City Official: At City Hospital, uninsured patients tend to have shorter stays and fewer procedures performed than do insured patients, even though insured patients, on average, have slightly less serious medical problems at the time of admission to the hospital than uninsured patients have. Critics of the hospital have concluded that the uninsured patients are not receiving proper medical care. However, this conclusion is almost certainly false. Careful investigation has recently shown two things: insured patients have much longer stays in the hospital than necessary, and they tend to have more procedures performed than are medically necessary.

In the city official's argument, the two boldface portions play which of the following roles?

Sunflowers growing in pots were placed, with their roots submerged, in the pond contaminated with radioactive elements. The sunflowers kept growing; in the process, they absorbed radioactive elements. Within twelve days, 85 percent of the radioactive elements were removed from the water, which is no less than can be accomplished with the much more expensive conventional filtration techniques. Scientists therefore propose using sunflowers for decontamination wherever there are radioactively contaminated ponds.

Which of the following, if true, points to a limitation on the applicability of the proposed method of decontamination?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A significant number of Qualitex Corporation's department heads are due to retire this year. The number of employees other than current department heads who could take on the position of department head is equal to only about half of the expected vacancies. Oualitex is not going to hire department heads from outside the company or have current department heads take over more than one department, so some departments will be without department heads next year unless Qualitex ______.

Business Analyst: National Motors began selling the Luxora-its new model of sedan-in June. Last week, National released sales figures for the summer months of June, July, and August that showed that by the end of August only 80,000 Luxoras had been sold. Therefore, National will probably not meet its target of selling 500,000 Luxoras in the model's first twelve months.

Which of the following would be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the analyst's prediction?

In the past, most children who went sledding in the winter snow in Verland used wooden sleds with runners and steering bars. Ten years ago, smooth plastic sleds became popular; they go faster than wooden sleds but are harder to steer and slow. The concern that plastic sleds are more dangerous is clearly borne out by the fact that the number of children injured while sledding was much higher last winter than it was ten years ago.

Which of the following, if true in Verland, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence cited?

In Patton City, days are categorized as having heavy rainfall (more than two inches), moderate rainfall (more than one inch, but no more than two inches), light rainfall (at least a trace, but no more than one inch), or no rainfall. In 1990, there were fewer days with light rainfall than in 1910 and fewer with moderate rainfall, yet total rainfall for the year was 20 percent higher in 1990 than in 1910.

If the statements above are true, then it is also possible that in Patton City

Fish currently costs about the same at seafood stores throughout Eastville and its surrounding suburbs. Seafood stores buy fish from the same wholesalers and at the same prices, and other business expenses have also been about the same. But new tax breaks will substantially lower the cost of doing business within the city. Therefore, in the future, profit margins will be higher at seafood stores within the city than at suburban seafood stores.

For the purposes of evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to know whether

Commercially available chemical fertilizers contain the same nutrients and micronutrients as organic fertilizers such as manure and composted garden clippings. Plants have tiny root hairs that absorb nutrients, and whether the source of the nutrients is organic or chemical is irrelevant to the plant's ability to take in the nutrients. Nevertheless, organic fertilizers are better for the health of the plant than are chemical fertilizers alone.

Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the position above?

A company determines its yearly profits by deducting its operating expenses from its revenue for that year. Company X manufactures only widgets and gadgets. Company X's profits for this year are significantly higher than those for last year, although the company's operating expenses remained the same and the company sold the same number of widgets and gadgets as it did last year.

The statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions?

Surveys consistently show that the best-selling ice cream flavor is vanilla, although those who prefer chocolate rarely order vanilla. Vanilla-flavored candy, then, probably sells better than chocolate-flavored candy.

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the author of the argument relies?

In recent years, the Holdsville Transportation Authority (HTA) has noted consistent delays on its Holdsville-River Valley bus, which runs from downtown Holdsville to the suburb of River Valley. In order to decrease the commuting time from Holdsville to River Valley, the HTA recently eliminated the James Street stop on the Holdsville-River Valley line. However, data show that the average commuting time from Holdsville to River Valley has actually increased since the elimination of the stop.

Which of the following provides the best explanation for the increase in commuting time from Holdsville to River Valley?

Normally, businesses operate at a profit. In other words, they sell their products to customers for more money than the products initially cost. This pricing structure permits businesses to sustain themselves over time. The Stop and Go Supermarket, however, sells its milk for less money than it costs.

Which of the following, if true, would best explain why the pricing structure for milk makes economic sense for Stop and Go?

Smith, a basketball player, successfully made 80% of the shots that he attempted this year – an exceptionally high percentage for a player in Smith's league. However, this statistic does not mean that Smith is an exceptional shooter, because the best shooters take many shots from risky locations 20 or more feet away from the basket. Instead, Smith's high shooting percentage simply shows that he takes most of his shots from locations very close to the basket.

Which of the following statements, if true, provides additional support for the argument?

The hepatitis B virus is common in China relative to other countries in the region. The disease can easily be prevented through vaccination, regulation of barbershop and manicure practices, and health education. Yet, the incidence of this disease continues to rise in China, while it remains stable or is falling in China's neighboring countries.

Which of the following, if true, would best explain the situation described above?

A study of kindergarten students has shown that children from households that own many books, an average of 54 books, show average or high reading achievement levels, while the households of children with lower reading achievement levels tend to own fewer books, 5 books on average.

What additional information would strengthen the assertion that parents who don`t buy children's books to keep in the home cause their children to fall behind their peers in reading skills?