A convenience store manager noticed that a cooler which had

I disagree with the OA, What do you think?

A convenience store manager noticed that a cooler which had been stocked with only a cola product and an iced-tea product had 15 colas left at the end of the day but only 3 iced-tea beverages. As a result, the manager reasoned that he should increase the amount of iced tea and decrease the amount of cola he ordered from the distributor.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the manager's rationale for ordering more iced tea and less cola?

a. The cooler in question is the only place in the store where the cola and iced tea beverages are stocked.
b. On that day, a month-long $1,000,000 sweepstakes began, with prizes awarded via the bottlecaps on the iced tea beverage.
c. At the beginning of the day, the cooler was stocked with at least as many of the iced tea beverages as of the cola beverages.
d. On the subsequent day, the remaining three iced tea beverages all sold within the first hour after the store opened.
e. During that week, a special "buy one, get one free" sale was in effect for the cola beverage.

Pre-thinking the answer is important.

Show timer Statistics
A convenience store manager noticed that a cooler which had been stocked with only a cola product and an iced-tea product had 15 colas left at the end of the day but only 3 iced-tea beverages. As a result, the manager reasoned that he should increase the amount of iced tea and decrease the amount of cola he ordered from the distributor.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the manager's rationale for ordering more iced tea and less cola?

a. The cooler in question is the only place in the store where the cola and iced tea beverages are stocked.
the argument says that the manager will buy more bottles from the distributor that means thet buying or selling is only from the store and not anyother place,about the cooler since it is the only source of sale mentioned then we take it as true.
b. On that day, a month-long $1,000,000 sweepstakes began, with prizes awarded via the bottlecaps on the iced tea beverage.
weakens the argument.
c. At the beginning of the day, the cooler was stocked with at least as many of the iced tea beverages as of the cola beverages.
THe correct answer because the argument will only stand true if the number of bottles of iced tea are equal to the number of bottles of cola.
d. On the subsequent day, the remaining three iced tea beverages all sold within the first hour after the store opened.
Out of Scope
e. During that week, a special "buy one, get one free" sale was in effect for the cola beverage.
strengthens the argument but it cannot be the main supporting point it may add on since we have a stronger option available.

Option B does not weaken the manager's rationale:
If there were prizes on offer for buying the iced-tea, and the offer pushed up the sales of iced tea, then it is foreseeable that customers would continue to be enticed by this offer, and thereby purchase more in the subsequent days.

However, C is a better option since it deals directly with the manager's rationale.

This question beautifully deals with the concept of percentages in an indirect way.

The basic structure of this question is as follows:

Two types of beverages: Iced tea and Cola.
Both beverages stored in the same location
At the end of the day, 15 colas were left, while only 3 Iced teas were left.

Conclusion: Order more Iced tea

The passage jumps straight to the conclusion that the manager ordered more iced tea. The manager's decision would only make sense if the number of bottles ordered for both these products were the same.
For example: Assume that 100 bottles were ordered for both iced tea and colas. At the end of the day, the store was left with 15 bottles of cola but only 3 bottles of iced tea. This literally means that the store sold more iced tea bottles than cola bottles. Only under such a circumstance would the manager's decision seem rational.

Let's consider a parallel situation where the number of bottles ordered was not the same: Assume that only 10 Iced tea bottles were ordered whereas 100 bottles of cola was ordered. At the end of the day, 3 iced tea bottles remain whereas 15 cola bottles remain. This means that the store sold 70% of it's iced tea bottles while the store sold 85% of its cola bottles. In this case, even though a higher number of cola bottles were left out, the store was still able to sell more cola bottles than iced tea bottles. Hence, under this circumstance, it would be irrational for the manager to continue ordering more iced tea bottles than cola bottles.

As you can see, the argument can be strengthened if we assume that the number of bottles ordered for both categories of drinks were the same. So, the right answer choice would describe exactly this (what's mentioned in blue).

Let's analyze the available choices:

a. The cooler in question is the only place in the store where the cola and iced tea beverages are stocked. - Knowing where the products were stocked still does nothing to help us compare the number of bottles sold (for iced tea and cola). This option is therefore irrelevant to this question. Hence, eliminate (A).

b. On that day, a month-long $1,000,000 sweepstakes began, with prizes awarded via the bottlecaps on the iced tea beverage. - this may help explain the reason why one customer would end up buying an iced tea bottle. but knowing the customer's motivation (to purchase iced tea) does nothing to help us compare the number of bottles sold. Hence, eliminate (B)

c. At the beginning of the day, the cooler was stocked with at least as many of the iced tea beverages as of the cola beverages. - BINGO. Now we know that the sample sizes were the same; this leaves no room for counter interpretations. hence, (C) is the right answer.

d. On the subsequent day, the remaining three iced tea beverages all sold within the first hour after the store opened. - What about the remaining cola beverages? were these cola bottle still unsold within the first hour of the subsequent day? Without knowing this, we cannot justify the purchase of more iced tea bottles. Hence, eliminate (D).

e. During that week, a special "buy one, get one free" sale was in effect for the cola beverage. - Even after considering the fact that a sale was in place for the cola bottles, it still does not help us understand whether ordering more iced tea bottles was a rational decision or not. What if more cola bottles were sold as a result of this sale? what if iced tea bottles were sold off the rack without having the need to implement a sale? Since this option leaves a room of doubt, eliminate (E).