Critical Reasoning

In January of last year the Moviemania chain of movie theaters started propping its popcorn in canola oil, instead of the less healthful coconut oil that it had been using until then. Now Moviemania is planning to switch back, saying that the change has hurt popcorn sales. That claim is false, however, since according to Moviemania’s own sales figures, Moviemania sold 5 percent more popcorn last year than in the previous year.



Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument against Moviemania’s claim?



1. Total sales of all refreshments at Moviemania’s movie theaters increased by less than 5 percent last year.
2. Moviemania makes more money on food and beverages sold at its theaters than it does on sales of movie tickets.
3. Moviemania’s customers prefer the taste of popcorn popped in coconut oil to that of popcorn popped in canola oil.
4. Total attendance at Moviemania’s movie theaters was more than 20 percent higher last year than the year before.
5. The year before last, Moviemania experienced a 10 percent increase in popcorn sales over the previous year.

OA is A....Do explain it !!

I would pick A

geet wrote:In January of last year the Moviemania chain of movie theaters started propping its popcorn in canola oil, instead of the less healthful coconut oil that it had been using until then. Now Moviemania is planning to switch back, saying that the change has hurt popcorn sales. That claim is false, however, since according to Moviemania�s own sales figures, Moviemania sold 5 percent more popcorn last year than in the previous year.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument against Moviemania�s claim?

Moviemania started making popcorns in Canola oil and plans to switch back citing that the switch has hurt sales.
Argument: The claim is false because Moviemania sold 5% more popcorn than last year.

We need to support this argument that says popcorn sales has been good
Looking at the options, Option A establishes a relation between sales and refreshments.
Since total sales increased by less than 5% but the popcorn sales increased by 5%, which is more than the average increase of the refreshments.
This means that the popcorns are selling well.

Correct Option: A