Tricky CR!

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:45 am

From 1973 to 1976, total United States consumption of cigarettes increased 3.4 percent, and total sales of chewing tobacco rose 18.0 percent. During the same period, total United States population increased 5.0 percent.

If statement above are true, which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn?

A. United States manufacturers of tobacco products had higher profits in1976 than in 1973

B. Per capita consumption of cigarettes in the United States was lower in 1976 than 1973

C. The proportion of nonsmokers in the United States population dropped slightly between 1973 and 1976

D. United States manufacturers of tobacco products realize a lower profit on cigarettes than on chewing tobacco

E. A large percentage of United States smokers switched cigarettes to chewing tobacco between 1973 and 1976.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:45 am

asamaverick: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 106; Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:29 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 26 times; GMAT Score:700

by asamaverick » Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:55 am

B is the only logical inference that we can draw here.
The population rose by 5% and consumption of cigarette rose by 3.4%.
So the per capita consumption (which is consumption/population) must have reduced since the consumption increased at a lower rate compared to population.

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selango: Legendary Member; Posts: 1460; Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:28 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 135 times

by selango » Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:34 am

Can anyone explain with the following example?

1973 1976
-------------------------------------------------------

cigarettes--1000 1034

tobacco--- 1000 1180

population-- 1500 1575

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pnk: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 292; Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:39 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by pnk » Fri Jun 18, 2010 9:09 am

gmat_perfect wrote:From 1973 to 1976, total United States consumption of cigarettes increased 3.4 percent, and total sales of chewing tobacco rose 18.0 percent. During the same period, total United States population increased 5.0 percent.

If statement above are true, which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn?

A. United States manufacturers of tobacco products had higher profits in1976 than in 1973 (profits not mentioned)
B. Per capita consumption of cigarettes in the United States was lower in 1976 than 1973 (ratio 1034/1050<1 --> lower in 1976)

C. The proportion of nonsmokers in the United States population dropped slightly between 1973 and 1976 (nonsmokers not discussed. It can happen any increase in smoking is from the increase in quanity of existing smokers)
D. United States manufacturers of tobacco products realize a lower profit on cigarettes than on chewing tobacco (profits not mentioned)
E. A large percentage of United States smokers switched cigarettes to chewing tobacco between 1973 and 1976. (can't say...quite possible any increase in tobacoo consumption is due to nonsmokers interest in tobacco)

IMO B

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tpr-becky: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 509; Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:08 pmFollowed by: 85 members; Location: Irvine, CA; Thanked: 199 times; GMAT Score:750

by tpr-becky » Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:03 am

I fully agree with PNK - although this looks like a math question it is really about the information they give you - they only tell you the % increase of cigarretts, chewing and population - therefore those are the only things you can infer about. B is the only answer which deals with these facts - we don't know profits, we don't know non-smokers, and we don't know who switched. Don't make CR about math.

Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:05 am

Thanks for reply.
OA is B.

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:56 pm

Received a pm.

selango wrote:Can anyone explain with the following example?

1973 1976
-------------------------------------------------------

cigarettes--1000 1034

tobacco--- 1000 1180

population-- 1500 1575

per capita consumption of cigarettes in '73: 1000/1500 = 0.666
per capita consumption of cigarettes in '76: 1034/1575 = approx 0.65

Thus, per capita consumption must have decreased.

________

I wouldn't have solved it this way though. Notice that population growth outpaced growth rate of cigarette consumption. Thus, cigerattes consumed per person (per capita) must have decreased.

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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nipunkathuria: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 43; Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:40 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by nipunkathuria » Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:39 am

tpr-becky wrote:I fully agree with PNK - although this looks like a math question it is really about the information they give you - they only tell you the % increase of cigarretts, chewing and population - therefore those are the only things you can infer about. B is the only answer which deals with these facts - we don't know profits, we don't know non-smokers, and we don't know who switched. Don't make CR about math.

Hi, just wanted to question the assessment given above..It may be so that in 1976 the increase in the consumption of the cigg has not been contributed by the increased population; may be that the old population only increased their consumption. This was the reason y i eliminated the option B. Please confirm my reasoning.

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g000fy: MBA Student; Posts: 113; Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:05 pm; Location: West Lafayette; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by g000fy » Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:06 am

nipunkathuria wrote:
tpr-becky wrote:I fully agree with PNK - although this looks like a math question it is really about the information they give you - they only tell you the % increase of cigarretts, chewing and population - therefore those are the only things you can infer about. B is the only answer which deals with these facts - we don't know profits, we don't know non-smokers, and we don't know who switched. Don't make CR about math.

Hi, just wanted to question the assessment given above..It may be so that in 1976 the increase in the consumption of the cigg has not been contributed by the increased population; may be that the old population only increased their consumption. This was the reason y i eliminated the option B. Please confirm my reasoning.

That's true but fails to eliminate B! I'm assuming you're stuck between B and E. Mathematically, B is true always based on the information provided in the stimulus. E may or may not be true.

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srinathkotela: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:25 pm

by srinathkotela » Sat Dec 29, 2012 6:08 pm

Testluv wrote:Received a pm.

selango wrote:Can anyone explain with the following example?

1973 1976
-------------------------------------------------------

cigarettes--1000 1034

tobacco--- 1000 1180

population-- 1500 1575
per capita consumption of cigarettes in '73: 1000/1500 = 0.666
per capita consumption of cigarettes in '76: 1034/1575 = approx 0.65

Thus, per capita consumption must have decreased.

________

I wouldn't have solved it this way though. Notice that population growth outpaced growth rate of cigarette consumption. Thus, cigerattes consumed per person (per capita) must have decreased.

I agree that B is best among all the answers, but i think with % alone we cannot come to any conclusions, because the consumption may be so large and the population may be so small that the increase of consumption of 3.4% and population increase of 5% shouldn't matter and the ration might increase.....

Correct me if i am wrong

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sinhap07: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 14; Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:12 am

by sinhap07 » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:49 am

Hi

Even I was testing some numbers but getting different result:

1973=10/100=10%
1976=13.4/105=12.75%

Where am I going wrong?

Testluv wrote:Received a pm.

selango wrote:Can anyone explain with the following example?

1973 1976
-------------------------------------------------------

cigarettes--1000 1034

tobacco--- 1000 1180

population-- 1500 1575
per capita consumption of cigarettes in '73: 1000/1500 = 0.666
per capita consumption of cigarettes in '76: 1034/1575 = approx 0.65

Thus, per capita consumption must have decreased.

________

I wouldn't have solved it this way though. Notice that population growth outpaced growth rate of cigarette consumption. Thus, cigerattes consumed per person (per capita) must have decreased.

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