Self-study
Our computer experts are asked from time to time to allocate funds for new hardware and software for our company. ██████████████ █████ ███████ █████ ████████████ █████████████ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ █████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ████ ████████████ ████████████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ ██ ████████████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██████████ ████████████
Method of Reasoning
This is a Miscellaneous/Parallel hybrid; it is not an argument like most Parallel questions.
The stimulus illustrates a situation in which decisions are made based on preferences of a subset of a group (new technologies are exciting to the computer experts in the company) rather than what may be best for the group as a whole (new technologies are less profitable than other options).
12.
Of the following, which one ████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████ ██████
a
When senior executives ██████ ██ ███████ ██████ ███████████ ████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ███ █████ █████ ████████████ ██████████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██████████
Instead of choosing the preference of a subset within a group over benefitting the broader group, in (A), the executives choose one quality (shared professional interests) over another quality (education level) in making a decision (who to promote).
b
When supermarkets choose ██████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ███ █████ ██ █████ ████ ███ ███ ████ █████████ ███ ██████████
Instead of choosing the preference of a subset within a group over benefitting the broader group, (B) illustrates a situation of sacrificing a benefit for one group (consumers) in order to benefit a completely different group (the supermarket).
c
When librarians choose █████ ███ ███ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ █████ ████ ████ █████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ██ █████ ████ █████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████
(C) illustrates a situation in which decisions are made based on preferences of a subset of a group (librarians choose books that they enjoy reading) rather than what may be best for the group as a whole (the books that serve the interests of the community).
d
When students choose ████████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ █████ ███ █████ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████ ███ █████
Instead of choosing the preference of a subset within a group over benefitting the broader group, in (D), the students choose one quality (low workload) over another quality (amount they’ll learn) in making a decision (which course to take).
e
When television executives ██████ ████████ ██ ████ ████ ██████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ████████ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ █████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ████████ ██████
In (E), the television executives make a decision that aligns with the preference of the broader group (what viewers want), not the preferences of a smaller subset, so (E) does not conform with the principle illustrated in the stimulus.