Happygo, a car rental company, lowered its prices dramatically gaining

Question

Happygo, a car rental company, lowered its prices dramatically gaining many more customers than it once had. Consequently, the railway companies have reported a decrease of roughly 30% in the number of commuters traveling on their intercity routes. However, the urban bus companies claim that the numbers of commuters on their lines fluctuate but maintain an average that has not changed for the better or for the worse since Happygo made its price changes. It seems quite clear that __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

A. even at competitive prices, some people prefer buses over rented cars for travelling within cities

B. commuters using public transportation, such as buses, are far more punctual, on average, when compared to those using private vehicles

C. to compensate for the market shift created by Happygo's strategy, the urban bus companies lowered their prices as well.

D. public transportation, whether by bus or by train, is always a compromise for commuters

E. Happygo's changes have affected the railway companies' revenues due to the latter's relatively low advertising budget

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Happygo, a car rental company, lowered its prices dramatically gaining many more customers than it once had. Consequently, the railway companies have reported a decrease of roughly 30% in the number of commuters traveling on their intercity routes. However, the urban bus companies claim that the numbers of commuters on their lines fluctuate but maintain an average that has not changed for the better or for the worse since Happygo made its price changes. It seems quite clear that __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

A. even at competitive prices, some people prefer buses over rented cars for travelling within cities

This is a "Complete the Argument" format question. The missing argument part follows the phrase It seems quite clear that which indicates it is based on the premises. Therefore, the missing part is the conclusion, and this is an Inference question:

Premise A: Happygo lowered its prices gaining many more customers than it once had
 +
Premise B: this caused the railway companies a decrease of 30% in the number of commuters traveling on their intercity routes
 +
Premise C: the urban bus companies have not experienced any change in the number of their commuters
 =
Conclusion: ?

This answer choice provides a logical conclusion to the argument. If after Happygo lowered its prices fewer people used trains, but the same number used buses, then it is likely that they simply prefer taking buses in the cities, regardless of price.

B. commuters using public transportation, such as buses, are far more punctual, on average, when compared to those using private vehicles

Incorrect.

This is a "Complete the Argument" format question. The missing argument part follows the phrase It seems quite clear that which indicates it is based on the premises. Therefore, the missing part is the conclusion, and this is an Inference question:

Premise A: Happygo lowered its prices gaining many more customers than it once had
 +
Premise B: this caused the railway companies a decrease of 30% in the number of commuters traveling on their intercity routes
 +
Premise C: the urban bus companies have not experienced any change in the number of their commuters
 =
Conclusion: ?

This answer choice presents new information instead of forming a conclusion based on the information given. There is no data to support the statement that people using public transport are more punctual (on time) than those that don't.

C. to compensate for the market shift created by Happygo's strategy, the urban bus companies lowered their prices as well.

Incorrect.

This answer choice goes too far beyond the premises in the argument and cannot, therefore, be its conclusion. Although the bus companies did not lose any commuters, we can't assume that this happened because they lowered their prices. Maybe they did nothing, or maybe they used another strategy to remain competitive - we are not told this information.

D. public transportation, whether by bus or by train, is always a compromise for commuters

Incorrect.

This answer choice is a new premise and not a conclusion drawn from the given premises; therefore, it cannot logically complete the argument. The data in the argument tells us that even though Happygo rented out cars at low prices, people continued using buses. Therefore, it could even be said that, in certain cases, they preferred buses above cars at any price and didn't compromise.

E. Happygo's changes have affected the railway companies' revenues due to the latter's relatively low advertising budget

Incorrect.

This statement takes a step too far from the premises, and therefore cannot logically complete the argument. There is no data in the argument about the advertising budgets of the railway companies.

sumitkrocks · Answer

A. even at competitive prices, some people prefer buses over rented cars for travelling within cities
 we know rental cars are available at cheaper price still Average of commuters using buses is same - Correct choice  
 
B. commuters using public transportation, such as buses, are far more punctual, on average, when compared to those using private vehicles
 Irrelevant -Out of scope

C. to compensate for the market shift created by Happygo's strategy, the urban bus companies lowered their prices as well.
 Passage never mentioned about lowering prices

D. public transportation, whether by bus or by train, is always a compromise for commuters
 Out of scope

E. Happygo's changes have affected the railway companies' revenues due to the latter's relatively low advertising budget
 Irrelevant -Out of scope

kantapong · Answer

Q: Blank (infer)
Happygo reduced price -> customer increased
railway -> 30% dec in commuters
urban bus companies -> # does not change

A. even at competitive prices, some people prefer buses over rented cars for travelling within cities (is supported by the evidence that urban bus companies reporting the number of customers does not change)

B. commuters using public transportation, such as buses, are far more punctual, on average, when compared to those using private vehicles (nothing is supported of being punctual -> ELIMINATED)

C. to compensate for the market shift created by Happygo's strategy, the urban bus companies lowered their prices as well. (nothing is supported of urban bus strategy -> ELIMINATED)

D. public transportation, whether by bus or by train, is always a compromise for commuters (contradictory because train experienced decline -> ELIMINATED)

E. Happygo's changes have affected the railway companies' revenues due to the latter's relatively low advertising budget (the first part is true but nothing is supported about low adv budget -> ELIMINATED)
Ans: A

Sumi1010 · Answer

The stimulus is : 
The lowered price at Happygo(a car rental company) impacted the commuters base of railways, but it could not impact the same for buses.

Note:  This could be an "Explain the paradox/discrepancy" problem. But, in the last sentence there is a FIB (fill in the blank) statement - "It seems quite clear that __________" . 
An FIB problem can be 
1. Strengthen/Weaken - If the blanks starts with "since", "because"
2. An inference problem - If it seeks for the conclusion/summary e.g. clear that ....

Thus, this is an inference based problem. 
An inference MUST BE true , based on the information provided. No outside assumption is allowed.

Let's see the choices now :
A. even at competitive prices, some people  prefer  buses over rented cars for travelling within cities
  Do we know that some people actually "prefer" buses or they are forced to pick the buses? No we can't say for sure. 
So how can we go to assume it ? 
Note the word " ... seems  ..." 
This choice just TRIES to give a reason for the fact that the lowered price at car rental could not impact the commuter base for buses.
The "preference" seemingly is the one reason. 
Thus, the statement stands within the scope of the stimulus and is correct.  
B. commuters using  public transportation , such as buses, are far more  punctual , on average, when compared to those using private vehicles
 Don't the buses too come in "public transportation" ? How do we define punctuality? Can't say anything 
C. to compensate for the market shift created by Happygo's strategy, the urban  bus companies lowered their prices as wel l.
 What action did the bus companies take ( or did not take) is not evident from the stimulus. 
D. public transportation, whether by bus or by train, is  always a compromise  for commuters
 It could be a compromise for someone. But, it is too strong tone to say "always" a compromise. 
E. Happygo's changes have affected the railway companies' revenues  due to the latter's relatively low advertising budget 
 This reason is not mentioned in the stimulus. No speculations to be made in inference.

IMO  A

IanStewart · Answer

When we're completing an argument in GMAT CR by filling in a blank, we're always meant to be completing a good argument, because if the answer could complete a bad argument, literally any answer choice would be correct. It's clear the answer here is supposed to be A, but that's a very bad answer to this question. We have no idea if the premise of A is even true -- we have no information in the stem that tells us cars and buses are priced "competitively". Maybe cars used to cost $1000, now they cost $500, and buses have always cost $50. Then even if everyone would prefer a car, the price difference could be large enough that no bus rider would switch to a car even after cars are discounted. Or it might be true that bus riders don't even have the option to rent a car, no matter what the price and no matter what their preference, because they don't have driver's licences. We have no basis here to draw any conclusion about consumer preferences, since the stem tells us nothing about preferences.

There are also egregious grammatical errors in answers A and B, and every sentence in the stem is badly written, so the question is perhaps useful as an SC exercise (i.e. it might be useful to think about how to better write each sentence in the question). It's not a good CR question though.

There are also egregious grammatical errors in answers A and B, and every sentence in the stem is badly written, so the question is perhaps useful as an SC exercise (i.e. it might be useful to think about how to better write each sentence in the question). It's not a good CR question though.

GyanaDash · Answer

Hi,

My analysis is as follows:
 
Suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

mSKR · Answer

A: Correct:  Urban bus company maintains average number . It can be said only if it passengers don’t abandon buses in favour of cars.
B : irrelevant
C: new information is given . and it is not necessary it would still weaken or strengthen the conclusion.
D favours the cars ; weakens the conclusion on buses
E seems more like additional information but not necessary information for the conclusion on bus.

Hence A seems the correct answer.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Happygo, a car rental company, lowered its prices dramatically gaining

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Happygo, a car rental company, lowered its prices dramatically gaining

Prep Toolkit

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

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