Prep2012-Pack1-CR-051 VCR006443 Medium

　　Which of the following most logically completes the passage below?

　　Heavy rains during Centralia's corn planting season prevented some farmers there from planting corn. It is now the planting season for soybeans, another of Centralia's principal crops, and those fields originally intended for corn are dry enough for planting. Nonetheless, even though soybean prices are unusually high at present, the farmers wil leave most of these fields empty rather than plant them with soybeans, since_____________.

　　A. the extensive rains have led to an increase in the price of corn

　　B. some Centralian farmers anticipate serious financial losses due to the extremely wet spring planting season

　　C. chemicals that were used to prepare the fields for corn planting would stunt the growth of soybeans

　　D. the majority of Centralia's corn farmers were able to plant corn as they had intended, despite the wet planting season

　　E. many Centralian farmers grow both corn and soybeans

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-052 VCR07545 Hard

　　Consumer advocate: It is generally true, at least in this state, that lawyers who advertise a specific service charge less for that service than lawyers who do not advertise. It is also true that each time restrictions on the advertising of legal services have been eliminated, the number of lawyers advertising their services has increased and legal costs to consumers have declined in consequence. However, eliminating the state requirement that legal advertisements must specify fees for specific services would almost certainly increase rather than further reduce consumers’ legal costs. Lawyers would no longer have an incentive to lower their fees when they begin advertising and if no longer required to specify fee arrangements, many lawyers who now advertise would increase their fees.

　　In the consumer advocate’s argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

　　A. The first is a generalization that the consumer advocate accepts as true; the second is presented as a consequence that follows from the truth of that generalization.

　　B. The first is a pattern of cause and effect that the consumer advocate argues will be repeated in the case at issue; the second acknowledges a circumstance in which that pattern would not hold.

　　C. The first is a pattern of cause and effect that the consumer advocate predicts will not hold in the case at issue; the second offers a consideration in support of that prediction.

　　D. The first is evidence that the consumer advocate offers in support of a certain prediction; the second is that prediction.

　　E. The first acknowledges a consideration that weighs against the main position that the consumer advocate defends; the second is that position.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-053 VCR07570 Hard

　　The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races.

　　Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

　　A. The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high-performance competition bicycles expands.

　　B. High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major manufacturing concerns.

　　C. Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as standard for purposes of competition.

　　D. The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.

　　E. The authorities who set standards for high-performance bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle design.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-054 VCR14019 Hard

　　In a study conducted in Canada, servers in various restaurants wrote “Thank you" on randomly selected bills before presenting the bills to their customers. lips on these bills were an average of three percentage points higher than tips on bills without the message. Therefore, if servers in Canada regularly wrote “Thank you” on restaurant their average income from tips would be significantly higher than it otherwise would have been.

　　Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

　　A. The “Thank you" messages would have the same impact on regular patrons of a restaurant as they would on occasional patrons of the same restaurant.

　　B. Regularly seeing “Thank you" written on their bills would not lead restaurant patrons to revert to their earlier tipping habits.

　　C. The written “Thank you" reminds restaurant patrons that tips constitute a significant part of the income of many food servers.

　　D. The rate at which people tip food servers in Canada does not vary with how expensive a restaurant is.

　　E. Virtually all patrons of the Canadian restaurants in the study who were given a bill with “Thank you” written on it left a larger tip than they otherwise would have.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-055 VCR07635 Hard

　　Correctly measuring the productivity of service workers is complex. Consider, for example, postal workers: they are often said to be more productive if more letters are delivered per postal worker. But is this really true? What if more

　　letters are lost or delayed per worker at the same time that more are delivered?

　　The objection implied above to the productivity measure described is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?

　　A. Postal workers are representative of service workers in general.

　　B. The delivery of letters is the primary activity of the postal service.

　　C. Productivity should be ascribed to categories of workers, not to individuals.

　　D. The quality of services rendered can appropriately be ignored in computing productivity.

　　E. The number of letters delivered is relevant to measuring the productivity of postal workers.

　　答案解析

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-051 VCR006443 Medium

　　Reasoning

　　Why would the farmers leave the fields empty even though conditions suggest it would be profitable to plant soybeans? The farmers were not able to plant corn this year. Consequently, why would they not make up for it by planting soybeans? Soybean prices are especially high, so it would presumably be profitable to plant them. Why would the farmers leave the fields empty instead? Look for an answer option suggesting why it would be unprofitable or unfeasible for them to take advantage of the conditions favoring soybean planting.

　　A. Corn planting season is over, and therefore the farmers could not plant corn to profit from the high corn prices--and even if they could, it would not explain why they are leaving the fields empty.

　　B. This does not explain why the farmers are not planting soybeans. If the farmers anticipate serious financial losses, that would be all the more reason for them to try to recover financially by planting soybeans.

　　C. Correct. This gives a good reason for not planting soybeans. It might not be profitable to do so.

　　D. The passage is about the farmers who could not plant corn, not about those who could.

　　E. If the farmers are accustomed to planting soybeans, it would probably be even easier and more profitable for them to do so this year rather than leaving the fields empty.

　　The correct answer is C.Prep2012-Pack1-CR-052 VCR07545 Hard

　　Argument Construction

　　Situation

　　Lawyers who advertise charge less. In the past, when advertising restrictions have been removed, the number of lawyers advertising rose and legal costs to consumers fell. However, eliminating the requirement to specify fees in advertisements would raise consumers’ legal costs. If lawyers are not required to specify their fees in ads, many lawyers who advertise will raise their fees, and consumer costs are to rise.

　　Reasoning

　　What part do the two sentences in boldface play in the argument? This question asks the reader to look carefully at how the advocate's argument is constructed and in particular at how the two sentences in boldface are related. It is necessary to understand the consumer advocate's main point: if lawyers are not required to specify fees in advertisements, consumers’ legal costs are likely to rise. The first boldface sentence shows the cause-and-effect relation of lawyers’ ads and falling consumer costs, a relation the advocate predicts will not continue in the current case. The second boldface sentence explains why that relation will change.

　　A. The first sentence is presented as true, but the second sentence does not follow as a consequence; rather, it contradicts the first sentence.

　　B. The first sentence shows cause and effect, but the consumer advocate does not argue that it will be repeated.

　　The advocate argues that it will not be repeated.

　　C. Correct. The first sentence shows general cause and effect in a situation that the advocate argues will not be true in this particular case. The second sentence explains why it will not be true.

　　D. The consumer advocate predicts legal costs will rise; the first sentence does not offer evidence in support of that prediction, but rather evidence that costs have always fallen.

　　E. The first sentence gives a general cause-and-effect relationship, not a special consideration; the second sentence shows how that relationship could change.

　　The correct answer is C.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-053 VCR07570 Hard

　　Argument Construction

　　Situation

　　Bicycle racers are the only consumers willing to pay for innovations in bicycle technology. Manufacturers therefore innovation to the standards established for competitive bicycle racing.

　　Reasoning

　　What is being assumed in this argument? This argument implies a connection between what bicycle racers want and what bicycle manufacturers make. The passage states that only racers are interested in innovation and to pay for it.

　　Bicycle manufacturers have determined it is not worthwhile to produce innovative bicycles that do not meet official standards. What is the implied interaction? It is reasonable to assume that racers must not be interested in buying models that, while innovative, do not meet official standards for racing; they will pay only for those innovations that are acceptable in competition.

　　A. The argument concerns innovation in bicycle technology. It is not about the entire market for all bicycles, so no assumption is made about traditional bicycles.

　　B. The passage does not discuss where the best innovations are likely to be created, so no assumption about small workshops versus large manufacturers is made.

　　C. Correct. This statement properly identifies the conclusion’s underlying assumption that bicycle racers do not buy bicycles they cannot use for racing.

　　D. The passage does not discuss different national markets; no assumption can be made about them.

　　E. The passage does not indicate what the authorities do or do not know; this statement is extraneous to the passage and cannot be assumed.

　　The correct answer is C.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-054 VCR14019 Hard

　　Argument Construction

　　Reasoning

　　Another way to look at the question is "could the average from tips still increase if this assumption were not true?"

　　A. Even if the increase came only from occasional patrons, then average of tips would still be higher. This assumption is not needed.

　　B. Correct. If effect is a function of the rarity of seeing thank you, then regularly writing thank you would not increase average tips. This assumption must be met for the argument to hold.

　　C. This assumes that knowing that tips are part of the income for servers will lead to higher tips. There is not enough information about this requirement for the argument to hold.

　　D. Even if initial tipping rates differ, the increase could be shown to be applicable across restaurants and rates, particularly if restaurants of different expense levels were included in the study. There is not enough information to fully evaluate the need for the assumption.

　　E. The assumption is not needed; as with A, if a small portion of patrons left much larger tips, the average would still be higher.

　　The correct answer is B.

　　Prep2012-Pack1-CR-055 VCR07635 Hard

　　Argument Evaluation

　　Situation

　　In considering how best to measure productivity, the assumption is made that the more letters postal workers deliver, the more productive they are. This assumption is then challenged: What if the number of delayed and lost letters increases proportionately with the number of letters delivered?

　　Reasoning

　　Which statement would NOT be accepted by those objecting to the measure? The point of the objection is that the number of letters delivered is, by itself, an inadequate measure of postal workers’ productivity. The challenge introduces the issue of the quality of the work being performed by suggesting that the number of misdirected letters should also be taken into account. The challenge is based on rejecting the idea that quality can be ignored when measuring productivity.

　　A. The argument uses postal workers as an example; the challenge does not question the fairness of the example.

　　B. Letter-delivery is assumed to be the primary activity of postal workers because their productivity is measured on that basis; the challenge does not reject this point.

　　C. The argument does discuss a category of workers, postal workers, rather than individuals; the challenge does not reject this point.

　　D. Correct. This statement properly identifies the point that is the basis of the challenge to the measure; the objection does NOT accept the position that quality can be ignored in evaluating productivity.

　　E. There is no doubt that counting letters delivered is part of measuring productivity; the challenge is to its being the only measure.

　　The correct answer is D.