A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries

Question

A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries to its patrons in a little café. However, a nearby coffee shop offers similar items that cost less, so the library’s café has struggled to sell enough to make use of the space worthwhile. The manager of the café has decided to exclusively sell a new line of locally-prepared pastries that will only be available at the libraries in that county.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the library manager’s projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales?

A. The cost of the new pastries offered at the library will be up to 20% more than that of the pastries they had been selling.
B. Because of nationwide trends in the cost of certain goods, the cost of pastry items are expected to increase throughout the state in which the library is located.
C. The amount of profit that the library expects to make on the new pastries is somewhat less than what they make on those they used to offer.
D. The coffee shop near the library plans to offer its own line of pastries within the coming months.
E. Nearly 90% of the patrons of the library who were given samples of the new pastries stated that they preferred the taste to that of any other pastries sold in the area.

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Question 91: Library Cafe Sales

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RajatJ79 · Answer

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the library manager’s projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales?

Pre-thinking : In the passage it has been mentioned that 'a nearby coffee shop  offers similar items  that  cost less '. These 2 factors maybe impacting sales of the Library Cafe.

The plan will be strengthened when an increase in sales can be achieved by: 
1. Creating a new items which are preferred by patrons over other items (which the Library Cafe has done)
2. Making the price more competitive i.e. reducing the price of current items
3. nearby coffee shop increasing the prices of their items and making it similar/more expensive than Library Cafe

A. The cost of the new pastries offered at the library will be up to 20% more than that of the pastries they had been selling.
 Increase in prices of existing/old items does not guarantee increase in sales. In fact sales could drop further since the nearby coffee shop is already selling items at a lower price.  Drop Option A .

B. Because of nationwide trends in the cost of certain goods, the cost of pastry items are expected to increase throughout the state in which the library is located.
 This increase in costs affects both the Library Cafe as well as nearby coffee shop. Does not necessarily result in increase in Library Cafe sales.  Drop Option B .

C. The amount of profit that the library expects to make on the new pastries is somewhat less than what they make on those they used to offer.
 Lower profit of new pastry does not necessarily indicate an increase in Library Cafe sales.  Drop Option C .

D. The coffee shop near the library plans to offer its own line of pastries within the coming months.
 Option D weakens the argument.  Drop Option D .

E. Nearly 90% of the patrons of the library who were given samples of the new pastries stated that they preferred the taste to that of any other pastries sold in the area.
 This Option states that a majority of the people preferred new pastry over any other pastry and this could lead to an increase in sales.   Keep Option E .

IMO answer should be Option E.

minalgambhir · Answer

CONCLUSION - Plan - sell a new line of locally prepared pastries that will only be available in the libraries of the county would lead to increase in the sales

GIVEN -

1) Coffee shop near the library sells similar items at reduced price
2) Cafe has struggled to sell enough to make the use of space worthwhile

STRENGTHNER - What new information increases the belief in the conclusion?

ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS -

A) If the cost is more, the cafe is selling the similar items at less cost. If the cost is high there must be something unique in the pastries to be preferred by the people
B) Talking about all pastry items - will affect the cafe and coffee shop equally and not related to the conclusion
C) Amount of profit is less, how will the sales be affected? 
D) Coffee shop's line of pastry is not related to the conclusion, it is concerned about cafe's line of pastry
E) CORRECT - As per the trial performed, the pastry was preferred, so sales would definitely increase

winterschool · Answer

A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries to its patrons in a little café. However, a nearby coffee shop offers similar items that cost less, so the library’s café has struggled to sell enough to make use of the space worthwhile. The manager of the café has decided to exclusively sell a new line of locally-prepared pastries that will only be available at the libraries in that county.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the library manager’s projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales?

A. The cost of the new pastries offered at the library will be up to 20% more than that of the pastries they had been selling.  Incorrect

cost of pastries is not a fact in argument

B. Because of nationwide trends in the cost of certain goods, the cost of pastry items are expected to increase throughout the state in which the library is located.  Incorrect

cost of pastries is not a fact in argument

C. The amount of profit that the library expects to make on the new pastries is somewhat less than what they make on those they used to offer.  Incorrect

profit of pastries is not a fact in argument

D. The coffee shop near the library plans to offer its own line of pastries within the coming months.  Incorrect

so, it can reduce sales; against argument

E.  Nearly 90% of the patrons of the library who were given samples of the new pastries stated that they preferred the taste to that of any other pastries sold in the area.   Correct

it supports plan that new pastries increase sales because most people preferred new pastries more than any other pastries

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation:

A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries to its patrons in a little café. However, a nearby coffee shop offers similar items that cost less, so the library’s café has struggled to sell enough to make use of the space worthwhile. The manager of the café has decided to exclusively sell a new line of locally-prepared pastries that will only be available at the libraries in that county.
 
 Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the library manager’s projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales? 
 
 A. The cost of the new pastries offered at the library will be up to 20% more than that of the pastries they had been selling.
B. Because of nationwide trends in the cost of certain goods, the cost of pastry items are expected to increase throughout the state in which the library is located.
C. The amount of profit that the library expects to make on the new pastries is somewhat less than what they make on those they used to offer.
D. The coffee shop near the library plans to offer its own line of pastries within the coming months. 
 E. Nearly 90% of the patrons of the library who were given samples of the new pastries stated that they preferred the taste to that of any other pastries sold in the area.

Question Type:   Strengthen
  Boil It Down:   Their competitor sells similar pastries for less, so the library’s cafe should sell different pastries to increase their own sales.
  Goal:    Find the option that most strongly supports that manager’s idea to sell different pastries to increase their sales.

Analysis:  
 
 Argument structure: 
(P) = Premise/Evidence/Support (C) = Conclusion
 
P1: Competitor sells same pastry items for less
P2: Library’s pastry sales have struggled
C: The manager’s new pastry plan will yield increase sales
 
The argument suggests that the library is losing business to the competitor because the library is offering the same pastries at a higher price. Two factors are at play: pastry type and cost. To stop the loss of business, the library can deal with either of the two factors. The manager reasons that if different pastries are offered, then losing business due to getting underbid can be reduced. The correct answer choice will strengthen this reasoning.

Put simply, the correct answer choice needs to show a way that the new plan will reduce the flow of customers from the library to the competitor and where pastry type and not cost is the factor being dealt with.

A. The cost of the new pastries offered at the library will be up to 20% more than that of the pastries they had been selling.
 Incorrect. Answer choice A weakens the argument by giving a further reason for the patrons to frequent the competitor. 
 
B. Because of nationwide trends in the cost of certain goods, the cost of pastry items is expected to increase throughout the state in which the library is located.
 Incorrect. As discussed in the argument analysis section above, the manager is not reasoning based on cost. As such, increases in pastry costs across the state is irrelevant. 
 
C. The amount of profit that the library expects to make on the new pastries is somewhat less than what they make on those they used to offer.
 Incorrect. The issue involves reducing the flow of patrons to the competitor by changing the pastry type. Profits are not part of this argument. As such, answer choice C is irrelevant. 
 
D. The coffee shop near the library plans to offer its own line of pastries within the coming months.
 Incorrect. This answer choice weakens the manager’s argument by offering an overlooked possibility. The manager is banking on attracting patrons by offering unique and different pastries. If the competitor does the same, then the manager’s argument gets undercut. 
 
E. Nearly 90% of the patrons of the library who were given samples of the new pastries stated that they preferred the taste to that of any other pastries sold in the area.
 Correct. Rather than dealing with price, the manager is banking on the belief that different pastries than the competitor will attract patrons. Answer choice E supports the manager’s belief by providing a reason why the different pastries will attract patrons, namely that they taste better.

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Great work winterschool , minalgambhir , and Rajat8 ! You all cracked the code on this one. Kudos to you!

The next question is up now. Can't wait to see how you tackle the next one!

A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

A public library uses some of its space to offer coffee and pastries

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