It is an intriguing phenomenon. Indians talk less on their mobile phon

Question

It is an intriguing phenomenon. Indians talk less on their mobile phones in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Both Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, India's leading telecom operators, reported a decline in the usage per minute in the July to September period. The operators said it was a seasonal phenomenon and has been happening for the past couple of years.

Bharti Airtel reported a four per cent sequential drop in average usage per customer to 437 minutes while Idea Cellular saw a 7.6 per cent fall to 368 minutes. About 45 per cent of Airtel's 193 million subscribers come from rural India while the figure is 54 per cent for Idea Cellular.

From the statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions ?

A) Most of the schools across India have vacations between July and Septemeber.

B) Network continuity is a factor of climatic conditions, which sometimes gets affected due to heavy rain and storm, especially from July to September.

C) Rural customers spend a lot on mobiles but between July and September, they spend more time in the fields and hence the drop. The quarter is the sowing season for kharif crops because of the southwest monsoon.

D) Because the next quarter comes with Dussera, Diwali and Christmas the usage shows a rise in mobile talk time compared to the other 3 quarters.

E) Most of the bollywood blockbusters are released during the same period, hence people tend to spend time watching movies than talking on mobile phones.

seabhi · Accepted Answer

Hi ppl, I created this question. If you like it. Please press kudos...

. Thanks..

KyleWiddison · Answer

I love the thought of making up a CR problem. Not a bad way to try to understand how the GMAT test writers go about their business. From the question, it looks like you are trying to make a "Draw a Conclusion" type question, but the structure of the argument/answers fits better with a "Find the Discrepancy" type. Which one are you going for?

KW

KW

seabhi · Answer

@KyleWiddison
You are right. 
I should have rephrased it to -- Draw a Conclusion...

Ajax1 · Answer

You have worded the question as an inference question (best support which of the following assertions) or draw a conclusion question but none of the options can be even remotely inferred/concluded from the passage.

Your options, in fact, are more in line with 'Explain the Contradiction' question type as Kyle mentioned above. If I view the question as such then B, C, and E all look correct to me. You need to explain this one to me man.

seabhi · Answer

I dont think this will fit into the contradiction type. This is a conclusion type, where you have to use the data which is provided. Hope that explains.

Ajax1 · Answer

So what is the answer for this question then? I mean the explanation for the OA. The argument makes no mention of rural customers, so how can we make an inference/conclusion about them? I'll try to explain my question better - how do we know/infer/conclude that the drop in usage is because of the rural customers?

seabhi · Answer

A) Most of the schools across India have vacations between July and Septemeber.  Incorrect - This, in a perfect world, will negate the argument, because people will talk more during vacations.

B) Network continuity is a factor of climatic conditions, which sometimes gets affected due to heavy rain and storm, especially from July to September.  Incorrect -This could be a reason but, as mentioned "sometimes" which clearly takes this option out.

C) Rural customers spend a lot on mobiles but between July and September, they spend more time in the fields and hence the drop. The quarter is the sowing season for kharif crops because of the southwest monsoon.  Correct - Something which happens every year. Plus " About 45 per cent of Airtel's 193 million subscribers come from rural India while the figure is 54 per cent for Idea Cellular."

D) Because the next quarter comes with Dussera, Diwali and Christmas the usage shows a rise in mobile talk time compared to the other 3 quarters.  Incorrect - Intends to say that there is no drop, however the rise in the next quarter implies there was a drop in the previous quarter.

E) Most of the bollywood blockbusters are released during the same period, hence people tend to spend time watching movies than talking on mobile phones.  Incorrect - Again this cannot be treated as sure shot thing happening every year between July and September.

Hope this helps.

Sidhrt · Answer

Buddy, Pl mind the grammatical errors in this questions For ex. always use "that" after introducing clause as object after the verb "reported".

it can't be "in july to September" but from July to September.

the wrong structure is changing the whole meaning of the question. "Bharti Airtel reported a four per cent sequential drop " check whom Bharti Airtel has reported to. Pl dont take me wrong thanks Sid

seabhi · Answer

Hi , 
The paragraph is taken as it is from 'Business Today'

Also can you explain.......

Reported X in the Y period. .... (original)
Reported X from the Y period..... (what you are suggesting)

Thanks for your inputs....

Sidhrt · Answer

Indeed business today should improve on it. As an entrepreneur, I too write for a few magazines such as business world and alike. And not to my surprise, often I find such errors in TOI editorials as well.

I have not suggested "Reported X from the Y period..... (what you are suggesting)" 
I have suggested " from july to September" . Lets see why

If we say that something has increased/declined/decreased "in X to Y" period then we don't know whether it rose as a trend or a sudden spike in any of the month. We also don't know the month that got the least value. If we want to communicate that it was a trend for a period of time then we must write from X to Y period Such as, 5% rise in X to Y period might mean anything like( 1%,2%.0.5%,.001%....) or any combination of it with or with out continuity.

When we say that something rises from X to Y then it means an increasing effect (2,3,4..) or any ascending combination of it with continuity.

Moreover, the author has used the word "decline" which is a trend hence "from X to Y period ."

Further, if you will give it a fair look, the paragraph would give you more cues of structural problems.

Thanks
Sid

seabhi · Answer

Thanks for the explanation ..

However what I feel is

Both Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, India's leading telecom operators, reported a decline in the usage per minute  in   From ] the July to September period.

The author is talking about a period. The decline happened  in  the period. I am not sure if we can say that declined happened  from  X to Y period.

AbhishekDhanraJ72 · Answer

my ans is B. Since this question asked about assertions I was not sure for reasons of decline so i crossed out option C,D,E. Expert where am i getting wrong please explain???

It is an intriguing phenomenon. Indians talk less on their mobile phon

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