Although the discount stores in Goreville’s central
shopping district are expected to close within fi ve
years as a result of competition from a SpendLess
discount department store that just opened, those
locations will not stay vacant for long. In the fi ve years
since the opening of Colson’s, a nondiscount
department store, a new store has opened at the
location of every store in the shopping district that
closed because it could not compete with Colson’s.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens
the argument?
(A) Many customers of Colson’s are expected to do
less shopping there than they did before the
SpendLess store opened.
(B) Increasingly, the stores that have opened in the
central shopping district since Colson’s opened
have been discount stores.
(C) At present, the central shopping district has as
many stores operating in it as it ever had.
(D) Over the course of the next fi ve years, it is
expected that Goreville’s population will grow at
a faster rate than it has for the past several
decades.
(E) Many stores in the central shopping district sell
types of merchandise that are not available at
either SpendLess or Colson’s.
