bookstores and libraries are finding that customers are starting to like electronic versions more and more (rivaling printed books)  
(E) Some members of the general public prefer to purchase books in an electronic format rather than borrow them from the library.>> this also weakens, since it increases the number of who prefer electronic formats.

Answer  B  seems to be the only choice that supports the argument: The number of printed books will not decrease because there is demand for them in public libraries and bookstores, hence publishers will continue to print books.

Please correct me if I am wrong, either in my answer choice or the way I reasoned these answers out!!!

akela · Answer

yukiohmori

Just to give a quick official explanation for this one:

Strengthen

Conc:
Printed books will not soon be replaced by electronic books
(why?)
Prem:
Bookstores and public libraries will stock books in the format desired by the general public (the general public desires non-electronic formats)

There is also a 
Counterpoint
Research libraries may prefer electronic formats for scholars/scientists

(A) reinforces Counterpoint ... Weakens

(B) Bridges a gap between the premise and the conclusion. Imagine if this were negated - "publishers will NOT continue to make printed books" ... devastating to the conclusion! So ruling this out strengthens the argument.

(C) Language blender trap. It doesn't matter where scholars and scientists usually do their research. Imagine if this were negated - "scholars and scientists usually do research in public libraries" ... what effect would it have? We don't actually know which format scholars and scientists prefer, only which format research libraries prefer. Even assuming that scholars/scientists prefer electronic formats, the scholars and scientists do not comprise the general public, so a public library would just have to stock BOTH printed and electronic formats if it was trying to meet the demands of both the general public and scholar/scientists.

(D) Weakens

(E) Technically irrelevant, but on its face it seems to weaken.

_shashank_shekhar_ · Answer

(A) Scholars and scientists find an electronic format for books the most convenient one for quick searching and cross-referencing. - Out of scope
(B) Publishers will continue to print books in the format stocked by bookstores and public libraries.- strengthening
(C) Scholars and scientists do not usually conduct their research in public libraries. - out of scope, nothing like that mentioned here.
(D) At some bookstores and libraries, the popularity of books on tape and of videos is beginning to rival that of printed books. - OOS
(E) Some members of the general public prefer to purchase books in an electronic format rather than borrow them from the library. - weakening
ans- B

RohitSaluja · Answer

My two cents on the analysis of the argument

Conclusion: Printed books will soon be replaced by electronic books
After the conclusion, we have background information on the preference of book format for two groups. Now let's look at the options

(A) Scholars and scientists find an electronic format for books the most convenient one for quick searching and cross-referencing. -  If this is true, then it only presents us with one aspect of the group, so the best this option can do is weaken the argument

(B) Publishers will continue to print books in the format stocked by bookstores and public libraries. -  If the publisher never stopped printing books then the public libraries can continue stocking them, which essentially means they will not be replaced by e-books, so let's hold on to this one

(C) Scholars and scientists do not usually conduct their research in public libraries. -  Not related to the argument

(D) At some bookstores and libraries, the popularity of books on tape and of videos is beginning to rival that of printed books. -  This provides support to the idea of increasing inclinations to e-book, hence acting as a weakener

(E) Some members of the general public prefer to purchase books in an electronic format rather than borrow them from the library. -  Same as D

agrasan · Answer

Conclusion: Predictions that printed books will soon be replaced by books in electronic formats such as CD-ROM are exaggerated

(A) Scholars and scientists find an electronic format for books the most convenient one for quick searching and cross-referencing.
 Incorrect , this is of  no impact  for the conclusion, we already know from the argument that scholars and scientists find electronic format more convenient.

(B) Publishers will continue to print books in the format stocked by bookstores and public libraries.
 Correct , this strengthens the argument, this increases our confidence that printed books will remain in libraries.

(C) Scholars and scientists do not usually conduct their research in public libraries.
 Incorrect , they anyway prefer electronic format so this option doesn't impact our confidence in the conclusion.

(D) At some bookstores and libraries, the popularity of books on tape and of videos is beginning to rival that of printed books.
 Incorrect , this weakens the conclusion.

(E) Some members of the general public prefer to purchase books in an electronic format rather than borrow them from the library.
 Incorrect , this weakens the conclusion, however, magnitude can be very small due to indeterminate "some".

Predictions that printed books will soon be replaced by books in

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