Box office receipts for independent

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jain2016: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 313; Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:01 am; Thanked: 2 times

by jain2016 » Sun May 01, 2016 6:43 am

Box office receipts for independent movies for the first half of this year have increased by 20 percent over the total receipts for independent movies for all of last year. Last year, 50 independent movies were released, while so far this year only 20 independent movies have been released. The number of independent movies slated for release in the second half of this year is roughly equal to the number released so far.

If the statements above are true, which of the following must be true?

A) The total box office receipts for independent movies this year will be significantly more than 20 percent greater than the receipts for independent movies last year.

B) The number of independent movies released in the first half of this year is equal to the number released in the first half of last year.

C) The price of a movie ticket has not increased since last year.

D) The average receipts for the independent films released during the first half of this year is greater than that of all independent films released last year.

E) The number of people seeing independent movies during the first half of this year is greater than the number who saw independent movies last year.

OAD

Hi Experts,

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

SJ

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sun May 01, 2016 6:43 am

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon May 02, 2016 7:46 am

jain2016 wrote:Box office receipts for independent movies for the first half of this year have increased by 20 percent over the total receipts for independent movies for all of last year. Last year, 50 independent movies were released, while so far this year only 20 independent movies have been released. The number of independent movies slated for release in the second half of this year is roughly equal to the number released so far.

If the statements above are true, which of the following must be true?

A) The total box office receipts for independent movies this year will be significantly more than 20 percent greater than the receipts for independent movies last year.

B) The number of independent movies released in the first half of this year is equal to the number released in the first half of last year.

C) The price of a movie ticket has not increased since last year.

D) The average receipts for the independent films released during the first half of this year is greater than that of all independent films released last year.

E) The number of people seeing independent movies during the first half of this year is greater than the number who saw independent movies last year.

OAD

Hi Experts,

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

SJ

It can be helpful to assign some simple numbers to help clarify the scenario.

We know that 50 independent movies were released last year. We know that the receipts from independent movies during the first half of this year are 20% higher than the receipts from independent movies from all of last year. So let's say last year independent movies made $100 and in the first half of this year, they made $120

To summarize:

Last Year 50 movies yield $100 in receipts
First half this year: 20 movies yield $120 in receipts.

Clearly, on average, independent movies were making more in the first half of this year than they were for all of last year - this year there were fewer movies, but these movies were generating more money! This is what's captured in D

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Mon May 02, 2016 8:33 am

David's explanation of the correct answer makes perfect sense here. I find, though, that on INFERENCE questions on CR (e.g. ones that ask "what MUST be true"), it's easier to disprove the wrong answers than simply to find the right one.

For each answer choice, I ask myself: does this HAVE to be true?

A) The total box office receipts for independent movies this year will be significantly more than 20 percent greater than the receipts for independent movies last year.
Does this have to be true? We're only given information about the first half of this year. Think about extremes: what if no one buys independent movie tickets in the 2nd half of the year! Then the whole year's total will not be SIGNIFICANTLY more than 20 percent greater.

Strong words such as "significantly" often signal a wrong answer.

B) The number of independent movies released in the first half of this year is equal to the number released in the first half of last year.

We don't know anything about this. Last year there could have been way more movies in the beginning of the year than at the end, or vice versa.

C) The price of a movie ticket has not increased since last year.

The only information we're given in about "box office receipts," which are a function of both ticket prices and number of tickets sold. If we're not given any information directly about number of tickets sold, we can't make any inferences about ticket prices.

D) The average receipts for the independent films released during the first half of this year is greater than that of all independent films released last year.

Correct, as David explains.

E) The number of people seeing independent movies during the first half of this year is greater than the number who saw independent movies last year.

Think again about extremes: couldn't it just be ONE person buying all of the tickets? Unlikely, but possible. We have no way of tying box office receipts to number of tickets, let alone number of people.

Strike down wrong answers by finding counterexamples, and you'll find the right answer more quickly!

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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GMAT/MBA Expert

ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Mon May 02, 2016 8:35 am

Here are more examples of CR inference problems where you can practice asking "does this HAVE to be true?"
https://www.beatthegmat.com/bone-depleti ... tml#569967
https://www.beatthegmat.com/why-is-e-wro ... tml#718643
https://www.beatthegmat.com/conclusion-t ... tml#582254

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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