Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a

Question

Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a daily hang-out for more and more teenagers. Many of our adult customers do not appear comfortable with this kind of crowd and some of them have told me that they will no longer stop here for a coffee drink. Since my goal is to maximize our revenue, I want you to discourage teenagers from coming here and start cultivating a more adult crowd.

Store manager: Are you sure? On average, each teenager spends just as much as the average adult does, and we have far more new customers than we have lost over the past year.

The store manager responds to the owner by _____

(A) questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence

(B) arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive

(C) offering new evidence implying that the status quo is not incompatible with the owner’s goal

(D) demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer

(E) offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner

gmatnub · Accepted Answer

C sounds good at first, but if you read it carefully

offering new evidence implying that the status quo is  not incompatible  with the owner’s goal

"not incompatible" is a double negative that equals to "compatible"

offering new evidence implying that the status quo is  compatible  with the owner’s goal

"status quo" refers to adult customers.

mbamogul · Answer

Option C can be restated like this "offering new evidence implying that the status quo is compatible with the owner’s goal "

Two negatives ( not & incompatible)  cancel each other out.

hacker · Answer

Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a daily hang-out for more and more teenagers. Many of our adult customers do not appear comfortable with this kind of crowd and some of them have told me that they will no longer stop here for a coffee drink. Since my goal is to maximize our revenue, I want you to discourage teenagers from coming here and start cultivating a more adult crowd.

Store manager: Are you sure? On average, .

The store manager responds to the owner by _____

questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence --  Not true as store manager is not denying the fact provided by Owner- incorrect

arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive --  nowhere it was mentioned- incorrect

offering new evidence implying that the status quo is not incompatible with the owner’s goal --- means: staus quo(teenagers are coming more) is compatible with owners goal( maximize revenue) as "each teenager spends just as much as the average adult does, and we have far more new customers than we have lost over the past year".... correct

demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer --  stimulus mentioned spending of teenagers .not the profit -- incorrect

offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner --  on the contrary, store manager accepts the fact provided by owner and provided news evidence status quo to maimize revenue - incorrect

tuanquang269 · Answer

Nope, choice D is a trick. The argument stated the amount of money spent by children is as much as that spent by adults => It is about the Revenue, not the profit as choice D stated (because we did not know anything about the cost).

Choice C is more clear double negate "not incompatible" = compatible the revenue of 2 groups of customers.

Choice C is more clear double negate "not incompatible" = compatible the revenue of 2 groups of customers.

petrifiedbutstanding · Answer

I chose C. My reasons:

(A) questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence 
 Nonsensical. He never questioned the veracity of the owner's evidence.

(B) arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive 
 Nope

(D) demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer 
 He does say this. But that isn't really the conclusion.

(E) offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner
 He does offer new evidence. But I think this was less ideal than C

(C) offering new evidence implying that the status quo is not incompatible with the owner’s goal 
 This is the best choice. He does exactly this. He tells the owner that if the whole point is to realize a profit, this method won't go be an obstacle. If anything, it will augment the profit.

manaliambhageria · Answer

Hi,
I eliminated A,B and D but was confused between C & E. I chose E over C because I gave a thought that the store manager does not imply the status quo should exist, instead it should change and there should be more youngsters coming over to the coffee shop.

Please reply as to why is C correct and E wrong as I am unable to reason it out.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Option C:
Status quo means the current condition. The current condition ( i.e. more teenagers coming in, and adults stopping to come ) is not incompatible with the owner’s goal (of making more profit). The new evidence shown is: teenagers spend as much as adults do, and there are  more customers . Thus the profit has already increased, and they will continue to be higher than it was before such change, if the current situation prevails. Thus C is correct.
(Note: The term "maximize" may not be ideal.)

Option E: The pronoun "that" refers to evidence. The store manager does not refute the  evidence  (more teenagers coming in) that is provided by the owner, rather the manager agrees with it - he refutes the  conclusion  (profits will decrease) of the owner.

gmatexam439 · Answer

Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a daily hang-out for more and more teenagers. Many of our adult customers do not appear comfortable with this kind of crowd and some of them have told me that they will no longer stop here for a coffee drink. Since my goal is to maximize our revenue, I want you to discourage teenagers from coming here and start cultivating a more adult crowd.

Store manager: Are you sure? On average, each teenager spends just as much as the average adult does, and we have far more new customers than we have lost over the past year.

The store manager responds to the owner by _____

(A) questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence - Incorrect 
(B) arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive - Incorrect 
(C) offering new evidence implying that the status quo is not incompatible with the owner’s goal - Correct. The current state of affairs are exactly in line with the owner's goals i.e. increasing of revenue 
(D) demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer - This is just one part of the response  
(E) offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner - Incorrect

naturalimproviser · Answer

At the gist if the argument, the owner's ultimate goal is to maximize revenue and he believes that by discouraging the teenagers and attracting adult folks would lead to the same.

The manager responds by stating the new fact that the teenagers spend as much as an adult does and in the past year the store gained more customers than it lost, that means the number of new customers(Teenagers) that the store gained is greater than the number of customers(adults) that it lost.

P.O.E -

(A) questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence -  The manager never questioned the veracity of the owner's evidence.  (Incorrect)  
(B) arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive -  The manager said nothing about the implementation at all.  (Incorrect)  
(C) offering new evidence implying that the status quo is not incompatible with the owner’s goal -  The store manager did offer new evidence and it did imply that the status quo(current situation) is still compatible with the owner's goal.  (Correct)  
(D) demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer. -  The store manager did prove this by saying that the teenage customer spends as much as an adult does, but this is is just one part of the manager's claim, he also said that the store gained more customers in the past year than it lost.  (Incorrect)  
(E) offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner. -   The manager did offer new evidence but did not refute the ones presented by the owner.  (Incorrect)

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The owner of the coffee store makes three statements citing evidence supporting his belief that things are not going well at his store: 1) the store has become a hangout for teenagers; 2) many of his adult customers do not appear comfortable; and 3) some of them have told him they will no longer frequent the store. He then states that his goal is to maximize his revenue and directs his store manager to discourage the teenagers from frequenting his store and to cultivate a more adult clientele. We can reasonably infer that the owner believes that his directive will help him achieve his goal of maximum revenue.

In response, the store manager makes no attempt to refute the manager’s three statements, but instead offers some new evidence which implies that following the owner’s directive may work against the owner’s goal of maximum revenue, further implying that the status quo may be indeed be compatible with that goal.

(A) The store manager makes no attempt to question the veracity of the statements of the owner. When the manager asks “Are you sure?” he is questioning the owner’s directive (or its effectiveness), not the veracity of the owner’s evidence.

(B) The implementation of the owner’s directive is not mentioned by the manager and is not relevant.

(C) CORRECT.  By asserting that the average teenager spends just as much money as the average adult and that there are more new customers than former customers, the manager is presenting new evidence that implies that the current situation is actually helping the owner achieve his goal more than his directive would.

(D) The manager only states that the average teenager spends as much as the average adult; hence, he makes a claim as to the relative revenue generated by the average member of each group. He does not make any claim as to the relative profitability of the average member of each group.

(E) The new evidence that the manager presents neither contradicts nor refutes any of the evidence that the owner had previous presented.

napolean92728 · Answer

The main point everyone's struggling to understand is the meaning of the word status quo, which means the current state of affairs or what's going on. Presently, more teenagers are coming to the joint, so the status quo here refers to the teenagers.

✅ Explanation for Correct Answer (C):
The  owner  wants to discourage teenagers and attract more adults, believing that the teenage crowd is  hurting revenue  by driving adults away.
The  store manager , however, responds by pointing out two things:
 
 Teenagers spend just as much as adults on average. 
 The number of  new customers  (presumably teenagers) is  greater than the number of customers lost  (presumably adults).  
This response implies that  despite the shift in demographics , the  store’s revenue is likely increasing  — which  aligns with the owner's stated goal of maximizing revenue .
Thus, the manager is  not directly rejecting  the owner's desire but is instead  showing that the current situation may actually support that goal , i.e., maintaining or improving the  status quo  achieves the desired outcome.

❌ Why the Other Options Are Wrong:
(A)  questioning the veracity of owner’s evidence 
 
 The manager doesn’t challenge whether the adults are actually leaving. 
 No part of the response casts doubt on  the truthfulness  of the owner's claims.  
(B)  arguing that it would be difficult to implement the owner’s directive 
 
 The manager doesn’t talk about feasibility or difficulty of discouraging teenagers. 
 The response is focused on the  effects , not the  practicality .  
(D)  demonstrating that the average teenage customer is as profitable as the average adult customer 
 
 While this is  partially true , it's  not the full point  of the manager's argument. 
 The stronger part of the argument is that the overall  number of new customers is increasing revenue , making (C) a better fit.  
(E)  offering new evidence refuting that presented by the owner 
 
 The manager  does not refute  the owner's evidence (e.g., that some adults are leaving). 
 They  accept the owner's observations  but  reinterpret their impact .

Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a

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Owner of JavaJoint: Over the past year, the coffee store has become a

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