After examining the options, the budget committee discovered that QI's office–phone system would be inexpensive enoug...

Naz on September 2, 2014

The stimulus states that QI's office-phone system is inexpensive enough to be within the cost limit that had been set for the committee. It then states that because Corelink's system is even less expensive, i.e. it does not exceed the amount that QI's office-phone system costs, it is therefore also inexpensive.

Remember, we are looking for the answer choice that has the most similar reasoning to the argument, as opposed to the most mirrored structure, i.e. we are less concerned that both the argument and correct answer choice discuss "companies" as opposed to "products," and more concerned that the logic in the argument and correct answer choice are similar.

Answer choice (A) states: "Marissa is just tall enough that she can touch the ceiling when she jumps as high as she can, and since Jeff is taller than Marissa, he too must be able to touch the ceiling when he jumps."

The issue with answer choice (A) is that Jeff's height does not fall "within" Marissa's height; whereas, Corelink's system price falls within the price of QI's office-phone system price. Jeff's height is taller, as opposed to shorter, than Marissa's. Answer choice (A)'s reasoning does not parallel the reasoning in the argument.

Answer choice (E) states: "Health Dairy's sharp cheddar cheese is low enough in fat to meet the labeling standard for "low fat" cheddar cheese, and since its mild cheddar cheese is even lower in fat, it too must meet the labeling standard."

This answer choice, like the argument, explains that one item must have the same characteristic as another because the second item falls within the same range of the first. We are told that Health Dairy's sharp cheddar cheese is low enough in fat to meet the labeling standard for "low fat" cheddar cheese, and since mild cheddar cheese has even less fat than "low fat" cheddar cheese, i.e. its fat content falls within that of sharp cheddar cheese's, it must also meet the labeling standard. Thus, just like the argument, because the second item had even less of a specific quality than the first, they must both share the same resulting characteristic.

Hope that helped! Please let us know if you have any other questions.