People in 20s - 10% read newspaper
People in 30s - 50% read newspaper

You might expect that since the younger generation is not reading the paper much, after some years, the % of people reading the paper will decrease. But the publishers claim that after some years, the % of people reading the paper will stay the same. How can you strengthen it?
What I think will strengthen it: People start reading the paper as they get older or something similar
Option (C) tells you that proportion of people reading the paper in their 20s has always been low. Hence, people who are right now in their 30s were also not reading the paper much when they were in their 20s. Which means that they start reading the paper at a later age. This strengthens the publishers' claim.

B, D and E are out of scope and needn't be considered at all.

As for (A), what we are interested in is the % of paper readers within each age bracket. Whether people in 20s are more or people in 30s are more doesn't matter. We need to keep the % of people reading the paper the same.
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Aaaaah ha! So if readership remains the same among 20 yr olds, the likelihood is that readership over all will remain the same? This doesn't make the argument bulletproof, but it strengthens somewhat by stating that at least the population of people in their twenties will remain unchanged?

I thought of the argument in a somewhat similar way.

How can we make sure that readership overall remains the same?

1. Total population does not increase, and neither does readership

2. Population does increase, but increase in ppl 30 and up, offsets increase in 20 yr olds

3. Population drops, but decrease in ppl 30 and up, offsets decrease in in 20 yr olds

So, I guess, any indication that population is going to remain consistent, or that population changes among the two demographics offset each other would strengthen.

What are your thoughts?

"Aaaaah ha! So if readership remains the same among 20 yr olds, the likelihood is that readership over all will remain the same? "

No. Actually, the point is that if proportion of Domoricans in their twenties who regularly read a newspaper has always been low, it implies that the culture of the country is such that youngsters don't read the paper but in later yrs, people start. I don't think you need to work on the population aspect at all. We don't know whether the population is increasing/decreasing or staying the same. The argument is actually simpler.

Look at it objectively:

You conduct a survey and find that only 10% of Domoricans in their 20s read the paper while 50% of people above 30 read the paper regularly. What will be your conclusion? That in 10 yrs, when the generation moves forward, the % of people reading the paper might decrease since the new generation doesn't like to read the paper.
Now what happens if you come to know that the case has been the same for the past 100 yrs? Then you don't expect the % to decrease, right? Then you know that in Domorica, its the trend that youngsters do not read the paper but they do start in later years.
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Typical GMAT question.

I was on No-Mans land after pre-thinking and reading all options

The question asks which of the following will support the prediction that in 10 years the number of people who read newspapers will be similar to the number of today.

Basically, if the number of ppl in their 20s who read newspapers HAS ALWAYS BEEN low, it makes sense to make such prediction because it is assumed, that 10 years from now, when these ppl are in their 30s, they will read newspapers .

Hi Karishma,

I understand the reasoning that you provided. The soln I have attached says the existing pattern has always been the same . What if the proportion of Domoricans in their twenties who regularly read a newspaper reduces? This option asks us to assume that the pattern will continue. Ain't this incorrect?

Please help.

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Hi Sachin,

When we say that "What if the proportion of Domoricans in their twenties who regularly read a newspaper reduces" we are making an an additional assumption. Of course, if this proportion reduces, (C) might become a doubtful choice; but, we are not supposed to do so. I am using a line from my earlier post(link below) about additional assumptions, which confuse us often.

Note: While strengthening or weakening the argument you should prove that a choice is correct/ incorrect without making any additional assumptions

strengthen-question-not-too-easy-148634.html#p1190969

We do not have a reason to assume that the proportion of Domoricans in their twenties who regularly read a newspaper will reduce. All we can say from the choice (C) is that the proportion has always been low. Based on just this information and the information provided in the stimulus we can say for sure that (C) provides the strongest grounds for the newspaper's prediction.

Hope this clarifies your doubt,

Vercules
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Vercules ( verbal hercules)

C asks us to assume that it will be low in the future also.. we have no idea about the future, it may go down or go up. .
I am not assuming it goes up.. but by thinking that it is going to remain low, I am assuming that it will remain low. and the attachment is also assuming the same.
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Hi Sachin,

The explanation is not assuming it; this is a good question indeed, but not a very elaborate explanation.

Well, The people who are today in their twenties, 10 years ago, would have been in their 10s or teens(10 - 20). Now currently the people who are in their twenties, 10 years from now, will be in their thirties. We can say for sure that the current trend will continue because the people who will be in their twenties, ten years from now, are presently in their 10s or teens (10 - 20) and this figure will remain the same in future (unless we assume something additional). But, for 10 years from now, based on the given information, we can say that the proportion will be low.

However we can not say what will happen 30 or 40 years from now because people in their twenties, after 30 or 40 years, are not even born at present and their number may change (i.e. based on the given information we can not predict the fertility rates or population of the newly born).

Hope this helps,

Vercules
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Actually, the option doesn't ask us to assume anything. It explains us the reason publishers predict that percentage of Domoricans who regularly read a newspaper will remain the same.
The option tells that this has been the pattern for a long time. There is no reason why things should change. Now, when we read the argument, the publishers prediction makes more sense, right? We understand why they predict that the readership will not reduce. This pattern:
People in 20s - 10% read
People in 30s - 50% read
has been there for a long time. The pattern is the same today. So it makes sense that publishers are predicting that overall readership will stay the same after 10 yrs too (when the people in their 20s come to 30s). Otherwise we might have thought that the overall readership might reduce because the young generation doesn't like to read newspapers.

Focus on the question stem: Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest grounds for the newspapers' prediction?
Option (C), gives us strong grounds for publisher's prediction. It tells us why they predict what they do. Hence it is the answer.
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Hi Karishma,

You mentioned that B is not in scope.
However, if the number of Newspapers produced have been increasing since several decades, it is definitely a safe bet to say that it will be increasing in the future as well .. Then why is not considered at all. Please explain...Thanks

Hi Karishma,

In this argument it is mentioned that Domoricans in their twenties constitute a large proportion of the population,
Here by 'large proportion' can we assume that >50% of the population?
while the answer choice A states that 'The number of Domoricans in their twenties is less than the number of Domoricans over thirty'.
Can the answer A be true in any case , i am failing to understand how a section that constitutes a larger proportion of population can have number of people lower than that in a section that constitutes lower proportion of same population

need your help on this
Thanks

No, large population doesn't imply more than 50%. It just means that they do not constitute 2-3% of the population!

So (A) can be true. Perhaps the number of people in 20s is 30% of the population while the number of people in their 30s is 40% of the population.
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Surveys in Domorica indicate that only 10% of Domoricans in their twenties read a newspaper regularly, while more than half of all Domoricans over thirty read a newspaper regularly. Although Domoricans in their twenties constitute a large proportion of the population, newspaper publishers nonetheless predict that ten years from now, the percentage of Domoricans who regularly read a newspaper will probably be no lower than it is today.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest grounds for the newspapers' prediction?

A. The number of Domoricans in their twenties is less than the number of Domoricans over thirty.

B. The number of newspaper published in Domorica has been gradually increasing over the past several decades.

C. The proportion of Domoricans in their twenties who regularly read a newspaper has alwayes been low.

D. The surveys defined a regular reader of a newspaper as someone who reads a newspaper more than twice a week.

E. The proportion of Domoricans who regularly read a newspaper was higher 20 years ago than it is today.
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Can someone please explain the OA.

thanks

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ITS C.
Consider cases:
twenties:100 10
thirties case1:30 16
thirties case 2:10 6

This topic have been merged with: http://gmatclub.com/forum/topic-147299.html

Goal -the percentage od domoricans who reglarly read a paper wil be NO LOWER
means -it wil be same or increase

let populations of 20's be 500
10% of 500-50
populations of 30's be 200
10% of 200-20

plan-10 years from now,,,,,percentage who read wil be no lower than today

today only-20 is reading
after 10 years,,,,20's turn into 30's….so 50 gonna read

choose options that strenghen the argument

option C fits the bell…it says proportion of 20's has always been low,,,,,,,
later when they turn nto 30's ,,,they get used to it,,,,,and the proportion of people reading wil not be lower