Critical Reasoning

On May first, in order to reduce the number of overdue books, a children's library instituted a policy of forgiving fines and giving bookmarks to children returning all of their overdue books. On July first there were twice as many overdue books as there had been on May first, although a record number of books had been returned during the interim.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparent inconsistency in the results of the library's policy?

(A) The librarians did not keep accurate records of how many children took advantage of the grace period, and some of the children returning overdue books did not return all of their overdue books.

(B) Although the grace period enticed some children to return all of their overdue books, it did not convince all of the children with overdue books to return all of their books.

(C) The bookmarks became popular among the children, so in order to collect the bookmarks, many children borrowed many more books than they usually did and kept them past their due date.

(D) The children were allowed to borrow a maximum of five books for a two-week period, and hence each child could keep a maximum of fifteen books beyond their due date within a two-month period.

(E) Although the library forgave overdue fines during the grace period, the amount previously charged the children was minimal; hence, the forgiveness of the fines did not provide enough incentive for them to return their overdue books.

OA:C

Source: OG Verbal 2016,CR Qs.55

@Verbal Experts - I'm kind of lost in this CR. Please share your detail analysis, especially with reference to the OA and B.
Why Option B is wrong and how EXACTLY the OA addresses the aspect of "a record number of books had been returned during the interim" ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:On May first, in order to reduce the number of overdue books, a children's library instituted a policy of forgiving fines and giving bookmarks to children returning all of their overdue books. On July first there were twice as many overdue books as there had been on May first, although a record number of books had been returned during the interim.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparent inconsistency in the results of the library's policy?

(A) The librarians did not keep accurate records of how many children took advantage of the grace period, and some of the children returning overdue books did not return all of their overdue books.

(B) Although the grace period enticed some children to return all of their overdue books, it did not convince all of the children with overdue books to return all of their books.

(C) The bookmarks became popular among the children, so in order to collect the bookmarks, many children borrowed many more books than they usually did and kept them past their due date.

(D) The children were allowed to borrow a maximum of five books for a two-week period, and hence each child could keep a maximum of fifteen books beyond their due date within a two-month period.

(E) Although the library forgave overdue fines during the grace period, the amount previously charged the children was minimal; hence, the forgiveness of the fines did not provide enough incentive for them to return their overdue books.

FACT 1: A record number of books were returned.
FACT 2: The number of overdue books doubled.

Question:
How can both facts be true at the same time?
Answer:
The bookmarks induced children not only to RETURN books (leading to a record number of returned books) but also to BORROW books (increasing the number of books overdue on July 1).

Answer choice C:
The bookmarks became popular among the children, so in order to collect the bookmarks, many children borrowed many more books than they usually did and kept them past their due date.
Here, the bookmarks induced children not only to RETURN BOOKS (so a bookmark could be collected) but also to BORROW BOOKS AND KEEP THEM PAST THE DUE DATE (so a bookmark could be collected upon the return of these books).
The result was a record number of returned books and a doubling of the number of overdue books.

The correct answer is C.

Answer choice B:
Although the grace period enticed some children to return all of their overdue books, it did not convince all of the children with overdue books to return all of their books.
Here, some children return all of their overdue books, some do not.
The result should be a DECREASE in the total number of overdue books.
Since this option does not explain why the number of overdue books doubled, eliminate B.

GMATGuruNY wrote: Answer choice C:
To collect the bookmarks, MANY CHILDREN BORROWED MANY MORE BOOKS THAN THEY USUALLY DID and kept them past their due date.
Here, upon receiving a bookmark for returning all of their overdue books (explaining the record number of returned books), many children at the same time BORROWED MANY MORE BOOKS (explaining why the number of overdue books doubled).

The correct answer is C.

So, here the portion in RED in this phrase -- "...in order to collect the bookmarks, many children borrowed many more books than they usually did and kept them past their due date" -- actually IMPLIES that books were returned post-due date (otherwise the INTEND to collect the bookmarks is NOT met).

Am I correct ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: Answer choice C:
To collect the bookmarks, MANY CHILDREN BORROWED MANY MORE BOOKS THAN THEY USUALLY DID and kept them past their due date.
Here, upon receiving a bookmark for returning all of their overdue books (explaining the record number of returned books), many children at the same time BORROWED MANY MORE BOOKS (explaining why the number of overdue books doubled).

The correct answer is C.

So, here the portion in RED in this phrase -- "...in order to collect the bookmarks, many children borrowed many more books than they usually did and kept them past their due date" -- actually IMPLIES that books were returned post-due date (otherwise the INTEND to collect the bookmarks is NOT met).

Am I correct ?

The portion in red implies that children were induced not only to RETURN OVERDUE BOOKS (in exchange for a bookmark) but also to BORROW MORE BOOKS AND KEEP THEM PAST THEIR DUE DATE (so that these books could later be returned in exchange for a bookmark).
The result was an increase both in the number of returned books and in the number of overdue books.