OA - CR 17 NOV

11. In Z, when the government banned imports of certain products the cost of those produces rose, so the products
must have been cheaper to import than they were to make in Z. Therefore choice A is the best answer.
None of the other choices can be inferred. Country Z need have had no plan to export those products later (choice B), nor need the products have come previously from those countries to which country Z exported goods (choice C). The products need not have become more expensive before the ban (choice D), and they could have been imported in relatively large quantities (choice E).

12. When the cost of the products rose, the competitive ability of those export-dependent industries that bought them was sharply limited. This fact strongly supports the claim that those industries did not have sufficiently high profit margins to enable them to absorb the price increase, so choice A is the best answer.
Given the limitation on their competitive ability, it is unlikely that those industries would be able either to expand
their domestic markets (choice C) or to enter into new export markets (choice E). The other choices relate
situations that would be possible but that are not strongly supported: other countries could have continued to
permit imports from Z (choice B), and the industries may have unable to decrease labor costs (choice D).

13. The author argues that planes, since they are a free-wheel system, will be preferred to the high-speed train. Choice C weakens the argument by pointing out that planes are not a free-wheel system and are les convenient than the high-speed train would be. Thus C is the best answer.
The special feature of the high-speed train described in A is not one that clearly affects consumer choice one way or the other way. Since it is planes that would compete effectively with the proposed trains, the fact that cars and buses might not do so is irrelevant. Non-availability of certain station (choice D) and the consumer preferences described in choice E tend to make the proposed train less, not more, attractive and so both choices strengthen the argument.

14. The critique of the proposed purely quantitative measure of productivity raises the issue of quality of service, which implies that quality of service is a potentially relevant consideration. Thus, choice D is the best answer.
The objection assumes that postal workers are a suitable illustrative example of service workers in general; thus,
choice A is inappropriate. By delivery of letters, the argument treats letter delivery as the primary activity of
postal workers; thus, choice B is inappropriate. Because the passage explicitly ascribes productivity to entire
categories of workers, choice C is inappropriate. Choice E is inappropriate, since the objector does not question
the relevance of the number of letters delivered but implies that something else might also be relevant.

15. The information in choice B says that young bowerbirds progress slowly toward mastery of a bower-building
style, which suggests that the skill is one they must learn, rather than one whose transmission is wholly genetic.
Choice B also suggests a means of cultural transmission, namely, observation of older birds' technique. Thus, B
supports the conclusion and is the best answer.
That differences within building styles are outnumbered by similarities (choice A) and that local populations have
little contact (choice D) are both equally consistent with building-style differences being culturally acquired or
genetically transmitted. Nor are differences among species of bowerbird (choice C) the issue. Finally, choice E
confirms the possibility of birds leaning skills, but it is not evidence that bower-building styles are learned.

16. The conclusion is based on comparing newspaper sales in Town S and Town T. Four answer choices indicate
why greater newspaper sales in S need not imply that citizens of S are better informed about world events.
Choice B suggests that many newspapers sold in S inform citizens of T, not S.Choices A and C both show how
greater newspaper sales can occur without the average citizen having greater familiarity with the news. Finally,
choice D suggests that much newspaper reading in S is not a source of information about world events. The price differential noted in E might help to explain the difference in sales, but it does not undermine the conclusion based on that difference. Therefore, E is the best answer.

17. If the ibora can be successfully cultivated, it is possible to continue production of the drug without threatening the
ibora with extinction. Therefore, choice D is the best answer.
If production continues, the method for distributing the drug aftr it has been produced (choice A) is not likely, on its own, to have consequences for the continued existence of the ibora. Nor is the price of the drug (choice B). If the leaves of the ibora also have a use (choice C), the threat of extinction is strengthened rather than weakened. Finally, if the ibora is largely inaccessible (choice E), this bears on the question of whether production of the drug could continue, not on what would happen if it did continue.

18. Farmers benefit from governmental price supports only when they produce the same crops from year to year. Farmers who wish to receive the benefit of these price supports will be unlikely to reduce water pollution
because they will not follow the experts' advice regarding diversification and rotation. Thus, A is the best answer.
Since the experts' advice is evidently their favored solution, the notion that the sole solution is something else (choice B) is not supported. The statements mention neither farmers' costs and revenues nor development in farming techniques, and thus support no conclusions about prospects for profits (choice C) or future farming techniques (choice D). Because no information is given about either the amount of price support or farmers debt, choice E is not supported.

19. According to choice B, the effect of lowering wages is to reduce quality sufficiently to reduce sales. This is a good reason to doubt that wage cuts would give Shelby Industries any competitive advantage, so choice B is the
best answer.
Some of the other choices provide good reasons for, rather than against, lowering wages. Choice A implies that
reducing the cost of raw materials is not possible, choice D indicates that Shelby Industries' wages are relatively
high, and choice E suggests that Shelby Industries would not lose many workers if it did reduce wages. Choice
C gives a reason for Shelby Industries to be concerned about its competitive position but no reason to think
wage cuts would not improve that position.

20. If many residents of these communities host visiting grandchildren several weeks a year, as D states, that in
itself might generate sufficient demand for rented children's furniture to support thriving businesses. Thus, D
helps reconcile the apparent discrepancy and is the best answer.
The few households mentioned in choice B are unlikely to generate sufficient demand for rental businesses to
thrive. Similarly, choices A and E, though they provide information concerning the furniture that is rented in these communities, do not address the prior issue of why there should be such demand for children's furniture. Choice C helps explain why these communities have an unusually high demand for rental furniture, but not why such a demand would extend to children's furniture.