Question: The usual meaning of free is devoid of cost or obligation. However, retailers often use the word for something which is merely included in the overall price. One common example is a buy one, get one free sale. The second item is not free under the normal definition, since, to obtain it, the buyer is obliged to pay the full cost of the first item.

What is the main point of the argument?

(A) Retailers often deceive buyers by creating the illusion of a discount; the buyer in fact does not get any discount.
(B) Whenever a retailer advertises an item as Free, the item is, in fact, not free.
(C) Retailers often trick customers by increasing the price of a product and then offering huge discounts on this increased price.
(D) An item cannot be free if one has to pay money in any form to acquire that item.
(E) The definition of Free can have different connotations for different people or groups of people

“The usual meaning of free is devoid of cost or obligation. However”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book “GMAT Official Guide.”

This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. Candidates get 65 minutes to answer 36 MCQ questions in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT.

Answer: D
Explanation: The main point of the argument is that an item cannot be called free if one has to pay a price (in the form of purchasing another item) to get the item in question. Option D states this best and is the correct answer. Let’s take a look at the other answer choices

Option A
Retailers often deceive buyers by creating the illusion of a discount; the buyer in fact does not get any discount.- Incorrect. There is no deception as the buyer does get a discount. He does not get the product completely free, though, because he has to buy another product to get the one that is free. But he still gets these at a lower price than he would have otherwise.

Option B
Whenever a retailer advertises an item as Free, the item is, in fact, not free.- Incorrect. Extreme answer choice. There could be some instances in which the item is free.

Option C
Retailers often trick customers by increasing the price of a product and then offering huge discounts on this increased price.- Incorrect. The argument never states this fact. Therefore, it can not be inferred.

Option D
An item cannot be free if one has to pay money in any form to acquire that item.- Correct. This is the usual definition. An item cannot be free if you need to somehow pay for it or something else to get it.

Option E
The definition of Free can have different connotations for different people or groups of people.- Incorrect. Could be true, but not the main. According to the argument, the definition of Free should only have one connotation.

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