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A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs

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Bunuel
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A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs [#permalink] New post   06 Sep 2021, 07:00
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A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the first day of school to raise money for the coming year. In order to increase sales this year the squad decided to lower the prices on everything. Despite their strategy, the cheerleaders had lower sales than in any previous year.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to reconciling the apparent discrepancy indicated above EXCEPT:


(A) Student enrollment at the high school dropped significantly from the previous year to this year.

(B) Other school groups planned their fund-raisers for the same day, which had not been done in previous years.

(C) Because of the increase in prices for sugar and flour, the cost of making the baked goods increased this year.

(D) The faculty handed out gift baskets on the first day of school that included cupcakes and other sweet items.

(E) Due to construction on a new auditorium the cheerleading squad was not able to locate their bake sale tables in the same well-known location as in previous years.
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A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs [#permalink] New post   06 Sep 2021, 07:19

From the passage: Even though the prices were reduced, the cheerleaders had lower sales

Here for the except question, we need to eliminate all answers which supports the discrepancy

Option A- if the student enrollment dropped, probably that's why lesser students showed up and therefore, sales were less
Option B- If other school groups planned their fund raiser on the same day, maybe that's why lesser students showed up and therefore, lower sales
Option C- So what if the price increased? It doesn't answer the question of why the sales were lower
Option D- If the faculty handed out gift baskets which included cupcakes and other sweet items, the students didn't feel the need of going to the bake sale and therefore, sales were lower
Option E- If the squad couldn't locate the bake sale table-->they didn't show up, which means the sales were lower

So, IMO C
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Re: A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs [#permalink] New post   07 Sep 2021, 00:39
A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the first day of school to raise money for the coming year. In order to increase sales this year the squad decided to lower the prices on everything. Despite their strategy, the cheerleaders had lower sales than in any previous year.

We have to find an answer which doesn't help us in resolving the discrepancy.

Sale = #items sold * price per item

Since price per item is fixed, we have to focus on #items sold that is #students buying the item. Somehow, if we can establish that the number of students who bought the item is not as per the expectation then the discrepancy would be resolved.

(A) Student enrollment at the high school dropped significantly from the previous year to this year.......................Less enrollment -> less students to buy the items. It resolves the discrepancy. Reject it.

(B) Other school groups planned their fund-raisers for the same day, which had not been done in previous years.................Students have more options to buy as per this scenario. So, the number of items sold by the cheerleading squad would be reduced. This resolves the discrepancy. Reject it.

(C) Because of the increase in prices for sugar and flour, the cost of making the baked goods increased this year................Cost of raw materials has no bearing on Sales. This doesn't resolve the discrepancy. Keep it.

(D) The faculty handed out gift baskets on the first day of school that included cupcakes and other sweet items.................Mildly it resolves discrepancy since some of the students have already received cupcake and sweet items, so they wouldn't go for buying. Reject it.

(E) Due to construction on a new auditorium the cheerleading squad was not able to locate their bake sale tables in the same well-known location as in previous years............................Table not in well-known location -> less footfall -> less sales. This resolves discreapncy. Reject it.


IMO OA should be C
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Re: A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs [#permalink] New post   11 Sep 2021, 04:30
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Bunuel wrote:
A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the first day of school to raise money for the coming year. In order to increase sales this year the squad decided to lower the prices on everything. Despite their strategy, the cheerleaders had lower sales than in any previous year.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to reconciling the apparent discrepancy indicated above EXCEPT:


(A) Student enrollment at the high school dropped significantly from the previous year to this year.

(B) Other school groups planned their fund-raisers for the same day, which had not been done in previous years.

(C) Because of the increase in prices for sugar and flour, the cost of making the baked goods increased this year.

(D) The faculty handed out gift baskets on the first day of school that included cupcakes and other sweet items.

(E) Due to construction on a new auditorium the cheerleading squad was not able to locate their bake sale tables in the same well-known location as in previous years.



OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Answer: C

STEP 1: Read the question and identify your task.
This is a Paradox question. Reading the question, you discover that it wants you to find the one answer that does not explain the phenomenon described in the argument.

STEP 2: Read the argument with your task in mind.
In the argument you learn that the cheerleading squad experienced lower sales than usual for its bake sale after it decided to lower prices.

STEP 3: Know what you’re looking for.
Therefore, you must find the one answer that does nothing to explain the lower sales.

STEP 4: Read every word of every answer choice.
For answer A, a lower population of potential buyers would very likely hurt sales. For answer B, competing fund-raisers would most likely decrease funds students have to spend on baked goods. In answer C, the cost of sugar and flour may affect profitability but has nothing to do with sales. Since answer C does not contribute to reconciling the apparent discrepancy, it would seem to be your answer, but you should continue to review the rest of your answers to make sure. For answer D, students probably would not buy more baked goods if they already had free cupcakes from the teachers, so that would definitely hurt sales. Finally, for answer E, location could very likely affect sales, especially if students had come to expect their sale table to be located in a traditional location. The correct choice is answer C.
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Re: A high school cheerleading squad held its annual bake sale on the firs [#permalink]
11 Sep 2021, 04:30
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