10. Cable-television spokesperson: Subscriptions to
cable television are a bargain in comparison to “free”
television. Remember that “free” television is not really
free. It is consumers, in the end, who pay for the
costly advertising that supports “free” television.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the
position of the cable-television spokesperson?
(A) Consumers who do not own television sets are
less likely to be influenced in their purchasing
decisions by television advertising than are
consumers who own television sets.
(B) Subscriptions to cable television include access
to some public-television channels, which do not
accept advertising.
(C) For locations with poor television reception,
cable television provides picture quality superior
to that provided by free television.
(D) There is as much advertising on many cabletelevision
channels as there is on “free”
television channels.
(E) Cable-television subscribers can choose which
channels they wish to receive.
ETS答案：
Argument Evaluation Situation A cable-television spokesperson argues that cable fees are a bargain since so-called “free”television is actually paid for by consumers who underwrite the cost of advertising.
Reasoning Which point weakens the spokesperson’s argument? Th e spokesperson’s argument compares thebargain price of a subscription to cable television with the “price” of the costly advertising
on “free” television. Consider what situation would undermine this comparison. What ifcable television, in addition to its subscription fee, airs just as much advertising as does“free” television? Th en the cable subscriber is paying twice, and the spokesperson’s argument that cable television is a bargain in comparison to “free” television is weakened.
A People who do not watch television are irrelevant to the argument.
B Th e fact that cable television subscriptions include access to advertising-free public-television
channels does not weaken the argument that “free” television is not free.
C Th e picture quality of cable and free television are not at issue in this argument.
D Correct. Th is statement properly identifi es a factor that weakens the spokesperson’s argument:
If the cost of the advertising on “free” television is ultimately passed on to consumers in the
prices they pay for the advertised product, and many cable channels have comparable amounts
of advertising, then cable television will necessarily have the same kind of hidden cost as “free”
television.
E Television viewers who do not watch cable channels have a choice as to which channels and
programs they view. For example, they could watch channels with no advertising. So this
information does not diff erentiate cable-television viewers from “free”-television viewers.
Th e correct answer is D.
求教一下～～请问E选项为什么错了？E选项不是说Cable-television subscribers 可以选择其他channel吗？那也就是说Cable-television subscribers也可以收到"free" television 的广告了，那不是和正确答案D选项一个意思吗？都是说Cable-television 的广告和"free" television 的广告一样多，那E不是就对了？
谢谢啊！小弟初次来问题。。总觉得自己还是有一层障碍没有突破，，我说不清楚是自己对题设的理解还不够精确到位还是思路问题～～～恳请大侠们赐教。。。。！还有一个疑问就是。。E选项是不是我推理得太远了？GMAT逻辑题只推理一步？还是我理解错了？ | 
