Prices for home cinema equipment are decreasing dramatically, allowing

Question

Prices for home cinema equipment are decreasing dramatically, allowing many people to install such cinemas in their own homes. This factor coupled with the accesibility of films through online rentals, downloads, and purchases has led to a boom in the number of films being watched internationally. However, because of the availability of a variety of cheap methods for the illicit distribution of entertainment materials, investors are to __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

(A) keep accurate documentation of any profits earned from the sales or royalties of a particular movie for tax purposes

(B) invest in films that can be easily marketed to international audiences without making serious changes to the actual content

(C) avoid financial ventures or acquisitions related to the industry associated with movie rights and royalties

(D) form comparisons between the commercial successes of certain movie genres before deciding what kind of movie to invest in

(E) refrain from investing in retail outlets or developers in the field of audio and visual equipment intended for use in small private cinemas

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ROHITH121 · Answer

the answer is C cuz c can match the question stem because the invester are not getting any profit
 from the movie the people are buying illicit

monarchme · Answer

Hey  Bunuel . I was practicing CR questions and realised that i struggle a lot where the question type is "Which of the following, if true, would most seriously call into question the reasoning in the argument above?" like this and want to practice more of them to understand the pattern and score better. I was wondering if there are any specific tag for these kinda questions that'll make it easier for me to find or should I just go for "Weaken" tag. Thank you!

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Prices for home cinema equipment are decreasing dramatically, allowing many people to install such cinemas in their own homes. This factor coupled with the accesibility of films through online rentals, downloads, and purchases has led to a boom in the number of films being watched internationally. However, because of the availability of a variety of cheap methods for the illicit distribution of entertainment materials, investors are to __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

(A) keep accurate documentation of any profits earned from the sales or royalties of a particular movie for tax purposes

Incorrect.

This is a "Complete the Argument" format question. The missing argument part is a recommendation (are to means they should), indicating it's the conclusion and that this is an Inference question:

Premise A: home cinema equipment is cheaper than it was before so many people are buying it
 +
Premise B: the low prices and various methods for getting films has lead to an increase in the number of movies being watched
 +
Counter Premise C (However, because...): illegal distribution of entertainment media is available
 =
Conclusion: ?

This answer choice is more like an additional premise than a conclusion. The issue of tax is not discussed in the argument so a statement revolving around tax cannot be a logical conclusion.

(B) invest in films that can be easily marketed to international audiences without making serious changes to the actual content

Incorrect.

This answer choice cannot be inferred from the premises as it fails to consider the last premise. If movies are being sold illegally using cheap methods, then investing in them does not make much sense, irrelative to the question of which genres are the most successful.

(C) avoid financial ventures or acquisitions related to the industry associated with movie rights and royalties

This answer choice provides a logical conclusion to the argument. The last premise tells us that people are viewing movies without paying. Therefore, it seems quite logical to conclude that investments whose returns are based on paid views are unwise.

(D) form comparisons between the commercial successes of certain movie genres before deciding what kind of movie to invest in

Incorrect.

This is a "Complete the Argument" format question. The missing argument part is a recommendation (are to means they should), indicating it's the conclusion and that this is an Inference question:

Premise A: home cinema equipment is cheaper than it was before so many people are buying it
 +
Premise B: the low prices and various methods for getting films has lead to an increase in the number of movies being watched
 +
Counter Premise C (However, because...): illegal distribution of entertainment media is available
 =
Conclusion: ?

This answer choice cannot be inferred from the premises as it fails to consider the last premise. If movies are being sold illegally using cheap methods, then investing in them does not make much sense, irrelative to the question of which genres are the most successful.

(E) refrain from investing in retail outlets or developers in the field of audio and visual equipment intended for use in small private cinemas

Incorrect.

This answer choice contradicts premise A and cannot, therefore, be a conclusion to the argument. If many people are buying home cinema equipment, then it seems quite logical to invest in retail outlets or developers that are dealing with that kind of product.

Advait01 · Answer

C as we can match the question with the invester not getting any profit from the movie due to people are buying illegally

egmat · Answer

The stimulus gives us  two contrasting ideas :

1. Positive trend: 
• Home cinema equipment prices ↓ → More home installations
• Films accessible online → Boom in films watched internationally

2. The "However" twist: 
• Cheap methods exist for  ILLICIT  (illegal/pirated) distribution

Key insight:  The word  "illicit"  is doing all the heavy lifting here. Illicit = piracy.

The Core Logic: 
Ask yourself:  When someone pirates a movie, who loses money?

→ The people who own the  RIGHTS  to that movie
→ The people earning  ROYALTIES  from that movie

Therefore,  investors should  avoid  putting money into movie rights and royalties.

Answer: C

Why Wrong Answers Fail:

(A)  Tax documentation -  Out of scope . The passage says nothing about taxes.

(B)  International marketing - This is about  how  to invest, not  whether  to invest. Piracy affects ALL films equally.

(D)  Comparing genres - Same problem as (B). Piracy doesn't discriminate by genre.

(E)  Avoiding equipment investments -

Here's why (E) is backwards: 
• The passage says equipment prices are  decreasing  and  more people  are installing home cinemas
• Equipment  SALES are booming 
• Pirates still need TVs, speakers, and equipment to watch stolen content!
• Hardware sellers  win regardless  of piracy

Simple Test: 
• Piracy  HURTS : Movie studios, rights holders, royalty earners
• Piracy  DOESN'T HURT : Equipment manufacturers, hardware retailers

(C)  correctly targets what piracy actually damages -  rights and royalties .

Prices for home cinema equipment are decreasing dramatically, allowing

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Prices for home cinema equipment are decreasing dramatically, allowing

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