Prep2012-Pack1-CR-041 VCR003936 Medium
Sonya: The government of Copeland is raising the cigarette tax. Copeland's cigarette prices will still be reasonably low, so cigarette consumption will probably not be affected much. Consequently, government revenue from the tax will increase.
Raoul: True, smoking is unlikely to decrease, because Copeland's cigarette prices will stil not be high. They will, however, no longer be the lowest in the region, so we might begin to see substantial illegal sales of smuggled cigarettes in Copeland.
Raoul responds to Sonya's argument by doing which of the following?
A. Questioning the support for Sonya's conclusion by distinguishing carefully between no change and no decrease
B. Calling Sonya's conclusion into question by pointing to a possible effect of a certain change
C. Arguing that Sonya's conclusion would be better supported if Sonya could cite a precedent for what she predicts will happen
D. Showing that a cause that Sonya claims will be producing a certain effect is not the only cause that could produce that effect
E. Pointing out that a certain initiative is not bold enough to have the effect that Sonya predicts it will have
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-042 VCR003964 Medium
In Berinia, the age at which people could begin to drink alcohol legally used to be 18. In 1990, in an attempt to reduce alcohol consumption and thereby to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths among Berinlans under 21, the legal drinking age was raised to 21. Alcohol-related traffic deaths among people under 21 have decreased significantly since 1990. Nevertheless, surveys show that people in that age-group drink just as much alcohol as they did before 1990.
Which of the following, if true of Berinia, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?
A. For the population as a whole, annual alcohol consumption is no lower now than it was in 1990.
B. Alcohol consumption away from home, for example in bars and restaurants, is much lower among people under 21 than it was in 1990.
C. The proportion of people under 21 who own a car is higher now than it was in 1990.
D. Alcohol consumption is lower among people under 21 than among adults in most other age-groups.
E. Alcohol-related deaths among people over 21 have increased since 1990.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-043 VCR004534 Medium
Two centuries ago, Tufe Peninsula became separated from the mainland, isolating on the newly formed Tufe Island a population of sunflowers.
This population's descendants grow to be, on average, 40 centimeters shorter than sunflowers found on the mainland. Tufe Island is significantly drier than Tufe Peninsula was. So the current average height of sunflowers is undoubtedly at least partially attributable to changes in Tufe’s environmental conditions.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. There are no types of vegetation on Tufe Island that are known to benefit from dry conditions.
B. There were about as many sunflowers on Tufe Peninsula two centuries ago as there are on Tufe Island today.
C. The mainland‘s environment has not changed in ways that have resulted in sunflowers on the mainland growing to be 40 centimeters taller than they did two centuries ago.
D. The soil on Tufe Island, unlike that on the mainland, lacks important nutrients that help sunflowers survive and grow tall in a dry environment.
E. The 40-centimeter height difference between the sunflowers on Tufe Island and those on the mainland is the only difference between the two populations.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-044 VCR005074 Medium
The Nile Delta of Egypt was invaded and ruled from 1650 to 1550 B.C. by a people called the Hyksos. Their origin is uncertain, but archaeologists hypothesize that they were Canaanites. In support of this hypothesis, the archaeologists point out that excavations of Avaris, the Hyksos capital in Egypt, have uncovered large numbers of artifacts virtually identical to artifacts produced in Ashkelon, a major city of Canaan at the time of the Hyksos invasion.
In order to evaluate the force of the archaeologists’ evidence, it would be most useful to determine which of the following?
A. Whether there were some artifacts found at Avaris that were unlike those produced in Ashkelon but that date to before 1700 B.C.
B. Whether the Hyksos ruled any other part of Egypt besides the Delta in the period from 1650 to 1550 B.C.
C. Whether Avaris was the nearest Hyksos city in Egypt to Canaan
D. Whether Ashkelon after 1550 B.C. continued to produce artifacts similar to those found at Avaris
E. Whether many of the artifacts found at Avaris that are similar to artifacts produced in Ashkelon date to well before the Hyksos invasion
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-045 VCR005479 Medium
Three large companies and seven small companies currently manufacture a product with potential military applications. If the government regulates the industry, it will institute a single set of manufacturing specifications to which all ten companies will have to adhere. In this case, therefore, since none of the seven small companies can
afford to convert their production lines to a new set of manufacturing specifications, only the three large companies will be able to remain in business.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the author's argument relies?
A. None of the three large companies will go out of business if the government does not regulate the manufacture of the product.
B. It would cost more to convert the production lines of the small companies to a new set of manufacturing specifications than it would to convert the production fines of the large companies.
C. Industry lobbyists will be unable to dissuade the government from regulating the industry.
D. Assembly of the product produced according to government manufacturing specifications would be more complex than current assembly procedures.
E. None of the seven small companies currently manufactures the product to a set of specifications that would match those the government would institute if the industry were to be regulated.
答案解析
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-041 VCR003936 Medium
Reasoning
How are Raoul's statements related to Sonya's argument? First, Raoul accepts and restates the first part of Sonya's argument, that the increased tax probably will not reduce smoking. But then Raoul gives a reason to doubt Sonya's final conclusion that government revenue from the tax will increase. Raoul‘s point is that the increased tax might increase sales of illegally smuggled cigarettes, which the government could not tax. Raoul implies that if the increased sales of illegal cigarettes reduce sales of legal, taxed cigarettes, then government revenue from the tax might not increase after all.
A. Raoul does not discuss the distinction between no change and no decrease. However, even if he did, it would not call Sonya‘s conclusion into question. If smoking does not decrease, then either it does not change at all, or it increases; and if it increased, then revenue from the tax would likely increase as well, which is what Sonya's conclusion states.
B. Correct. As explained above, Raoul suggests that the change in the tax might increase sales of untaxed illegal cigarettes and thus potentially reduce tax revenues from legal sales. Therefore, he calls Sonya's conclusion into question.
C. Raoul nowhere suggests that Sonya should cite a precedent.
D. Raoul points out a factor that might decrease government revenue from the tax, not another cause that might increase the revenue as Sonja claims.
E. Both Sonya and Raoul imply that a bolder, higher tax increase could have an effect opposite the one Sonya predicts.
The correct answer is B. Prep2012-Pack1-CR-042 VCR003964 Medium
Reasoning
What would most help explain why alcohol-related traffic deaths have declined among people under 21 even though people in that age group still drink just as much alcohol? Alcohol-related traffic deaths depend not just on the amount of drinking, but on the amount of drunk driving. Even if people under 21 are drinking just as much, they may be driving drunk less often. Therefore, consider the answer options and find one that explains why that would happen.
A. This does not help explain why alcohol-related traffic deaths have declined among people under 21.
B. Correct. If people under 21 are drinking less often in bars and restaurants, then they are probably driving home drunk from bars and restaurants less often, and drinking more at home where they don't have to drive afterwards.
C. This suggests that people under 21 are driving more and hence may be driving drunk more, since they are still drinking just as much as ever.
D. Since people under 21 still drink just as much as people in that age group did before, this does not explain why alcohol-related deaths have declined in that age group.
E. Increased alcohol-related traffic deaths among people over 21 would not help explain declining alcohol-related
traffic deaths among people under 21.
The correct answer is B. Prep2012-Pack1-CR-043 VCR004534 Medium
Reasoning
What must be true in order for the given information to justify the conclusion that changes in Tufe's environmental conditions have affected the heights of sunflowers? The argument implies that the drying of Tufe's climate has made the sunflowers shorter than sunflowers on Tufe used to be. In comparing the heights of Tufe Island's sunflowers to those of mainland sunflowers, the argument assumes that on the mainland today, the sunflowers are the same height as sunflowers on Tufe Peninsula were two centuries ago, or at least no taller.
A. Even if the dry climate of Tufe Island has stunted the sunflowers, it may have benefited other vegetation.
B. The argument does not discuss the number of sunflowers, only their average heights.
C. Correct. If changes in the mainland's environment had made mainland sunflowers taller than they used to be, then the mainland sunflowers’ greater height would not justify the conclusion that sunflowers on Tufe Island are shorter than they used to be.
D. Even if the dry of Tufe Island has stunted the sunflowers, the soil may be no different from that on the mainland.
E. The dry cfimate of Tufe Island could both stunt the sunflowers and change them in other ways not affecting mainland sunflowers.
The correct answer is C.
        Prep2012-Pack1-CR-044 VCR005074 Medium
Reasoning
What would most help determine how wel the discovered artifacts support the hypothesis that the Hyksos were Canaanites? The archaeologists reason that since many artifacts at Avaris in Egypt resemble those from the Canaanite city of Ashkelon in the Hyksos period, Canaanites must have come to Egypt and produced or imported their artifacts there, so the Hyksos who invaded Egypt were probably Canaanites. But there are many possible alternative explanations. For example, non-Canaanite Hyksos or Egyptians might have imported or copied Canaanite artifacts in Avaris, or invaded Ashkelon and made the artifacts found there. Consider the answer options and find one that would most help decide whether the discovered artifacts suggest the archae0iogists' hypothesis is more plausible than the alternative explanations.
A. Whether such artifacts were found might shed light on whether Avaris was inhabited before the Hyksos invasion, but it would not indicate whether the Ashkelon-style artifacts at Avaris suggest that the Hyksos were Canaanites.
B. We already know that the Hyksos ruled Avaris. Therefore, the geographical extent of Hyksos rule in Egypt would not indicate whether the artifacts at Avaris suggest the Hyksos were Canaanites..
C. Whether some other Hyksos city in Egypt was slightly closer to Canaan than Avaris was would not indicate whether the artifacts at Avaris came from Canaan, so it would not help determine whether they suggest the Hyksos were Canaanites.
D. After the Hyksos rube ended in Egypt, it may or may not have continued in Canaan. Therefore, this would not help determine whether the artifacts at Avaris suggest the Hyksos were Canaanites.
E. Correct. Whether many Canaanite—style artifacts at Avaris were produced before the Hyksos invasion would indicate the fikelihood that the Hyksos brought that style to Egypt, which would be relevant to assessing whether the discovered artifacts suggest the Hyksos were Canaanites.
The correct answer is E.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-045 VCR005479 Medium
Reasoning
What other information must be implicit in the argument if the argument is to justify its conclusion? The argument is that if the government regulates the industry,it will impose its own manufacturing specifications on all the
companies; but the seven small companies cannot afford to adopt new specifications, and consequently they will be forced out of business. This reasoning assumes that the seven small companies would all have to change their current procedures to match the new specifications, or else go entirely out of business. Therefore, look for an answer option that expresses or follows from this assumption.
A. The argument is about what will happen if the government does regulate the industry, not what will happen if it does not.
B. This possibility is certainty not ruled out by the information given--but that does not mean that the argument requires that it be assumed. It simply suggests one among a number of possible circumstances that could help explain why none of the small companies could afford a conversion—if indeed a conversion is actually needed.
C. The argument is about what would happen r the government did regulate the industry, not about whether it will do so.
D. It would be compatible with the argument to deny that the new assembly procedures would be more complex than the existing ones. Therefore, the argument does not require this answer option to be assumed as part of the argument.
E. Correct. The argument is that none of the small companies can survive because none of the small companies can afford to convert to new government-imposed specifications. But this takes for granted that they will need to convert—which in turn presupposes that they do not currently meet the new specifications.
The correct answer is E.