Live GMAT classes with Target Test Prep start Nov 21 and Nov 22. First class free.

See classes
Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026 winner: Target Test Prep, #1 Test Prep

Target Test Prep was voted #1 Best Test Prep in the 2026 Newsweek Readers’ Choice™ Awards.

★★★★★5.0563 reviews
GMATLiveTeachStarts Nov 22
Josh Braslow, Target Test Prep GMAT expert
LIVE ONLINE CLASSES

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

with Josh Braslow, 20+ years in test prep

Nov 22 · Josh Braslow
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes + 6 months of TTP OnDemand
  • Attend the first class for free
  • Every class is recorded, so you never fall behind
View classes & enroll
Limited seats availableTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeachOnDemandStart anytime
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Self-paced EA prep. Study on your schedule.

EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

with

165+ EA score guarantee
$05-day trial no automatic billing
Schedule
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll Start free 5-day trial
Limited cohort · enrollment openTrial includes full course accessTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemandStart anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions

Manufacturer of mechanical pencils

Expert replies
by Needgmat » Fri Sep 02, 2016 6:36 am
Manufacturer of mechanical pencils make most of their profit on pencil leads rather than on the pencils themselves. The write company, which can not sell its leads as cheaply as other manufacturers can, plans to alter the design of its mechanical pencil so that it will accept only a newly designed write company lead, which will be sold at the same price as the write company's current lead.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the write's company's projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales of pencil leads?

A) First time buyers of mechanical pencils tend to buy the least expensive mechanical pencils available.

B) Annual sales of mechanical pencils are expected to triple over the next five years.

C) A write company executive is studying ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing pencil leads.

D) A rival manufacturer recently announced similar plans to introduce a mechanical pencil that would accept only the leads produced by that manufacturer.

E) In extensive test marketing, mechanical-pencil users found the new write company pencil markedly superior to other mechanical pencils they had used.


OAE

Please explain
Join the discussion
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by elias.latour.apex » Wed May 03, 2017 4:15 am
The question asks us to support the projection that the "plan will lead to an increase in its sales of pencil leads."

What's the situation? Most of the money is made from selling leads to fill mechanical pencils rather than from sales of the mechanical pencil itself. The write company proposes to modify its pencil so that the pencil will only take leads produced by the write company.

What's the assumption? The write company seems to assume that people want to use its mechanical pencil but are using leads from competitors. Which of the following choices supports this assumption?

(A) does not support because there is no reason to believe that write's pencil is the cheapest.
(B) does not support because we are concerned with sales of leads not with sales of pencils.
(C) does not support. Just because an executive is studying ways to reduce the costs does not mean that he will succeed.
(D) does not support. Just because a competitor hopes to do the same thing does not mean that either plan will succeed.
(E) supports. If a write company pencil is superior, then people will presumably want to use it. To do so, they will need to buy leads from write company.
Elias Latour
Verbal Specialist @ ApexGMAT
blog.apexgmat.com
+1 (646) 736-7622
Join the discussion