Critical Reasoning

Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year.

Point 2: The average time spent by shoppers per visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall is now about one hour.

Point 2 would be most likely to contribute to an explanation of Point 1 if which of the following statements were also true?

A The average shopper currently visits fewer than half of the stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall.
B Many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the Bedford Falls Megamall last year.
C Recent construction has reduced the overall size of the Bedford Falls Megamall.
D The number of malls in Bedford Falls is increasing, and the average shopper visits more malls this year than he or she did last year.
E The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall last year.

Is it [spoiler]'D'?[/spoiler]

IMO E.

I dont see where time of average shopper and average time of shopper makes difference.

Anyways I used PoE to get to E.

What is OA?

IMO -- E

mmon wrote:Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year.

Point 2: The average time spent by shoppers per visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall is now about one hour.

Point 2 would be most likely to contribute to an explanation of Point 1 if which of the following statements were also true?

A The average shopper currently visits fewer than half of the stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall.
B Many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the Bedford Falls Megamall last year.
C Recent construction has reduced the overall size of the Bedford Falls Megamall.
D The number of malls in Bedford Falls is increasing, and the average shopper visits more malls this year than he or she did last year.
E The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall last year.

I think ans is B. Because people are spending less time in the mall than that they spent last year, so entering less number of stores.

xyztroy wrote:

mmon wrote:Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year.

Point 2: The average time spent by shoppers per visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall is now about one hour.

Point 2 would be most likely to contribute to an explanation of Point 1 if which of the following statements were also true?

A The average shopper currently visits fewer than half of the stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall.
B Many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the Bedford Falls Megamall last year.
C Recent construction has reduced the overall size of the Bedford Falls Megamall.
D The number of malls in Bedford Falls is increasing, and the average shopper visits more malls this year than he or she did last year.
E The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall last year.

I think ans is B. Because people are spending less time in the mall than that they spent last year, so entering less number of stores.

e sounds more convincing to me than B. Point B states the amount of time the shopper spends this year. Using E we can derive that average time remained the same but number of malls increased leading to less proportion of store the shopper enter.

I would say E. Try and personalize the argument.

If you went to fewer stores this year than the previous year and spent the same amount of time last year as this year, what could be the reason?

B isn't bad but E is tighter I think. If you spent 75 minutes/visit last year, you could have spent all 75 minutes in one store. This year, you could have visited 20 stores in one hour...or vice-versa. Time doesn't necessarily dictate the amount of stores you visit.

thanks pkw209. OA is E