Lightbox, Inc., owns almost all of the movie theaters in Washington County and has announced plans to double the number of movie screens it has in the county within five years. Yet attendance at Lightbox's theaters is only just large enough for profitability now and the county's population is not expected to increase over the next ten years. Clearly, therefore, if there is indeed no increase in population, Lightbox's new screens are unlikely to prove profitable.
Which of the following, if true about Washington County, most seriously weakens the argument?
Lightbox, Inc., owns almost all of themovie theaters in Washington County and has announcedplans to double the number of movie screens it has in the county within fiveyears. Yet attendance at Lightbox’stheaters is only just large enough for profitability now and the county’spopulation is not expected to increase over the next ten years. Clearly, therefore, if there is indeed noincrease in population, Lightbox’s new screens are unlikely to proveprofitable.
Which of the following, if true about Washington County, most seriously weakens theargument?
Though little change in the size of the population is expected, a pronounced shift toward a younger, more affluent, and more entertainment-oriented population is expected to occur.
The sales of snacks and drinks in its movie theaters account for more of Lightbox’s profits than ticket sales do.
In selecting the mix of movies shown at its theaters, Lightbox’s policy is to avoid those that appeal to only a small segment of the moviegoing population.
Spending on video purchases, as well as spending on video rentals, is currently no longer increasing.
There are no population centers in the county that are not already served by at least one of the movie theaters that Lightbox owns and operates.
In the argument: attendance is large enough now+population is not expected to increase(----->the over all attendance will not increase while the screens will be doubled)----->no more profits will be produced.
The assumption needed in the inference above is that the attendance per person will no change in the future. In another words, the concept of attendance per person is unreasonably replaced by the concept of population in the argument above.