A rare type of bacterial has killed off many tuna fish in North

If consumers are not willing to spend for the tuna best cat food, then the demand will not be high. This, in turn, would mean that the prices will not rise. Based on this thinking, why is B not the answer?

The question asks about an option who's answer provides some information relevant to evaluating the claim. The claim was that the prices of the cat food will increase. That will itself depend on the prices of the raw materials (tuna and other things). The manufacturing price will increase unless the prices of other ingredients in tuna based cat food decrease. So that's why, I think that E is the correct answer we are looking for.

Also, B gives us the answer from customers point of view. Even if the customers are not willing to spend more, they will be buying the minimum amount of cat food which should not affect the manufacturing prices of the product.

Let me try to help you guys here.

Conclusion: the retail price of tuna based cat food is certain to increase within six months.

The answer to which of the following questions would provide information relevant to evaluating the claims made in the argument above? ---- evaluate above given information.

A.Can the bacteria be eliminated within the next six months? --- Lets consider the answer yes. in that case the price for cat food will not increase. if answer is No. i understand the answer is no. but more important question in this case will the problem remain the same. In gmat its a very basic rule never kill a problem. just weaken it. in this case problem will not remain as it is maintained above.
B.Are consumers willing to spend more for tuna based cat food? --- yes or no either way it is not affecting this problem.
C.Has the price of cat food remained steady during other period of poor tuna catches? --- what happened in those situation has nothing to do with this one.
D.What percentage of tuna in North America were affected by the bacteria? ---- again an irrelevant factor.
E.Have the prices of other ingredients in tuna based cat food decreased recently? --- let say yes. while tuna price increased. over all process will not increase. while if prices of other ingredients not decreased or increased then overall prices will increase. E is the correct ans.

E is best answer

We know that tuna meat price is increased but tuna based cat food price

If it's other ingredients price is decreased then we are not sure whether price would increase or not
But if price of other ingredients remains same then its price can go up
E goes in both ways so it sbest option

B doesn't correlate with situation ,in argument we know nothing about consumer behaviour so it is wrong

All other options are not addressing concern of price for tuna based cat food

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aragonn Why D is irrelevant?

If high percentage of tuna is affected then yes price will increase , if less percentage or negligible percentage of tuna is affected then price will not increase

prags1989 - Let see what is relevant here.

As a result the whole sale price of tuna meat has increased significantly >>>> Therefore the retail price of tuna based cat food is certain to increase within six months.

So reasoning is whole sale price is increased and eventually retail price will increase.
No matter the answer of this question (high/low), we are sure about one thing that price of tune has increased. and so the conclusion is not going to change. if you say no this thing will affect prices, we have to assume a lot of stuff. So i called it irrelevant. I see you have made this assumption and fall in trap. well don't use info that is not given.

Hi Gladiator59 ... How do we eliminate A ???

Hi ShankSouljaBoi,

My reasoning to eliminate (A) is the question stem is specifically asking about "within the next 6 months" and option A is also talking about "eliminate bacteria within next 6 months".. so even if the bacteria do gets eliminated we cannot be assured that tuna supply will get back to normalcy immediately. It may take a few years( or atleast a few months based) for it to since the bacteria has killed of most of the tuna .. the surviving tuna would have to breed and produce more tuna and it would atleast take one season to see an increase ... So a little bit of thought can eliminate A w.r.t E which is more direct.

Let's say tuna based cat food has 3 main components. If tuna got really expensive, and the other two components became super cheap.. the overall price could stay the same or even decrease. Hence E is the stronger choice.

Hope this helps.

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To evaluate the claims made in the argument, let's break down the argument and examine the relevance of each question.

Argument Analysis:

Premise 1: A rare type of bacteria has killed off many tuna fish in North America.
Premise 2: Fishing boats have had very meager catches of tuna this year.
Premise 3: As a result, the wholesale price of tuna meat has increased significantly.
Conclusion: Therefore, the retail price of tuna-based cat food is certain to increase within six months.

The conclusion is drawn based on the assumption that an increase in the wholesale price of tuna meat will lead to an increase in the retail price of tuna-based cat food. To evaluate this claim, we need to consider factors that could affect the retail price of tuna-based cat food.

Evaluation of Each Question:

A. Can the bacteria be eliminated within the next six months?

This question is relevant because if the bacteria can be eliminated, tuna populations might recover, potentially reducing the wholesale price of tuna meat and impacting the retail price of cat food.

B. Are consumers willing to spend more for tuna-based cat food?

This question addresses demand elasticity. If consumers are not willing to spend more, retailers might absorb some of the increased costs instead of passing them entirely to consumers. Thus, this is relevant to the conclusion.

C. Has the price of cat food remained steady during other periods of poor tuna catches?

This question is highly relevant because it provides historical context. If retail prices have remained steady during past tuna shortages, it could indicate that other factors might mitigate the impact on retail prices.

D. What percentage of tuna in North America were affected by the bacteria?

This question helps gauge the extent of the impact on tuna supply. If only a small percentage is affected, the impact on wholesale prices and subsequently retail prices might be less significant. This is relevant to understanding the severity of the situation.

E. Have the prices of other ingredients in tuna-based cat food decreased recently?

This question is relevant because if the prices of other ingredients have decreased, it might offset the increased cost of tuna meat, potentially preventing a rise in the retail price of the cat food.

Most Relevant Question:
While all the questions provide some relevant information, C (Has the price of cat food remained steady during other periods of poor tuna catches?) is particularly relevant. This question directly addresses historical pricing behavior, which is crucial in evaluating whether an increase in wholesale tuna prices will necessarily lead to a rise in the retail price of tuna-based cat food.

Thus, the best answer is: C.