tricky one: very complicated

Expert replies

abhijeetsinghai: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 39; Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:54 am; Location: US; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by abhijeetsinghai » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:49 am

This year the New Hampshire Division of Company X, set a new record for annual sales by that division. This record is especially surprising since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest potential market and the lowest sales of any of Company X’s divisions.
Which of the following identifies a flaw in the logical coherence of the statement above?
(A) If overall sales for Company X were sharply reduced, the New Hampshire Division’s new sales record is irrelevant to the company’s prosperity.
(B) Since the division is competing against its own record, the comparison of its sales record with that of other divisions is irrelevant.
(C) If this is the first year that the New Hampshire Division has been last in sales among Company X’s divisions, the new record is not surprising at all.
(D) If overall sales for Company X were greater than usual, it is not surprising that the New Hampshire Division was last in sales.
(E) Since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest potential market, it is not surprising that it had the lowest sales.

PLease help me. I am totally clueless on this one.
OA after some explanations

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:49 am

crossingfingers: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 23; Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:09 am; Thanked: 1 times

by crossingfingers » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:00 am

IMO B...

(A) If overall sales for Company X were sharply reduced, the New Hampshire Division’s new sales record is irrelevant to the company’s prosperity. - irrelevant
(B) Since the division is competing against its own record, the comparison of its sales record with that of other divisions is irrelevant. - lets keep this
(C) If this is the first year that the New Hampshire Division has been last in sales among Company X’s divisions, the new record is not surprising at all. - huh? irrelevant
(D) If overall sales for Company X were greater than usual, it is not surprising that the New Hampshire Division was last in sales. - the suprise and flaw is about the record in that division - irrelevant
(E) Since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest potential market, it is not surprising that it had the lowest sales. - doesnt fix the flaw

I go with B since it says 'Since the division is competing against its own record'...it beat its own record, even though it had a the smallest potential market. So this record break has nothing to do with its lowest sales among other divisions.

OA please?

abhijeetsinghai: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 39; Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:54 am; Location: US; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by abhijeetsinghai » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:52 am

OA:[spoiler]B

[/spoiler]

But i don't understand what question is asking about. can any one please elaborate a bit ?

Musicolo: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 116; Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:56 am

Re: tricky one: very complicated

by Musicolo » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:58 am

I would go for B since.

Article talks about the new record of a certain division and states "this year the New Hampshire Division of Company X, set a new record for annual sales by that division". Then, it compares the record with all other divisions of the Company X, loosing it totally. If it said that this particular division set a new record for annual sales of all divisions of the Company X, then the statement would be logically coherent.
It isn't coherent as it is now since first sentence and second sentence talk about different things.
This is my understanding.

bmlaud: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 174; Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:04 am; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:620

by bmlaud » Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:36 am

IMO B

The hampshire division has registered highest ever sales (breaking its own previous sales records). It is illogical to conclude that hampshire division has registered highest sales among all the units.

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."

Nailya: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 91; Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:46 pm; Location: New York City; Thanked: 2 times

by Nailya » Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:56 pm

The division is competing against itself (as the argument says "by that division"). Even if it broke it's own record this time, it can still continue to be the lowest among other divisions. B!

lokeshg98: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:42 pm; Location: MUMBAI

by lokeshg98 » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:22 am

the first statement compares "New Hampshire Division" performance in the current year with the performance in the previous years.

In the second statement, Author expresses surprise by saying that "new hampshiree division" have the lowest mnarket share and lowest sales. so the author is comparing the sales/market shares of this division with other division - which is irrelevant.

So Answer B is correct

gmatmachoman: Legendary Member; Posts: 2326; Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:54 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 173 times; GMAT Score:710

by gmatmachoman » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:51 am

"this year the New Hampshire Division of Company X, set a new record for annual sales by that division".
In this argument ,the eye catcher is"by that division".If one misses it by oversight,then it would be tough to decode it..

sanp_l: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Sun May 03, 2009 1:17 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Rourkela/Hyderabad; Thanked: 4 times

by sanp_l » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:04 am

The question asks for a logical coherence flaw.
the given premises are that of low sales across divisions which is not necessary as the sales are higher than what it had previosly. Obviously the comparison with other divisons are of no use.
hence Option B stands correct.

Sandy

ranell: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 224; Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 2:44 pm; Location: Russia, Moscow; Thanked: 10 times; GMAT Score:730

by ranell » Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:49 pm

IMO B, the best choice among all the answers

kris77: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 300; Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:33 am

by kris77 » Sun May 15, 2016 3:50 pm

B seems to be the best choice here

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