Critical Reasoning

An eyeglass manufacturer tried to boost sales for the summer quarter by offering its distributors a special
discount if their orders for that quarter exceeded those for last year's summer quarter by at least 20 percent.
Many distributors qualified for this discount. Even with much merchandise discounted, sales increased enough
to produce a healthy gain in net profits. The manufacturer plans to repeat this success by offering the same sort
of discount for the fall quarter.
Which of the following, if true, most clearly points to a flaw in the manufacturer's plan to repeat the successful
performance of the summer quarter?
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(A) In general, a distributor's orders for the summer quarter are no higher than those for the spring quarter.
(B) Along with offering special discounts to qualifying distributors, the manufacturer increased newspaper and
radio advertising in those distributors' sales areas.
(C) The distributors most likely to qualify for the manufacturer's special discount are those whose orders were
unusually low a year earlier.
(D) The distributors how qualified for the manufacturer's special discount were free to decide how much of that
discount to pass on to their own customers.
(E) The distributors' ordering more goods in the summer quarter left them overstocked for the fall quarter.


OA E
Explain why C is incorrect. If the distributors who can qualify for the new fall discount had a unusual low sales last year.. means they will have a better sales this year.. there is no need for the discount.. Even without the discount there is going to be increase in sales

Hi Agarwalva,

where does choice (C) mentions distributors who qualify for a discount in Fall? the special discount was offered in summer. choice (C) is referring to distributors who'd qualify for the special discount in summer.


hope this helps!

If the distributors who can qualify for the new fall discount had a unusual low sales last year.. means they will have a better sales this year

Why do you assume this? They might have had low sales because of the location, customer service, type of selection offered, etc.

E is clearly the best choice.

agarwalva wrote:An eyeglass manufacturer tried to boost sales for the summer quarter by offering its distributors a special
discount if their orders for that quarter exceeded those for last year's summer quarter by at least 20 percent.
Many distributors qualified for this discount. Even with much merchandise discounted, sales increased enough
to produce a healthy gain in net profits. The manufacturer plans to repeat this success by offering the same sort
of discount for the fall quarter.
Which of the following, if true, most clearly points to a flaw in the manufacturer's plan to repeat the successful
performance of the summer quarter?
60
(A) In general, a distributor's orders for the summer quarter are no higher than those for the spring quarter.
(B) Along with offering special discounts to qualifying distributors, the manufacturer increased newspaper and
radio advertising in those distributors' sales areas.
(C) The distributors most likely to qualify for the manufacturer's special discount are those whose orders were
unusually low a year earlier.
(D) The distributors how qualified for the manufacturer's special discount were free to decide how much of that
discount to pass on to their own customers.
(E) The distributors' ordering more goods in the summer quarter left them overstocked for the fall quarter.


OA E
Explain why C is incorrect. If the distributors who can qualify for the new fall discount had a unusual low sales last year.. means they will have a better sales this year.. there is no need for the discount.. Even without the discount there is going to be increase in sales

The plan is to OFFER A DISCOUNT.
The conclusion is that SALES WILL BE BOOSTED.
Whether there is a NEED for the discount is irrelevant.
The ONLY question is whether the plan will work: if the discount is offered, will sales be boosted?
The correct answer must explain why sales will NOT be boosted.

Answer choice E: The distributors' ordering more goods in the summer quarter left them overstocked for the fall quarter.
If the distributors are OVERSTOCKED -- if they have TOO MUCH merchandise -- then they are unlikely to order more, weakening the conclusion that sales will be boosted.

The correct answer is E.

Answer choice C: The distributors most likely to qualify for the manufacturer's special discount are those whose orders were unusually low a year earlier.
Thus, the discount could induce these distributors to order MORE merchandise than they ordered last year, STRENGTHENING the conclusion that sales will be boosted.
Eliminate C.

Yes, option C strengthens the argument, even if it strengthens by only a margin let us say 5% or 10% or more than that. But the point is that it strengthens the argument.

Also, option E completely weakens the argument, 100%, certainty. According to the plan, the discount offered is the most important motivation to boost the sales. And option E very clearly says that the discount will no longer will be demanded by those departments, then how are you suppose to claim that the sales will boost up.

Thus the OA is E.

Although I got my answer correct, but I pre-assumed something different than given in the answer choice. Please check whether this my pre-assumption is also correct:

The consumers had a demand for eyeglasses such as goggles in summer, but that demand reduced in fall as that was not the season goggles are meant for.

Thanks and Regards
Tushar

This is a great example of a "Flaw" question -- a question-type that is so often overlooked! "Flaw" questions present you with a flawed argument. You must interpret exactly how the argument is flawed. Here are some common Logical Flaw question-stems:

"¢ Which of the following best describes the error of reasoning contained in the argument above?
"¢ Which of the following best describes a weakness present in the argument above?
"¢ The argument is flawed because it fails to consider that
"¢ The reasoning in the argument above is flawed because it presumes without justification
"¢ The argument above is most vulnerable to criticism on the ground that
"¢ The author's conclusion is based on the error in the reasoning that

Some of the most ways that arguments can be flawed:

- Generalization
- Baseless Conclusion
- Weak Assumption

This fits in the second category, as explained. Flaw questions fall into one of those three categories 90% of the time, so ANTICIPATE the flaw before you dive into the answer choices!