There are two information:
-The cards that will be most profitable in any given month are placed in a prominent display area near the checkout counter.
-The profit margins are greatest on “audio cards” that play messages when opened.

The recently received a shipment of audio cards was made to place at the rear of the store.
We need to seek an information that supports this action.
As the shipment consists of audio cards, the profit margin is expected to be high (information 2). Thus, if they were placed at the rear, it's possible that the cards are not expected to be much profitable in the coming months.

(A) the profit margin on audio cards has dropped substantially in the last six months.
Even if the profit margin has dropped, the actual profit could be higher than other cards.
(B) sales of audio cards peaked about 2 years ago.
We are concerned on profits and not the sales.
(C) the recently received audio cards are designed for a holiday that will occur in three months’ time.
This seem to be the correct reason. The store might anticipated that the coming months are not the correct time for the cards to be most profitable.
(D) when shoppers were polled on the subject, nearly half of the respondents said that they found audio cards annoying.
The annoyance of the shoppers has nothing to do with the profits of the cards. The buyers decide it.
(E) the audio cards recently received by the store were produced by a company whose products have never been sold in the store before.
"Never sold before" gives no information if they will be sold more or less now.

C

A store that sells greeting cards places the cards that will be most profitable in any given month in a prominent display area near the checkout counter. The profit margins are greatest on “audio cards” that play messages when opened. The store recently received a shipment of audio cards, but the decision was made to place these at the rear of the store because _________________.

(A) the profit margin on audio cards has dropped substantially in the last six months. Incorrect

dont know it is least profitable or medium profitable at time of shipment received

(B) sales of audio cards peaked about 2 years ago. Irrelevant

(C) the recently received audio cards are designed for a holiday that will occur in three months’ time. Incorrect

it cant explain why cards place in rear, if it is most profitable

(D) when shoppers were polled on the subject, nearly half of the respondents said that they found audio cards annoying. Incorrect

it doest a reason

(E) the audio cards recently received by the store were produced by a company whose products have never been sold in the store before. Correct

these cards have no sales history, so place in the rear of the store

Quote from the argument:

places the cards that will be most profitable in any given month in a prominent display area near the checkout counter. In other words, the most profitable cards in a given month will be placed on the checkout counter.

For example, if Christmas is after six months, and Halloween is after two days! So, which cards you will place near the checkout counter, of course, the Halloween cards. Similar to that, the below choice is the right answer as it clear out why stores keep the new cards in the backyard.

(C) the recently received audio cards are designed for a holiday that will occur in three months’ time.

Official Explanation:

A store that sells greeting cards places the cards that will be most profitable in any given month in a prominent display area near the checkout counter. The profit margins are greatest on “audio cards” that play messages when opened. The store recently received a shipment of audio cards, but the decision was made to place these at the rear of the store because _________________.

(A) the profit margin on audio cards has dropped substantially in the last six months.

(B) sales of audio cards peaked about 2 years ago.

(C) the recently received audio cards are designed for a holiday that will occur in three months’ time.

(D) when shoppers were polled on the subject, nearly half of the respondents said that they found audio cards annoying.

(E) the audio cards recently received by the store were produced by a company whose products have never been sold in the store before.

Question Type: Fill in the Blank
Boil It Down: Greeting card stores place the most profitable cards near the checkout counter. Audio cards are the most profitable of all cards. This store got new audio cards, but they did not put them in the front because: ____________
Goal: Pretty self explanatory - find the option that most logically completes the statement.

Analysis:

Fill in the blank questions tend to give some students difficulties, because there are a lot of answer choices which could be correct. We have to be very cognizant here to only give the best answer. What I tell all students to keep in mind is to take all evidence in the prompt as infallible. Every sentence which is used, should be treated as 100% true. Do not pick answer choice which would contradict evidence given in the prompt. For example, the fact that stores put the most profitable cards in the front? True no matter what. The fact that audio cards have the higher profit margin? True no matter what.

For our prediction, we need an answer that reconciles two ‘must be true’ statements. Almost like resolving a paradox. All stores put the most profitable cards up front and audio cards are always the most profitable. However, this store won’t put audio cards up front. How can both statements be true? My prediction here is that these audio cards are defective, and people don’t buy defective cards often. With that in mind, let’s find a fill in the blank answer which resolves our paradox.

(A) the profit margin on audio cards has dropped substantially in the last six months.
Let’s go back to my point earlier. Accept all evidence as true. The evidence tells us that audio cards have the highest profit margin. Just because the profit margin has decreased, does not mean they still do not have the highest profit margin. This would contradict our evidence, so it does not fill in the blank for us.

(B) sales of audio cards peaked about 2 years ago.
Again, we don’t care about this answer choice as well. Audio cards are the most profitable, so they should be put up front. We cannot attack the fact that they are profitable. We must accept that as true. We need a reason why they are the most profitable, but not put in the front in this situation. This answer choice is wrong. Plus, sales peaking 2 years ago means nothing. If the sales peaked at 100,000 sold per month 2 years ago, but now the sales are at 99,999 per month, is that really a large enough difference to make the audio cards unprofitable? No.

(C) the recently received audio cards are designed for a holiday that will occur in three months’ time.
Why is it that audio cards, the most profitable cards and not put in the front, where the most profitable cards are always put? Because the cards aren’t in season yet. This does not attack the profitability of audio cards, nor does it undermine that the most profitable cards are put in the front. I like this answer. Maybe the store already has some in-season audio cards out in the front, which it will switch out as it gets closer to the holiday. This is the correct answer choice.

(D) when shoppers were polled on the subject, nearly half of the respondents said that they found audio cards annoying.
Don’t attack our evidence. This answer choice wants you to assume that people don’t like audio cards. We must accept as true that audio cards are the most profitable. We don’t care that half of all shoppers are annoyed by them, because audio cards are profitable. This does not resolve our paradox to fill in the blank.

(E) the audio cards recently received by the store were produced by a company whose products have never been sold in the store before.
So what? The evidence simply states that all audio cards are the most profitable. It gives no modifier which would suggest that new audio cards would not behave in the same way. This answer choice wants you to draw an assumption that new products would in some way be unprofitable, but there is nothing in the prompt to suggest this to be the case. This answer choice is incorrect.



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