- Thu Dec 08, 2016 11:18 pm
#31333
Hey Chica and 15v, good to see you both again! Let me see if I can shed some light on this for you both.
Point at Issue questions like this one have a simple test that can really help - we call it the Agree/Disagree TestTM. In short, we want to find evidence in the stimulus (because this is in the same family of questions as Must Be True) that one of the people would say "that's true" and the other would say "that's false", or one would say "All" while the other says "Not All", or one says "Yes" while the other says "no", etc. We want to know, based on the text, that they disagree about the claim laid out in the answer, or they give opposing answers to a question in the answer.
Answer E talks about the possibility of a rug store closing because of insufficient demand, and Mario clearly agrees with that claim because he based his argument on that very thing. But what does Renate said about whether that is ever possible? Nothing! She says that's not what happened in this case. Might she say it's possible that could cause some other store to close? Sure, she might - the point is that, based on this text, we just can't know what she thinks.
Answer B is the best answer of the lot. We know what Mario thinks, because he tells us - he says avoid trying to sell rugs in Glendale. Now what would Renate say? That's not 100% clear, but it is strongly implied by the text, as 15v pointed out. Saying that the problem wasn't the product and now the market there is wide open lends a lot of support to the claim that she thinks opening a rug store there would be a good idea. There's apparently demand for the product, and no competition - sounds like a winner.
Can we be certain of this? I'd say no - I think it's possible that Renate would say you shouldn't open a rug store there because of other reasons aside from demand and competition. However, it's the best answer of the five we are presented, because at least we can make a good case, based again entirely on the text, that she thinks that's true.
Stick to the text and apply the test, and at the end of the day you have to pick the best answer even if it's not a perfect one.
Good luck guys! Go pick some winners!
Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT, GRE, ACT and SAT Instructor
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