Critical Reasoning

Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last Year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last Year.
B. The wholesale price is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.
C. The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.
D. Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.
E. The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

OA: A

Hi Verbal Experts,
Got this one right. But a quick clarification on why Option E is wrong -

I think, issue with E is that increase in the cost of harvesting raw cotton is NOT really related to the retail price of cotton for cloth (RATHER it's more likely to have an impact on wholesale price of raw cotton).

Correct me please if wrong!

E is Flawed becoz even if cost of harvesting increased, the Whole price of the harvested/raw Cotton was has fallen considerably.

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi Verbal Experts,
Got this one right. But a quick clarification on why Option E is wrong -

I think, issue with E is that increase in the cost of harvesting raw cotton is NOT really related to the retail price of cotton for cloth (RATHER it's more likely to have an impact on wholesale price of raw cotton).

Correct me please if wrong!

@ Verbal Experts - could you please share your feedback on my above concern ?

Look forward to hear from you. Much thanks!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi Verbal Experts,
Got this one right. But a quick clarification on why Option E is wrong -

I think, issue with E is that increase in the cost of harvesting raw cotton is NOT really related to the retail price of cotton for cloth (RATHER it's more likely to have an impact on wholesale price of raw cotton).

Correct me please if wrong!

@ Verbal Experts - could you please share your feedback on my above concern ?

Look forward to hear from you. Much thanks!

This argument is about the link between wholesale and retail prices of cotton: the wholesale price has dropped, so the author concludes that the retail price will drop. Imagine that you're a retail seller of cotton. If the price of wholesale cotton has dropped from, say, $5/bushel to $4/bushel, would it really matter to you what's happened to the harvesting cost of cotton, given that you're not the one doing the harvesting? Of course not. (But when deciding what price you plan on selling the cotton for, you'd certainly take into account other costs you'll incur in processing the cotton.) As for your conclusion that the harvesting cost would be more likely to impact the whole-seller's price than to impact the retailer's price, it's not an unreasonable thought, but as a poster above mentioned, we already know that irrespective of other factors that whole-sellers might be considering, the price they sell cotton for has dropped. (Perhaps harvesting costs have gone up, but some other costs have gone down, and the net effect was to reduce costs. Perhaps harvesting costs have gone up, but the supply of cotton has gone up too, forcing whole-sellers to reduce their prices to remain competitive. We don't know, and it doesn't matter, because we know they've reduced their prices.)

Yes, Dave. Absolutely.

I just wanted to know whether I got the issue in E properly in order to eliminate it. Thanks for clarifying that I got it right!

(in my post above, as for the part that starts with RATHER, I just mentioned it to point out how E is wrong/NOT really RELEVANT to weaken the CONCLUSION in this CR - nothing else!)

can anyone please explain why option c is wrong

susmithasakhamuri wrote:can anyone please explain why option c is wrong

Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last Year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last Year.
B. The wholesale price is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.
C. The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.
D. Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.
E. The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

We're trying to determine if a decrease in the wholesale price in raw cotton will translate to a decease in the retail price of cotton clothing. C, if anything, is a mild strengthener. If the raw material cost has gone down and the operating costs of the retailer haven't changed, there might be reason to assume that the retail cost of the cotton clothing would, in fact, go down. (You could also argue that it's irrelevant, as knowing the operating costs of the retailer sheds no light on whether there are additional costs for the wholesaler that we've yet to consider.) Either way, C does not weaken the argument.