In The First half of This Year, From January to June, About Three Million Videocassette Recorders Were Sold.

Question: In the first half of this year, from January to June, about three million videocassette recorders were sold. This number is only 35 percent of the total number of videocassette recorders sold last year. Therefore, total sales of videocassette recorders will almost certainly be lower for this year than they were for last year.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?

(A) The total number of videocassette recorders sold last year was lower than the total number sold in the year before that.
(B) Most people who are interested in owning a videocassette recorder have already purchased one.
(C) Videocassette recorders are less expensive this year than they were last year
(D) Of the videocassette recorders sold last year, almost 60 percent were sold in January.
(E) Typically, over 70 percent of the sales of videocassette recorders made in a year occur in the months of November and December.

“In the first half of this year, from January to June, about three million videocassette recorders were sold.”- is a GMAT critical reasoning passage with answers. This particular GMAT critical reasoning topic has been taken from the book “GMAT Paper Tests.”

Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT critical reasoning. This GMAT critical reasoning question consists of a comprehension question and 4 options to choose from. The GMAT critical reasoning questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities. They are tested on understanding, analysing, and applying information or concepts.

Answer: E

Explanation: This is a GMAT critical reasoning question. We have to find the option that most seriously weakens the conclusion in the passage.

Let’s go through each of the available options and choose the most suitable one.

Option A: The total number of videocassette recorders sold last year was lower than the total number sold in the year before that.
This option is incorrect because we can not make assumptions about the present year’s sales based on the trend that has followed for the previous two years. This trend has no impact on the sales in the present year. So, this does not weaken the conclusion. Option A is incorrect.

Option B: Most people who are interested in owning a videocassette recorder have already purchased one.
This option is incorrect. In case most people who are interested in buying a videocassette have already bought one. These people account for only 35% of sales. Hence, it looks like in the coming months, the people will buy for less than or maximum 35% sales only. So, this year sales will be around 70%. This statement actually strengthens the conclusion. So, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Videocassette recorders are less expensive this year than they were last year.
This option is incorrect because if the product is less expensive, sales should have increased but it is given that sales are only 35%. So, it seems like this year, price is not only the deciding factor. This does not weaken the conclusion. So, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Of the videocassette recorders sold last year, almost 60 percent were sold in January.
This option is incorrect because this statement states that the sales this year have not been as good as last year’s sales. 60% of videocassette recorders were sold in January, which means the sales must be very good. This option strengthens the conclusion. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Typically, over 70 percent of the sales of videocassette recorders made in a year occur in the months of November and December.
This option is correct. It clearly tells us about the sales trend for the last two months. It states that sales in the second half of the year might be 60% or more. Add 35% to it, the total figure is somewhere near 100%. We still have 4 months to sell more of the product. So, it seems like the sales will be more than the previous year. Option E is correct.

Suggested GMAT Critical Reasoning Samples

• Manufacturers are Now Required to Make All Cigarette Lighters Child-Resistant by Equipping Them With Safety Levers
• A New Medication for Migraine Seems Effective, But There is Concern That The Medication Might Exacerbate Heart Disease
• Josh has Twenty Years of Typing Experience Behind Him
• JIT Stands for Just-In-Time. More Than a Standardized Methodology or Systematic Process, It is a Philosophy
• Seeking a Competitive Advantage, Some Professional Service Firms
• Because No Employee Wants to be Associated with Bad News in the Eyes of a Superior
• Until Recently Most Astronomers Believed That the Space Between the Galaxies in our Universe was a Near-Perfect Vacuum
• A Major Network News Organization Experienced a Drop in Viewership in the Week
• According To a Survey of Graduating Medical Students Conducted by Association of American Medical College
• The Pioneers of the Teaching of Science Imagined that its Introduction into Education would Remove the Conventionality, Artificiality, and Backward-Lookingness
• A Fundamental Principle of Pharmacology is that all Drugs have Multiple Actions. Actions that are Desirable in the Treatment of Disease are Considered therapeutic
• Critics have Long been Puzzled by the Inner Contradictions of Major Characters in John Webster’s Tragedies.
• Between 1980 and 2000 the Sea Otter Population of the Aleutian Islands Declined Precipitously.
• Moderate Exercise Lowers the Risk of Blockage of the Arteries due to Blood Clots.
• Companies that Dominate an Industry Usually do so by Developing a Competitive Advantage
• A Local Biopharma Startup is Trying to Get a Foothold in a Competitive Field of Research
• Magazine Editor: I Know that Some of Our Regular Advertisers have been Pressuring us to Give Favorable Mention to their Products in our Articles
• Companies Worldwide have Started Adopting MAT (Management Aptitude Test)
• Most Recent Work on the History of Leisure in Europe has been based on the Central Hypothesis of a Fundamental Discontinuity between Preindustrial and Industrial Societies
• Medicare, the United States Government’s Health Insurance Program for the Elderly and Disabled, Covers the Full Cost of Home Health Care