Prep2012-Pack1-CR-011 VCR005442 Easy

　　An influential stock analyst recommends the purchase of three infrequently traded stocks in each of his weekly magazine columns. Unusually large amounts of these stocks are often purchased one day before the magazine appears on the newsstands. This pattern has recurred over a period.

　　Suppose that the information presented above is accurate. Each of the following statements, if true, could help to explain why the unusually large purchases occurred EXCEPT:

　　A. Workers at the company that prints the magazine have used their advance knowledge of the analyst's column to guide their own stock purchases.

　　B. Workers at the company that prints the magazine often sell advance copies of the magazine to stockbrokers.

　　C. One hundred copies of each issue of the magazine are circulated in the publishing company's office a day before the issue appears on newsstands.

　　D. The analyst refuses to submit his column for editorial review before it is printed.

　　E. Twenty people in the publishing company have access to the analyst's column before it is printed.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-012 VCR005853 Easy

　　The faster a car is traveling, the less time the driver has to avoid a potential accident, and if a car does crash, higher speeds increase the risk of a fatality. Between 1995 and 2000, average highway speeds increased significantly in the

　　United States, yet, over that time, there was a drop in the number of car-crash fatalities per highway mile driven by cars.

　　Which of the following, if true about the United States between 1995 and 2000, most helps to explain why the fatality rate decreased in spite of the increase in average highway speeds?

　　A. The average number of passengers per car on highways increased.

　　B. There were increases in both the proportion of people who wore seat belts and the proportion of cars that were equipped with airbags as safety devices.

　　C. The increase in average highway speeds occurred as legal speed limits were raised on one highway after another.

　　D. The average mileage driven on highways per car increased.

　　E. In most locations on the highways, the density of vehicles on the highway did not decrease, although individual

　　vehicles, on average, made their trips more quickly.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-013 VCR006844 Easy

　　Traces of cultivated emmer wheat have been found among the earliest agricultural remains at many archaeological sites in Europe and Asia. The only place where the wild form of emmer wheat has been found growing is a relatively narrow strip of southwest Asia. Since the oldest remains of cultivated emmer wheat yet found are from village sites in the same narrow strip, it is clear that emmer wheat was first domesticated somewhere in that strip.

　　Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

　　A. The present-day distribution of another wild wheat, einkorn, which was also domesticated early in the development of agriculture, covers a much larger area of southwest Asia.

　　B. Wild emmer wheat can easily be made to yield nearly as much as modern domestic strains.

　　C. At the time when emmer wheat was first cultivated, it was the most nutritious of all the varieties of grain that were then cultivated.

　　D. In the strip where wild emmer wheat has been found, climatic conditions have changed very little since before the development of agriculture.

　　E. It is very difficult, without genetic testing, to differentiate the wild form of emmer wheat from a closely related wild wheat that also grows in southwest Asia.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-014 VCR007679 Easy

　　The Acme Corporation has found that improvements in its information technology infrastructure allow its employees to make more decisions that are both sound and well-informed than was previously feasible. Consequently, the corporation plans to improve employee productivity by introducing new managerial techniques that delegate much of the decision-making to lower levels of the organizational hierarchy. Managers will simply set clear standards and guidelines and then allow employee teams to undertake tasks without centralized control.

　　Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support a prediction that the Acme Corporation's plan will achieve its goal?

　　A. The corporation will be able to cut its managerial staff only if the managers’ sole function is to set clear standards and guidelines for employees.

　　B. After Acme’s information technology infrastructure was improved, very few of Acme’s managers continued to believe that only managers should make most decisions.

　　C. Most of the tasks currently performed by the corporation's employees require few if any significant decisions to be made.

　　D. When employees can make decisions themselves, rather than submitting the same matters for decision to managers, there is more time available for directly productive activities.

　　E. Some other companies that have better employee productivity than does the Acme Corporation also plan to use the new managerial techniques.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-015 VCR007798 Easy

　　The recent rise of low-cost airlines in Country Y has led to great increases in the number of air travelers and flights.

　　However, a “hidden cost” of flying and certain other forms of travel is the significant amount of air pollution, which contributes to global warming. To make people pay these hidden costs—and in the process discourage the explosive growth in flying—the government of Country Y plans to impose fees on all air travel. There is a problem, however, in that many residents of Country Y would then use automobile transportation instead, without paying the hidden costs of the resulting air pollution.

　　Which of the following additions to the government's plan would be likely to help most in overcoming the problem referred to in the final sentence above?

　　A. Restricting the number of daily flights permitted in Country Y

　　B. Using the fees imposed on air travel to educate the public about the effects of air pollution on global warming

　　C. Setting clear, specific recommendations for the long-term reduction in exhaust emissions by automobile transportation in the country

　　D. Asking airplane manufacturers to study the possibility of creating airplanes that produce less air pollution

　　E. Imposing substantial fees on all forms of motorized transportation, in proportion to the amount of pollution caused by each form