Prep2012-Pack1-CR-062 VCR002697 Hard
In 1992 outlaw fishing boats began illegally harvesting lobsters from the territorial waters of the country of Belukia.
Soon after, the annual tonnage of lobster legally harvested in Belukian waters began declining; in 1996, despite there being no reduction in the level of legal lobster fishing activity, the local catch was 9,000 tons below pre-1992 levels.
It is therefore highly likely that the outlaw fishing boats harvested about 9,000 tons of lobster illegally that year.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The illegal lobster harvesting was not so extensive that the population of catchable lobsters in Belukia’s territorial waters had sharply declined by 1996.
B. The average annual lobster catch, in tons, of an outlaw fishing boat has increased since 1992.
C. Outlaw fishing boats do not, as a group, harvest more lobsters than do licensed lobster-fishing boats.
D. The annual legal lobster harvest in Belukia in 1996 was not significantly less than 9,000 tons.
E. A significant proportion of Belukia‘s operators of licensed lobster-fishing boats went out of business between 1992 and 1996.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-063 VCR003782 Hard
Printwell’s Ink Jet Division manufactures ink-jet printers and the ink cartridges they use. Sales of its ink-jet printers have increased. Monthly revenues from those sales, however, have not increased, because competition has forced Printwell to cut the prices of its printers. Unfortunately, Printwell has been unable to bring down the cost of manufacturing a printer. Thus, despite the increase in printer sales, the Ink Jet Division must be contributing less to the company's profits than it used to.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A. Ink-jet printers in regular use frequently need new ink cartridges, and Printwell’s printers only accept Printwell’s ink cartridges.
B. Unlike some competing companies, Printwell sells all of its printers through retailers, and these retailers’ costs account for a sizable proportion of the printers’ ultimate retail price.
C. Some printer manufacturers have been forced to reduce the sale price of their ink-jet printers even more than Printwell has.
D. In the past year, no competing manufacturer of ink-jet printers has had as great an increase as Printweil in unit sales of printers.
E. In the past year, sales of PrintwelI's ink-jet printers have increased more than sales of any other type of printer made by Printwell.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-064 VCR003810 Hard
Agricultural societies cannot exist without staple crops. Several food plants, such as kola and okra, are known to have been domesticated in western Africa, but they are all supplemental, not staple, foods. All the recorded staple crops grown in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere, beginning, at some unknown date, with rice and yams. Therefore, discovering when rice and yarns were introduced into western Africa would establish the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have arisen there.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. People in western Africa did not develop staple crops that they stopped cultivating once rice and yams were introduced.
B. There are no plants native to western Africa that, if domesticated, could serve as staple food crops.
C. Rice and yams were grown as staple crops by the earliest agricultural societies outside of western Africa.
D. Kola and okra are better suited to growing conditions in western Africa than domesticated rice and yams are.
E. Kola and okra were domesticated in western Africa before rice and yams were introduced there.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-065 VCR003842 Hard
The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is higher in Merton County than in any other county. However, the percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more is higher in Sommer County.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?
A. The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County.
B. Merton County has the second-highest percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more.
C. The percentage of households with an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000 is higher in Merton County than in Sommer County.
D. The total number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton County than in Sommer County.
E. Average annual household income is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County.
