At many electronics retail stores, the consumer has the option of purc

Question

At many electronics retail stores, the consumer has the option of purchasing product warranties that extend beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. However, consumers are generally better off not buying extended warranties.Most problems with electronic goods occur within the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

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

(A) Problems with electronic goods that occur after the manufacturer’s warranty expires are generally inexpensive to fix in comparison with the cost of an extended warranty.
(B) Because problems are so infrequent after the manufacturer’s warranty expires, extended warranties on electronic goods are generally inexpensive.
(C) Most of those who buy extended warranties on electronic goods do so because special circumstances make their item more likely to break than is usually the case.
(D) Some extended warranties on electronic goods cover the product for the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty as well as subsequent years.
(E) Retail stores sell extended warranties in part because consumers who purchase them are likely to purchase other products from the same store.

sampriya · Answer

At many electronics retail stores, the consumer has the option of purchasing product warranties that extend beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. However, consumers are generally better off not buying extended warranties.Most problems with electronic goods occur within the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

Conclusion :consumers are generally better off not buying extended warranties

Reasoning used :Most problems with electronic goods occur within the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

possible under-lying assumptions/ how we can strengthen: 
1)the problems that occur during the extended warranty are not covered by the extended warranty
2)prove that extended warranty is of no use and there are no benefits wrt buying the extended warranty
3)problems do indeed show up within the actual warranty period

(A) Problems with electronic goods that occur after the manufacturer’s warranty expires are generally inexpensive to fix in comparison with the cost of an extended warranty.
this definitely strengthens the argument!! the problems that occur after the warranty expires are cheaper to fix than buying the extended warranty!! therefore a reason to not purchase the warranty=>  strengthens the conclusion!

(B) Because problems are so infrequent after the manufacturer’s warranty expires, extended warranties on electronic goods are generally inexpensive.
even if they are inexpensive we need to find a reason to not purchase them!! not the opposite

(C) Most of those who buy extended warranties on electronic goods do so because special circumstances make their item more likely to break than is usually the case.
we are concerned with most cases in the argument rather than "special" cases; special cases is out of scope

(D) Some extended warranties on electronic goods cover the product for the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty as well as subsequent years.
the argument is concerned with reasons to not purchase the extended warranty rather than the irrelevant characteristics wrt the extended warranty

(E) Retail stores sell extended warranties in part because consumers who purchase them are likely to purchase other products from the same store.
the reason for stores selling the warranty does nothing to strengthen our conclusion/reasoning as stated above.

Kinshook · Answer

At many electronics retail stores, the consumer has the option of purchasing product warranties that extend beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. However, consumers are generally better off not buying extended warranties.Most problems with electronic goods occur within the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

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

(A) Problems with electronic goods that occur after the manufacturer’s warranty expires are generally inexpensive to fix in comparison with the cost of an extended warranty.
Strengthens the argument.
(B) Because problems are so infrequent after the manufacturer’s warranty expires, extended warranties on electronic goods are generally inexpensive.
Weakens the argument
(C) Most of those who buy extended warranties on electronic goods do so because special circumstances make their item more likely to break than is usually the case.
Irrelevant
(D) Some extended warranties on electronic goods cover the product for the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty as well as subsequent years.
Irrelevant
(E) Retail stores sell extended warranties in part because consumers who purchase them are likely to purchase other products from the same store.
Irrelevant

IMO A

nurba92 · Answer

I hope some experts will accidentally see my post, so I will not bother them addressing this question. However I find options A and C very close, whereas guyz above rule C out so easily, citing "irrelevant". Experts, if you see my post, please help me rule C out. Many thanx

prateekchugh · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A)  Strengthen the Argument

A valid strengthener must make the conclusion more likely to follow from the evidence.
A warning to consumers: apparently, extended warranties on electronic items are a waste of money. Consumers don’t need to purchase extended warranties because according to the author, most problems with electronics occur during the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. But that isn’t when all problems occur, just most problems. For the argument to hold, the author must be assuming that the few problems that occur after the warranty expires do not justify the cost of the extended warranties. Choice  (A)  is supports this assumption, and thereby strengthens the author’s argument: if post-warranty problems are inexpensive to fix, then we are better off not buying extended warranties.

(B)  does involve the cost of warranties, but the author here is interested in the cost of warranties relative to that of fixing electronics goods without a warranty. Besides, if extended warranties are “generally inexpensive,” that doesn’t strengthen the idea that consumers are better off not buying them.

(C)  states that consumers purchase extended warranties because “special circumstances” make their items more likely than usual to break. However, we don’t know when these “special circumstances” kick in, so it’s not clear what, if any, effect they have on the argument.

(D)  deals with how far the warranties extend. The “subsequent years” for which the extended warranties cover certain products can’t strengthen or weaken the argument, since the argument’s soundness depends on the relative cost of the warranties.

(E)  provides a reason why the retailers would sell the warranties – to increase sales. This has little bearing on whether the warranties are good deal for the consumers.

RohitSaluja · Answer

Hi  nurba92 , not an expert, but here are my two cents. Option C says  "Most of those"  who buys extended warranties on electronic goods do so because special circumstances make their item more likely to break than is usually the case.

At best this option gives us the reasoning behind why most folks buy extended warranties. Now depending on the frequency of these special circumstances, this option could act either as strengthener/weakner. Hence this can't be the answer.

I hope this helps.

VerbalBot · Answer

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At many electronics retail stores, the consumer has the option of purc

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