In Washington County, attendance at the movies is just large

Question

In Washington County, attendance at the movies is just large enough for the cinema operators to make modest profits. The size of the county's population is stable and is not expected to increase much. Yet there are investors ready to double the number of movie screens in the county within five years, and they are predicting solid profits both for themselves and for the established cinema operators.

Which of the following, if true about Washington County, most helps to provide a justification for the investors' prediction?

(A) Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population.

(B) As distinct from the existing cinemas, most of the cinemas being planned would be located in downtown areas, in hopes of stimulating an economic revitalization of those areas.

(C) Spending on video purchases, as well as spending on video rentals, has been increasing modestly each year for the past ten years.

(D) The average number of screens per cinema is lower among existing cinemas than it is among cinemas still in the planning stages.

(E) The sale of snacks and drinks in cinemas accounts for a steadily growing share of most cinema operators' profits.

KrishnakumarKA1 · Accepted Answer

(A) Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population. ( Correct Answer : This justifies the action of the investors given the fact that this has the potential to drastically increase the moviegoers’ population.)
 
(B) As distinct from the existing cinemas, most of the cinemas being planned would be located in downtown areas, in hopes of stimulating an economic revitalization of those areas. ( Wrong Answer : This question is about how the action of the investors will be beneficial to them and to the areas in which the cinemas will be located.)
 
(C) Spending on video purchases, as well as spending on video rentals, has been increasing modestly each year for the past ten years. ( Wrong Answer : This worsens the paradoxical situation.)

(D) The average number of screens per cinema is lower among existing cinemas than it is among cinemas still in the planning stages. ( Wrong Answer : This doesn’t affect the argument in any manner.)

(E) The sale of snacks and drinks in cinemas accounts for a steadily growing share of most cinema operators' profits. (wrong answer : the profits accruing from this source is dependent on the number of current moviegoers and their number is modest at best.)

mojorising666 · Answer

A.

We have to find an answer that helps to solve the paradox that even though population doesnt increase still the profit increase.

Author is talking about the population in general. Not about increase in the no. of people going for movies.

A directly attacks this.
Eventhough population is stable. no of people going for movies is increasing thus increasing profits and thus supports the decision of increasing the number of screens.

thevenus · Answer

(A) Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population.

More no.of footfall(frequency and volume) will enhance the business

indumathi · Answer

Generally speaking, primemoving age would be a good option, but the stimulus doesnot talk 
anything about the age factor.
So , the only way out of investors prediction to be true should be , exploring areas untouched . 
Anyone please reply if the logic can be validated.

ChrisLele · Answer

(A) best helps justify the increase in movie screens. Let's say that at present 50k people live in Washington County. At present, 25k are between the ages of 8-12. In five years, that group is going to be 13-17 (teenagers) and is going to half of the population. Because teenagers are those most likely to attend movies, suddenly half the population is going to fill theaters. Hence, they better start building those seats quickly

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getgyan · Answer

(A) Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population.

It is from OG

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Cinemas are making modest profit right now and the population is also not expected to increase much. Still there are new cinema's opening and they are expecting profits.
We need to find a reason for this.

Going through the options, only option A gives us a solid reason by saying that the people in the movie going age are increasing. This justifies the expectations of the investors.
Correct Option: A

paidlukkha · Answer

A talks about 10 years while premise its within 5 years 
I was confused between D & E

can someone help?

ramworld · Answer

Hey folks:
My only concern is , Option A specifically explores the paradox in the timeframe of next 10 years, but the question prompt is within a time frame of 5 years. Say the teenagers starts going movies in the 7th,8th or 9 years.
My belief doesn't get strongly strengthened if , within 5 years, no. of footfalls is gonna increase, the population being constant.

However, say there are limited numbers of cinema operators.Had there been more cinema operators, the same audience would watch more frequently leading increased profit.

In my opinion option D is a better choice.

akhileshdas · Answer

My reasoning for selection choice A is that we are given in the premise that currently, cinema operators make modest profits and The size of the county's population is stable and is not expected to increase much yet investor somehow see a great business opportunity.

So to strengthen their claim, the answer choice should provide evidence on how could be an increase in movie going population because other than that any other reason doesn't seem to justify how both investors and established cinema operators can make profit.

MavericKing · Answer

Answer is E as that is the only option that tells us that who will actually be using the increased seats. B is irrelevant. C is weakner. D is irrelevant as nothing is explained about number of screens in the prompt. E does not explain the increase in the seats.

Nevernevergiveup · Answer

MavericKing

I think you mentioned E instead of A by typo.

Shiv2016 · Answer

Premise: In Washington County, attendance at the movies is just large enough for the cinema operators to make modest profits. 
Premise: The size of the county's population is stable and is not expected to increase much.

Conclusion: Yet there are investors ready to double the number of movie screens in the county within five years, and they are PREDICTING SOLID PROFITS both for themselves and for the established cinema operators.

For the investor’s plan to get successful and deliver the desired results, the demand should meet/ exceed the supply.

The investors are thus assuming that there will be a demand in near future for the movie screens.

Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population.

This choice correctly states this.

vnigam21 · Answer

Even I have a similar doubt, can someone comment on this query?? :?:

chiranjeev mikemcgarry VeritasPrepKarishma

kornn · Answer

Dear  VeritasKarishma   AjiteshArun   DmitryFarber   IanStewart   MartyTargetTestPrep ,

Q1. What is the meaning of "Over the next ten years" in choice A.?

Does the said period START from "now" UTIL "the next ten years"? 
Or does the period START SOMEWHERE between "now" and "the next ten years"? (the start of the period is not known)

Q2. Why is choice B. wrong?

My thinking is that the new cinemas to be opened will revitalize the economy. 
And if the economy is stimulated, everyone benefits because he/she will have more money in his/her pocket. Hence, some of the excess money due to economic stimulation will be spent on going to existing as well as new cinemas.

Why is my thinking wrong?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  varotkorn ,

Option B is:
 As   distinct  from the existing cinemas ,  most of the cinemas being planned would be located in downtown areas , in hopes of stimulating an economic revitalization of  those  areas.

The question wants us to provide support for the following statement:
 ... they are predicting solid profits  both  for themselves  and   for the established cinema operators ...

Option A is much more convincing. It seems to indicate that the market as a whole will grow.

kornn · Answer

Dear AjiteshArun , Thank you for your reply

I have little (may be silly) question on the usage of "over" in choice A. According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/over , "over" can mean: 1. more than 2. during So, can we, in any possible way, interpret that "Over the next ten years" means MORE THAN 10 years from now? My own observation is that when "over" means "during", it will be followed by "past" / "last" / "next" That is not the case when "over" means "more than" Ex. over 10 years = more than 10 years over the "past" / "last / "next" 10 years = during the "past" / "last / "next" years. Is my understanding correct?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  varotkorn ,

I think what you're saying would make sense with something like "over 10 years from now" ~ "more than 10 years from now". But "over the next ten years"? I think that can be interpreted only one way: a range from now to 10 years from now.

KarishmaB · Answer

Cinema operators will modest profits today.
Population is stable and expected to be stable (say 100k people).
Investors want to build many new screens - predicting solid profits for new and existing owners.

What will justify this prediction? Currently the profits are modest. They are expected to be solid even after number of screens are doubled?
Obviously, the expectation is a big increase in the number of movie goers and/or a major lifestyle change of current moviegoers so that they start watching many more movies.

(A) Over the next ten years, people in their teenage years, the prime moviegoing age, will be a rapidly growing proportion of the county's population.

So it seems there are many kids in the 5 - 12 age range and over the next ten years (from now to 10 years later), they will become teenagers. That is when people go for movies. If teenagers will be a rapidly growing proportion of population, a big proportion of the population will be watching movies. So though the population will not increase, the proportion of population that watches movies will increase rapidly. This explains what solid profits could be expected.

(B) As distinct from the existing cinemas, most of the cinemas being planned would be located in downtown areas, in hopes of stimulating an economic revitalization of those areas.

This talks about cinemas boosting economy. We need to find why we are expecting cinemas to get a boost. We want to find what will make people come to cinemas. If they do, how that impacts the economy and of what areas is irrelevant.

(C) Spending on video purchases, as well as spending on video rentals, has been increasing modestly each year for the past ten years.

Doesn't explain why people will start going to cinemas soon.

(D) The average number of screens per cinema is lower among existing cinemas than it is among cinemas still in the planning stages.

No of screens per cinema is irrelevant. We are planning to double the number of screens. How many cinemas will they be in, we don't care.

(E) The sale of snacks and drinks in cinemas accounts for a steadily growing share of most cinema operators' profits.

"Steadily growing share of profits" - Ignore.

Answer (A)

In Washington County, attendance at the movies is just large

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In Washington County, attendance at the movies is just large

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