Self-study
A recent survey indicates that the average number of books read annually per capita has declined in each of the last three years. ████████ ██ ████ █████ ████ ████ ██████████ ████████ █████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████ ███████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why have most bookstores reported increased profits in the last three years even though a survey shows the average number of books read annually per person has declined in each of the last three years?
Objective
This is an EXCEPT question. The four wrong answers will tell us something has changed over the past three years that might lead to more bookstore profits despite a decline in average books read.
22.
Each of the following, if █████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ███████████ ███████ ███████
a
Recent cutbacks in ██████████ ████████ ████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ██ ████████ █████ ███████ ████████████ ███████
If libraries have fewer popular contemporary novels, more people might be going to bookstores to read those popular novels. This is how bookstore profits might have increased despite a general decline in books read.
b
Due to the ████████████ ██ █████████████ ███ █████████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ███████ ███████████
This tells us bookstores haven’t been very affected by a recent spike in shoplifting. But we would still expect bookstore profits to be lower due to the general decline in reading. (B) isn’t giving us a reason to think bookstores could somehow increase their profits.
c
Over the past ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██████ █████
Bookstores might be making more money from coffee bars today compared to the past. This could explain how bookstore profits could increase despite an overall decline in books read.
d
Bookstore owners reported █ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ███████████ █████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ████████ ██████
Bookstores might be selling more hardback books, which have higher profits margins (”more lucrative”). This could explain how bookstore profits might have increased despite a general decline in books read.
e
Citing a lack ██ ████ █████ ████ ██████ ███████████ █████████ ████ ████ ███ ████████ ████████ █████████████ ██ █████ ██ ██████████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ████████
People might have increased purchases at bookstores in lieu of reading magazines delivered or emailed directly to them from a subscription. This could explain how bookstore profits might have increased despite a general decline in books read.