OG 13 diagnostic test CR section question no.22

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The question mentioned above is as follows

Following several years of declining advertising sales, the Greenville Times reorganized its advertising sales force. Before reorganization, the sales force was organized geographically, with some sales representatives concentrating on city center businesses and others concentrating on different outlying regions. The reorganization attempted to increase the sales representatives' knowledge of clients' businesses by having each sales representative deal with only one type of industry or of retailing. After the reorganization, revenue from advertising sales increased.

In assessing whether the improvement in advertising sales can properly be attributed to the reorganization, it would be most helpful to find out which of the following?

(A) What proportion of the total revenue of the Greenville Times is generated by advertising sales?
(B) Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years?
(C) Among all the types of industry and retailing that use the Greenville Times as an advertising vehicle, which type accounts for the largest proportion of the newspaper's advertising sales?
(D) Do any clients of the sales representatives of the Greenville Times have a standing order with the Times for a fixed amount of advertising per month?
(E) Among the advertisers in the Greenville Times, are there more types of retail business or more types of industrial business?

The correct answer as mentioned in the OG is option B. It goes on to explain that since the advertising rates are linked with the circulation of the paper therefore greater circulation would translate to higher advertising revenue.

But isn't this too much extra information to use? Also the option considers the increase on circulation for the last 2 years, whereas it is mentioned nowhere in the question that the reorganisation was done 2 years ago, therefore making it a classic example of a trap option.

Please help!

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Mar 19, 2013 4:45 am

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