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mymba99
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, Updated on: 05 Jan 2019, 02:20
Originally posted by mymba99 on 22 Apr 2008, 18:38.
Last edited by Bunuel on 05 Jan 2019, 02:20, edited 3 times in total.
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81% (01:39) correct 19% (02:09) wrong based on 1579 sessions

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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville's only other restaurant, would suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin's Cafe opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has increased significantly.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?


(A) Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin's Cafe serves considerably more meals on weekends than it does on weekdays.

(B) Most of the customers of Martin's Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this restaurant opened, and on most days Martin's Cafe attracts more customers than it can seat.

(C) The profit per meal is higher, on average, for meals served at Martin's Cafe than for those served at the Wildflower Inn.

(D) The Wildflower Inn is not open on Sundays, and therefore Riverville residents who choose to dine out on that day must either eat at Martin's Cafe or go to neighboring towns to eat.

(E) A significant proportion of the staff at Martin's Cafe are people who formerly worked at the Wildflower Inn and were hired away by the owner of Martin's Cafe.
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B
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 13 May 2008, 06:26
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I go with B as well.

This is a paradox question. Increased competition should reduced business but instead it has actually increased it.

B. Most of the customers of Martin’s Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this
restaurant opened, and on most days Martin’s Cafe attracts more customers than it
can seat.

Martin's Cafe is attracting new customers to the area and cannot serve them all. These new customers must now go to the Wildflower. So instead of Martin's and the Wildflower fighting for the same market, Martin's has actually increased the market benefiting both of them.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 13 May 2008, 13:22
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saravalli
When a new restaurant, Martin’s Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people
predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville’s only other restaurant, would
suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin’s Cafe
opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has
increased significantly.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?
A. Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin’s Cafe serves considerably more meals on
weekends than it does on weekdays.
B. Most of the customers of Martin’s Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this
restaurant opened, and on most days Martin’s Cafe attracts more customers than it
can seat.
C. The profit per meal is higher, on average, for meals served at Martin’s Cafe than
for those served at the Wildflower Inn.
D. The Wildflower Inn is not open on Sundays, and therefore Riverville residents
who choose to dine out on that day must either eat at Martin’s Cafe or go to
neighboring towns to eat.
E. A significant proportion of the staff at Martin’s Cafe are people who formerly
worked at the Wildflower Inn and were hired away by the owner of Martin’s
Cafe.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Show more

B
The overflow from Martin's Cafe goes to Wildflower Inn.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 13 May 2008, 16:04
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New Rest. MC in Rville opens
Many predict bus. at W.Inn would suffer from competition.
Since MC opened - no.of meals/night served at W.Inn incr. significantly.

saravalli
When a new restaurant, Martin’s Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people
predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville’s only other restaurant, would
suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin’s Cafe
opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has
increased significantly.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?
A. Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin’s Cafe serves considerably more meals on
weekends than it does on weekdays
>> does not explain why no.of meals/night at W.Inn has increased.

B. Most of the customers of Martin’s Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this
restaurant opened, and on most days Martin’s Cafe attracts more customers than it
can seat.
>> New customers coming in and they cant be seated so may be they are heading to W.Inn.

C. The profit per meal is higher, on average, for meals served at Martin’s Cafe than
for those served at the Wildflower Inn.
>> Out of scope.

D. The Wildflower Inn is not open on Sundays, and therefore Riverville residents
who choose to dine out on that day must either eat at Martin’s Cafe or go to
neighboring towns to eat.
>> Does not explain the significant increase in no. of meal serverd per night at W.Inn.

E. A significant proportion of the staff at Martin’s Cafe are people who formerly
worked at the Wildflower Inn and were hired away by the owner of Martin’s
Cafe.
>> Does not explain the situation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 22 Nov 2011, 00:42
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expert, pls, help.

Is paradox question based on an assumption?
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 16 Jan 2012, 10:55
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thangvietnam
expert, pls, help.

Is paradox question based on an assumption?
Show more

Yes, we can say that. But in this case, we don;t have to think too much because except B, everything else is clearly out.

At first sight, C also seems to be a contender because of the higher profit margins. But we can quickly realize that higher profits # higher prices; so rule out C.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 22 Jul 2020, 17:36
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville's only other restaurant, would suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin's Cafe opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has increased significantly.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?


(A) Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin's Cafe serves considerably more meals on weekends than it does on weekdays.

I initially chose this one. However, this is why it's wrong: even if there are less days on weekends (2 days) than on weekdays (5 days), we don't know anything about how many meals are sold on weekends nor on weekdays. Therefore, we cannot link it with number of meals served. Wrong.

(B) Most of the customers of Martin's Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this restaurant opened, and on most days Martin's Cafe attracts more customers than it can seat.

Since people, say who live out of town and never dined in Riverville before, come to Martin's in Riverville. However, Martin's is so crowded that some people have no seats. Then they would have to go to Wildflower, the only other restaurant in Riverville for convenience. Therefore, more meals are sold at Wildflower than before.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 02 Dec 2020, 03:15
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mymba99
When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville's only other restaurant, would suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin's Cafe opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has increased significantly.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?


(A) Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin's Cafe serves considerably more meals on weekends than it does on weekdays.

(B) Most of the customers of Martin's Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this restaurant opened, and on most days Martin's Cafe attracts more customers than it can seat.

(C) The profit per meal is higher, on average, for meals served at Martin's Cafe than for those served at the Wildflower Inn.

(D) The Wildflower Inn is not open on Sundays, and therefore Riverville residents who choose to dine out on that day must either eat at Martin's Cafe or go to neighboring towns to eat.

(E) A significant proportion of the staff at Martin's Cafe are people who formerly worked at the Wildflower Inn and were hired away by the owner of Martin's Cafe.
Show more

This is an Explain/Resolve the Paradox type of question.

The paradox here is that with the opening of the new restaurant, the business of the old one, Wildflower Inn was expected to go down, but the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has actually increased significantly.

Option A does not explain why the average number of meals served per night at the Wildflower Inn has increased. Even if Martin’s café serves more meals on weekends, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t serve at least a certain number on weekdays also. This is not information to explain why the average number of meals served at Wildflower Inn has increased. So, Option A can be eliminated.

The higher profit for Martin’s Café doesn’t explain why the average number of meals served at Wildflower Inn has increased significantly. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option D provides a reason for the business at Wildflower Inn to decrease, not increase. So, Option D can be eliminated.

Option E mentions staff, which is irrelevant to the argument. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Option B provides information to show how the average number of meals served at Wildflower Inn has increased significantly. If most of the customers of
Martin’s café are new to Riverville, they may want to eat from there after having traveled there. And if Martin’s Café is not able to seat all the people who come there to eat, those people may look for another place to eat. So, the fresh set of customers at Riverville, who weren’t able to eat at Martin’s café, would serve to increase the number of meals served at the wildflower Inn. Therefore, B is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 22 Apr 2024, 05:33
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(A) Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin's Cafe serves considerably more meals on weekends than it does on weekdays.

This would have been a nice option if only there had been something that hints people who were not served at Martin's cafe were served by Wildflower. But since that is not implied this is not the option we are looking for.

(B) Most of the customers of Martin's Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this restaurant opened, and on most days Martin's Cafe attracts more customers than it can seat.

This doesn't explicity say that people who can't be served by Martin's cafe are served by Wildflower, but it is implied that once Martin's cafe opened people started dining out and when they were not served they may have gone to Wildflower.
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When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, 22 Jun 2025, 05:31
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