Question: In January of last year the Moviemania chain of movie theaters started propping its popcorn in canola oil, instead of the less healthful coconut oil that it had been using until then. Now Moviemania is planning to switch back, saying that the change has hurt popcorn sales. That claim is false, however, since according to Moviemania’s own sales figures, Moviemania sold 5 percent more popcorn last year than in the previous year.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument against Moviemania’s claim?
(A) Total sales of all refreshments at Moviemania’s movie theaters increased by less than 5 percent last year.
(B) Moviemania makes more money on food and beverages sold at its theaters than it does on sales of movie tickets.
(C) Moviemania’s customers prefer the taste of popcorn popped in coconut oil to that of popcorn popped in canola oil.
(D) Total attendance at Moviemania’s movie theaters was more than 20 percent higher last year than the year before.
(E) The year before last, Moviemania experienced a 10 percent increase in popcorn sales over the previous year.
“In January of last year the Moviemania chain of movie theaters started propping its popcorn in canola oil” – is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘Manhattan prep GMAT Critical Reasoning 6th Edition’. This is an weaken the argument question where we need to first break down the argument. In this particular topic, candidates need to choose the option that best suits the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.
Answer: A
Explanation:
This is weakening the argument question. We need to find the option which if true, most strongly supports the argument against Moviemania’s claim. Let us first break the argument into Premises and Conclusion.
Premise 1. Moviemania started to use canola oil instead of coconut oil for making Popcorns.
Premise 2. Moviemania wants to switch to coconut oil again since sales has affected.
Premise 3. As per sales report, they sold 5% more popcorn last year (when popcorn were made in canola oil)
Conclusion. It is evident that Moviemania is lying by claiming that using canola oil has caused Popcorn sale to decrease.
The question asks us: Which of the options, if true, most strongly supports the argument against Moviemania’s claim. We need to finds the option that supports the false claim of Moviemania
A) Total sales of all refreshments at Moviemania’s movie theaters increased by less than 5 percent last year.
Correct :- All refreshments include Nachos, burger, coffee, chips, soft drinks, chocolate etc. This option claims that everything increase less as compared to popcorn that has increased by 5 %. So this option totally destroys Moviemania claims that Canola oil is causing low sales. From the sales, we get a clear idea that people are buying more popcorns since it has increased by 5%. So, we can conclude that canola oil is helping the sale of popcorn.
B) Moviemania makes more money on food and beverages sold at its theaters than it does on sales of movie tickets.
Wrong :- The passage does not discuss about the movie ticket sales. This is also not relevant to the sales of popcorn. People coming to movies might buy popcorn or might not. We will not be able to decide on that. Hence, this is irrelevant.
C) Moviemania’s customers prefer the taste of popcorn popped in coconut oil to that of popcorn popped in canola oil.
Wrong:- The passage does not show that people's preference actually translated in sales. The sales might be due to increase in traffic or any other reason. We do not have any information regarding the taste of popcorn.
D) Total attendance at Moviemania’s movie theaters was more than 20 percent higher last year than the year before.
Wrong :- The number of people have increased, but sales has gone down. However, this does not address the individual sales of the unit. It is possible that popcorn sale went up and other item's sale may have declined.
E) The year before last, Moviemania experienced a 10 percent increase in popcorn sales over the previous year.
Wrong:- The question and the passage talks about this year and not previous tear. There is also not any supporting evidence. Hence, we can discard this option.
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