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Bunuel
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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the compan 09 Jun 2025, 00:30
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A
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35% (medium)

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66% (01:23) correct 34% (01:31) wrong based on 355 sessions

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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the company in the last four quarters under the leadership of the new CEO, the Board has decided to reward the CEO with a 50% bonus.

Shareholder of ABC Company: But last year ABC Company’s sales grew by only 30%, which was the lowest amongst all its competitors.

Which of the following provides the most logical counter for the Board to offer to the shareholder?

(A) ABC Company’s sales had fallen every year for the past three years.

(B) The CEO cannot be personally held responsible for the low sales growth.

(C) The CEO needs to be encouraged, else he may lose the motivation to increase the sales further.

(D) The CEO has hired several middle managers at very high salaries leading to increased costs for the company.

(E) The CEO has not made any remarkable changes to the production or marketing strategy of the company.


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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the compan 10 Jun 2025, 10:46
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I thought it was A at first but it was quite contradictory that last 4 quarter performance, meaning last year, the performance was excellent but A said sales fallen every year for three years (which should include last year as well) so how could fallen sales means excellent performance
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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the compan 10 Jun 2025, 13:05
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I thought it was A at first but it was quite contradictory that last 4 quarter performance, meaning last year, the performance was excellent but A said sales fallen every year for three years (which should include last year as well) so how could fallen sales means excellent performance
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Aligned. There is a logical flaw in the question.
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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the compan 12 Jun 2025, 17:45
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A. ABC Company’s sales had fallen every year for the past three years.
This suggests that the 30% growth under the new CEO is a significant improvement over previous declines.
Strong. It reframes the 30% growth as a turnaround achievement, justifying the bonus despite lower growth than competitors.

B. The CEO cannot be personally held responsible for the low sales growth.
This deflects blame from the CEO but doesn’t justify the bonus or explain why the performance is "excellent."
Weak. It doesn’t address the Board's claim of excellent performance.

C. The CEO needs to be encouraged, else he may lose the motivation to increase the sales further.
This is a forward-looking argument about motivation but doesn’t address whether the current performance justifies the bonus.
Moderate. It’s more about future potential than past performance.

D. The CEO has hired several middle managers at very high salaries leading to increased costs for the company.
This undermines the Board’s position by highlighting a potential negative action by the CEO.
Weak. It doesn’t counter the shareholder’s point; it worsens the Board’s case.

E. The CEO has not made any remarkable changes to the production or marketing strategy of the company.
This also undermines the Board’s claim of excellent performance, suggesting the CEO hasn’t done anything exceptional.
Weak. It doesn’t help the Board’s argument.
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Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the compan 05 Jul 2025, 11:45
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Bunuel
Board of ABC Company: Owing to the excellent performance of the company in the last four quarters under the leadership of the new CEO, the Board has decided to reward the CEO with a 50% bonus.

Shareholder of ABC Company: But last year ABC Company’s sales grew by only 30%, which was the lowest amongst all its competitors.

Which of the following provides the most logical counter for the Board to offer to the shareholder?

(A) ABC Company’s sales had fallen every year for the past three years.

(B) The CEO cannot be personally held responsible for the low sales growth.

(C) The CEO needs to be encouraged, else he may lose the motivation to increase the sales further.

(D) The CEO has hired several middle managers at very high salaries leading to increased costs for the company.

(E) The CEO has not made any remarkable changes to the production or marketing strategy of the company.
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Official Explanation



Answer: A

In this argument, we need to strengthen the Board’s decision and at the same time also explain how the fact that the company’s sales have only grown by 30% is not necessarily a bad thing. ‘A’ does this by pointing out that ABC’s sales had been continuously falling for the past three years, so if the sales this year have shown a 30% growth then, in relative terms, this performance is very good.

(A) The correct answer.

(B) But then there is no reason to reward the CEO either.

(C) The encouragement cannot be at the cost of falling sales. If the growth rate of the company’s sales has fallen compared to the previous years, then there is no reason to reward the CEO.

(D) This weakens the argument of the Board by suggesting that the CEOs policies could lead to increase in costs.

(E) Same as D.
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