The wholesale cost of asbestos

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kvcpk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1893; Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 215 times

by kvcpk » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:53 am

The wholesale cost of asbestos, used in the manufacture of fire-retardant asbestos shorts, has seen a significant reduction in the past year, unlike that of its substitute, raw wire mesh. Thus, while asbestos shorts stores' retail prices have yet to fall, they will certainly do so eventually.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens this argument?

A. The weaving costs for asbestos cloth rose in the past year.
B. The gross wholesale price for untreated asbestos is usually more than the same volume of untreated wire mesh.
C. The average store specializing in retail sale of asbestos shorts has seen its operating costs remain unchanged in the past year.
D. Retail price changes always lag behind wholesale price changes.
E. Asbestos manufacturing costs increased in the past year.

OA Later

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:53 am

beatthegmatinsept: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 422; Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:47 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 22 times; GMAT Score:680

by beatthegmatinsept » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:00 am

IMO C.

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SeemaSkl: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 70; Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:33 am

by SeemaSkl » Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:07 pm

Argument says retail price of finished product will decrease because cost of raw material decreased. If some other cost component increases, this argument can be weakened. 'A' talks about weaving costs that rose. This will weaken the conclusion that retail prices will fall.

So IMO A.

beatthegmatinsept: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 422; Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:47 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 22 times; GMAT Score:680

by beatthegmatinsept » Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:23 pm

kvcpk wrote:The wholesale cost of asbestos, used in the manufacture of fire-retardant asbestos shorts, has seen a significant reduction in the past year, unlike that of its substitute, raw wire mesh. Thus, while asbestos shorts stores' retail prices have yet to fall, they will certainly do so eventually.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens this argument?

A. The weaving costs for asbestos cloth rose in the past year.
B. The gross wholesale price for untreated asbestos is usually more than the same volume of untreated wire mesh.
C. The average store specializing in retail sale of asbestos shorts has seen its operating costs remain unchanged in the past year.
D. Retail price changes always lag behind wholesale price changes.
E. Asbestos manufacturing costs increased in the past year.

OA Later

[spoiler]The arguement says that asbestos shorts stores' retail prices will certainly fall eventually.
I chose C because it states that an avg retail sale store has not seen its operating costs change over the past one year. While the premise says that over the past 1 year wholesale cost of asbestos is decreasing, Choice C basically shows that the decreasing cost of asbestos has not resulted in a decrease in their operating costs.[/spoiler]

Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.

007.r.mason: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 57; Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:25 pm; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:730

by 007.r.mason » Wed Aug 18, 2010 1:40 pm

IMO A as well. That is the only argument that is in the scope of the passage.. only accountants know what operating costs really are....

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kvcpk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1893; Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 215 times

by kvcpk » Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:52 pm

OA is A

debmalya_dutta: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 385; Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:16 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 29 times; GMAT Score:710

by debmalya_dutta » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:06 pm

my pick is A
though the raw material cost has fallen, an increase in weaving costs would mean no fall in the final prices of the shorts

@Deb

FightWithGMAT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 364; Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:13 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 31 times

by FightWithGMAT » Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:26 am

kvcpk wrote:The wholesale cost of asbestos, used in the manufacture of fire-retardant asbestos shorts, has seen a significant reduction in the past year, unlike that of its substitute, raw wire mesh. Thus, while asbestos shorts stores' retail prices have yet to fall, they will certainly do so eventually.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens this argument?

A. The weaving costs for asbestos cloth rose in the past year.
B. The gross wholesale price for untreated asbestos is usually more than the same volume of untreated wire mesh.
C. The average store specializing in retail sale of asbestos shorts has seen its operating costs remain unchanged in the past year.
D. Retail price changes always lag behind wholesale price changes.
E. Asbestos manufacturing costs increased in the past year.

OA Later

It is A.

The author leaves big gaps to be attacked.

RAW asbestos ---> asbestos fabric-------> retails sells

Raw material cost has gone down does not mean that the manufacturing cost had also gone down.

A anti fill the gap.

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