Sales manager: Last year the total number of meals sold in our company

Sales manager: Last year the total number of meals sold in our company's restaurants was much higher than it was the year before. Obviously consumers find our meals desirable.

Accountant: If you look at individual restaurants, however, you find that the number of meals sold actually decreased substantially at every one of our restaurants that was in operation both last year and the year before, The desirability of our meals to consumers has clearly decreased, given that this group of restaurants-the only ones for which we have sales figures that permit a comparison between last year and the year before - demonstrates a trend toward ferver sales.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the accountant's argument?

A. The company's restaurants last year dropped from their menus most of the new dishes that had been introduced the year before.

B. Prior to last year there was an overall downward trend in the company's sales.

C. Those of the company's restaurants that did increase their sales last year did not offer large discounts on prices to attract customers.

D. Sales of the company's most expensive meal contributed little to the overall two-year sales increase.

E. Most of the company's restaurants that were in operation throughout both last year and the year before are located in areas where residents experienced a severe overall decline in income last year,