Pretzel

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greenwich: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 110; Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:00 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 1 times

by greenwich » Mon Aug 25, 2014 6:45 pm

Pretzel vendor: The new license fee for operating a pretzel stand outside the art museum is prohibitively expensive. Charging typical prices, a vendor would need to sell an average of 25 pretzels per hour to break even. At my stand outside city hall, I average only 15 per hour. Therefore, I could not break even running a pretzel stand outside the art museum, much less turn a profit.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the pretzel vendor's argument?

(A) There is currently no license fee for operating a pretzel stand outside city hall.
(B) Pretzel vendors who operate stands outside the art museum were making a profit before the imposition of the new license fee.
(C) The number of pretzel stands outside the art museum is no greater than the number of pretzel stands now outside city hall.
(D) People who buy pretzels at pretzel stands are most likely to do so during the hours at which the art museum is open to the public.
(E) Fewer people passing the art museum than passing city hall are likely to buy pretzels.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Mon Aug 25, 2014 6:45 pm

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by [email protected] » Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:23 pm

HI greenwich,

For this CR prompt, we need to understand the pretzel vendor's logic, then find an answer that strengthens it.

The Facts:
-The new license fee for operating a pretzel stand outside the museum is expensive.
-Charging typical prices, a vendor needs to sell 25 pretzels/hr. just to break even.
-Outside city hall, the vendor averages just 15 pretzels/hr.

The Conclusion:
-The vendor could not break even running a stand at the museum, must less turn a profit.

The Logic:
The pretzel vendor is comparing the "situation" at the museum to the "situation" at city hall. Assuming all of the other variables (potential customers, cost of supplies, competition, etc.) are the same, then the vendor has a solid argument. To strengthen that argument, we either need an answer that confirms everything the vendor assumes OR that points out that the situation is even worse than the vendor thinks it would be.

Answer E describes how the situation would be even worse because the potential customer base would be even lower than what the vendor sees at city hall.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

greenwich: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 110; Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:00 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 1 times

by greenwich » Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:30 am

[email protected] wrote:HI greenwich,

For this CR prompt, we need to understand the pretzel vendor's logic, then find an answer that strengthens it.

The Facts:
-The new license fee for operating a pretzel stand outside the museum is expensive.
-Charging typical prices, a vendor needs to sell 25 pretzels/hr. just to break even.
-Outside city hall, the vendor averages just 15 pretzels/hr.

The Conclusion:
-The vendor could not break even running a stand at the museum, must less turn a profit.

The Logic:
The pretzel vendor is comparing the "situation" at the museum to the "situation" at city hall. Assuming all of the other variables (potential customers, cost of supplies, competition, etc.) are the same, then the vendor has a solid argument. To strengthen that argument, we either need an answer that confirms everything the vendor assumes OR that points out that the situation is even worse than the vendor thinks it would be.

Answer E describes how the situation would be even worse because the potential customer base would be even lower than what the vendor sees at city hall.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Thanks Rich, could you explain why C is wrong?

greenwich: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 110; Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:00 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 1 times

by greenwich » Sat Aug 30, 2014 2:57 pm

Anyone? What's wrong with C?

BTGmoderatorAT: Moderator; Posts: 426; Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:48 pmFollowed by: 1 member

by BTGmoderatorAT » Fri Sep 08, 2017 7:56 am

People who go to the Art Museum are more likely to be the potential customers as they are mostly tourists and students, whereas people who go to the City Hall have Business purposes.Does this argument makes sense?

rsarashi: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 186; Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:38 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 5 times

by rsarashi » Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:45 am

[email protected] wrote:HI greenwich,

For this CR prompt, we need to understand the pretzel vendor's logic, then find an answer that strengthens it.

The Facts:
-The new license fee for operating a pretzel stand outside the museum is expensive.
-Charging typical prices, a vendor needs to sell 25 pretzels/hr. just to break even.
-Outside city hall, the vendor averages just 15 pretzels/hr.

The Conclusion:
-The vendor could not break even running a stand at the museum, must less turn a profit.

The Logic:
The pretzel vendor is comparing the "situation" at the museum to the "situation" at city hall. Assuming all of the other variables (potential customers, cost of supplies, competition, etc.) are the same, then the vendor has a solid argument. To strengthen that argument, we either need an answer that confirms everything the vendor assumes OR that points out that the situation is even worse than the vendor thinks it would be.

Answer E describes how the situation would be even worse because the potential customer base would be even lower than what the vendor sees at city hall.
Hi Rich ,

Can you please explain that why D is wrong?

Thanks.

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Sep 08, 2017 1:10 pm

rsarashi wrote:Can you please explain that why D is wrong?

D: People who buy pretzels at pretzel stands are most likely to do so during the hours at which the art museum is open to the public.
Here, it is possible that the people who buy pretzels when the museum is open will purchase far more than 25 pretzels per hour, WEAKENING the conclusion that the vendor will not be able to earn a profit.
Since the correct answer choice must STRENGTHEN the conclusion, eliminate D.

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