An analysis of the XO Candy Corporation divided its products into two categories: chocolate-based candies and non-chocolate-based candies. The analysis shows that, unlike the non-chocolate candies, few chocolate candies sold enough units to be profitable. Nevertheless, stopping production of the unprofitable chocolate candies will not necessarily make the entire company more profitable, because__________________ . Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

Homeowner Representative: Statistics show that burglars often target houses that appear unoccupied. Therefore, when homeowners are away from their homes for several days, we recommend that they leave lights on, to give the impression that the house is occupied. Crime Expert: The same lights continuously on all night long with no change give a potential burglar a clear signal that the house is unoccupied. The Crime Expert uses which of the following techniques in responding to the Homeowner Representative?

Eurasian watermilfoil, a weed not native to Frida Lake, has reproduced prolifically since being accidentally introduced there. In order to eliminate the weed, biologists proposed treating infested parts of the lake with a certain herbicide that is nontoxic for humans and aquatic animals. However, the herbicide might damage populations of certain rare plant species that the lake contains. For this reason local officials rejected the proposal.

Which of the following, if true, points out the most serious weakness in the officials' grounds for rejecting the biologists' proposal?

Last year a record number of new manufacturing jobs were created. Will this year bring another record? Well, any new manufacturing job is created either within an existing company or by the start-up of a new company. Within existing firms, new jobs have been created this year at well below last year's record pace. At the same time, there is considerable evidence that the number of new companies starting up this year will be no higher than it was last year and there is no reason to think that the new companies starting up this year will create more jobs per company than did last year's start-ups. So clearly, the number of new jobs created this year will fall short of last year's record.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

Highway Official: When resurfacing our concrete bridges, we should use electrically conductive concrete (ECC) rather than standard concrete. In the winter, ECC can be heated by passing an electric current through it, thereby preventing ice buildup. The cost of the electricity needed is substantially lower than the cost of the de-icing salt we currently use.

Taxpayer: But construction costs for ECC are much higher than for standard concrete,so your proposal is probably not justifiable on economic grounds.

Which of the following, if true, could best be used to support the highway official's proposal in the face of the taxpayer's objection?

Because it was long thought that few people would watch lengthy televised political messages, most televised political advertisements, like commercial advertisements, took the form of short messages. Last year, however, one candidate produced a half-hour-long advertisement. During the half hour the advertisement was aired, a substantial portion of the viewing public tuned into the advertisement. Clearly, then, many more people are interested in watching lengthy televised political messages than was previously thought.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Criminologist: Some legislators advocate mandating a sentence of life in prison for anyone who, having twice served sentences for serious crimes, is subsequently convicted of a third serious crime. These legislators argue that such a policy would reduce crime dramatically, since it would take people with a proven tendency to commit crimes off the streets permanently. What this reasoning overlooks, however, is that people old enough to have served two prison sentences for serious crimes rarely commit more than one subsequent crime. Filling our prisons with such individuals would have exactly the opposite of the desired effect, since it would limit our ability to incarcerate younger criminals, who commit a far greater proportion of serious crimes.

In the argument as a whole, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

Educational Theorist: Recent editorials have called for limits on the amount of homework assigned to children. They point out that free-time activities play an important role in childhood development and that large amounts of homework reduce children's free time, hindering their development. But the average homework time for a ten year old, for example, is little more than 30 minutes per night. Clearly, therefore, there is no need to impose the limits these editorials are calling for.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the educational theorist's argument relies?

Secret passwords are often used to control access to computers. When employees are allowed to make up their own passwords, they are likely to setup as passwords their initials or birth dates. To improve security, employers should assign randomly generated passwords to employees rather than allowing employees to make up their own

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the conclusion drawn above?

It is crucially important to farmers that the herbicides they use to control weeds do not damage their crops. One very effective herbicide is safe for corn, but soybeans are damaged even by the herbicide's residue, which remains in the soil more than a year after the herbicide is applied. Soybeans and corn are not sown together in the same field; nevertheless, most farmers are reluctant to use the herbicide on their corn.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest justification for the farmers' reluctance?

Rail Executive: Five years ago we discontinued train service between Lamberton and its suburbs because low ridership caused total fares collected to be substantially lower than the cost of operating the service. It is true that recent population growth in the suburban communities suggests increased potential ridership. Nevertheless, since most of the newer residents own automobiles, restoring the train service this year would still result in serious deficits

Which of the following ,if true casts the most serious doubt on the rail executive's argument?

A diet high in saturated fats increases a person's risk of developing heart disease. Regular consumption of red wine reduces that risk. Per-capita consumption of saturated fats is currently about the same in France as in the United States, but there is less heart disease there than in the United States because consumption of red wine is higher in France. The difference in regular red-wine consumption has been narrowing, but no similar convergence in heart-disease rates has occurred.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the lack of convergence noted above?

Environmentalist: The use of snowmobiles in the vast park north of Milville creates unacceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned.

Milville business spokesperson: Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville in winter months, to the great financial benefit of many local residents. So, economics dictate that we put up with the pollution.

Environmentalist: I disagree: A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.

Environmentalist responds to the business spokesperson by doing which of the following?

Escalating worldwide demand for corn has led to a sharp increase in the market price of corn, and corn prices are likely to remain high. Corn is extensive used as feed for livestock, and because profit margins are tight in the livestock business, many farmers are expected to leave the business. With fewer suppliers, meat prices will surely rise. Nonetheless, observers expect an immediate short-term decrease in meat prices.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to justify the observers' expectation?

Since 1995, Congress has exempted oil companies that have leases issued by the federal government allowing them to drill for deep-water oil off the Gulf of Mexico from royalty payments as an incentive to spur development in times of low oil and gas prices. These leases were supposed to have included a provision that reinstates the royalties should the market prices of oil and gas exceed a certain level. Because of an error by the federal government, however, the language that reinstates the royalties is missing from the more than 1,100 leases issued by the U.S. government in 1998 and 1999. Since the market price of oil and gas has recently risen far above the threshold levels, this error could allow the oil companies to reap a windfall of more than $10 billion through the life of the leases. In response, the government is pressuring the oil companies to renegotiate the leases. The executives of the oil companies strongly oppose renegotiation; all have issued statements stating that they expect the government to honor the terms of the contracts and that renegotiating a duly signed agreement would set a bad precedent.

Which of the following statements best reflects the position of the oil company executives?