an CR from Gmatclub

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an CR from Gmatclub

by diebeatsthegmat » Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:11 am
There are more opera houses than there were two decades ago, and charitable contributions are on the rise. Average audiences for opera, however, have been declining for the past twenty years.

Which of the following. if true, best explains the discrepancy above?
A. In the past twenty years musical theater audiences have grown.
B. A change in the tax code has conferred certain advantages on charitable giving.
C. Constructions codes have been revised on a national level to promote the construction of cultural facilities.
D. there has been an emphasis on unamplified sound in opera.
E. The number of new works has declined in the past three decades.

[spoiler]guy, can you please explain me why the answer is D, not B? i dont understand....and also dont understand what D means[/spoiler]
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by saurabhmahajan » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:50 am
I too went for B.... :-(

are you sure the OA is D ?

If Yes then we need CBI to find out why D.
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Saurabh Mahajan

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by samudranb » Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:45 am
Quite a difficult question.

But after some thought (and an assumption that I have understood D correctly), I would also go with D

B talks about "charitable giving", but does that necessarily explain the increase in contributions to opera houses? Not necessarily. It could only explain why OVERALL charity has increased, but not to a certain section only.

C again does not explain why charitable contributions are on the rise. Although it does explain why the number of opera houses is increasing.

D talks about "emphasis on unamplified sound in opera". In this case, I have understood it to mean that because of this, the size of the opera houses has been decreasing. Now this would explain why the average audience has reduced (as capacity is less), while at the same time, because of more interest in opera, more people are contributing to it as charity in order to build more opera houses.