og-148

hougang

148. A discount retailer of basic household necessities employs thousands of people and pays most of them at the minimum wage rate. Yet following a federally mandated increase of the minimum wage rate that increasedthe retailer’s operating costs considerably, the retailer’s profits increased markedly.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?
(A) Over half of the retailer’s operating costs consist of payroll expenditures; yet only a small percentage of those expenditures go to pay management salaries.
(B) The retailer’s customer base is made up primarily of people who earn, or who depend on the earnings of others who earn, the minimum wage.
(C) The retailer’s operating costs, other than wages, increased substantially after the increase in the minimum wage rate went into effect.
(D) When the increase in the minimum wage rate went into effect, the retailer also raised the age rate for employees who had been earning just above minimum wage.
(E) The majority of the retailer’s employees work as cashiers, and most cashiers are paid the minimum wage.

og's explanation:

The question to be resolved is why the mandated wage increase, which increased operating costs, was accompanied by an increase in profits. By showing how the wage increase might have led to an increase in the retailer’s sales, choice B helps resolve this question, and thus is the best answer.
Choices A and E are incorrect, since they suggest that the wages that rose as a result of the mandated increase constituted a significant proportion of the retailer’s expenditures, which if anything adds to the seeming paradox.
Choices C and D also contribute to the paradox, since they indicate that along with increases in the minimum wage there were increases in the retailer’s operating costs; so choices C and D are also incorrect.

是在是看不懂b的解释，请nn解释一下。B答案里面有show how the wage increase 吗，我怎么死活也看不出来啊。

hougang

upup

p200002

我是采用的排除法.A,C,D,E都会增加零售商的成本,所以答案是B.不过从另一个角度来解释B也可以.那就是最低工资提高了,因为顾客大部分是挣最低工资的,导致来店消费的人就增加了,所以销售收入就上升了.

hougang

谢谢，p200002。

但是我觉得下面的逻辑有点奇怪，

那就是最低工资提高了,因为顾客大部分是挣最低工资的,导致来店消费的人就增加了

最低工资提高了，就能导致来店消费人数的增加吗？题目中没有提到这样的因果关系啊，而且常识也没有这样直接的逻辑关系，更何况ets喜欢用事实说话！

另外，我还是看不出来，为什么

By showing how the wage increase might have led to an increase in the retailer’s sales, choice B helps resolve this question, and thus is the best answer.

B的答案是：

The retailer’s customer base is made up primarily of people who earn, or who depend on the earnings of others who earn, the minimum wage.
我的理解是：零售商店的主要顾客是由那些（挣最低公子的人，或者那些依靠别人挣的最低工资生活的人）。

但是从哪里可以看出这导致了retailer' profits的增加啊。

JerryGuan

原题的矛盾在于：最低工资提升后，公司的人工成本提高（事实），利润应该下降，可事实恰恰相反，利润提高了（事实）。

如果以上两个是事实的话，必然可以推荐收入额也提高了。

B 恰恰指出了提高最低工资标准所带来的收益会提升，这里并不是特别严格推出利润必定会增加，因为还需要有很多新的条件：它的客户消费量的提升额度要大于它的员工的工资提升额度。也就是不是充分条件。

但是由于最低工资生活的人，生活用品上（basic household necessities ）还是有很大的需求的，提高了限制额（最低工资）会提高顾客的消费额，商店的收入增加。

也就是说，B至少是它利润提升的必要条件。

管见。

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-12-4 13:15:32编辑过]

hougang

恩，现在终于有点明白这道题目了。

题目的逻辑是：由于那些以前挣最低工资的人的工资提高了，比如说以前最低工资是20元，现在最低工资是30元，而且零售商店的顾客又主要由这些顾客组成，所以解释了为什么零售商的profit会提高。

但是从逻辑角度来考虑，这里是不是缺少了一个assumption：那就是那些争最低工资的人会把增加了的工资消费在购物上，而不是存起来。

如果，题目中没有说明这个assumption，那么我们启不是用常识在说话，而不是用事实在说话，这不是违背ets的出题原则吗？

不明白，请nn指教，谢谢。

p200002

SORRY,我的解释不够精确.重新来一遍.

题目中是没有提到这种因果关系,否则也不问你ASSUMPTION是什么了.

答案有两个关键,

一是需要知道一个简化的公式,销售收入减去成本就是利润.销售收入不变,则COST升->ROFIT减.用在文章中,应该是WAGE升->COST升->ROFIT减,结果是WAGE升->COST升->ROFIT升.唯一的理由就是SALES升.

二是答案提到的CUSTOMER BASE,此零售商的顾客群是挣最低工资的人.不增加工资都会来买东西,何况加了工资?也许就增加消费了呢(未必增加顾客数)?

将两者结合,ETS用了个MIGHT来说明它的答案.

hougang

恩，谢谢上面各位朋友。我想这到题目里面缺少的那个assumption，可能就是nn们以前提到的explain里面的不精确性吧。

LES

嗯，这题的B答案是没有直接说到点上，或者说它不是一个充分条件，就是hougang提到的里面还有一个assumption，那些最低工资提高的顾客把提高部分的钱用来消费，而不是储蓄。

但是注意题目的提问方式：

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?

另外，用p200002提到的排除法也可以得到答案B。

排除绝对错误的答案。

hougang

哦，现在看到了。谢谢les，jerryguan，还有p2000002