Prep2012-Pack1-CR-031 VCR000875 Medium
Which of the following most logically completes the passage below?
One name-brand cereal manufacturer is about to reduce wholesale prices for its cereals by 20 percent because consumers have been switching from its cereals to cheaper store brands. The success of this strategy relies on the assumption that supermarkets will pass on all of the savings by lowering the prices they charge consumers for the manufacturer's cereals. Although supermarkets usually pass on such savings, in this case it is likely that supermarkets not do so because________________.
A. several other name-brand cereal manufacturers are about to reduce the wholesale prices of their cereals
B. the average price per box of name-brand cereals has increased significantly in the last 10 years
C. total annual sales of cereal—including both name-brand and store-brand cereals—have increased over the past 10 years
D. supermarkets make far more profit on sales of store-brand cereals than on sales of name-brand cereals
E. the current prices of the manufacturer's cereals are comparable to the prices of name-brand cereals produced by other cereal manufacturers
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-032 VCR000886 Medium
In Teruvia, the quantity of rice produced per year is currently just large enough to satisfy domestic demand.
Teruvia's total rice acreage will not be expanded in the foreseeable future, nor will rice yields per acre increase appreciably. Teruvia's population, however, will be increasing significantly for years to come. Clearly, therefore, Teruvia will soon have to begin importing rice.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. No pronounced trend of decreasing per capita demand for rice is imminent in Teruvia.
B. Not all of the acreage in Teruvia currently planted with rice is well suited to the cultivation of rice.
C. None of the strains of rice grown in Teruvia are exceptionally high-yielding.
D. There are no populated regions in Teruvia in which the population will not increase.
E. There are no major crops other than rice for which domestic production and domestic demand are currently in balance in Teruvia.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-033 VCR001179 Medium
Theatergoer: In January of last year, the Megaplex chain of movie theaters started popping its popcorn in canola oil, instead of the less healthful coconut oi that it had been using until then. Now Megaplex is planning to switch back, saying that the change has hurt popcorn sales. That claim is false, however, since according to Megaplex's own sales figures, Megaplex sold five percent more popcorn last year than in the previous year.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the theaterg0er‘s argument?
A. When it switched from using coconut oil to using canola oil, Megaplex made sure that the chain received a great deal of publicity stressing the health benefits of the change.
B. Megaplex makes more money on food and beverages sold at its theaters than it does on sales of movie tickets.
C. In a survey to determine pubic response to the change to canola oil, very few of Megapiex's customers said that the change had affected their popcorn-buying habits.
D. Total sales of all food and beverage items at Megaplex's movie theaters increased by less than five percent last year.
E. Total attendance at Megaplex's movie theaters was more than 20 percent higher last year than the year before.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-034 VCR001296 Medium
In polluted environments, dolphins gradually accumulate toxins in their body fat, and the larger the dolphin the more accumulated toxins it can tolerate. Nearly 80 percent of the toxins a female dolphin has accumulated pass into the fat-rich milk her nursing calf ingests. Therefore, the unusually high mortality rate among dolphin calves in the industrially contaminated waters along Florida's Gulf Coast is probably the result of their being poisoned by their mother's milk.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A. The survival rate of firstborn dolphin calves in the area along Florida's Gulf Coast is highest for those whose mothers were killed before they were weaned.
B. The rate at which adult dolphins living in the waters along Florida's Gulf Coast accumulate toxins is no higher than that of adult dolphins in comparably polluted waters elsewhere.
C. Among dolphin calves born in the area along Florida's Gulf Coast, the mortality rate is highest among those with living siblings.
D. As dolphins age, they accumulate toxins from the environment more slowly than when they were young.
E. Dolphins, other marine mammals, have a higher proportion of body fat than do most land mammals.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-035 VCR001345 Medium
Perkins: According to an article I read, the woolly mammoth‘s extinction in North America coincided with a migration of humans onto the continent 12,000 years ago, and stone spearheads from this period indicate that these people were hunters. But the author's contention that being hunted by humans contributed to the woolly mammoth‘s extinction is surely wrong since, as paleontologists know, no spearheads have ever been found among the many mammoth bones that have been unearthed.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason for discounting the evidence Perkins cites in arguing against the contention that being hunted by humans contributed to the North American extinction of woolly mammoths?
A. At sites where mammoth bones dating from 12,000 years ago have been unearthed, bones of other mammals have rarely been found.
B. The stone from which stone spearheads were made is unlikely to have disintegrated over the course of 12,000 years.
C. Conditions in North America 12,000 years ago were such that humans could not have survived there on a diet that did not include substantial amounts of meat.
D. Cave paintings in North America that date from 12,000 years ago depict woolly mammoths as well as a variety of other animals, including deer and buffalo.
E. Because of the great effort that would have been required to produce each stone spearhead, hunters would have been to leave them behind.
答案解析
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-031 VCR000875 Medium
Reasoning
Why would supermarkets be unlikely to pass on the savings by lowering the price of the manufacturer's cereals?
Consumers have been switching from the manufacturer's cereals to cheaper store brands. The manufacturer wants to reverse this trend by reducing its cereals’ prices for shoppers. We are told that usually supermarkets do pass on savings from lowered wholesale prices. Therefore, this must usually be in their interest. Since supermarkets are businesses, profit motives are likely to explain their decisions. What profit motive might deter the supermarkets from lowering prices in this specific situation?
A. If other name-brand cereal manufacturers also reduce their wholesale prices, the supermarkets could simply pass on the savings by lowering the prices on those cereals as well. Because of increased affordability to
consumers, total cereal sales may increase without reducing the supermarkets’ profits on each box of cereal sold.
B. If prices of name-brand cereals have increased, supermarkets might have even more reason to pass on the savings from reduced wholesale prices in order to increase sales.
C. Even if cereal sales have been increasing, supermarkets might be happy for the opportunity to increase sales even more by lowering the prices on the manufacturer's cereals without reducing their profits on each box sold.
D. Correct. If supermarkets make more profits from store-brand cereals than from name-brand cereals, they have a profit motive not to encourage shoppers to switch to a name-brand cereal by lowering its price.
E. If supermarkets lower prices of the manufacturer's cereals below those of other name-brand cereals, then shoppers may switch brands, but this would not reduce the supermarkets‘ total profits.
The correct answer is D.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-032 VCR000886 Medium
Reasoning
What must be true in order for the given premises to justify the conclusion that Teruvia will have to begin importing rice? The argument implies that domestic rice production will not increase and that there are no rice exports, imports, surpluses, or stockpiles. It also implies that since Teruvia's population will increase, its total demand for rice will increase. But this assumes that Teruvians will not start eating less rice per person.
A. Correct. This expresses the final assumption discussed above, that Teruvians will not start eating much less rice per person.
B. This may suggest that finding better acreage could increase rice yields, but the argument assumes that rice yields per acre will not increase appreciably.
C. This may suggest that new strains of rice could increase rice yields, but the argument assumes that rice production will not increase.
D. The argument assumes only that Teruvia's total demand for rice will increase, not that the demand in every region will increase.
E. The argument does not need to assume that rice is the only crop for which domestic production and demand are balanced. It is compatible with saying, for instance, that what holds for rice also holds for other crops.
The correct answer is A.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-033 VCR001179 Medium
Reasoning
Given the facts the theatergoer has stated, what would make it more likely that switching from coconut oil to canola oil has hurt the theaters’ popcorn sales? The theaters switched to canola oil at the beginning of last year, and their sales figures indicate that they sold 5 percent more popcorn in the year after the change than in the year before the change. Therefore,, an answer option stating evidence that popcorn sales would have increased even more than 5 percent if the theaters had not switched to canola oil would support the theaters‘ claim that the switch to canola oil has hurt popcorn sales.
A. Publicity stressing the health benefits of canola oil would make the switch to canola oil less likely to hurt popcorn sales, not more likely.
B. Making more money from food and beverage sales than from ticket sales does not suggest that popcorn sales have been hurt.
C. A survey in which most customers said the switch did not affect the amount of popcorn they buy is evidence that the switch did not hurt popcorn sales, not that it did hurt sales.
D. If total food and beverage sales increased less than 5 percent, then popcorn sales have increased more than sales of similar items, suggesting that the switch to canola oil may have improved popcorn sales.
E. Correct. If total attendance at the theaters increased 20 percent while popcorn consumption only increased 5 percent, then average popcorn sales per customer have declined. Therefore, the use of canola oil may be discouraging customers from buying popcorn.
The correct answer is E.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-034 VCR001296 Medium
Reasoning
Given the facts stated, what would make the dolphin calf deaths more likely to have resulted from toxins in their mother’s milk? The dolphins live in a polluted environment. Therefore, the mother dolphins are accumulating toxins in their body fat. Most of the toxins in a mother dolphin pass through her milk into her nursing calf. Since dolphin calves are much smaller than their mothers, the calves are especially vulnerable to the toxins. The high mortality rate among the calves is more likely to have resulted from the toxins in the milk if calves who drink more milk have been more likely to die.
A. Correct. Calves whose mothers died before weaning would have drunk less toxic milk than other calves did, on average.
B. If dolphins along the Florida's Gulf Coast accumulated toxins at no higher a rate than elsewhere, then their milk would contain no more toxins than elsewhere and thus would not be especially likely to cause an unusually high mortality rate.
C. Since dolphin calves presumably consume milk from the same mother as their do, this would suggest that some factor other than the milk caused the high mortality rate.
D. If the calves accumulate toxins more quickly from the environment than their mothers do, the high mortality might have resulted mainly from toxins in the environment, not from those in the milk.
E. The argument says nothing about other mammal species, therefore this information is irrelevant.
The correct answer is A.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-035 VCR001345 Medium
Reasoning
What would suggest that hunting by humans may have contributed to the mammoths' extinction, even though no spearheads have been found among mammoth bones? Perkins argues that since no spearheads have been found among mammoth remains, human hunting must not have contributed to the mammoths’ extinction. Perkins's argument assumes that humans did not hunt mammoths mainly with weapons other than spears; that spearheads would be left among remains of any mammoths killed with spears; that paleontologists have found a fair number of mammoth remains; and that any spearheads left among the remains would likely stay with them and be discovered. Any statement that calls any of these assumptions into question would provide a reason to discount the evidence Perkins offers.
A. If humans did not hunt mammoths, then mammoth bones probably would not be found with other mammal bones around prehistoric settlements where humans ate other mammals. Therefore, this would be compatible with Perkins’ argument.
B. This strengthens Perkins’ argument by out a possible alternative explanation of why paleontologists have found no spearheads in mammoth remains.
C. The prehistoric humans could have eaten meat other than mammoths, and this does not explain how they could have hunted mammoths without paleontologists finding spearheads in mammoth remains.
D. Perkins already acknowledges that humans coexisted with mammoths in North America, and this does not explain how humans could have hunted mammoths without paleontologists finding spearheads in mammoth remains.
E. Correct. This explains how, despite the evidence Perkins offers, humans may well have hunted mammoths without leaving any spearheads for paleontologists to discover in mammoth remains.
The correct answer is E.