#2 -Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14297)

The correct answer choice is (D)

This Specific Reference/Purpose question asks us to identify what the author means by the phrase
“whole categories of expense” in lines 30-31. Such questions almost always require a more thorough
understanding of the context in which the quoted reference appears, and their answers should
generally be prephrased.

Answer choice (A): The author never argues that the fees collected by literary agents from their
clients would be eliminated. This answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): Although the cost of printing books “in bulk” will be eliminated, consumers will
still be paying to have their books printed and bound at point of sale. This answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (C): The new model of digital publishing will not eliminate the royalties paid
to authors by their publishers; on the contrary, these royalties are likely to increase under the
competitive pressures of that model (lines 35 and 50). This answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. The categories of expense eliminated by
the digital publishing model include the “costs of warehousing, shipping books to wholesalers and
to retail stores, displaying physical books in retail stores, and returning unsold books to publishers”
(lines 18-20), i.e. the costs specific to the retail trade in traditional printed books. The author also
alludes to these costs in lines 36-38 of the third paragraph.

Observant test-takers should note the use of the conjunctive adverb “moreover” in the beginning of
the third paragraph, suggesting that the object of the quoted reference is likely to be found earlier in
the passage.

Answer choice (E): The new publishing model will eliminate the cost of printing and returning
unsold books to the bookseller, not the difference between these costs and the total sales of a book. If
that difference were eliminated, booksellers would have no reportable income. This answer choice is
incorrect.

[avengingangel]

I feel like B and D say similar things. Is D superior to B because it simply says it, better? Like, it's clearly more specific. I feel like B says the same thing, but in a lazier way. D fully summarizes the costs related to traditional publishing that the author notes in the paragraph above, making it the most logical answer for what the "whole categories of expense" line in the 3rd paragraph is referencing. Right?

[bli2016]

I was actually wondering why C is wrong... I thought lines 17-20 gave evidence for C because it says that digital publication of books would eliminate "the costs of warehousing, shipping books to wholesalers and to retail stores, displaying physical books in retail stores (etc.)". Could someone explain why A is right and C is wrong?

[Emily Haney-Caron]

avengingangel: Pretty much, yes. D is much broader than B; B is too limited. D includes all the costs meant by the author, but B only includes some.

bli2016: You've got the right lines, so good work! That's what D is saying, and D is the correct answer here; D is talking about all the costs you mentioned. C is wrong because the royalties paid to authors aren't included at all in the list in lines 17-20.