An independent computer service company

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact4% picked this

   The proportions of service requests for the other computer brands in the tally were clustered much closer to the ProBit level of service

   Since the conclusion is just a comparative claim between ProBit and KRV, where the other computers land is really not relevant.

   4%
2. B

   Correct73% picked this

   For some computer brands, but not for others, most service requests are made to the manufacturer’s service department rather than

   Why this is right

   This hints at the alternate explanation for why ProBit is the smallest share of service requests. It's not that ProBit is breaking down less; it's that when ProBit's break down, people get them repaired through ProBit's service department, not through an independent service company. Pretend that ProBit is a Mac, and when you need repair on your Mac you go to the Mac store, not some indie computer repair shop. Meanwhile, KRV is a Microsoft and people don't worry about getting their Microsoft computers repaired by Microsoft. (An even easier analogy is cars ... people will take their Honda Civic to any independent auto repair shop, but they'll only take their Porsche to an authorized Porsche dealership)

   Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   73%
3. C

   Strengthens8% picked this

   The company that did the tally receives more service requests for ProBit brand computers than does any other

   This rules out the potential objection we were considering that this independent service company might just live in a part of the country where ProBit owners are unusually rare.

   8%
4. D

   No Impact13% picked this

   The computer brands covered in the computer service company’s tally differ greatly with respect to

   We're sure they do differ greatly, and that's of course why the company factored in market share. If they just did raw numbers, then they wouldn't be able to judge reliability just based on which type of computer had the most or least service requests. Whenever LSAT gives us a statistic that's an average, or a per capita, or has been adjusted for inflation or for market share / prevalence, then we don't care any more about the raw numbers.

   13%
5. E

   No Impact2% picked this

   ProBit has been selling personal computers for many more years than

   If anything, people would probably make a common sense link between "longer you've been in business, the more reliable your product would be", so this would potentially strengthen the conclusion. But "how long you've been selling X" is a pretty weak logical basis for judging reliability.

   2%