117. A company’s two divisions performed with remarkable consistency over the past three years: in each of those years, the pharmaceuticals division has accounted for roughly 20 percent of dollar sales and 40 percent of profits, and the chemicals division for the balance.
Which of the following can properly be inferred regarding the past three years from the statement above?
(A) Total dollar sales for each of the company’s divisions have remained roughly constant.
(B) The pharmaceuticals division has faced stiffer competition in its markets than has the chemecials division.
(C) The chemicals division has realized lower profits per dollar of sales than has the pharmaceuticals division.
(D) The product mix offered by each of the company’s divisions has remained unchaged.
(E) Highly profitable products accounted for a higher percentage of the chemicals division’s sales than of those of the pharmaceuticals divisions.
117.
The pharmaceuticals division made 40 percent of the profits on only 20 percent of the sales, while the chemicals division, making up the balance, made 60 percent of the profits on 80 percent of the sales. Thus, the chemicals division made a lower profit per dollar of sale than the pharmaceuticals division, as choice C asserts. Choice C is the best answer.
The passage provides no information about total dollar sales, so choice A is incorrect, nor about the severity of competition, so choice B is incorrect. Similarly, no information is provided about the mix of products offered, nor about the breakdown between highly profitable and not highly profitable products in either division, so neither choice D nor choice E is correct. | 
