Easy Tutorial
For Competitive Exams

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?

Corn that does not receive adequate moisture during its critical pollination stage will not produce a bountiful harvest.
Futures prices for corn have been fluctuating more dramatically this season than last season.
The rain that meteorologists predicted for tomorrow is expected to extend well beyond the corn-growing region.
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.
Most people who trade in corn futures rarely take physical possession of the corn they trade.
Explanation:
The argument, in predicting a drop in the price of corn futures, relies on news suggesting a good-sized corn crop. This prediction is undermined if there is, at the same time, news suggesting a small crop. Choice D presents such news and is therefore the best answer.
Choice A provides background information describing a stage at which rains are essential, and choice C makes rain over the entire corn-growing area seem more certain. Both are fully compatible with the argument and do nothing to weaken it. Past price changes (choice B) and details of who handles harvested corn (choice E) cannot affect the eventual size of this year’s corn crop, so neither is relevant to the argument.
Additional Questions

Many people report that exposure to certain foods such as cheese, red wine, and chocolate, are associated with the onset of migraine headaches. Other people report that exposure to certain smells (especially strong perfumes) seems to trigger a migraine headache, and some note that exposure to bright and flickering lights can be followed by a migraine. It would seem that a person with a tendency to get migraines should try to find which of these situations is associated with the onset of the headache and then avoid this stimulus.
All of the following, if true, would indicate potential problems with the recommendation above except

Answer

The number of people diagnosed with dengue fever (which is contracted from the bite of an infected mosquito) in North India this year is twice the number diagnosed last year. The authorities have concluded that measures to control the mosquito population have failed in this region.
All of the following, if true, would cast doubt on the authorities` conclusion except

Answer

Early data on seat-belt use showed that seat-belt wearers were less likely to be killed in road accidents. Hence, it was initially believed that wearing a seat-belt increased survival chances in an accident. But what the early analysts had failed to see was that cautious drivers were more likely to wear the belts and were also less likely to cause `big accidents`, while reckless drivers were more likely to be involved in `big` accidents and were less likely to wear the belts.
Which of the following, if true, could an opponent of the view presented above best cite as a reason for recommending continued use of seat-belts?

Answer

The committee on sexual discrimination in the workplace has highlighted Supremo Company as a chief offender. Of the twenty senior executives in the firm, only one is a woman. And of the forty junior executives, only five are female.
Supremo could best defend itself against the charges by showing that

Answer

Red is a color which has powerful effects on human beings as well as animals. A group of psychologists carried out an experiment which confirms the subconscious effects of this color on human behavior. They provided selected sports teams at school and college level with either red or blue shorts and recorded the outcome of the games. The teams wearing red won in a disproportionate number of matches. The psychologists suggested that either the teams wearing red subconsciously felt themselves more powerful, or that the non-red teams were subconsciously intimidated by the red color.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the psychologists` suggestion?

Answer

The cotton farms of Country Q became so productive that the market could not absorb all that they produced. Consequently, cotton prices fell. The government tried to boost cotton prices by offering farmers who took 25 percent of their cotton acreage out of production direct support payments up to a specified maximum per farm.
The government’s program, if successful, will not be a net burden on the budget. Which of the following, if true, is the best basis for an explanation of how this could be so?

Answer

Most scientists agree that new lines of interdisciplinary research are the need of the hour. Even government committees on science have stressed the need for more interdisciplinary projects. Yet, of ten proposals for new interdisciplinary projects last year, only one was successfully funded. Some have suggested that this means that as yet researchers are not coming up with sufficiently persuasive projects, or that their proposals are not of high enough quality, or even that the reputations of these researchers is not high enough. However, the real reason probably lies in the way funding is organized. Funding is still allocated according to the old categories and there are no funds specifically for research that overlaps different subject areas.
The two parts in bold-face are related to each other in which of the following ways?

Answer

The Dean claimed that, as a result of continued cutbacks in the budget for pure science research, fewer students are choosing a career in physics, and therefore the number of postgraduate students studying physics is likely to decline.
Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the Dean`s conclusion?

Answer

Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one year than does the whole of Africa. If we want to reduce global warming we need to restrict the number of flights we take.
Dave: Did you know that by taking one inter-continental flight you cause more pollution than you would in twelve months of car travel?
Dave`s response to Sue`s comment serves to

Answer

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, most seriously undermines the general manager’s objection to the replacement of Microton computers with Vitechs?

Answer
Share with Friends
Privacy Copyright Contact Us