A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold

Question

A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold in Town A than are sold in Town B. Therefore, the citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions than are the citizens of Town B.

all of the followings weakens the conclusion, EXCEPT:

A. Town A has a larger population than Town B
B. Many citizens of town B have second homes in Town A, and have all their leisure magazines delivered there
C. The average citizen of Town B spends more time watching cable sports coverage of international sports than does the average citizen of Town A
D. A weekly magazine devoted entirely to high school football is published in Town A, where high school football is considered the most popular sport
E. The average price of a magazine subscription in Town A is lower than the average price in Town B.

I chose D, because I believe it strengthen the conclusion, which is "town A people are more informed about int sports than Town B ppl".
The OA is E, which I cannot be convinced AT ALL. I in fact believe it weakens the conclusion: If the average price of a magazine is lower in Town A, Town A ppl are gonna be more likely to be able to afford it and buy it, than Town B ppl. This is an evidence of saying the price is the reason for the larger volume sales, so kinda similar to option A, and NOT because Town's people are more informed.so it weakens or disapproves the conclusion.

someone please explain and convince me why E is the right answer.
thanks

revanth4gmat · Answer

Conclusion says "Citizens in town A are better informed of INTERNATIONAL SPORTING Competitions than those of B". So, as per D, people in A may have good know ledge of local sport and they may not be aware of any international one. So, that weakens the conclusion.

E dont actually weaken the conclusion that says about peoples knowledge

E dont actually weaken the conclusion that says about peoples knowledge

metallicafan · Answer

+1 E

D weakens the conclusion because the weekly magazine is about HIGH SCHOOL football, so this weaken the claim that people will know more about INTERNATIONAL SPORTING competitions.

In CR, each detail is very important.

getgyan · Answer

Premise - A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold in Town A than are sold in Town B. Conclusion - Therefore, the citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions than are the citizens of Town B. Anything which strengthen the conclusion is our answer D. A weekly magazine devoted entirely to high school football is published in Town A, where high school football is considered the most popular sport ( It does not mean that B does not have any weekly magazine published there or the town B people do not have any favorite sport) E. The average price of a magazine subscription in Town A is lower than the average price in Town B. (This is our answer as it strengthen the conclusion because if the price is less, the number of magazines sold per 100 people(lets say) will be higher as compared to those sold in town B. If more magazines are sold then more awareness is spread ) Hope it helps ! :-D

getgyan · Answer

Great observation. Thanks for bringing it to my notice. Kudos to you.

tyagigar · Answer

i have one doubt : how can sale of magazine be proof of awareness, may be they are buying it and not reading.

jellybean23 · Answer

Well.... According to me, It's a pure assumption "sale of magazine be proof of awareness, may be they are buying it and not reading" and you should not make an assumption to answer a question.

Puzzler · Answer

I like "C." If town B watches international sports on cable (instead of learning through magazines), they would be better informed.

Choice E doesn't really weaken or strengthen. Instead of helping explain why Town A is more knowledgeable about international sports, it just gives an explanation as to why Town A might subscribe to more magazines.

I think this is a terrible question, and I don't think anything this ambiguous would show up on the real GMAT.

ssriva2 · Answer

I narrowed down to C and E but I choose C because E does not mention anything about international sports.
can someone explain why we choose E over C?

souvik101990 · Answer

Conclusion: A is more informed
Evidence: More subscriptions in A
What are the holes in logic here? The author claims “more subscriptions” —> “better informed” but what if all those subscriptions in A were purchased by 1 person? So there’s an assumption that there’s a wide dispersal of the extra subscriptions among the Town A citizens. There’s also an assumption that this sports magazine thoroughly covered “international” sporting competitions.
Rephrase: What does NOT weaken the Conclusion?
Prediction: Anything that STRENGTHENS the Conclusion, or at least the choice that is the most compatible with the presented Evidence and stated Conclusion. The correct answer will ideally continue to support the idea A is more informed.
Also, let’s remember the wording of this question tells us that 4 options will weaken the conclusion. So let’s look for those to eliminate first. Let’s find the “three worst” – i.e. the three that blatantly weaken the conclusion.
(A) A has more people
This could weaken – if A has more people then they could proportionally be as informed as the people in B, but still have more subscriptions
If we wanted to make the argument that (A) is correct, it would have to STRENGTHEN the idea that A is more informed. But more people does not necessarily mean better informed.
(B) Some B people get their magazines from A
This could weaken – if B are getting their magazines from A then B could be just as informed, but still have more A subscriptions
(C) B watches sports cable than A
This could weaken – if B is getting news from elsewhere, then it’s possible A is not more informed, even though it has more subscriptions
(D) there’s a popular mag in A
This information is more ambiguous than A, B, and C, but could weaken if we consider that it doesn’t touch upon B. B could have a similar magazine.
(E) subscription is cheaper in A
This is finally info that is strongly compatible with the Conclusion! If the average price is lower (and yes, you’re right, the word “average” does allow us to draw a bigger inference here) and more subscriptions are sold, then it’s reasonable to continue to assume A is more informed.

The “three worst” here are (A), (B), and (C) since those could strongly weaken the conclusion. Let’s examine the “final two.” One of these will STRENGTHEN and one will not. We just have to figure which information is more compatible with the conclusion/evidence!
If we wanted to eliminate (E), we’d need to prove that is strongly WEAKENS the conclusion. But cheaper prices in A does not weaken the idea that A-people are more informed. It’s gotta be correct! We cannot ADD information – this choice doesn’t SAY “and people from B buy magazines there.” We cannot add facts from Choice (B) into (E).
The correct answer is (E).

pate13 · Answer

E says that the average price of magazines  in general  are less expensive. Not that the average price of international sports magazines are less expensive.

ssriva2 · Answer

You have to prove that A people are better informed.Its just opposite

schazamhuzzah · Answer

I dont agree with the OA as E.

D) is just ambiguous at best and irrelevant at worst. so it clearly dosent weaken the argument.
E)where as E could clearly point that sales are more because of the cheaper price(I dont even know why difference word average makes here) and therefore can weaken the argument.

Can someone weigh in on this pls.

ssriva2 · Answer

Hi Souvik,
I have two doubt with E.
1)It is referring to average price of "all".May be the magazines distributed is of areas(cricket, cinema ) in which local ppl are interested
2)Less price does not mean that ppl will buy it.May be they are not interested to spend even little on those magazines .

Can u plz clarify?

Madhavi1990 · Answer

I don't think the answer is E - here is my reasoning:
 A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold in Town A  than are sold in Town B.  Therefore, the citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions  than are the citizens of Town B.

all of the followings weakens the conclusion (Town A more informed about sports), EXCEPT (so we are looking for a strengthener):

A. Town A has a larger population than Town B -  neither strengthens nor weakens - so can be a potential answer 
B. Many citizens of town B have second homes in Town A, and have all their leisure magazines delivered there  irrelevant 
C. The average citizen of Town B spends more time watching cable sports coverage of international sports than does the average citizen of Town A  irrelevant 
D. A weekly magazine devoted entirely to high school football is published in Town A, where high school football is considered the most popular sport  irrelevant - one piece of information about one sport can't be useful 
E. The average price of a magazine subscription in Town A is lower than the average price in Town B.  So more people are likely to buy it - in fact it strengthens that people in A are more likely to buy sports magazines. So it's a better contender than A - but I am really not convinced 
 My doubt is between a strengthener and neutral point - what do you choose?

Elite097 · Answer

Argument Recap:
Premise: Town A sells more sports magazine subscriptions than Town B.
Conclusion: Citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions than those of Town B.
The question asks for the one option that does not weaken the conclusion.

Analysis of Options:
A. Town A has a larger population than Town B.
Weakens the conclusion because the higher number of subscriptions could simply result from a larger population, not better information about international sports.
B. Many citizens of Town B have second homes in Town A, and have all their leisure magazines delivered there.
Weakens the conclusion by suggesting that the subscriptions in Town A are inflated by residents of Town B, so Town A’s citizens might not be better informed.
C. The average citizen of Town B spends more time watching cable sports coverage of international sports than does the average citizen of Town A.
Weakens the conclusion by showing that Town B citizens might be better informed via another source (TV) despite having fewer magazine subscriptions.
D. A weekly magazine devoted entirely to high school football is published in Town A, where high school football is considered the most popular sport.
Weakens the conclusion because it suggests that some of the subscriptions in Town A are for a magazine unrelated to international sporting competitions, meaning the higher subscription numbers do not necessarily reflect better knowledge of international sports.
E. The average price of a magazine subscription in Town A is lower than the average price in Town B.
Does not weaken the conclusion because the affordability of magazines in Town A does not challenge the idea that citizens of Town A are better informed. Even if magazines are cheaper, it does not imply that people in Town A are less informed.

ManifestDreamMBA · Answer

A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold in Town A than are sold in Town B. Therefore,  the citizens of Town A are better informed about international sporting competitions than are the citizens of Town B.

A. Town A has a larger population than Town B
 Weakens, this does explain that greater number is sold in Town A because A is more populous

B. Many citizens of town B have second homes in Town A, and have all their leisure magazines delivered there
 Weakens, this does explain that greater number is sold in Town A because A also contains share of mag subscription of B population

C. The average citizen of Town B spends more time watching cable sports coverage of international sports than does the average citizen of Town A
 Weakens, this does explain that lower number is sold in Town B because people in B watch it over TV

D. A weekly magazine devoted entirely to high school football is published in Town A, where high school football is considered the most popular sport
 Weakens, this suggests Town A population is more informed on local and not international sports

E. The average price of a magazine subscription in Town A is lower than the average price in Town B.
 Lower prices doesn't justify being better or worse informed about international sporting competitions. May be the difference is negligible and the price in both towns is still cheap ($1 vs $1.10, etc.)

xyz12345678 · Answer

But it says "a magazine subscription," which does not necessarily have to be a sports magazine?

A greater number of sports magazine subscriptions are sold

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