That sales can be increased by the presence of sunlight within a store

Question

That sales can be increased by the presence of sunlight within a store has been shown by the experience of the only Savefast department store with a large skylight. The skylight allows sunlight into half of the store, reducing the need for artifcial light. The rest of the store uses only artifcial light. Since the store opened two years ago, the depart ments on the sunlit side have had substantially higher sales than the other departments.    1 
 1. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

A. On particularly cloudy days, more artifcial light is used to illuminate the part of the store under the skylight.
B. When the store is open at night, the departments in the part of the store under the skylight have sales that are no higher than those of other departments.
C. Many customers purchase items from departments in both parts of the store on a single shopping trip.
D. Besides the skylight, there are several signifcant architectural differences between the two parts of the store.
E. The departments in the part of the store under the skylight are the departments that generally have the highest sales in other stores in the Savefast chain.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

The passage compares sales of items in the sunlit part of the store with sales of items in the artifcially lit part of the store and concludes that since the former are greater than the latter, the presence of sunlight increases sales. Te assumption underlying this argument is that the only signifcant difference between the two parts of the store is the presence of sunlight—otherwise, the inherent popularity of goods sold in different locations, or some other factor, might account for the increased sales. Choice B helps rule out the possibility that other factors might be involved, by showing that sales are no greater when the sunlight is taken out of the equation. Terefore it is the correct answer. Choices D and E both suggest that factors besides sunlight might explain the discrepancy between sales; therefore they weaken rather than strengthen the argument, and so are incorrect. Neither Choice A nor Choice C point to differences between the two areas of the store; therefore they are both incorrect as well.

That sales can be increased by the presence of sunlight within a store

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