Sales manager: Last year

Answer choices

1. A

   Strengthens10% picked this

   The company’s restaurants last year dropped from their menus most of the new dishes that had been

   This might feel like an Alternate Explanation for why the restaurant is selling fewer meals at older locations, but it actually still conforms to the general thought that consumers find the meals less desirable ("Ahhh, they got rid of the McRib? Nevermind, I don't want to go there any more.")

   10%
2. B

   Strengthens, if anything8% picked this

   Prior to last year there was an overall downward trend in

   This softly pushes back against alternate explanations like, "Last year was just a down year because of the pandemic. We'll be back to our normal numbers this year, since people still desire our meals." It makes it sound more like this company has been on the decline for a couple of years now.

   8%
3. C

   Weak Impact8% picked this

   Those of the company’s restaurants that did increase their sales last year did not offer large discounts on

   If this answer said, "The restaurants that did increase sales did offer large discounts to attract customers", that would sound like a strengthener, because it would suggest that desirability is low enough that restaurants had to stoop to gimmicks to get people in the door. But it doesn't have a big weakening impact to say that restaurants that increased sales did not offer large discounts. They still might have offered small discounts or offered large special prizes or other gimmicks.

   8%
4. D

   No Impact3% picked this

   Sales of the company’s most expensive meal contributed little to the overall

   Zooming on the most expensive meal isn't really that valuable a data point. We have no idea if the most expensive meal is even a popular choice or a significant source of revenue to begin with. If anything, this might strengthen slightly by pushing back against the likelihood that people have been avoiding the restaurant because they're poorer than they were two years ago. (If money were the main reason for a decline in sales, you'd expect the most expensive meal to take a particularly big hit).

   3%
5. E

   Correct72% picked this

   Most of the company’s restaurants that were in operation throughout both last year and the year before are located in areas where residents experienced

   Why this is right

   This provides an Alternate Explanation for why restaurants that have been open 2+ years are selling fewer meals this past year. These older locations are found in places that experienced a severe decline in income last year, so it makes sense that people would be eating out less across the board. Thus, there's no reason to blame the decline in sales to decreased desirability of the product, when it sounds like it could be explained as an industry-wide problem that's more connected to financially struggling people.

   Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   72%