PrepTest 148, Section 1, Question 22
Most of the new cars that Regis Motors(40 more words not shown)
If the statements above are(10 more words not shown)
- ARegis Motors sold(16 more words not shown)
- BThe total number(19 more words not shown)
- CA car retailer(15 more words not shown)
- DThe number of(21 more words not shown)
- ERegis Motors' share(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A dealership can have its best year ever without taking over the local market. Maybe it previously had 1 percent of the town's sales and now has 2 percent. That would still leave almost everyone buying elsewhere. Those percentages are just one possibility; we aren't told that Regis's share actually increased.
What we’re looking for
Keep the two groups straight. Most of Regis's sales went to Blomenville residents, but most of the residents' purchases came from other sellers. Those aren't contradictory. They describe the same overlap from two different directions. I don't have a specific answer to predict yet, so for this must-be-true question, let's test exactly what each comparison would require.
Working the answers
- A
Regis set a record for total new-car sales, not necessarily sales to Blomenville residents. Suppose its previous record was 90 cars, all sold to residents. Last year it sold 100 cars, with 60 going to residents and 40 going elsewhere. That is a company record, and most of its sales still went to residents, but its local sales fell. The town's remaining purchases could easily have come from other dealers, satisfying the last statement too.
- B
We aren't given the town's total purchases in any earlier year. Regis could set a company sales record while residents bought fewer cars overall, perhaps because Regis sold more cars outside town. The company's record doesn't establish a record for the entire town.
- C
Other retailers collectively sold most of the new cars to residents. That doesn't mean any one retailer beat Regis. For example, Regis could sell 60 cars to residents while three other retailers each sold them 30. The others together sell 90, which is most of the 150, yet Regis is still the biggest individual seller.
- DCorrect
Focus on the cars Regis sold to residents. That same set of cars appears in both totals we're comparing.
Regis sold more cars to residents than to people outside town, because most of its new cars went to residents. Meanwhile, residents bought more cars from other sellers than from Regis, because most of their purchases came from elsewhere. So the residents' purchases from other sellers exceed Regis's sales outside town.
Now add the shared cars back to each side. Residents' total purchases are the shared cars plus their purchases elsewhere. Regis's total sales are the shared cars plus its sales outside town. The first extra group is bigger, so the residents' total must be bigger.
Using the earlier illustration, if Regis sold 100 cars and 60 went to residents, its outside sales were 40. Residents must have bought more than 60 from other sellers. That gives them more than 120 total purchases, exceeding Regis's 100. The particular numbers can change; the two majority relationships force the same comparison.
- E
More sales don't guarantee a larger market share. The town's total purchases could grow faster than Regis's local sales, reducing its share. We don't even know whether Regis's local sales increased, as A shows. The company-wide record cannot establish this change in its fraction of the local market.
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