In the year following an eight-cent increase in the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes, sales of cigarettes fell ten

[BTGmoderatorDC]

In the year following an eight-cent increase in the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes, sales of cigarettes fell ten percent. In contrast, in the year prior to the tax increase, sales had fallen one percent. The volume of cigarette sales is therefore strongly related to the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument above?

A. During the second year after the tax increase, cigarette sales increased by a significant amount.
B. The information available to consumers on the health risks of smoking remained largely unchanged in the period before and after the tax increase.
C. Most consumers were unaware that the tax on cigarettes was going to increase.
D. During the year following the cigarette tax increase, many consumers had less income, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than they had had in the previous year.
E. During the year after the tax increase, there was a greater variety of cigarettes on the market than there had been during the previous year.



OA B

Source: GMAT Prep

[deloitte247]

In this passage, we want to know that the consumers had less demand for cigarettes as a result of tax increase.

Option A - Incorrect
This option doesn't strengthen the argument because it portrays that argument because it makes us know that the consumers were aware of the information abut the effects of cigarettes with the tax increase which caused a decrease in the sales of cigarettes.

Option B - Correct
This option strengthens the argument because it makes us know that the consumers were aware of the information about the effects of cigarettes with the tax increase which caused a decrease in the sale of cigarettes.

Option C - Incorrect
This option states that the consumer were unaware of the tax increase which is against the argument of the sentence that the volume of cigarettes sold is related to the tax increase.

Option D - Incorrect
This option is wrong because it states that low income earnings prevents the consumer from purchasing cigarettes after the tax increase not the tax increase itself.

Option E - Incorrect
This statement says that the year after the increase, a greater variety of cigarettes were on the market than the previous year. It didn't say whether there was a decrease in the sale of cigarettes or not.