Prep2012-Pack1-CR-071 VCR014016 Hard
Electric utilities pay less for low-quality coal per ton delivered than for high-quality coal. Yet more low-quality coal than high—quality coal must be burned to generate the same amount of electricity. Moreover, per ton of coal burned, low-quality coal generates more ash than does high-quality coal, and the disposal of ash is becoming more and more expensive.
The considerations above, if true, most strongly support which of the following claims?
A. A coal-burning utility might not be assured of benefiting economically by always adhering to the policy of keeping its overall coal purchasing costs as low as possible.
B. In those regions where the cost of disposing of coal ash is negligible, it is more expensive for coal-burning utilities to use high-quality coal than low-quality coal.
C. Transportation costs represent a smaller proportion of the cost per delivered ton for low-quality coal than for high-quality coal.
D. It is no less expensive to dispose of a ton of coal ash that results from the burning of high-quality coal than it is to dispose of a ton of coal ash that results from the burning of low-quality coal.
E. In regions where coal-ash disposal is the least expensive, reserves of low-quality coal are likely to decline at a faster rate than are reserves of high-quality coal.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-072 VCR006014 Hard
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Yorco and Zortech are two corporations that employ large numbers of full-time workers who are paid by the hour.
Publicly available records indicate that Yorco employs roughly the same number of such hourly wage workers as
Zortech does but spends a far higher total sum per year on wages for such workers. Therefore, hourly wages must be higher, on average, at Yorco than at Zortech, since_____________.
A. Zortech spends a higher total sum per year than Yorco does to provide its hourly wage workers with benefits other than wages
B. the work performed by hourly wage workers at Zortech does not require a significantly higher level of skill than the work performed by hourly wage workers at Yorco does
C. the proportion of all company employees who are hourly wage workers is significantly greater at Yorco than it is at Zortech
D. overtime work, which is paid at a substantially higher rate than work done during the regular work week, is rare at both Yorco and Zortech
E. the highest hourly wages paid at Yorco are higher than the highest hourly wages paid at Zortech
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-073 VCR006119 Hard
The Earth's rivers constantly carry dissolved salts into its oceans. Clearly, therefore, by taking the resulting increase in salt levels in the oceans over the past hundred years and then determining how many centuries of such increases it would have taken the oceans to reach current salt levels from a hypothetical initial salt-free state, the maximum age of the Earth's oceans can be accurately estimated.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The quantities of dissolved salts deposited by rivers in the Earth's oceans have not been unusually large during the past hundred years.
B. At any given time, all the Earth's rivers have about the same salt levels.
C. There are salts that leach into the Earth's oceans directly from the ocean floor.
D. There is no method superior to that based on salt levels for estimating the maximum age of the Earth's oceans
E. None of the salts carried into the Earth's oceans by rivers are used up by biological activity in the oceans.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-074 VCR006175 Hard
An overwhelming proportion of the most productive employees at SaleCo's regional work not eight hours a day, five days a week, as do other SaleCo employees, but rather ten hours a day, four days a week, with Friday off. Noting this phenomenon, SaleCo's president plans to increase overall productivity by keeping the offices closed on Fridays and having all employees work the same schedule—ten hours a day, four days a week.
Which of the following, if true, provides the most reason to doubt that the president's plan, if implemented, will achieve its stated purpose?
A. Every employee of SaleCo who has been there for at least a year is entitled to three weeks of vacation each year and must be paid his or her regular salary for that time off.
B. None of the employees who work four days a week had volunteered to work that schedule, but all were assigned to it by their supervisors.
C. Working ten hours a day has allowed the most productive employees to work two hours alone each day in their respective offices relatively undisturbed by fellow employees.
D. Employees at SaleCo are compensated not on the basis of how many hours a week they work but on the basis of how productive they are during the hours they are at work.
E. Some of SaleC0's employees have indicated to company officials that they would quit if not allowed to work the same hours as the company's most productive employees.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-075 VCR006358 Hard
Certainly, pesticides can adversely affect the environment in localities distant from where the pesticide has actually been used. Nevertheless, regulation of pesticide use should not take place at the national level but at the local level. It is in the areas where pesticides are actually applied that they have their most serious effects. Just how serious these effects are depends on local conditions such as climate, soil type, and water supply.
And local officials are much more likely than national legislators to be truly knowledgeable about such local conditions.
In the argument given, the two boldface portions play which of the following roles?
A. The first provides support for the conclusion of the argument; the second states that conclusion.
B. The first states the conclusion of the argument; the second provides support for that conclusion.
C. The first identifies grounds for a potential objection to the conclusion of the argument; the second states that conclusion.
D. The first identifies grounds for a potential objection to the conclusion of the argument; the second provides support for that conclusion.
E. Each provides support for the conclusion of the argument.
答案解析
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-071 VCR014016 Hard
Reasoning
What conclusion would the statements about utilities’ coal-related expenses support? Low-quality coal costs less per ton, but burning low-quality coal generates electricity less efficiently and produces more ash, which utilities must pay an increasing amount to dispose of. It's unclear whether overall coal purchasing costs are lower with low-quality or high-quality coal, since the lower price per ton of the former may counterbalance the need to buy more tons to generate the same amount of electricity. Although ash disposal is becoming more expensive, we are not told how that expense compares to those of the other factors mentioned; it may be negligible.
A. Correct. The information presented does not clearly support a conclusion about whether it's economically beneficial for coal-burning utilities to minimize their coal-purchasing costs. Therefore, utilities relying solely on this information cannot be assured that it is.
B. Since high-quality coal burns more efficiently, the utilities can buy less of it to generate the same amount of electricity, potentially compensating for its greater expense per ton.
C. The transportation costs per ton are probably about the same for low-quality coal as for high-quality coal. Therefore, they are probably a greater proportion of the cost per delivered ton of low-quality coal.
D. We are given no information about whether the cost to dispose of a ton of coal ash depends on the type of coal burned to generate that ash.
E. Even in the regions where coal-ash disposal is least expensive, it may still be expensive enough to encourage utilities to mine and burn more high-quality coal and thus generate less ash.
The correct answer is A.
       Prep2012-Pack1-CR-072 VCR006014 Hard
Reasoning
What would support the conclusion that hourly wages are higher at Yorco than at Zortech? If both companies employ the same number of full-time hourly wage workers, but Yorco spends more on wages for those workers, then on average, wages per full-time hourly wage worker are higher at Yorco than at Zortech. Consequently, the workers at Yorco must either get paid more per hour or else work longer hours than the workers at Zortech. Thus, if the workers at Yorco do not work longer hours, they must get paid more per hour. Therefore, to support the conclusion that the Yorco workers get paid more per hour, look for an answer option suggesting that they do not work longer hours.
A. The argument is just about wages, not about other benefits.
B. The argument is just about wages, not about the skills used to earn those wages.
C. The argument is not about employees other than full-time hourly wage workers.
D. Correct. This suggests that full-time hourly wage workers at Yorco do not work longer hours than those at Zortech. Therefore, it supports the argument's conclusion as explained above.
E. Even if the highest hourly wages are higher at Yorco, the average hourly wages may be the same or lower—contrary to what the argument claims.
The correct answer is D.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-073 VCR006119 Hard
Reasoning
What piece of information must be an implicit part of the argument in order for the argument to succeed? The proposed method assumes that the oceans were initially salt-free and that the amount of salt entering them in the past century was roughly the average amount that has entered them per century since they formed. Since the method relies solely on the rate at which rivers have deposited salt in the oceans, it also assumes that all or almost all salt in the oceans was deposited by rivers. Therefore, look for an answer option that follows from these assumptions.
A. Correct. Since the argument assumes that the amount of salt entering the oceans in the past century has been typical and that rivers deposited all or almost all the salt in the oceans, it must also assume that the amount of salt rivers have deposited in the oceans in the past century has been typical.
B. The argument assumes that the rate at which rivers have collectively deposited salt into the oceans in the past century has been typical, but different rivers could still have different salt levels from each other.
C. As explained above, the argument assumes that all or almost all salt in the oceans came there from rivers, not out of the ocean floor.
D. D Provided that the proposed method is accurate, there is no need for the argument to assume that it is also "superior" to any other methods—some of which might be not only accurate but also superior in virtue of being easier, cheaper, or more elegant.
E. E The proposed method may yield an accurate result even if biological activity uses up some of the ocean's salts, as long as the rate at which that activity has occurred in the past century has been roughly the average rate since the oceans formed.
The correct answer is A.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-074 VCR006175 Hard
Reasoning
What would suggest that putting all employees on the same schedule as the most productive employees would not increase overal productivity? The plan assumes that the most productive employees are more productive because of their work schedule; that changing to the same schedule would have the same effect on other employees; and that putting all employees on the same schedule as each other would not lower productivity somehow. Therefore, look for an answer option that casts doubt on one or more of these assumptions.
A. The schedule change will not make employees more productive while they are on vacation—the point is to make
them more productive while they are at work. This answer option is therefore irrelevant.
B. If the employees on the four-day schedule are more productive even though they did not volunteer for it, other employees put onto the schedule without volunteering for it may also become more productive, which would make the plan more likely to succeed.
C. Correct. This suggests that one reason the four-day schedule has boosted productivity for some employees is that most employees are not on it; if all employees are put on the same schedule, distractions from fellow employees will increase, and consequently productivity is likely to decrease.
D. The employees work forty hours per week on either schedule, and the plan would not change the compensation scheme.
E. This suggests that the plan might boost the morale of some employees, which might make them more productive and hence make the plan more likely to succeed.
The correct answer is C.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-075 VCR006358 Hard
Reasoning
What roles do the boldface portions play in the argument? The second sentence of the passage states the argument's conclusion: pesticides should be regulated at a local rather than a national level. The first boldface portion does not support this conclusion but rather conflicts with it, suggesting a reason to regulate pesticides at the national level. The word nevertheless before the conclusion draws attention to this conflict. The remaining sentences of the passage, including the second boldface portion, give reasons to regulate pesticides at a local level and therefore support the argument's conclusion.
A. As explained above, the first boldface portion conflicts with the argument's conclusion, while the second supports the conclusion.
B. As explained above, the first boldface portion conflicts with the argument's conclusion.
C. As explained above, the second boldface portion does not state the argument's conclusion, but rather supports it.
D. Correct. The first boldface portion identifies grounds for the potential objection that local pesticide regulation would not address pesticide impacts in distant localities; the second boldface portion gives one reason why pesticide regulation at the local level is nonetheless desirable.
E. As explained above, the first boldface portion conflicts with the argument's conclusion
The correct answer is D.