nikitathegreat
Can someone explain why option A is incorrect?
We are given two sufficient conditions for the revenues to decline. If one the condition is not the case then wont we direct it to the other condition?
@veritaskarishma
GMATNinjaThe passage states that "
IF retail stores experience a decrease in revenues during this holiday season," one of two things must be true.
That first "if" is really important, because we don't know that the decrease in revenues
actually occurred. If revenues
did drop, then one of the two things must be true. If they did
not drop, on the other hand, then we can't make that assumption.
The question stem tells us that "salaries have kept pace with rising prices during the past year," but doesn't tell us whether store revenues dropped. So we can't conclude that "attitudes toward extravagant gift-giving have changed," as stated in (A) -- maybe attitudes stayed exactly the same, everyone went out and bought extravagant gifts, and revenues never dropped.
Eliminate (A).
I hope that helps!