For over 200 years, the professionally curated Encyclopedia Alphabetica was the most trusted global reference resource, with a set of 26 physical textbooks organized alphabetically from A to Z costing an average of $3,000. However, since 2000, the free, crowd-sourced knowledge website Multipedia has rapidly gained market share and now receives 20 times more monthly traffic than Encyclopedia Alphabetica’s website. Moreover, an unbiased scholastic audit found that an average article in Encyclopedia Alphabetica’s textbooks contains the same number of errors—three—as an article on the same topic on Multipedia’s website. Select the statement most reasonably supported by the information provided and the assumption necessary to support that statement.

Official Solution: Most Reasonably Supported Statement: The professional writers of Encyclopedia Alphabetica are no more authoritative on general information than the volunteer editors maintaining Multipedia articles. Reasoning: The passage explicitly states that an unbiased audit found that articles from both sources have the same average number of errors (three). This suggests equivalence in the accuracy of the content, which supports the conclusion that the professional writers and volunteer editors are equally authoritative. Assumption Necessary to Support the Statement: Multipedia's most-experienced volunteer editors sitewide do not rely on Encyclopedia Alphabetica's published textbooks as their primary source of information. Reasoning: If Multipedia's editors relied on Encyclopedia Alphabetica as a primary source, the equivalence in error rates might simply reflect the accuracy of Encyclopedia Alphabetica's textbooks rather than an independent effort by Multipedia . For the statement about authority to hold, we must assume that Multipedia's volunteer editors independently create content and do not simply reproduce information from Encyclopedia Alphabetica . Remaining Options Analysis: • The implicit biases of the scholars conducting the audit caused the audit’s findings to be dismissed by many in the academic community. The passage explicitly states that the audit was unbiased, directly contradicting this option. Additionally, there is no mention or implication in the passage that the audit’s findings were dismissed by anyone, making this statement entirely unsupported. • Only crowd-sourced websites that are highly adaptable and innovative will have the potential to disrupt the entrenched oligopoly of traditional academic publishers. While the passage discusses Multipedia's success, there is no basis to assume that only crowd-sourced websites can disrupt traditional publishers. The information provided does not exclude the possibility of other models, such as hybrid approaches or innovative professional publishers, being successful in challenging the oligopoly. • Multipedia may struggle to match the consistency of editorial quality maintained by Encyclopedia Alphabetica's expert curators. The passage explicitly states that Multipedia has already matched Encyclopedia Alphabetica in terms of error rate, suggesting that the two are currently equal in quality. Whether Multipedia will struggle to maintain this in the future is speculative and unsupported by the information given. • Encyclopedia Alphabetica will regain its position as a leading reference resource if it significantly lowers its textbook prices. The passage provides no evidence that lowering prices would ensure Encyclopedia Alphabetica regains its position. Multipedia has 20 times more traffic than Encyclopedia Alphabetica , making it unlikely that reducing the price of physical textbooks would close the gap in online dominance. Correct answer: Most Reasonably Supported Statement "The professional writers of Encyclopedia Alphabetica are no more authoritative on general information than the volunteer editors maintaining Multipedia articles. " Assumption Necessary "Multipedia's most-experienced volunteer editors sitewide do not rely on Encyclopedia Alphabetica's published textbooks as their primary source of information." GMAT-Club-Forum-eddpymy0.png

For over 200 years, the professionally curated Encyclopedia Alphabetic : Two-part Analysis (TPA)

For over 200 years, the professionally curated Encyclopedia Alphabetic

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Most Reasonably Supported Statement	Assumption Necessary
		The implicit biases of the scholars conducting the audit caused the audit’s findings to be dismissed by many in the academic community.
		Only crowd-sourced websites that are highly adaptable and innovative will have the potential to disrupt the entrenched oligopoly of traditional academic publishers.
		Multipedia may struggle to match the consistency of editorial quality maintained by Encyclopedia Alphabetica's expert curators.
		Encyclopedia Alphabetica will regain its position as a leading reference resource if it significantly lowers its textbook prices.
		Multipedia's most-experienced volunteer editors sitewide do not rely on Encyclopedia Alphabetica's published textbooks as their primary source of information.
		The professional writers of Encyclopedia Alphabetica are no more authoritative on general information than the volunteer editors maintaining Multipedia articles.

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions