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

Redeem

FastMart, a convenience store chain, is planning to add

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Legendary Member
Posts: 1574
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 am
Thanked: 88 times
Followed by:13 members

FastMart, a convenience store chain, is planning to add

by aspirant2011 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:41 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

FastMart, a convenience store chain, is planning to add pancake syrup to the items it sells. FastMart stores do not have shelf space to stock more than one variety of syrup. Surveys of FastMart customers indicate that one-fourth of them prefer low-calorie syrup, while three-fourths prefer regular syrup. Since FastMart's highest priority is to maximize sales, the obvious strategy for it is to stock regular syrup. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People buying pancake syrup at convenience stores, unlike those buying it at supermarkets, generally buy it only a few times.

B. People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup.

C. Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price per unit than low-calorie syrup.

D. In general, customers who prefer regular syrup will buy low-calorie syrup if regular is unavailable, but those who prefer low-calorie will not buy regular syrup.

E. Sales of syrup are not expected to account for a large proportion of total dollar sales at the average FastMart store.

[spoiler]OA: Will be posted later. Please discuss each answer choice in detail[/spoiler]
Top
Source: — Critical Reasoning |
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:51 am
Location: Hyderabad, India
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:5 members

by galaxian » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:34 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

<wrong post>
Top
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:51 am
Location: Hyderabad, India
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:5 members

by galaxian » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:53 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Just my take:


A - Irrelevant, as buying syrup 'few times' gives no clear picture of the buyer's preferences.
B - Amount of syrup used too won't affect our assumption above.
C - Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price, but we don't know if 1/4th of higher priced syrup would bring more profit to the store than 3/4th of lower one.
D - This clearly shows, that our assumption above is wrong.The store would have more sales if they keep low-calories as people are ready to change their preference in this case.
E - Total dollar sales are not affected by sales of syrup, no way affects our strategy to select any type of syrup.
Hence D

Plz correct me if I am wrong at any of the points above.
Last edited by galaxian on Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 3:41 pm
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by sanabk » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:38 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

D
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:22 pm
Thanked: 112 times
Followed by:13 members

by smackmartine » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:55 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

IMO D
Assumption : People will not change the type of syrup they have been using.

A. People buying pancake syrup at convenience stores, unlike those buying it at supermarkets, generally buy it only a few times. (wrong comparision- out of scope)

B. People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. (distortion)

C. Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price per unit than low-calorie syrup.(strengthener)

D. In general, customers who prefer regular syrup will buy low-calorie syrup if regular is unavailable, but those who prefer low-calorie will not buy regular syrup. (says people can change their mind. This directly hurts the assumption, hence Correct)

E. Sales of syrup are not expected to account for a large proportion of total dollar sales at the average FastMart store. (does not talk about comparing two types of syrup, but rather talks about syrup in general)
Smack is Back ...
It takes time and effort to explain, so if my comment helped you please press Thanks button :)
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1574
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 am
Thanked: 88 times
Followed by:13 members

by aspirant2011 » Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:28 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

smackmartine wrote:IMO D
Assumption : People will not change the type of syrup they have been using.

A. People buying pancake syrup at convenience stores, unlike those buying it at supermarkets, generally buy it only a few times. (wrong comparision- out of scope)

B. People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. (distortion)

C. Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price per unit than low-calorie syrup.(strengthener)

D. In general, customers who prefer regular syrup will buy low-calorie syrup if regular is unavailable, but those who prefer low-calorie will not buy regular syrup. (says people can change their mind. This directly hurts the assumption, hence Correct)

E. Sales of syrup are not expected to account for a large proportion of total dollar sales at the average FastMart store. (does not talk about comparing two types of syrup, but rather talks about syrup in general)
I was between B and D but I feel that option D leaves open a possibility which can be true or not.......please correct me.......
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:43 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by madddie » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:28 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

aspirant2011 wrote:
smackmartine wrote:IMO D
Assumption : People will not change the type of syrup they have been using.

A. People buying pancake syrup at convenience stores, unlike those buying it at supermarkets, generally buy it only a few times. (wrong comparision- out of scope)

B. People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. (distortion)

C. Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price per unit than low-calorie syrup.(strengthener)

D. In general, customers who prefer regular syrup will buy low-calorie syrup if regular is unavailable, but those who prefer low-calorie will not buy regular syrup. (says people can change their mind. This directly hurts the assumption, hence Correct)

E. Sales of syrup are not expected to account for a large proportion of total dollar sales at the average FastMart store. (does not talk about comparing two types of syrup, but rather talks about syrup in general)
I was between B and D but I feel that option D leaves open a possibility which can be true or not.......please correct me.......


B wont help you.........
Already it is mentioned that 3/4th prefer regular and 1/4th prefer low-cal
If 1/4th use same amount (say 1 bottle per month) as the 3/4th crowd.....then in fact the option strengthens the claim made by the author......
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 116
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 7:52 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:2 members

by Sanjay2706 » Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:59 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

IMO D.
It mentions that even if the chain stocks regular syrup, the people preferring low calorie soup would not go for regular soup, which weakens the argument.
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:22 pm
Thanked: 112 times
Followed by:13 members

by smackmartine » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:19 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

aspirant2011 wrote:
smackmartine wrote:IMO D
Assumption : People will not change the type of syrup they have been using.

A. People buying pancake syrup at convenience stores, unlike those buying it at supermarkets, generally buy it only a few times. (wrong comparision- out of scope)

B. People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. (distortion)

C. Regular syrup does not sell for a higher price per unit than low-calorie syrup.(strengthener)

D. In general, customers who prefer regular syrup will buy low-calorie syrup if regular is unavailable, but those who prefer low-calorie will not buy regular syrup. (says people can change their mind. This directly hurts the assumption, hence Correct)

E. Sales of syrup are not expected to account for a large proportion of total dollar sales at the average FastMart store. (does not talk about comparing two types of syrup, but rather talks about syrup in general)
I was between B and D but I feel that option D leaves open a possibility which can be true or not.......please correct me.......
Author states that 3/4 (More than 50%) people prefer to buy regular syrup.
Option D states that out of these 75% people some people may buy low calorie syrup. This means there is still a scope of low-calorie syrup being sold. Its not true the other way round. While the word in green means uncertainty for some individual, it still stands good for others, who will buy low-calorie syrup ,and thus, increase the # of sales of low-calorie syrup.
Smack is Back ...
It takes time and effort to explain, so if my comment helped you please press Thanks button :)
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1574
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 am
Thanked: 88 times
Followed by:13 members

by aspirant2011 » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:23 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

thanks a lot guys, yup the OA is D :-)
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 1:40 am
Thanked: 3 times

by Needgmat » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:28 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hello Experts ,

Can you please explain why B is wrong?

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am
Location: Boston, MA
Thanked: 1153 times
Followed by:128 members
GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:36 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Needgmat wrote:Hello Experts ,

Can you please explain why B is wrong?

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin
We're trying to weaken the conclusion that FastMart should stock its shelves with regular syrup. B tells us this: People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. This doesn't matter because 75% of the FastMart's customers prefer the regular syrup. Imagine four people, A, B, C, and D. A, B, and C prefer regular syrup. D prefers low calorie. Though they all use the same amount of syrup, it still seems to make sense to stock the regular variety.
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 1:40 am
Thanked: 3 times

by Needgmat » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:41 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

We're trying to weaken the conclusion that FastMart should stock its shelves with regular syrup. B tells us this: People who prefer low-calorie syrup generally use about the same amount of syrup on their pancakes as those who prefer regular syrup. This doesn't matter because 75% of the FastMart's customers prefer the regular syrup. Imagine four people, A, B, C, and D. A, B, and C prefer regular syrup. D prefers low calorie. Though they all use the same amount of syrup, it still seems to make sense to stock the regular variety.
Hi DavidG ,

Thanks for your explanation.

All clear.

Thanks,

Kavin
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1