GMAT Prep question

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GMAT Prep question

by anksm22 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 7:42 pm
In the year following an 8-cent increase in the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes, sales of cigarettes fell 10%. In contrast, in the year prior to the tax increase, sales had fallen 1%. The volume of cigarette sales is therefore strongly related to the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes.

The argument above requires which of the following assumptions?

A.During the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes did not increase by as much as it had during the year prior to the tax increase.
B.The one percent fall in cigarette sales in the year prior to tax increase was due to a smaller tax increase.
C.The pretax price of a pack of cigarettes gradually decreased throughout the year before and the year after the tax increase.
D.For the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes were not eight or more cents lower than it had been the previous year.
E.As the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes rises, the pretax price also rises.


Please explain the choices
OA C
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Nov 08, 2014 8:19 am
In the year following an eight-cent increase in the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes, sales of cigarettes fell ten percent. In contrast, in the year prior to the tax increase, sales had fallen one percent. The volume of cigarette sales is therefore strongly related to the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes. The argument above requires which of following assumptions?

A. During the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes did not increase by as much as it had during the year prior to the tax increase.
B. The one percent fall in cigarette sales in the year prior to tax increase was due to a smaller tax increase.
C. The pretax price of a pack of cigarettes gradually decreased throughout the year before and the year after the tax increase.
D. For the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes was not eight or more cents lower than it had been the previous year.
E. As the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes rises, the pretax price also rises.
This CR exhibits a LANGUAGE SHIFT.
The premise is about a TAX INCREASE; the conclusion is about the AFTER-TAX PRICE.

The CR links these two ideas:
It assumes that the TAX increase led to an after-tax PRICE increase.
What must be true for this link to be valid?
In order for the after-tax price to GO UP as a result of the 8-cent tax increase, it must be true that the pre-tax price did not GO DOWN by 8 cents or more.

Answer choice D gives us just what we need:
It states that the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes was not eight or more cents lower than it had been.

The correct answer is D.
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