17. A major health insurance company in Lagolia pays for special procedures prescribed by physicians only if the procedure is first approved as "medically necessary" by a company-appointed review panel. The rule is intended to save the company the money it might otherwise spend on medically unnecessary procedures. The company has recently announced that in order to reduce its costs, it will abandon this rule.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest justification for the company's decision?
(A) Patients often register dissatisfaction with physicians who prescribe nothing for their ailments. (8) Physicians often prescribe special procedures that are helpful but not altogether necessary for the health of the patient. (C) The review process is expensive and practically always results in approval of the prescribed procedure. (D) The company's review process does not interfere with the prerogative of physicians, in cases where more than one effective procedure is available, to selectthe one theypersonally prefer. (E) The number of members of the companyappointed review panel who review a given procedure depends on the cost of the procedure.
18. Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen , it will inevitably fall.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last year. (8) The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton. (C) The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year. (0) Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices. (E) The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.
19. A computer equipped with signature-recognition software, which restricts access to a computer to those people whose signatures are on file, identifies a person's signature by analyzing not onlythe form of the signature but also such characteristics as pen pressure and signing speed. Even the most adept forgers cannot duplicate all of the characteristics the program analyzes.
Which of the following can be logically concluded from the passage above?
(A) The time it takes to record and analyze a signature makes the software impractical for everyday use. (8) Computers equipped with the software will soon be installed in most banks. (e) Nobody can gain access to a computer equipped with the software solely by virtue of skill at forging signatures. (0) Signature-recognition software has taken many years to develop and perfect. (E) In many cases even authorized users are denied legitimate access to computers equipped with the software.
20. Start-up companies financed by venture capitalists have a much lower failure rate than companies financed by other means. Source of financing, therefore, must be a more important causative factor in the success of a start-up company than are such factors as the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur, the quality of strategic planning, or the management structure of the company.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Venture capitalists tend to be more responsive than other sources of financing to changes in a start-up company's financial needs. (8) The strategic planning of a start-up company is a less important factor in the long-term success of the company than are the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur. (C) More than half of all newcompanies fail within five years. (0) The management structures of start-up companies are generally less formal than the management structures of ongoing businesses. (E) Venture capitalists base their decisions to fund start-up companies on such factors as the characteristics of the entrepreneur and quality of strategic planning of the company.
AI Job security and salary should be based on employee performance, not on years of service. Rewarding employees primarily for years of service discourages people from maintaining
1.【37s】 P:A insurance company only pay the proved procedures in order to save money C: the company will abandon this rule in oder to save money. support: gain the approval cost a lot of money. 2.【20s】 P:the wholesale price of the raw cotton fall -->C: the wholesale price of the cotton cloth will decrease weaken: the procedure to make the cotton cloth is increase 3.【28s】 P:signature-recognition software can 1. identify the signature. 2. identify the speed and the press of the finger C: the most adept forgers can not duplicate. conclude:no one can access the computer without the right signature. 4.【35s】 P:new companies supported by the venture capitalists are more likely to be success-->C:Source of financing is more important than the personal character. weaken: the leader of venture capitalists has more powerful personal character than other leader.
AI job security and salary should be based on employee performance, not on years of service. Rewarding employees primarily for years of service discourages people from maintaining.
Conclusion: The employees should not be rewarded based on their service years. Argument: 1. job security requires the basic security benefits that each company should provide for its employees. No security guarantee, no better performance from the employees. 2. The author does not indicate a more integrated plan to test the employee's performance, since different department may have different scales to test performance, and this will induce the conflict among the results. 3. Based on my experience and common sense, raising salary will encourage employees to work harder and more efficiently, since this becomes motivation to get even higher salary.