Evaluation--Cereal

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Evaluation--Cereal

by amysky_0205 » Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:28 am
Because of steep increases in the average price per box of cereal over the last 10 years, overall sales of cereal have recently begun to drop. In an attempt to improve sales, one major cereal manufacturer reduced the wholesale prices of its cereals by 20 percent. Since most other cereal manufacturers have announced that they will follow suit, it is likely that the level of overall sales of cereal will rise significantly.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in evaluating the argument?

A. Whether the high marketing expenses of the highly competitive cereal market led to the increase in cereal prices
B. Whether cereal manufacturers use marketing techniques that encourage brand loyalty among consumers
C. Whether the variety of cereals available on the market has significantly increased over the last 10 years
D. Whether the prices that supermarkets charge for these cereals will reflect the lower prices the supermarkets will be paying the manufacturers
E. Whether the sales of certain types of cereal have declined disproportionately over the last 10 years

OA: D

can someone explain this one?
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:46 am
amysky_0205 wrote:Because of steep increases in the average price per box of cereal over the last 10 years, overall sales of cereal have recently begun to drop. In an attempt to improve sales, one major cereal manufacturer reduced the wholesale prices of its cereals by 20 percent. Since most other cereal manufacturers have announced that they will follow suit, it is likely that the level of overall sales of cereal will rise significantly.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in evaluating the argument?

A. Whether the high marketing expenses of the highly competitive cereal market led to the increase in cereal prices
B. Whether cereal manufacturers use marketing techniques that encourage brand loyalty among consumers
C. Whether the variety of cereals available on the market has significantly increased over the last 10 years
D. Whether the prices that supermarkets charge for these cereals will reflect the lower prices the supermarkets will be paying the manufacturers
E. Whether the sales of certain types of cereal have declined disproportionately over the last 10 years

OA: D
The passage links WHOLESALE PRICES to OVERALL SALES.
The correct answer choice must help us determine whether this link is valid.
Rephrase the answer choices as STRONGLY NEGATIVE statements.
The rephrase of the correct answer choice will either STRENGTHEN OR WEAKEN the conclusion.

A. The high marketing expenses of the highly competitive cereal market HAS NOT led to the increase in cereal prices.
B. Cereal manufacturers DO NOT USE marketing techniques that encourage brand loyalty among consumers.
C. The variety of cereals available on the market HAS NOT significantly increased over the last 10 years.
D. The prices that supermarkets charge for these cereals WILL NOT REFLECT the lower prices the supermarkets will be paying the manufacturers.
E. The sales of certain types of cereal HAVE NOT DECLINED disproportionately over the last 10 years.


Only the rephrase of D affects the conclusion: If supermarkets do not lower the prices charged to CUSTOMERS, then the conclusion that lower WHOLESALE PRICES will lead to higher OVERALL SALES is invalidated.

The correct answer is D.
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by tanviet » Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:01 am
this is proposal passage (
do X then Y happens.

prethink
-assumption: there is not bad thing (I learn this from Mint Huntch in his other posting)
to to answer choices.
look for something which is relevant to the bad thing
D matchs.

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by Java_85 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:35 am
good question, IMO D