sat suite question viewer
In the 2010s, the price of pop music cassette tapes from the 1980s and 1990s rose dramatically, which had the counterintuitive effect of blank demand: buyers who hadn’t previously wanted to purchase vintage cassettes thronged the market, believing prices would continue to rise and the tapes could be resold later at a profit.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
Explanation
Choice D is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of how rising prices affected demand for vintage cassette tapes. In this context, "engendering" means producing or causing to exist. The text indicates that the effect of a dramatic increase in the price of vintage cassettes was counterintuitive, or contrary to what would typically be expected. Generally, when prices rise, demand falls—but the text indicates that in this case, buyers who previously had no interest in cassettes "thronged the market" (that is, many of them began purchasing cassettes) because they saw the cassettes as potential investments. This context conveys that the rising prices surprisingly produced significant demand, producing many new buyers for vintage cassettes.
Choice A is incorrect because the text focuses on a rise in prices of vintage cassettes, and it wouldn’t make sense to describe the price increase itself—rather than sellers of vintage cassettes—as "exploiting," or unfairly or selfishly taking advantage of, demand. Further, wanting to take advantage of new demand would be a motivation for a price increase, not a counterintuitive effect of it. Choice B is incorrect. In this context, "monetizing" would mean utilizing as a source of profit, and it wouldn’t make sense to describe a price increase itself, rather than sellers of vintage cassettes, as using demand as a source of profit; moreover, seeking to profit when there’s new demand would be a reason for price increases, not a counterintuitive effect of them. Choice C is incorrect. In this context, "appraising" would mean assessing the value or significance of something. The text focuses on a rise in prices of vintage cassettes, and while it would be reasonable to suggest that sellers might have appraised demand for those cassettes, it wouldn’t make sense to suggest that a price increase itself could do such an assessment; moreover, an appraisal of demand would most likely precede a price increase rather than be an effect of it.