BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

OG12 Qs # 104: Although the discount stores in Goreville’s

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Legendary Member
Posts: 944
Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 am
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:5 members

OG12 Qs # 104: Although the discount stores in Goreville’s

by RBBmba@2014 » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:06 am
Although the discount stores in Goreville's central shopping district are expected to close within five years as a result of competition from a SpendLess discount department store that just opened, those locations will not stay vacant for long. In the five years since the opening of Colson's, a nondiscount department store, a new store has opened at the location of every store in the shopping district that closed because it could not compete with Colson's.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Many customers of Colson's are expected to do less shopping there than they did
before the SpendLess store opened.

B. Increasingly, the stores that have opened in the central shopping district since
Colson's opened have been discount stores.

C. At present, the central shopping district has as many stores operating in it as it
ever had.

D. Over the course of the next five years, it is expected that Goreville's population
will grow at a faster rate than it has for the past several decades.

E. Many stores in the central shopping district sell types of merchandise that are not
available at either SpendLess or Colson's.

OA : B

Hi Experts - could you please explain this question in detail ? I'm not able to get it...

thanks!
Last edited by RBBmba@2014 on Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
Top
Source: — Critical Reasoning |
Legendary Member
Posts: 944
Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 am
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:5 members

by RBBmba@2014 » Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:25 am
Hi Verbal Experts - any feedback on this please ?

Would much appreciate your analysis and explanation.
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Oct 21, 2014 8:21 am
When you're tackling a strengthen or weaken question, you have to determine where there is a logical gap in the argument.

In this case, the flaw in the argument is that the author assumes that the pattern will repeat, regardless of store type: big store moves in -> some stores close as a result -> other stores move in to take their place

However, Colson's was a nondiscount store, and Spendless is a discount store. We would have to know what types of stores are closing and opening. If, when Colson's moved in, nondiscount stores closed, but discount stores opened in their place, then when Spendless moves in, the discount stores will close, but there may not be any other type of store that's able to replace them. Basically, we need to know whether stores are being replaced by the same type of stores, or by cheaper ones.

A. Many customers of Colson's are expected to do less shopping there than they did before the SpendLess store opened.
Our argument concerns the discount stores that closed because of Spendless, not Colson's. Irrelevant.

B. Increasingly, the stores that have opened in the central shopping district since Colson's opened have been discount stores.
If the stores that came in were discount stores, there might not be anything else that could move in to replace those. This weakens the idea that these locations will not stay vacant for long. Correct.

C. At present, the central shopping district has as many stores operating in it as it ever had.
Current number of stores tells us nothing about whether they will stay vacant in the future.

D. Over the course of the next five years, it is expected that Goreville's population will grow at a faster rate than it has for the past several decades.
This would strengthen the argument, if anything. More people would presumably lead to more stores and fewer vacancies.

E. Many stores in the central shopping district sell types of merchandise that are not available at either SpendLess or Colson's.
We don't care about current stores. We only care about whether new stores will replace the ones that shut down because of Spendless.

The correct answer is B.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1