Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to

Question

Point 1:  The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year.
 Point 2:  The average time spent by shoppers per visit to the Bedford Falls Megamall is now about one hour.

Point 2 would be most likely to contribute to an explanation of Point 1 if which of the following statements were also true? 
 
a) The average shopper currently visits fewer than half of the stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall.
 
b) Many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the Bedford Falls Megamall last year.
 
c) Recent construction has reduced the overall size of the Bedford Falls Megamall.
 
d) The number of malls in Bedford Falls is increasing, and the average shopper visits more malls this year than he or she did last year.

e) The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall last year.

Kaplan CAT 1

Siak0730 · Answer

In option E
e) The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall  last year.   (or this year?)

agar123 · Answer

Can someone please confirm my reasoning is correct/not? As per the question stem, I think we have to use point 2 as a premise to prove point 1(conclusion).

A. The average shopper currently visits fewer than half of the stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall. If the no. of stores is 20 the average shopper currently visits < 10. So as per point 1 if the average time spent by the shoppers per visit is about 1 hour the number of hours spent by the shoppers on average is <10. but we can not say something about "The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit (no. of stores visited/total no. of stores) to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year. As we don't have any reference point for the last year to do the comparison. so choice A is incorrect.

B. Many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the Bedford Falls Megamall last year. If many shoppers spent seventy-five minutes in the BFM mall last year and as per point 1 we know that average shoppers now spend 60 minutes. so time spent has been decreased, but there is no information to support the point 1""The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit (no. of stores visited/total no. of stores) to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year. ". so B is incorrect.

C. Recent construction has reduced the overall size of the Bedford Falls Megamall. So we can assume that no. of shops available has been reduced due to recent construction. we have information about the time spent by the average consumers currently(1 hr.) We know that the no. of shops available has been reduced but we don't have information about the no. of shops visited last year vs. this year. Point 2 can't support point 1. So C is incorrect.

D. The number of malls in Bedford Falls is increasing, and the average shopper visits more malls this year than he or she did last year. Irrelevant, we are interested in the data of BFMegamall.

E. The number of stores in the Bedford Falls Megamall has increased since last year, and the average shopper spent about one hour per visit in the mall last year. 
The information given in this statement together with point 2 we can say that:
"The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit (no. of stores visited/total no. of stores) to the Bedford Falls Megamall has decreased on average since last year. So choice E correct answer.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

Identify the Question Type:

The words "contribute to an explanation" indicate that this is an Explain question. In this case, the answer will help Point 2 explain the fact presented in Point 1.

Untangle the Stimulus:

When shoppers go to the Bedford Falls Megamall, they don't have to enter every store in the mall. They can enter any proportion, or percentage, of the stores - perhaps 20%, perhaps 50%, etc. Point 1 says that this proportion has gone down since last year. Point 2 says that shoppers now spend about one hour per visit at the mall.

Predict the Answer:

How could Point 2 help explain the decrease in proportion observed by Point 1? Perhaps shoppers used to spend more than an hour at the mall, and thus had time to visit a larger percentage of stores? Perhaps shoppers have always spent an hour at the mall, but there were fewer stores in the mall, so a larger proportion could be visited in one hour? For example, if a shopper typically visits about five stores per hour, then in a mall with twenty stores this is 25% of the stores. But in a mall with twenty-five stores, this is only 20% of the stores. The proportion has gone down.

Explain questions are often not predictable. Typically, there is just no way to know exactly what the GMAT will come up with to explain the situation. But sometimes, as with this question, a general feel for the possibilities can be obtained. This will make it easier to spot the correct answer.

Evaluate the Answer Choices:

(E)  matches the prediction. If the number of stores has increased since last year, while the average shopper's time in the mall has remained the same, the shoppers would visit a lower proportion of total stores than last year.

(A)  doesn't help Point 2 explain why the proportion of stores visited has decreased. It just states the current proportion.

(B)  is wrong because the amount of time that  “many”  shoppers spent in the mall last year is irrelevant. It doesn't matter that  “many”  spent seventy-five minutes in the mall, because many others may have spent fifty minutes, or some other amount of time. The answer must help Point 2, which deals with the average time spent in the mall, explain why the proportion of stores visited has decreased.

(C)  does not help Point 2 explain Point 1 either, because it doesn't relate to time spent in the mall or number of stores in the mall. For example, even though the overall size of the mall may have gone down, the number of stores squeezed into the mall may have gone up.

(D)  might appear to suggest that people are spending less time at the Bedford Falls Megamall, which would help explain how the proportion of stores visited has gone down. However, it simply doesn't have to be the case. No matter how many more malls shoppers now visit, they still could be spending the same amount of time per visit as last year, or even more time, at the Bedford Falls Megamall. Thus,  (D)  doesn't help Point 2 explain Point1.

Answer: E

TAKEAWAY:   Don‘t spend too much time trying to come up with an exact prediction for an Explain question. But don’t hesitate to consider the possibilities when they are reasonably clear.

Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to

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Point 1: The proportion of stores that shoppers enter in one visit to

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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My Rewards