Now is an excellent time to invest in the catering business. A survey

Question

Now is an excellent time to invest in the catering business. A survey conducted by Weddings magazine found that 70 percent of the magazine’s readers want a catered wedding reception. An analysis of the catering industry, however, shows that the current number of caterers can serve only 55 percent of the weddings likely to occur each year.

Which of the following, if true, reveals a weakness in the evidence cited above?

(A) Catering is a highly labor-intensive business.
(B) Caterers are not evenly distributed across the country.
(C) The number of weddings with catered receptions has been growing each year for the past five years.
(D) Readers of Weddings magazine are more likely than most people to want a catered reception.
(E) Weddings magazine includes both articles about catered receptions and articles about preparing food oneself for one’s wedding reception.

KarishmaB · Accepted Answer

70% readers of Weddings magazine want a catered wedding.
Current number of caterers can serve only 55% of weddings.

Conclusion: Invest in catering business.

What is a weakness? What will say that investing in catering may not be a good idea. 
The argument depends upon "demand (70%) is more than the supply (55%)".

But what if this sample size doesn't represent the population? i.e. people who buy and read Wedding magazine might be those who want a well planned wedding. That is why they bought the magazine to learn how to plan it well. Then they are more likely that the regular population to want a catered wedding. 
Out of 100 weddings planned, say 10 people bought the magazine. These 10 are likely to be the ones who want to plan their wedding v well. If 7 of them want a catered wedding, can we say that total 70 out of 100 want a catered wedding? Most likely no.

Hence, option (D) is correct. Rest all options are irrelevant.

Bunuel · Answer

TWIN QUESTION: https://gmatclub.com/forum/now-is-an-ex ... 12997.html

kd1895 · Answer

I know D is the correct answer but can someone explain why? The other options seem irrelevant.

Posted from my mobile device

sparshgs97 · Answer

can someone explain this question as to why is D the correct option.

Dilpreetgandhi · Answer

In the argument two different things are compared

1 70% of the readers 
2 55%of the weddings

This is the gap. 
The correct choice is D,it talks about the gap.

Posted from my mobile device

manikantanutakki · Answer

Premise is about 70% of the magazine's readers while conclusion is about 55% percent of all the weddings likely to happen.

What if there are 100 magazine readers who are likely to get married, 70 of them want catered reception. 
Lets say there are 1000 weddings likely to happen but not everyone wants a catered reception. Existing caterers can already supply to 550 of these weddings which means there is an oversupply of caterers.

Option D talks about this

vasuca10 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  mam Kindly explain this question and options
I am not able to understand how Option D is correct answer

amansahu421 · Answer

(A) Catering is a highly labor-intensive business.
:  Paragraph not talking about labour

(B) Caterers are not evenly distributed across the country.
:  Same paragraph not talking about distribution of cater
 
(C) The number of weddings with catered receptions has been growing each year for the past five years.
:  This strengthening the statement

(D) Readers of Weddings magazine are more likely than most people to want a catered reception.
:  Here since the evidence are only magzine so whatever number provided may be different if this statement is true.

(E) Weddings magazine includes both articles about catered receptions and articles about preparing food oneself for one’s wedding reception.
:  Funny, impractical also doesn't specify in paragraph.

Posted from my mobile device

GMel · Answer

Hi all,

I don't get why D is the correct answer. My choice would be B, but I want to understand why it is not the correct answer.

Can someone provide new arguments for the answer D please?

shodge · Answer

Hi,

So the question asks; which option 'reveals a weakness in the evidence cited above?' The evidence here is that 70% of the readers of the wedding magazine want a catered wedding.

The argument that it is a good time to invest in a catering business is based on the evidence that 70% of the demand for  all weddings  are catered and caterers are only able to supply 55% of weddings. Leaving a gap in the market. (Edited to say that it is inferred from the evidence that the demand for all weddings being catered is 70%)

The question asks which option reveals a weakness in the evidence (Evidence being 70% figure) option D shows a weakness in the evidence as not everyone who is planning a wedding reads this magazine or took part in the survey. This suggests a weakness in the demand figure as the demand across all weddings will likely be lower as a result of that statement.

Based on this weakness of the evidence provided you cannot infer the gap in the market suggested

The question is which option reveals a weakness in the evidence. If you look at the other options they don't address the evidence (The wedding Survey):

(A) Catering is a highly labor-intensive business.   - Not relevant to the wedding survey 
 (B) Caterers are not evenly distributed across the country.   - Not relevant to the wedding survey 
 (C) The number of weddings with catered receptions has been growing each year for the past five years.   - Does not weaken the evidence. Evidence is the specific demand (70%) for weddings that this does not address. Growth could be from any start point.  
 (E) Weddings magazine includes both articles about catered receptions and articles about preparing food oneself for one’s wedding reception.   - Not relevant to the wedding survey

Hope this helps

GMel · Answer

Thank you for this very clear explanation. It does help understand this question better.

Edwin555 · Answer

I get why the answer is D, as it mentions that the readers of the weddings magazine are more likely to want a catered lunch (If there was 100 readers in total, 70 would want a catered lunch, but there is no data provided for anyone else). But I don't get how the "However" in "An analysis of the catering industry, however, shows that the current number of caterers can serve only 55 percent of the weddings likely to occur each year." would make sense as the statement as a whole is meant to strengthen the initial statement that it's good to invest in catering (unless its just data given to confuse you, but I still don't understand it.)

BigBacBrother333 · Answer

I don't think this is a fair question. I chose C because I thought the question prompt was referring to the 55%. So I thought, ok so I guess we are looking for an answer that weakens that evidence. But turns out I guess we are supposed to find the evidence that weakens the argument that "now is a good time to invest in the catering business."

BigBacBrother333 · Answer

I don't think this is a fair question. I chose C because I thought the question prompt was referring to the 55%. So I thought, ok so I guess we are looking for an answer that weakens that evidence. But turns out I guess we are supposed to find the evidence that weakens the argument that "now is a good time to invest in the catering business."

egmat · Answer

Understanding Your Doubt 
You thought "weakness in the evidence" meant you should attack the  55%  statistic.
But here's a fundamental GMAT rule:  You can NEVER contradict facts in the question stem. 
The 70% is a fact. The 55% is a fact. No answer choice will say "actually it's 80%" — that's not how GMAT works.
So "weakness in evidence" can only mean one thing:  show why the evidence doesn't reliably support the conclusion.

The Logic Chain: 
Conclusion: Now is an excellent time to invest in catering.
Evidence → Conclusion:
 
  70%  of magazine readers want catered receptions (DEMAND) 
 Caterers can only serve  55%  of weddings (SUPPLY) 
 Demand > Supply = Gap = Opportunity = Invest!

The Hidden Assumption: 
Magazine readers represent the general wedding population.

Why D Weakens: 
D says: Magazine readers are  MORE likely  than most people to want catering.
This doesn't contradict the 70% — it explains why the 70%  doesn't represent real demand. 
 
 The 70% is still true — but it's from a biased sample 
 Real demand in the general population might only be 40% 
 If demand (40%) < supply (55%) → the gap  doesn't exist  
 No gap = No opportunity  
 Key Principle: 
GMAT will never ask you to contradict stated facts. When you see "weakness in evidence," ask:  Is this evidence REPRESENTATIVE and RELIABLE enough to support the conclusion?

Now is an excellent time to invest in the catering business. A survey

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Now is an excellent time to invest in the catering business. A survey

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards