Prep2012-Pack1-CR-011 VCR005442 Easy
Reasoning
There has been, over a period of five years, a pattern of unusualy large stock purchases one day before the stock analyst's magazine column recommending them appears on the newsstands. Of the five answer options given, which one would NOT help explain this pattern? Anything suggesting how people who buy stocks could see the column or discover the information in it at least a day before it appears on the newsstands would help explain the pattern.
Therefore look for the answer option that does not suggest how this could happen.
A. The workers’ purchases based on their advance knowledge could account for the pattern.
B. The stockbrokers' purchases based on their advance knowledge could account for the pattern.
C. Purchases by publishing company employees and others with whom they shared the information could account for the pattern.
D． Correct. This answer option does not indicate how anyone other than the analyst could find out about the recommendations in advance. Therefore, it would not help explain the pattern.
E. Purchases by these twenty people and others with whom they shared the information could account for the pattern.
The correct answer is D.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-012 VCR005853 Easy
Reasoning
What could explain why the number of fatalities per highway mile driven declined even as average highway speeds
increased? We are told that higher speeds mean a higher risk of fatalities, other things being equal. Consequently, the increasing highway speeds between 1995 and 2000 should have led to more fatalities per highway mile driven.
Since the fatalities per mile driven actually decreased, some countervailing factor must have increased driving safety more than enough to compensate for the danger of the higher speeds. Thus, find an answer option suggesting how a factor that increased driving safety became more common or effective between 1995 and 2000.
A. More passengers per car would likely mean even more fatalities per highway mile driven, since more people would die per car accident.
B. Correct. More seatbelts and airbags would have probably reduced the average number of fatalities per car accident, resulting in fewer fatalities per mile driven even if the higher speeds resulted in more car accidents.
C. This cannot help explain the decrease in fatalities. Driving at a higher speed probably increases the risk of a fatal car accident regardless of whether the speed is legal or illegal.
D. Fewer accidents per highway mile driven could explain why the average highway mileage per car increased (since some cars would have gone more miles before crashing), but the converse is not correct: the increased average mileage could not explain why there were fewer accidents per mile driven.
E. Instead of explaining why there was a decrease in the number of fatalities per highway mile driven, this merely rules out the possibility that the explanation was a lower density of cars on the highways.
The correct answer is B.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-013 VCR006844 Easy
Reasoning
What would provide the most additional evidence that wild emmer wheat was first domesticated in the strip of south west Asia where it now grows? The argument is that since wild emmer wheat is only found in that strip, and the oldest remains of cultivated emmer wheat are at village sites in the same area, emmer wheat must have first been cultivated there. This assumes that wild emmer wheat has grown in just the same strip since it was first cultivated. If wild emmer wheat used to grow elsewhere, it might have first been cultivated elsewhere and reached the village sites through trade. Therefore, look for an answer option providing evidence that wild emmer wheat has grown only in that strip since it was first cultivated.
A. This raises the possibility that wild emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, might once have grown in a larger area and hence might have first been domesticated outside that narrow strip--contrary to what is argued in the passage.
B. If wild emmer wheat already produces high yields, it may not have been domesticated very thoroughly, but that does not indicate where the wheat was first domesticated.
C. The nutritional content of emmer wheat is irrelevant to the question of where it was first domesticated.
D. Correct. If climate conditions have not changed much in the strip, it's unlikely that the natural geographical growing range of wild emmer wheat has shifted. Therefore, it's more likely that wild emmer wheat has grown only in the same strip since it was first cultivated.
E. Difficulty in differentiating the two forms of wheat might cast doubt on the reliability of the archaeological evidence cited and thereby weaken the argument.
The correct answer is D.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-014 VCR007679 Easy
Reasoning
What would suggest that the plan to allow lower-level employees to make more decisions will improve their productivity? We are told that new information technology now allows the employees to make sound, well-informed decisions. Consequently, allowing lower-level employees to make more decisions may not hurt productivity. But we have no evidence that this change will actually improve productivity. Therefore, look for an answer option explaining how it might do so.
A. This suggests a condition—limitation of managers‘ responsibilities—that would have to be fulfilled to make layoffs of managerial staff possible, but it does not provide evidence that the plan would improve employee productivity overall.
B. If most of the managers agree that they should give up some decision-making authority, they may not resist the plan's implementation, but this does not provide evidence that the plan would improve productivity.
C. If the employees do not need to make decisions to do their jobs well, then delegating decisions to them is less likely to improve their productivity.
D. Correct. This explains how the plan, by reducing the time employees have to spend with managers, could improve employee productivity.
E. Since the other companies are not using the new managerial techniques yet, the higher employee productivity at those companies does not suggest that the techniques improve productivity.
The correct answer is D.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-015 VCR007798 Easy
Reasoning
How could Country Y’s plan be modified to make it more effective in either preventing polution or making people pay the cost of pollution? If the plan addresses air travel exclusively, it will encourage people to drive instead of flying.
Since drivers will not have to pay for the hidden costs of air pollution from their driving, the total amount of air pollution may not fall as the government hopes. The most obvious way to address this problem is to impose similar fees on drivers to encourage them to reduce their driving, as well as pay the cost of their air pollution, just as air travelers must do.
A. Restricting the number of daily flights would encourage even more people to drive instead of flying, thus worsening the problem described in the final sentence of the passage.
B. Although public education might be helpful, it would not force drivers to pay the hidden costs of their air pollution. Therefore, public education would not fully address the problem described in the final sentence of the passage.
C. Such recommendations would not in themselves force drivers to pay the hidden costs of their air pollution, so they would not fully address the problem described in the final sentence of the passage.
D. This might help reduce air pollution from air travel, but it would not affect air pollution caused by driving. Therefore, this option would not address the problem described in the final sentence of the passage.
E. Correct. These fees would make drivers pay for the hidden costs of air pollution from driving. Therefore, imposing fees would probably reduce air pollution and help overcome the problem described in the final sentence of the passage.
The correct answer is E.
