GMAT Verbal: Critical Reasoning Evaluate the Argument 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A restaurant chain plans to cut prices, predicting higher profit from more customers. Which question is most useful to evaluate the plan?
- Will the extra sales volume offset the lower margin per sale? (Correct answer)
- What font is on the menu?
- How many chairs does each location have?
- What is the chef's name?
Correct answer: Will the extra sales volume offset the lower margin per sale?
Profit rises only if added volume more than compensates for thinner margins.
Question 2: A publisher argues an author's next book will sell well because her last book was a bestseller. What would most help assess this prediction?
- Whether the new book targets the same audience and genre as the last (Correct answer)
- The number of pages in the new book
- The color of the book cover
- Where the author lives
Correct answer: Whether the new book targets the same audience and genre as the last
Past success transfers only if the new book appeals to a similar market.
Question 3: A factory plans to switch suppliers to save money. Which question most helps evaluate whether the switch will actually cut costs?
- Will the cheaper parts raise defect or warranty costs? (Correct answer)
- What city is the new supplier in?
- How long has the factory operated?
- What is the supplier's logo?
Correct answer: Will the cheaper parts raise defect or warranty costs?
Lower part prices can be erased by higher defect, rework, or warranty expenses.
Question 4: A gym claims adding pools will increase membership, citing a rival gym with pools that has more members. What best helps evaluate the claim?
- Whether the rival's higher membership is due to its location, not its pool (Correct answer)
- The temperature of the rival's pool
- How many lockers the gym has
- The brand of treadmills used
Correct answer: Whether the rival's higher membership is due to its location, not its pool
If location drives the rival's membership, copying the pool may not work.
Question 5: A city forecasts that a new highway will ease congestion. Which question would be most useful to evaluate this forecast?
- Will the new highway induce additional driving that fills the added capacity? (Correct answer)
- What asphalt brand will be used?
- How many lanes does the old road have?
- Who is the construction contractor?
Correct answer: Will the new highway induce additional driving that fills the added capacity?
Induced demand can fill new capacity, leaving congestion unchanged.
Question 6: An online retailer argues free shipping will boost profit by increasing orders. What information is most relevant to evaluate this?
- Whether shipping costs absorbed will exceed the profit from extra orders (Correct answer)
- The color scheme of the website
- How many warehouses exist
- The CEO's prior job
Correct answer: Whether shipping costs absorbed will exceed the profit from extra orders
Free shipping helps profit only if added order profit outweighs the shipping the firm now pays.
Question 7: A nonprofit predicts that a celebrity endorsement will raise donations because a similar charity's donations rose after one. What would most help evaluate the prediction?
- Whether the other charity also ran a major fundraising drive at the same time (Correct answer)
- The celebrity's height
- The charity's office address
- How long the endorsement video is
Correct answer: Whether the other charity also ran a major fundraising drive at the same time
A concurrent fundraising drive could be the true cause of the other charity's rise.
GMAT Verbal: Critical Reasoning Evaluate the Argument 3
A restaurant chain plans to cut prices, predicting higher profit from more customers.
Which question is most useful to evaluate the plan?