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Many countries are facing a potential crisis in 20 to 30 years time. The ratio of pensioners to workers will be changing drastically with a declining birth rate, with more lengthy education of the young, and with a reduced working life. In general, the number of people paying into pension schemes is decreasing all the time. Meanwhile, with increased health care and living standards, more people are living long enough to draw their pension funds. A controversial solution to this problem has been proposed in Germany-changing the age of retirement, for both men and women, from the current qualifying age of 63 for men and 60 for women. A radical, but socially acceptable, solution to this problem must be found. If this is not done, it is predicted that by the year 2050, one person in three will be 65 or over and the projected work force will be unable to support pensions. Assuming the following were all socially acceptable, which one would not improve the situation in the future ?
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A. Lower the retirement age.
B. Decrease the school-leaving age.
C. Impose larger contributions on employees and employers.
D. Cut pensions in half.
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| 2 |
The states of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California provide extensive free higher education to their residents. Threes states are representative of different geographic areas of the united states. There is little reason why most states cannot provide the same service to their residents. Which of the following, it true, would weaken the above argument ?
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A. Free education is not guaranteed by the constitution.
B. New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California have more qualified high school graduates than other states.
C. Most other states do not have the tax base that new york, ohio, Pennsylvania, and California have.
D. Other states do not have as many high school graduates.
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| 3 |
During the incumbent president's term of office he succeeded in limiting annual increases in the defense budget by an average of 5 percent. His predecessors experienced annual increases of 8 percent. Therefore, the incumbent president should be given credit for the downturn in defense outlays. Which of the following statements, if true would most seriously weaken the above conclusion ?
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A. Some generals have claimed that the country's defense has weakened in the past year.
B. More soldiers were drafted during the former president's term of office.
C. The incumbent president advocates peaceful resolution of international disputes.
D. The average annual inflation rate during the incumbent president's term was 4 percent, while during his predecessor's term it was 10 percent
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| 4 |
A local garbage disposal company increased its profitability even though it reduced its prices in order to attract new customers. This was made possible through the use of automated trucks, thereby reducing the number of workers needed per truck. The company also switched from a concentration on household hauling to a concentration on commercial hauling. As a result of its experience, company management planned to replace all their old trucks and increase the overall size of the truck fleet, doubling hauling capacity. The company's plan as outlined above, takes into consideration each of the following except:
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A. Commercial clients have more potential than household customers.
B. The demand for garbage removal services is sensitive to price.
C. Demand for garbage removal services would increase in the future.
D. Doubling of capacity would not encessitate; a substantial increase in the work force.
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| 5 |
Professor Bilal had the task of giving grades (ranging from A - D in descending value) to her 100 students, based upon the marks they received in three examinations in which the passing mark was 50%. She was instructed to follow the following criteria: i. All students that scored between 90 and 100% in any two examinations could receive an A grade. ii. Students that came in the top decile overall were to be awarded an A. iii. Notwithstanding I and II, if any student failed an exam, the highest he or shed could get was a b. iv. The top 20 students in the whole year, when the overall exam percentages were averaged, could receive an A. Given the above criteria, which of the following in the absence of further information, would definitely not be permissible ?
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A. A. Brown, who got 95% in Chemistry and 95% in Biology, received a B grade.
B. B. White, who was first in Physics and got 96% in History, received a B grade.
C. C. Green failed English, but because he ranked ninth overall out of the 100 students, he was awarded an A grade.
D. D. Black was given an A after she came twentieth out of the 100 students and failed to get above 90% in any of the three examinations.
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| 6 |
The burning of coal, oil, and other combustible energy sources produces carbon dioxide, a natural constituent of the atmosphere. Elevated levels of carbon dioxide are thought to be responsible for half the greenhouse effect. Enough carbon dioxide has been sent into the atmosphere already to cause a significant temperature increase. Growth in industrial production must be slowed, or production processes must be changed. Which of the following, it true, would tend to weaken the strength of the above conclusion ?
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A. Many areas of the world are cold anyway, so a small rise in temperature would be welcome.
B. Carbon dioxide is bad for the health.
C. Most carbon dioxide is emitted by automobiles.
D. Industry is switching over to synthetic liquid fuel extracted form coal.
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| 7 |
Inflation rose by 5.1 % over the second quarter, up form 4.1 % during the first quarter of the year and higher than the 3.3% record during the same time last year. However, the higher price index did not seem to alarm Wall street, as stock prices remained steady. Which of the following, if true, could explain the reaction of Wall Street ?
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A. Stock prices were steady because of a fear that inflation would continue.
B. The President announced that he was concerned about rising inflation.
C. Economists warned that inflation would persist.
D. Much of the quarterly increase in the price level was due to a summer droughts effect on food prices.
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| 8 |
Most large retail stores hold sales in the month of January. The original idea of price reduction campaigns in January became popular when it was realized that sales or products would generally slow down following the Christmas rush, were it no for some incentive. The lack of demand could be solved by the simple solution of reducing prices. There is now an increasing tendency among major department stores in large urban centers to have their January sales being before Christmas, some time before the end of the calendar year. The idea behind this trend is to endeavor to sell the maximum amount of stock at a profit, even if that may not be at the maximum profit. Which of the following conclusions cannot be drawn from the above ?
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A. The incidence of early January sales results in the lower holdings of stocks with the corollary of lower stock holding costs.
B. Demand is a function of price; as you lower price, demand increases.
C. Major stores seem to think it makes sense to have to January sales campaigns pre-Christmas.
D. It is becoming less popular to star the January sales in the New Year.
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| 9 |
Pioneers of the motor-car industry realized that if they were going to meet the growing demand for their product, they had to adapt the labor force used in the productive process. Instead of many men working to complete all the stages of one car at a time, they assigned defined tasks to each man which they would repeat on every car. Which of the following can be concluded form the passage ?
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A. Early motor car manufacturers intended to increase productivity by applying the principle of division of labor.
B. The car workers became disgruntled because they were assigned monotonous, repetitive tasks on the assembly line.
C. Economies of scale enabled early motor companies to expand.
D. A bad worker would perform the same task badly on each car, leading to many more rejects.
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| 10 |
If we are doomed to have local drug rehabilitation centers - and society has determined that we are - then society ought to pay for them. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the above argument ?
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A. Drug rehabilitation centers are too expensive to be locally funded.
B. Many neighborhood groups oppose rehabilitation centers.
C. Drug rehabilitation centers are expensive to maintain.
D. Drug addicts may be unwilling to receive treatment.
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