GMAT Verbal CR-2

1.

Weakening

State spokesperson：Many business people who have not been to our state believe that we have an inadequate road system．Those people are mistaken，as is obvious from the fact that in each of the past six years，our state has spent more money per mile on road improvements than any other state．

Which of the following，if true，most seriously undermines the reasoning in the spokesperson's argument?

(A)  In the spokesperson's state，spending on road improvements has been increasing more slowly over the past six years than it has in several other states．

(B)  Adequacy of a state's road system is generally less important to a businessperson considering doing business there than is the availability of qualified employees．

(C)  Over the past six years，numerous businesses have left the spokesperson’s state，but about as many businesses have moved into the state．

(D)  In general，the number of miles of road in a state's road system depends on both the area and the population of the state．

(E)  Only states with seriously inadequate road systems need to spend large amounts of money on road improvements．

2. In the past most airline companies minimized aircraft weight to minimize fuel costs．The safest airline seats were heavy, and airlines equipped their planes with few of these seats．This year the seat that has sold best to airlines has been the safest one-a clear indication that airlines are assigning a higher priority to safe seating than to minimizing fuel costs．

Which of the following，if true，most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A)  Last year's best-selling airline seat was not the safest airline seat on the market．

(B)  No airline company has announced that it would be making safe seating a higher priority this year．

(C)  The price of fuel was higher this year than it had been in most of the years when the safest airline seats sold poorly．

(D)  Because of increases in the cost of materials，all airline seats were more expensive to manufacture this year than in any previous year．

(E)  Because of technological innovations，the safest airline seat on the market this year weighed less than most other airline seats on the market．

3. Division Manager：I want to replace the Microton computers in my division with Vitech computers.

General Manager：why?

Division Manager：It costs 28 percent less to train new staff on the Vitech．

General Manager：But that is not a good enough reason．We can simply hire only people who already know how to use the Microton computer．

Which of the following, if true I most seriously undermines the general manager's objection to the replacement of Microton computers with Vitechs?

(A)  Currently all employees in the company are required t0 attend workshops on how to use Microton computers in new applications．

(B)  Once employees learn how to use a computer, they tend to change employers more readily than before.

(C)  Experienced users of Microton computers command much higher salaries than do prospective employees who have no experience in the use of computers．

(D)  The average productivity of employees in the general manager's company is below the average productivity of the employees of its competitors．

(E)  The high costs of replacement parts make Vitech computers more expensive to maintain than Microton computers．

4. Crops can be traded on the futures market before they are harvested．If a poor corn harvest is predicted，prices of corn futures rise；if a bountiful corn harvest is predicted，prices of corn futures fall. This morning meteorologists are predicting much-needed rain for the corn-growing region starting tomorrow．Therefore，since adequate moisture is essential for the current crop's survival，prices of corn futures will fall sharply today

Which of the following，if true，most weakens the argument above?

(A)  Corn that does not receive adequate moisture during its critical pollination stage will not produce a bountiful harvest．

(B)  Futures prices for corn have been fluctuating more dramatically this season than last season．

(C)  The rain that meteorologists predicted for tomorrow is expected to extend well beyond the corn-growing region．

(D)  Agriculture experts announced today that a disease that has devastated some of the corn crop will spread widely before the end of the growing season．

(E)  Most people who trade in corn futures rarely take physical possession of the corn they trade．

5. A museum has been offered an undocumented statue，supposedly Greek and from the sixth century B．C．Possibly the statue is genuine but undocumented because it was recently unearthed or because it has been privately owned．However, an ancient surface usually has uneven weathering，whereas the surface of this statue has the uniform quality characteristically produced by a chemical bath used by forgers to imitate a weathered surface．Therefore，the statue is probably a forgery．

Which of the following，if true，most seriously weakens the argument?

(A)  Museums can accept a recently unearthed st3tue only with valid export documentation from its country of origin．

(B)  The subject's pose and other aspects of the subject's treatment exhibit all the most common features of Greek statues of the sixth century B.C

(C)  The chemical bath that forgers use was at one time used by dealers and collectors to remove the splotchy surface appearance of genuinely ancient sculptures．

(D)  Museum officials believe that forgers have no technique that can convincingly simulate the patchy weathering characteristic of the surfaces of ancient sculptures．

(E)  An allegedly Roman sculpture with a uniform surface similar to that of the statue being offered to the museum was recently shown to be a forgery．

6.

Evidence

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Established companies concentrate on defending what they already have．Consequently, they tend not to be innovative themselves and tend to underestimate the effects of the innovations of others．The clearest example of this defensive strategy is the fact that     ．

(A)  ballpoint pens and soft-tip markers have eliminated the traditional market for fountain pens，clearing the way for the marketing of fountain pens as luxury or prestige items

(B)  a highly successful automobile was introduced that had been a dismal failure

by the same company that had earlier introduced a model

(C)  a once-successful manufacturer of slide rules reacted to the introduction of electronic calculators by trying to make better slide rules

(D)  one of the first models of modern accounting machines，designed for use in the banking industry, was purchased by a public library as well as by banks

(E)  the inventor of a commonly used anesthetic did not intend the product to be used by dentists，who currently account for almost the entire market for that drug

7. Half of the subjects in an experiment-the experimental group-consumed large quantities of a popular artificial sweetener．Afterward，this group showed lower cognitive abilities than did the other half of the subjects-the control group--who did not consume the sweetener．The detrimental effects were attributed to an amino acid that is one of the sweetener's principal constituents．

Which of the following，if true，would best help explain how the sweetener might produce the observed effect?

(A)  The government's analysis of the artificial sweetener determined that it was sold in relatively pure form．

(B)  A high level of the amino acid in the blood inhibits the synthesis of a substance required for normal brain functioning．

(C)  Because the sweetener is used primarily as a f00d additive，adverse reactions to it are rarely noticed by consumers．

(D)  The amino acid that is a constituent of the sweetener is also sold separately as a dietary supplement．

(E)  Subjects in the experiment did not know whether they were consuming the sweetener or a second，harmless substance．

8. Which of the following best completes the passage below?

The more worried investors are about losing their money, the more they will demand a high potential return on their investment；great risks must be offset by the chance of great rewards．This principle is the fundamental one in determining interest rates，and it is illustrated by the fact that    ．

(A)  successful investors are distinguished by an ability to make very risky investments without worrying about their money

(B)  lenders receive higher interest rates on unsecured loans than on loans backed by collateral

(C)  in times of high inflation，the interest paid to depositors by banks can actually be below the rate of inflation

(D)  at any one time，a commercial bank will have a single rate of interest that it will expect all of its individual borrowers to pay

(E)  the potential return on investment in a new company is typically lower than the potential return on investment in a well-established company

9. There is a great deal of geographical variation in the frequency of many surgical procedures-up to tenfold variation per hundred thousand people among different areas in the numbers of hysterectomies，prostatectomies，and tonsillectomies.

To support a conclusion that much of the variation is due to unnecessary surgical procedures，it would be most important to establish which of the following?

(A)  A local board of review at each hospital examines the records of every operation to determine whether the surgical procedure was necessary．

(B)  The variation is unrelated to factors (other than the surgical procedures themselves)that influence the incidence of diseases for which surgery might be considered．

(C) There are several categories of surgical procedure(other than hysterectomies，prostatectomies，and tonsillectomies)that are often performed unnecessarily．

(D)  For certain surgical procedures，it is difficult to determine after the operation whether the procedures were necessary or whether alternative treatment would have succeeded·

(E) With respect to how often they are performed unnecessarily, hysterectomies, prostatectomies，and tonsillectomies are representative of surgical procedures in general．

10. Because postage rates are rising，Home Decorator magazine plans to maximize its profits by reducing by one-half the number of issues it publishes each year The quality of articles，the number of articles published per year and the subscription price will not change．Market research shows that neither subscribers nor advertisers will be lost if the magazine's plan is instituted．

Which of the following，if true，provides the strongest evidence that the magazine's profits are likely to decline if the plan is instituted?

(A)  With the new postage rates，a typical issue under the proposed plan would cost about one。third more to mail than a typical current issue would．

(B)  The majority of the magazine's subscribers are less concerned about a possible reduction in the quantity of the magazine's articles than about a possible loss of the current high quality of its articles．

(C)  Many of the magazine's long-time subscribers would continue their subscriptions even if the subscription price were increased．

(D)  Most of the advertisers that purchase advertising space in the magazine will continue to spend the same amount on advertising per issue as they have in the past．

(E)  Production costs for the magazine are expected to remain stable．