A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has de

Question

A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has declined at an average 5% per capita over the past decade proving that overall interest in reading has steadily declined.

Internet Geek:  People get most of the information online and do not need to spend money on print.

Literary Scholar : Shakespeare still remains the most sold author and his books sell very well. However, today's authors produce few works of similar quality. We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales.

Describe the position taken by Internet Geek and Literary Scholar

(A) The Internet Geek supports the conclusion and provides an explanation for the observed phenomena while the Literary scholar refutes the conclusion and provides an alternate hypothesis.
(B) The Internet Geek provides an alternate explanation to an observed phenomena while the Literary Scholar provides a recommendation and supports the conclusion
(C) The Internet Geek and The Literary Scholar support the conclusion providing a supporting evidence from their respective fields
(D) The Internet Geek provides the circumstances under which the conclusion could be true while the Literary scholar contrasts the writing styles of 2 eras.
(E) The Internet Geek challenges the premise of the conclusion while the Literary scholar suggests solutions to address the stated fact.

globaldesi · Answer

A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has declined at an average 5% per capita over the past decade proving that overall interest in reading has steadily declined.

Internet Geek:  People get most of the information online and do not need to spend money on print.

Literary Scholar : Shakespeare still remains the most sold author and his books sell very well. However, today's authors produce few works of similar quality. We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales.

Describe the position taken by Internet Geek and Literary Scholar

(A) The Internet Geek supports the conclusion and provides an explanation for the observed phenomena while the Literary scholar refutes the conclusion and provides an alternate hypothesis. no stmt of internet guy supporting the phenomenon 
(B) The Internet Geek provides an alternate explanation to an observed phenomena while the Literary Scholar provides a recommendation and supports the conclusion this is correct, the internet guy provides explanation and literary guy gives recommendation how the print media can be improved 
(C) The Internet Geek and The Literary Scholar support the conclusion providing a supporting evidence from their respective fields
(D) The Internet Geek provides the circumstances under which the conclusion could be true while the Literary scholar contrasts the writing styles of 2 eras.
(E) The Internet Geek challenges the premise of the conclusion while the Literary scholar suggests solutions to address the stated fact.

MartinTao · Answer

Clearly, Internet Geek provides a possible explanation to the argument, and Literary Scholar does not refute the argument. Kill A and E.

Literary Scholar does not provide a reason for the circumstance. He or she just accepts the argument and offer method to re-boost the sale of prints. Kill C.

Literary Scholar contrasts not the writing styles but the writing qualities of 2 eras. Kill D.

So, the answer should be  B .

Rashed12 · Answer

Would anyone help to get explanation why C is incorrect?

Dranzer5 · Answer

Rashed12

According to the information in the question, the conclusion is  overall interest in reading has steadily declined .
The internet geek states that because people get more information online, they need not spend money on the print. The internet geek is not supporting the conclusion that the overall interest in reading has steadily declined. He instead is stating an alternative explanation, which does not mention anything about interest in reading.
On the other hand, the literary scholar is supporting the conclusion by expressing his concerns about the quality of writing.
According to the option C, the internet geek supports the conclusion. This inference about option C is not true.
Hence option C is incorrect.

I hope this helps.

arora1 · Answer

It is wrong since the internet geek does  NOT  agree with the conclusion. He simply says that people still read not from print medium but from internet books or other digital mediums

ommm · Answer

A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has declined at an average 5% per capita over the past decade proving that overall interest in reading has steadily declined.

What is the conclusion? 
I think the conclusion is "Overall interest in reading has steadily declined".
The reason for my conclusion is "The author went through a recent study which showed that sales have declined over the past decade and then concluded that overall interest in reading has steadily declined."

Internet Geek: People get most of the information online and do not need to spend money on print.
 IG is not at all talking about "Interest in reading". He just told that info is available online and so people don't spend money on print. IG is just providing alternate explanation for conclusion to hold true.

Literary Scholar: Shakespeare still remains the most sold author and his books sell very well. However, today's authors produce few works of similar quality. We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales.
 LS is supporting the conclusion, by telling "today's authors produce few works of similar quality" and is providing recommendation (We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales.)

(B) The Internet Geek provides an alternate explanation to an observed phenomena while the Literary Scholar provides a recommendation and supports the conclusion

chillbrorelax · Answer

Hi,

Can anyone please explain why would you eliminate option E?

ayushgmatclub1 · Answer

chillbrorelax

I eliminated E because the internet guy has not challenged the premise (the results of the study) but rather the conclusion.

Posted from my mobile device

NeverEverGiveUp11 · Answer

IMO

I rejected E because the tone of the answer choice does not indicate a challenge to either premise or the conclusion. However, it kind of gives an alternate explanation of the observed situation. To me, Internet Geek's reply seems to be neutral in tone.

Namangupta1997 · Answer

Hi  AndrewN

How is Literary scholar "supporting the conclusion" ? I do not think by merely saying "reigniting the print sales", he is vociferously supporting the position that the print sales have gone down. He is at most  agreeing  and I don't think that is equivalent to "supporting". Maybe I am over-analyzing ?

AnirudhaS · Answer

Sorry to sabotage your question to Andrew. I am sure he will give a better explanation. But while you wait, here is my take on this problem.

What is the conclusion?
 that overall interest in reading has steadily declined.

Both agree to this conclusion. They do not refute this claim.

The only difference is what explanation they use to support the conclusion.
Internet geek - since everything is available online, therefore reading interest has declined.
Literary scholars - since today's scholars do not produce quality material, therefore reading interest has declined.

Also literary scholar goes a bit further and provides his recommendation - we need more authors like Shakespeare.

Namangupta1997 · Answer

This exactly what I want to clarify. Is agreeing equivalent to supporting ?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Namangupta1997  and   AniRudhaS  . To be upfront, I see the question as flawed, even if I can see what the author may have been driving at. The conclusion provided by the study is that the decline in  the overall sales of print   per capita... over the past decade   proves   that overall interest in reading has steadily declined . Actually, neither the Internet Geek nor the Literary Scholar addresses the point that  overall  interest  in reading has steadily declined . The Internet Geek simply states that people  read , more or less,  online , a comment that in no way reflects on the conclusion about the overall interest in reading—i.e. can we say  how much   information  people are reading online versus how much they used to read from print media? No. Thus, the Internet Geek can only be said to speculate on the  premise  the study used to draw its own conclusion. (Also, a peccadillo:  an observed phenomena  should be  phenomenon , the singular noun.) Meanwhile, the Literary Scholar cannot be said to    the conclusion  because that conclusion is based on a claim that invokes proof. I would say that the Literary Scholar addresses the fact that print sales may be down, nothing more. If you can point to anything in the three lines attributed to the Literary Scholar that indicates that a drop in print media sales  proves , once again,  that  overall interest in reading  has steadily declined , then you either have a keener eye than I do (a possibility I will acknowledge), or you are making an inference that GMAT™-based logic would not allow you to make. How can we infer that just because  today's authors  may not be as skilled as Shakespeare, people are not reading the classics, or gossip columns, or online news stories, or borrowing more (free) library books, etc.? I just do not see  support  for the conclusion, as written, in the response given by the Literary Scholar.

In short, I would advise you both to move on and study official questions instead. Thank you, nevertheless, for thinking to ask, and thank you,   AniRudhaS  , for seeking to help a fellow member.

- Andrew

bharathhr · Answer

I am confused about option B, especially the second half. The Internet Geek seems to give an alternative explanation for the decline in print sales: people may still be reading, but they now read online instead of buying print.
But does the Literary Scholar really support the conclusion that overall interest in reading has declined? He says Shakespeare still sells well and suggests that today’s print sales may be low because current authors are not producing works of similar quality.
So isn’t the Literary Scholar giving a possible solution/explanation for the decline in print sales, rather than clearly supporting the conclusion that interest in reading has declined?

guddo · Answer

A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has declined at an average 5% per capita over the past decade proving that overall interest in reading has steadily declined. 
 
Internet Geek: People get most of the information online and do not need to spend money on print.
 
 Literary Scholar: Shakespeare still remains the most sold author and his books sell very well. However, today's authors produce few works of similar quality. We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales.
 
 Describe the position taken by Internet Geek and Literary Scholar

The study observes a decline in print sales and concludes that interest in reading has declined.
The Internet Geek gives an alternate explanation for the observed decline in print sales: people may still be reading or getting information, but they are doing so online rather than through print.

The Literary Scholar accepts that print sales need to be revived and recommends a solution: produce more high-quality authors like Shakespeare. So the scholar treats the decline in print sales as a real problem and suggests a way to address it.

A. The Internet Geek supports the conclusion and provides an explanation for the observed phenomena while the Literary scholar refutes the conclusion and provides an alternate hypothesis.

This is incorrect. The Internet Geek does not support the conclusion that interest in reading has declined. He gives an alternate explanation for the decline in print sales.

B. The Internet Geek provides an alternate explanation to an observed phenomena while the Literary Scholar provides a recommendation and supports the conclusion.

This is correct. The Internet Geek explains the decline in print sales differently: people get information online. The Literary Scholar recommends a way to revive print sales by producing more high-quality authors.

C. The Internet Geek and The Literary Scholar support the conclusion providing a supporting evidence from their respective fields.

This is incorrect. The Internet Geek does not support the conclusion; he provides an alternate explanation.

D. The Internet Geek provides the circumstances under which the conclusion could be true while the Literary scholar contrasts the writing styles of 2 eras.

This is incorrect. The Internet Geek is not giving conditions under which the conclusion is true. Also, the Literary Scholar is not merely contrasting writing styles.

E. The Internet Geek challenges the premise of the conclusion while the Literary scholar suggests solutions to address the stated fact.

This is close but incorrect. The Internet Geek does not challenge the premise. The premise is that print sales declined, and he accepts that. He challenges the inference from lower print sales to lower interest in reading.

Answer: (B)

egmat · Answer

Hi bharathhr,

Your read on the Internet Geek is spot on, and you're also right that the Literary Scholar's headline move is a  recommendation  ("We need more authors like Shakespeare to re-ignite print sales"). The slip is in how you're reading the phrase "supports the conclusion."

In a  describe-the-position  question, "supports the conclusion" doesn't require someone to stand up and argue "yes, reading interest has declined!" It just means their stance  lines up with  the conclusion rather than pushing against it. The real fork is: does the speaker  accept  the decline or  refute  it?

Look at what the Scholar takes for granted. He wants to " re-ignite  print sales" - that wording only makes sense if he's already accepting that sales (and the reading interest the argument ties to them) have fallen. You don't propose a fix for a problem you think isn't real. So far from challenging the conclusion, he treats it as the given starting point and then offers his recommendation on top.

That's exactly why  B  beats the others:
- The Geek offers an  alternate explanation  of the phenomenon (online substitution) - not endorsement.
- The Scholar  accepts  the decline (so he "supports" it, in the loose sense) and adds a  recommendation .

Compare that to (A), which says the Scholar "refutes the conclusion." He clearly doesn't - and since he's not against it, "supports" is the closest accurate label.

Quick way to feel the distinction  - same Scholar, one word turned:
- If he'd said "print sales have actually held steady; the study is misleading" - now he  refutes , and A's wording fits.
- As written, he says "re-ignite" - he  accepts  the decline, so B fits.

So you're not over-analyzing - you're just holding "support" to a stronger standard than the question intends. Read it as  accept vs. refute , and B falls into place.

Answer: B

bharathhr · Answer

conclusion is -intrest is declined. What litrery scholar says is solution to decline in sales of newspaper per capita. we are essentially making assumption that he is supportig conclusion by supporting decrease in sales. Igree that B is best out of 5 . but had doubt in this bit. agree that he is definately not refuting.It would me more accurate if it was something like 'scholar propose a recommendation for premise'

A recent study shows that the overall sales of print per capita has de

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