Market Researcher: In the next decade, the number of people over 45

Question

Market Researcher: In the next decade, the number of people over 45 will grow and the number of people under 45 will decline. Because last year people over 45 had higher average coffee consumption than people under 45, whereas people under 45 had higher average cola consumption than people over 45, we conclude that, overall, coffee consumption will rise relative to cola consumption over the next decade.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the market researcher's argument?

(A) Once people acquire a taste for coffee, they are unlikely to significantly reduce their coffee consumption.
(B) A person's choice of beverage typically varies according to the time of day and the activity in which the person is engaged.
(C) Most people develop their beverage drinking habits in their 20's and change them little subsequently.
(D) Overall, coffee consumption is currently somewhat higher than cola consumption.
(E) Both coffee and cola consumption are currently higher among people aged 25 to 45 than among people under 25.

Vibhatu · Answer

what is the logic behind this? can somebody please explain? Thanks in advance!!

atuls.26 · Answer

My logic is that 
C option attacks author's basis for his\her conclusion by saying that beverage drinking habits of people don't change with age and if today's below 45 people are preferring cola to coffee they will continue to do so irrespective of their age......
Similarly it can be said that the today's 45+ who likes coffee, liked coffee in their younger days too.

nafuzzz · Answer

The weakest point is  C

Why?

If people pick their favorite drinks in their 20’s and hardly ever change after that, then in ten years the “over 45” group will mostly be today’s under 45, people who prefer cola. So even though there are more over 45’s,  they won’t suddenly start drinking more coffee . That wrecks the researcher’s prediction.

guddo · Answer

Market Researcher: In the next decade, the number of people over 45 will grow and the number of people under 45 will decline. Because last year people over 45 had higher average coffee consumption than people under 45, whereas people under 45 had higher average cola consumption than people over 45, we conclude that, overall, coffee consumption will rise relative to cola consumption over the next decade.
 
 Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the market researcher's argument?

The argument assumes that  people who move from the under-45 group into the over-45 group will come to resemble today's over-45 group in their drinking habits . The strongest weakener shows that beverage preferences tend to remain stable as people age.

(A) Once people acquire a taste for coffee, they are unlikely to significantly reduce their coffee consumption.

Incorrect. This does not explain what happens to cola consumption, and it is consistent with coffee remaining high among older people.

(B) A person's choice of beverage typically varies according to the time of day and the activity in which the person is engaged.

Incorrect. This does not address whether beverage preferences change as people grow older.

(C) Most people develop their beverage drinking habits in their 20's and change them little subsequently.

Correct.   If drinking habits remain mostly fixed after a person's 20s, then today's younger cola-preferring population may continue preferring cola even after many of them become older than 45. So the future over-45 population may not have the same coffee-heavy consumption pattern as today's over-45 population, undermining the prediction.

(D) Overall, coffee consumption is currently somewhat higher than cola consumption.

Incorrect. The argument concerns how coffee consumption will change  relative to  cola consumption in the future, not which beverage currently has higher total consumption.

(E) Both coffee and cola consumption are currently higher among people aged 25 to 45 than among people under 25.

Incorrect. This gives additional age-group information but does not show that the current relationship between age and beverage preference will fail to persist.

Answer: (C)

Market Researcher: In the next decade, the number of people over 45

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Market Researcher: In the next decade, the number of people over 45

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