The issue of scope is often misapplied to assumption questions. An assumption is a piece of information that is altogether missing from the argument; it is completely new information that, if true, makes the conclusion more believable.

The answer should make the conclusion that sales will drop because there are fewer Brindon firms&workshops more believable.

A. What happened last year is irrelevant to the future prediction for sales based on loss of clientele in Brindon.

B. Even if the Brindon clientele (firms and workshops) have a smaller volume of work, Brindon Bolt Barn may still have clientele elsewhere, in which case sales might not drop.

C. If Brindon Bolt Barn's competition increases, then sales declines will not have resulted from the loss of clientele.

D. Operating expenses are not related to sales.

E. Correct: If Brindon Bolt Barn's loses its Brindon clientele AND has little other clientele to rely on, then it is safe to conclude that sales will decline due to the loss of Brindon's firms and workshops.

A good break down of how to approach conclusion and assumption questions can be found in the Critical Reasoning I lesson at gmaxonline.
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IMO E.

it elimates the option- what if the company makes profit from customers outside the country.

Is it B? E expands the scope to outside brindon country. A and C are irrelevant. D if anything weakens the argument and cannot be an assumption. Pls provide OA.

Assumption is that Brindon Bolt Barn customers are mostly companies in Brindon county so E.

Conclusion is "Bolt Barn will show a sharp decline in sales as compared to last year".

Now, what if Bolt Barn not only supplies the bolts to the workshops in the city but also to a number of homes, then option E doesnt seem correct to me.

Now coming back to "A", if the sales last year were abnormally high & this year a potential sales area (workshops) is also not giving much then the Bolt Barn will show a sharp decline in sales as compared to last year.
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Assumption is that Brindon Bolt Barn customers are mostly companies in Brindon county so E.
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OA is E.

Sarai, your explanation is in sync with mine

C is a possibility rather than a statement. "Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be". Negating C
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will BE the ONLY significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. >> Contradicts the premise.

E is left.

Sarai

I use negation a lot of times in assumption questions. Thats alright.

But what about weakening questions?
1. Can I use negation technique here?
2. What if negation of the assumption contradicts the premise? I believe premise are never questioned. Right??

thanks
mavrik

Hi Marvrik,
Your answer must NEVER counter a premise. Could you explain what you mean by negation though so that I can better answer your first question?

-Sarai
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Hi Sarai
talking about this - Negation of choice C.
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will BE the ONLY significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. >> Contradicts the premise.

My bad. I should have said "conclusion" instead of premise. The negation (of assumption) affects the conclusion if the assumption is correct. I did reverse (negate) C but it doesn't seem to affect the conclusion about the current sales decline. Does it??

thanks

In Brindon County, virtually all of the fasteners—such as nuts, bolts, and screws—used by workshops and manufacturing firms have for several years been supplied by the Brindon Bolt Barn, a specialist wholesaler. In recent months many of Brindon County’s 18 workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down, and no new ones have opened. Therefore, the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a sharp decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year.


The argument depends on assuming which of the following?
A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year.
B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops.
D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year.
E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County.

Discuss each answer choice

E is right here.

Given : In Simpler terms

Premises :
- Brindon Bolt Barn (BBB) satisfies all fastner needs of Brindon County firms
- Many firms have closed down. No new firms openend.

Conclusion : BBB's sale will sharply decline

Asuumption : BBB only deals with Brindon County firms

Lets see an choices:

A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year. >> This does not tell us why sales should decline this year.

B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year. >> One more premises. May be a supporting statement for conclusion. But not assumption.

C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. >> Out of scope

D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year. >> Out of scope

E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County. >> this tells us that BBB does not do business with firms in other counties. Means BBB's sales highly depend on Brindon county firms. Correct one.

Agree to the AC as E, but just need to know Why Option C is Out of Scope>

To me it does not look to be an Out of Scope option, it could be a statement which expresses a conclusion further to the Reasoning argument.

This choice can easily confuse some of the test takers as contenders for this question.

only significant supplier of fasteners -> this is the term that leads us to the confusion. How does significant matter in the argument?
Even if it was not significant, why will the sales go down?

A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year.
Comparison should be between This year and last year, so out
B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
Can work as a strengthen option.Also if we will use ANT, then negate - This year W/MF have work greater than or equal to work last year.So in case of == conclusion still stands.
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops.
It will or will not that is OOS, as we care comparing sales and have to justify drop in sales.
D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year.
Sales vol. not equivalent to Ope. expenses.
E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County.
That is the answer ,can use ANT also you will get it.

Hi Sarai,

If I apply negation technique to option 'E', it is as wrong as option 'B'.

If Brindon Bolt Barn does not have clientele outside the country and number of open stores has declined, but at the same time sales of existing stores has increased significantly, then also conclusion will fall apart.

The only reason I can see to select B over E is that B does not specifically talk about Brindon Bolt Barn company, it talks about any warehouses. Please share your view. Thanks!!

Hi Chiranjeev,

Just clear one of my query,
My analysis , Conclusion is "the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a sharp decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year." based on the premise as some of the manufacturing firms are closed and no new ones are going to open.

Considering option E
So my query is irrespective of Brindon getting business outside the county or from anywhere else the brindon won't be able to increase is sales volume or revenue as manufacturing firms are closed and no new ones are going to open.

how does this shatter the conclusion?

Thanks

Hi Chiranjeev,

Sorry i got my query resolved , it was my mistake , i assumed that those manufacturing firms are those where Brindon manufacture their bolt. My bad. :D

Regards

Nitin Singh