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Manufactured in China

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by linfongyu » Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:14 pm
From an article in the Wall Street Chronicle: Sales statistics of major electronics manufacturers with sales in the United States show that 80% of consumer electronics (such as televisions, DVD players, and computers) sold in the U.S. last year were manufactured in China.

From an article in Consumer Results Magazine: The results from last year's survey on consumer electronics choices show that while products made in China are still very popular, more and more Americans are buying products made in Japan, Germany, and the United States. These three countries combined account for 38% of products sold in the U.S. last year.

For both of the findings to be accurate, which of the following must be true?
(A) More Americans who do not purchase consumer electronics prefer goods produced in China to those produced elsewhere.
(B) Major electronics manufacturers do not limit their production plants to one country, often dividing different stages of manufacturing among plants around the world.
(C) Most consumer electronics purchased last year that were not manufactured in China were manufactured and sold in the United States.
(D) The average price of a Chinese-manufactured consumer electronics device is lower than that of a device manufactured elsewhere.
(E) Major electronics manufacturers sell a higher percentage of Chinese-produced consumer devices than do smaller manufacturers.

OA to come shortly after some discussions.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by pandeyvineet24 » Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:31 pm
IMO A.
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by mehravikas » Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:40 pm
I was between A and B. I would go with A. C, D and E can be ruled out for the following reasons -

(C) Most consumer electronics purchased last year that were not manufactured in China were manufactured and sold in the United States. - No info on this, consumers might have purchased more Japense goods
(D) The average price of a Chinese-manufactured consumer electronics device is lower than that of a device manufactured elsewhere. - No info given on the price, also the argument is not about the price
(E) Major electronics manufacturers sell a higher percentage of Chinese-produced consumer devices than do smaller manufacturers. - Again not relevant to the argument
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by linfongyu » Sat Nov 21, 2009 4:39 pm
Any more takers?
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by heshamelaziry » Sat Nov 21, 2009 5:51 pm
I am weak in this question. B implies that some components of the 80% Chinese manufactured devices were manufactured in other countries; this could explain the contradiction.
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by linfongyu » Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:36 pm
[spoiler]Official Answer: E[/spoiler]

Official explanation:
This is an explanation/paradox question. From a quick reading, the two reports seem to claim that 80% of electronics were manufactured in China, and 38% of products were made in other places. Clearly that's incorrect--there must be more to the story. The distinction is in the Wall Street Chronicle claim, which is limited to "major" electronics manufacturers. The second claim does not make that distinction. Thus, it would appear that, while 20% of products sold in the U.S. made by "major" electronics manufacturers did not come from Chinese manufacturers , a greater percent of products sold in the U.S. by non-major manufacturers did not come from China.

Think of it like a weighted average question. All manufacturers are either major or non-major. If 20% of the major company sales were non-China made and 38% of total sales were non-China made, then non-major sales must have been greater than 38% non-China made. Choice (E) is the only option consistent with that conclusion. If the products of non-major manufacturers are more than 38% non-China made, they must be much less than 80% made in China. Thus, (E) is correct.
Last edited by linfongyu on Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by heshamelaziry » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:02 pm
Beyond my comfort level in 5 minutes not to mention 2 minutes. Some times it is better to recognize self limitations than vainly challenge one's abilities.

Really glad for those who can solve this in 3 minutes. You guys can score 750 for sure.
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by munaf » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:05 am
Please post OA

I feel it should be D. If we read carefully it says 80% consumer electronics sold in US are made in china and 38% other products are from other three countries.
This indicates that more china made consumer electonics are sold in US because they must be cheaper.
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by mehravikas » Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:36 am
Source of the question?
linfongyu wrote:[spoiler]Official Answer: E[/spoiler]

Official explanation:
This is an explanation/paradox question. From a quick reading, the two reports seem to claim that 80% of electronics were manufactured in China, and 38% of products were made in other places. Clearly that's incorrect--there must be more to the story. The distinction is in the Wall Street Chronicle claim, which is limited to "major" electronics manufacturers. The second claim does not make that distinction. Thus, it would appear that, while 20% of products sold in the U.S. made by "major" electronics manufacturers did not come from Chinese manufacturers , a greater percent of products sold in the U.S. by non-major manufacturers did not come from China.

Think of it like a weighted average question. All manufacturers are either major or non-major. If 20% of the major company sales were non-China made and 38% of total sales were non-China made, then non-major sales must have been greater than 38% non-China made. Choice (E) is the only option consistent with that conclusion. If the products of non-major manufacturers are more than 38% non-China made, they must be much less than 80% made in China. Thus, (E) is correct.
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