Critical Reasoning

Opera producers are worried that a recent drop in the number of people attending opera indicates a growing trend. In a major city, the five performances with the lowest attendance for the year all occurred within a single week, that of January 6 - 12. That week the opera company performed only contemporary operas. Some producers have concluded that opera fans are unwilling to buy tickets for contemporary operas.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the producers' conclusion?

The five operas scheduled during the week of January 6 - 12 were performed over four days, so there may have been poor performances due to fatigue.

On January 12, a huge snowstorm delayed mass transportation and forced the transportation authority to close some major roads.

During the week of January 6 - 12, one of the performances was canceled, accounting for a sizable drop in the week's total attendance.

Every ticket for performances during the week of January 6 - 12 was sold, although many ticket - holders did not attend.

Many contemporary operas are distinctly atonal, and most opera lovers dislike atonal music.

[spoiler]B cant be the answer, because
the text says In a major city, the five performances with the lowest attendance for the year all occurred within a single week, that of January 6 - 12. That week the opera company performed only contemporary operas...
this mean that the low attendance happened for all days in a week from 6 to 12 of the week
B says there's a snowstorm in january 12 , but the snowstorm happen for only 1 day. 1/12. what about the other days? so i chose D
anyways, whats the answer for this CR?, how do you guys think?[/spoiler]

IMO D is best. It hits conclusion(not willing to buy tickets) while maintaining the strength of the premise(Lowest attendance)

Is there any discrepancy ? Is OA B? (am wondering weather the question is from real GMAT )

Why not C? Since one show was cancelled, there was a drop in the total week's attendance - shows that the lowest attendance within the week was nothing but coincidental.

People may have bought tickets but not attended because contemporary operas were playing. That would weaken D, would it not?

IMO D

I think Op B, can not be the answer, as Op B has a very limited scope, it talks about on 12th Jan, what about other days 6-11..????

Op D is directly hitting the conclusion

Some producers have concluded that opera fans are unwilling to buy tickets for contemporary operas.

IMO B

badpoem wrote:Why not C? Since one show was cancelled, there was a drop in the total week's attendance - shows that the lowest attendance within the week was nothing but coincidental.

People may have bought tickets but not attended because contemporary operas were playing. That would weaken D, would it not?

Note that the premises focus on low attendance in each of the shows individually, not on the weekly attendance: "the five performances with the lowest attendance for the year all occurred within a single week..". since the consideration is for individual shows, the fact that it was a weak week because one show was canceled is irrelevant. If the premises has looked at the week as a whole (e.g. stated that the week had the lowest attendance of all weekly attendances that year), then C would've been a weakening point.
The answer should indeed be D. The premises state that the shows had the lowest attendance, while the conclusion makes the leap to "unwilling to buy tickets". The assumption is that the two are the same - people who buy, also attend, and thus lower attendance means that less people had bought tickets in the first place. D weakens this assumption by severing the connection between buying a ticket and attending the show: the tickets SOLD - every ticket for the performance was sold - but people did not manage to attend.