Prep2012-Pack1-CR-066 VCR003941 Hard
A product that represents a clear technological advance over competing products can generally command a high price. Surprisingly, perhaps, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new product is to charge than the greatest price the market will bear. Many companies charge the maximum possible price for such a product, because they want to make as much profit as they can and technological advances tend to be quickly surpassed. The drawback is that large profits on the new product give competitors a strong incentive to quickly match the new product's capabilities.
In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second presents grounds for rejecting an alternative position.
B. The first is the position the argument advocates; the second is an alternative position that the argument rejects.
C. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents a drawback to that strategy.
D. The first presents a strategy for achieving a certain goal; the second presents grounds for preferring a different goal.
E. The first presents a strategy that, according to the argument, is ineffective; the second presents a way of improving the effectiveness of that strategy.
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-067 VCR005068 Hard
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
A recent poll found that over 80 percent of the residents of Nalmed Province favored a massive expansion of the commuter rail system as a means of significantly reducing congestion on the province's highways and were willing to help pay for the expansion through an increase in their taxes. Nevertheless, the poll results contain an indication that expansion of the rail system, if successfully completed, might be unlikely to achieve its goal of reducing congestion, because________________.
A. most people in favor of expanding the rail system reported less congestion during their highway commute as the primary benefit they would experience
B. of the less than 20 percent of residents not counted as favoring the expansion, about half claimed to have no opinion one way or the other
C. the twice-dairy periods of peak congestion caused by people commuting in cars have grown, over the past 20 years, from about an hour each to about two hours each
D. expanding the commuter rail system will require the construction of dozens of miles of new bed
E. the proposed expansion would make commuting by rail possible for many people who Eve in one suburb and work in a different suburb of the province's main city
Prep2012-Pack1-CR-068 VCR005084 Hard
Editorial in Krenlandian Newspaper:
Krenland's steelmakers are losing domestic sales because of lower-priced imports, in many cases because foreign governments subsidize their steel industries in ways that are banned by international treaties. But whatever the cause, the cost is ultimately going to be jobs in Krenland’s steel industry. Therefore, it would protect not only steelmaking companies but also industrial employment in Krenland if our government took measures to reduce cheap steel imports.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the edit0rial’s argument?
A. Because steel from Krenland is rarely competitive in international markets, only a very small portion of Krenlandian steelmakers' revenue comes from exports.
B. The international treaties that some governments are violating by giving subsidies to steelmakers do not specify any penalties for such violations.
C. For many Krenlandian manufacturers who face severe international competition in both domestic and export markets, steel constitutes a significant part of their raw material costs.
D. Because of advances in order-taking, shipping, and inventory systems, the cost of shipping steel from foreign producers to Krenland has fallen in recent years.
E. Wages paid to workers in the steel industry in Krenland do not differ significantly from wages paid to workers in many of the countries that export steel to Krenland.
