STRENGTHEN SET OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONSAnswer KEYSCDCBCCBDEC
The conclusion of the argument is that the government's calculation methods
must be altered in order to provide statistics that measure true poverty. To
support this position, the author first explains how the government’s method
works and then introduces a hypothetical example that would return a "false
positive" - that is, a person who has a large income, yet is classified by the
government as living in poverty. One example, however, is generally not enough
to invalidate an entire method; no method is perfect and there are always a few
results that are not consistent with the overall conclusion. In order to validate, or
strengthen, the conclusion, we need to show that the government’s method is
fundamentally inferior to some alternative that would produce more valid results.
(A) This choice weakens the argument by minimizing the importance of the
author's evidence (the hypothetical retiree with capital gains). According to this
choice, the use of cash income to designate poverty levels is a very sound
method because it provides valid results for more than 99% of those classified as
living in poverty.
(B) This choice shows that the government’s method provided a wide range of
results for the poverty rate over a certain period of time, but it is irrelevant to the
argument at hand. It tells us nothing about whether the method provides relevant
statistics in any given year.
(C) CORRECT. If this statement is true, then the government’s calculation
method seems to overstate the number of people living in poverty, while the
various private sector studies generally agree with each other that the number of
people is lower. Thus, the methods used in the private sector are likely to be
more valid than the government’s method, lending credence to the author's
contention that the government’s method should change.
(D) Although this choice provides an example of people who might agree with the
conclusion (several prominent economists), this choice provides no evidence that
the alternate method they endorse would provide more relevant statistics than
the government’s method.
(E) This choice adds another hypothetical example of how the current method
could include someone in the poverty count who does not actually live in poverty.
It does not, however, address whether there are other calculation methods that
are more accurate than the government’s method.
The public health advocates are concerned that patients are subjected to
advertisements about prescription drugs, and may pursue these drugs even
though the drugs may not be clinically appropriate. It is argued that, because
physicians must prescribe the drugs in question, patient pursuit of these
prescription drugs is irrelevant. However, patients who pursue and request
particular prescription drugs may be able to encourage or induce a physician to
prescribe drugs that he or she might not have in the absence of such
(A) The clinical efficacy of certain over-the-counter medications does not address
the public health advocates’ concern regarding patient pursuit of inappropriate
(B) The public health advocates’ concern does not rely on every possible
consumer to see the advertisements for prescription medications. It is enough
that some consumers see the advertisements.
(C) This answer choice states the obvious possibility that physicians may also
see the advertisements for prescription drugs directed toward consumers. This is
irrelevant to the concern expressed by the public health advocates.
(D) CORRECT. This answer choice directly addresses the public health
advocates’ concern by establishing that physicians are not susceptible to patient
pressure in prescribing inappropriate drugs. As a result, drugs will be prescribed
according to the objective clinical judgment of the prescribing physician,
mitigating the danger of inappropriate use.
(E) That certain prescription medications are safe and effective treatments for
many conditions does not address the concern of inappropriate use expressed
by the public health advocates. Prescription drugs can be safe and effective
when used for certain conditions by various individuals and still be subject to
unhealthy use by other patients.
This argument concerns a potential explanation for larger tips on the part of
restaurant patrons. The explanation provided is that customers are more
generous toward servers that leave their hand-written name on the bill due to a
greater degree of personal identification with the server, which encourages larger
tips. The correct answer will either support the fact that a hand-written name
strengthens personal identification, or that personal identification encourages
(A) The fact that the effect applies equally regardless of the method of payment
is not relevant to the conclusion.
(B) The argument does not address the size of the bill; rather, it addresses the
size of the tip. This choice is irrelevant.
(C) CORRECT. This answer choice provides further evidence that a hand-written name or signature generates a greater form of personalization and
emotional connection among recipients, leading to more donations.
(D) The impact of alcoholic beverages on tipping behavior is irrelevant.
(E) The location of the restaurants and leisure pursuits of the patrons are
irrelevant to the argument.
The conclusion is that a company should wait until purchases of an old device
have begun to decline before announcing a new device. The basis for this claim
is that consumers stop buying the old device. We are asked to strengthen the
(A) The typical drop in the price of new technology does not influence whether a
company should wait until sales of an old technology begin to decline before
introducing a new one.
(B) CORRECT. This choice states that media outlets such as television and
magazines often report on the planned introduction of new devices while sales of
old devices are still strong. The argument requires that consumers "hear about
the new device"; stories in the media provide a means for consumers to do so.
(C) If many consumers are unable to determine the superiority of new
technology, then they might be less swayed to wait for a new, recently
announced device than otherwise. As a result, this claim may be seen to weaken
the analyst's assertion.
(D) The number of technology purchases per year does not directly relate to this
argument. The argument is about waiting until the consumer demand declines
before announcing a new technology. However frequently consumers typically
purchase technology, some will be ready to buy the old device when news of the
upcoming device gets out -- and according to the argument, this news will cause
some of those consumers to wait.
(E) The passage makes no mention of whether the technologies belong to the
same company or different companies.
The argument claims that federal incentives should be provided to encourage
energy efficiency. The argument also notes that companies are already working
in this direction and that this trend will ease the environmental and energy
pressures that currently trouble the world. Supporting this argument could involve
providing evidence of possible success for these efforts toward their goals.
(A) This choice is an irrelevant comparison. That Canadian companies are more
efficient has no bearing on efforts in the United States or the role of government
(B) This choice does not strengthen the claim. Experts' claims are not the same
as reality. Furthermore, the choice does not say whether reducing energy use to
the 1995 level is a significant decrease, nor does it provide any information to
strengthen the link between government incentives and reduced energy use.
(C) CORRECT. This choice provides evidence that government incentives are
effective. Thus, this choice confirms an assumption that the conclusion is
(D) This choice is an irrelevant distinction. It does not matter to the argument’s
conclusion if one of these issues is a greater problem than the other in the
(E) The passage asserts that the United States should be at the forefront of an
emerging market for cleaner technologies; i.e., the market will be significant in
the future. The size of the market at present is irrelevant to the argument.
The director concludes that the fee hike has helped to counteract the cut in state
funding. In other words, the director believes that increasing the late fees has led
to increased revenue from late fees. While the size of the fee itself is one
important factor, there are other factors that also have an effect on the amount of
revenue generated from late fees: the number of overdue books and the number
of days that books are overdue before they are returned. It’s very possible that
the fee increase would prompt more borrowers to return their books on time; this
would reduce the number of late fees being paid, reducing revenue from late
fees. Further, it’s possible that the fee increase would prompt more borrowers to
return their already overdue books sooner than they would otherwise. This would
reduce the average amount of each late fee, reducing revenue from late fees.
The argument explicitly states that there has been no decline in the number of
overdue books, but it says nothing about the number of days that books are
overdue before they are returned. A statement that rules out the possibility that
borrowers are returning their already overdue books sooner than they would
have if they were still being charged the original lower overdue fee would
strengthen the director’s claim.
(A) A decrease in the number of borrowed books has no bearing on the revenue
generated from late fees if the number of overdue books remains unchanged.
The question explicitly states that the number of overdue books has not changed.
(B) If anything, this statement weakens the argument. The costs incurred to
implement the new fees would cut into the revenue generated from these new
(C) CORRECT. This statement rules out the possibility that the library system is
losing revenue as a result of borrowers returning overdue books earlier than they
(D) The argument has explicitly stated that the number of overdue books has not
changed. This is a stated premise that we must take as factual information,
regardless of the quality of the database being used to track such information.
(E) The elimination of other unrelated costs has no bearing on whether the library
system has successfully increased revenues through late fees.
The conclusion is that a developer who wishes to make a large profit would be
wise to buy urban waterfront lots and erect residential buildings on them. The
basis for that claim is that people pay large sums for beach front homes. We are
asked to strengthen this argument.
(A) This choice states that people have more buying power today than in
previous centuries. This does not strengthen the claim that a developer will make
money on urban waterfront properties.
(B) CORRECT. This choice states that homeowners will be willing to spend large
sums of money on residential properties in traditionally industrial or commercial
districts. Since we know from the argument that urban waterfronts have
traditionally been industrial, this fact strengthens the claim that a developer can
make a profit on urban waterfront properties.
(C) This choice states that many urban waterfront lots are available for purchase.
This does not suggest, however, that a developer will be able to sell them after
he or she builds on them.
(D) This choice states that many coastal cities are giving tax breaks to
developers who rehabilitate the waterfront. But this does not suggest that anyone
will buy the developed properties.
(E) This choice states that properties in the interior of cities are more expensive
than those on the waterfront. Although waterfront properties are therefore
cheaper to acquire, this does not necessarily mean that a developer can make a
profit after buying such properties.
The question asks for information that will support the conclusion that students
attending charter schools will, on average, perform better on assessments of
writing ability than students attending traditional public schools. The passage
specifies that charter schools differ from non-charter public schools in that
charter schools have more freedom to innovate and that they are held
accountable for meeting specific educational outcomes. One way to support the
conclusion is to demonstrate that one of the two differences cited between
charter and non-charter public schools is somehow tied to higher performance on
(A) While the passage mentions that charter schools themselves are freed from
many regulations, no information is presented about any difference in emphasis
with respect to order and discipline between charter and non-charter public
schools. As such, it is impossible to tell whether this information would support
the conclusion in the question.
(B) This choice presents information only about those students who score at the
very highest level of the writing assessments. However, this presents no
information about the difference, on average, between all charter school students
and non-charter public school students. It is possible, for example, that while the
students who perform at the highest level on writing assessments are those who
attend charter schools, on average non-charter public school students perform
(C) There is no necessary link between the amount of time spent teaching writing
and student performance on writing assessments. For example, a good teacher
who spends one hour teaching writing may have a more positive impact on
student performance than a poor teacher who spends three hours teaching
(D) CORRECT. The passage specifies that charter schools have more freedom
to pursue innovative educational ideas than non-charter public schools. It follows
that charter schools are allowed to experiment with their curricula to a greater
degree than non-charter public schools. This choice links this difference to higher
student achievement on assessments of writing ability.
(E) The number of students attending charter vs. non-charter schools has no
bearing on the conclusion. The conclusion focused on student performance on
average, thereby eliminating raw numbers of students as relevant to this
League officials plan to reduce the number of flagrant fouls by implementing
mandatory suspensions for players who commit such fouls. This plan will work
only if the punishment serves to deter players from committing flagrant fouls.
(A) The cause of injuries has no bearing on whether suspensions will deter
players from committing flagrant fouls.
(B) While the referees’ effectiveness in recognizing and reporting flagrant fouls
will surely aid in the implementation of the new policy, this has no bearing on
whether the policy will deter players from committing flagrant fouls.
(C) The parents’ opinion has no bearing on whether the suspensions will deter
players from committing flagrant fouls.
(D) While we might conclude that the other, similar league has a low incidence of
flagrant fouls because it suspends players who commit such fouls, we have no
evidence to show that the suspensions actually deter players from committing
fouls. It is entirely possible that the other league has a low incidence of flagrant
fouls for other reasons. For example, maybe the players in the other league are
just inherently less aggressive.
(E) CORRECT. If players want to make the All-Star team, and if a record of
suspension precludes these players from being selected for the team, then
players are less likely to commit fouls that will lead to suspensions.
The passage makes the premise that microwave ovens are not completely safe.
This is followed by a conclusion by the consumer advocates that microwave
ovens should not be accepted as standard appliances. Since there is nothing in
the passage that provides an explicit link between the safety of microwave ovens
and their acceptability as standard appliances, the consumer advocates’
conclusion is based on an assumption (i.e., an implied premise) that “an
appliance should be accepted as standard only if it is found to be completely
safe.” The most effective way to strengthen such a conclusion is to show that
such an assumption is indeed true.
(A) The strength of the consumer advocates’ argument hinges upon the link
between the level of safety of microwave ovens and the rationale for their
acceptance in the home. Any lack of joy in microwave cooking is not relevant to
(B) Providing a specific example of how a person might be injured, even
seriously, by a microwave oven may provide emotional support for the consumer
advocates’ position, but does little to strengthen the argument logically: the
possibility of injury has already been stipulated as a premise.
(C) CORRECT. This choice best strengthens the argument by making explicit the
assumption upon which the consumer advocates’ argument was based.
(D) If no appliance is completely safe, then the consumer advocates’ argument is
absurb: no appliance is, or ever will be, acceptable as “standard” in a modern
kitchen. This choice weakens the conclusion.
(E) The relative energy efficiency of gas vs. microwave cooking is not relevant to
this argument. Please feel free to post particular question doubts, and I will be happy to clarify as much as I can.
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