Shelby Industries manufactures and sells the same gauges as Jones Industries. Employee wages account for forty percent of the cost of manufacturing gauges at both Shelby Industries and Jones Industries. Shelby Industries is seeking a competitive advantage over Jones Industries. Therefore, to promote this end, Shelby Industries should lower employee wages.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
70. Shelby Industries manufactures and sells the same gauges as Jones Industries. Employee wages account for forty percent of the cost of manufacturing gauges at both Shelby Industries and Jones Industries. Shelby Industries is seeking a competitive advantage over Jones Industries. Therefore, to promote this end, Shelby Industries should lower employee wages. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above? (A) Because they make a small number of precision instruments, gauge manufacturers cannot receive volume discounts on raw materials. (B) Lowering wages would reduce the quality of employee work, and this reduced quality would lead to lowered sales. (C) Jones Industries has taken away twenty percent of Shelby Industries’ business over the last year. (D) Shelby Industries pays its employees, on average, ten percent more than does Jones Industries. (E) Many people who work for manufacturing plants live in areas in which the manufacturing plant they work for is the only industry.
71. Some communities in Florida are populated almost exclusively by retired people and contain few, if any, families with small children. Yet these communities are home to thriving businesses specializing in the rental of furniture for infants and small children. Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the seeming discrepancy described above? (A) The businesses specializing in the rental of children’s furniture buy their furniture from distributors outside of Florida. (B) The few children who do reside in these communities all know each other and often make overnight visits to one another’s houses. (C) Many residents of these communities who move frequently prefer renting their furniture to buying it outright. (D) Many residents of these communities must provide for the needs of visiting grandchildren several weeks a year. (E) Children’s furniture available for rental is of the same quality as that available for sale in the stores.
72. Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits. If they did, countries with the largest budget deficits would also have the largest trade deficits. In fact, when deficit figures are adjusted so that different countries are reliably comparable to each other, there is no such correlation. If the statements above are all true, which of the following can properly be inferred on the basis of them? (A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to restrict foreign trade. (B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one country with those of another are impossible. (C) Reducing a country’s national budget deficit will not necessarily result in a lowering of any trade deficit that country may have. (D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest in terms of population, the smallest countries generally have the smallest budget and trade deficits. (E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have similarly large national budget deficits.
73. “Fast cycle time” is a strategy of designing a manufacturing organization to eliminate bottlenecks and delays in production. Not only does it speed up production, but it also assures quality. The reason is that the bottlenecks and delays cannot be eliminated unless all work is done right the first time. The claim about quality made above rests on a questionable presupposition that (A) any flaw in work on a product would cause a bottleneck or delay and so would be prevented from occurring on a “fast cycle” production line (B) the strategy of “fast cycle time” would require fundamental rethinking of product design (C) the primary goal of the organization is to produce a product of unexcelled quality, rather than to generate profits for stockholders (D) “fast cycle time” could be achieved by shaving time off each of the component processes in production cycle (E) “fast cycle time” is a concept in business strategy that has not yet been put into practice in a factory
70. According to choice B, the effect of lowering wages is to reduce quality sufficiently to reduce sales. This is a good reason to doubt that wage cuts would give Shelby Industries any competitive advantage, so choice B is the best answer. Some of the other choices provide good reasons for, rather than against, lowering wages. Choice A implies that reducing the cost of raw materials is not possible, choice D indicates that Shelby Industries’ wages are relatively high, and choice E suggests that Shelby Industries would not lose many workers if it did reduce wages. Choice C gives a reason for Shelby Industries to be concerned about its competitive position but no reason to think wage cuts would not improve that position. 71. If many residents of these communities host visiting grandchildren several weeks a year, as D states, that in itself might generate sufficient demand for rented children’s furniture to support thriving businesses. Thus, D helps reconcile the apparent discrepancy and is the best answer. The few households mentioned in choice B are unlikely to generate sufficient demand for rental businesses to thrive. Similarly, choices A and E, though they provide information concerning the furniture that is rented in these communities, do not address the prior issue of why there should be such demand for children’s furniture. Choice C helps explain why these communities have an unusually high demand for rental furniture, but not why such a demand would extend to children’s furniture. 72. The passage asserts that large budgets deficits do not cause large trade deficits. If this is so, it is possible that a country with large budget and trade deficits could reduce its budget deficit and yet retain a large trade deficit. Thus, choice C is the best answer. None of the other choices can be inferred. The passage says nothing about how countries respond to large budget deficits (choice A). The passage states that comparing deficit figures for different countries can be reliable (contrary to choice B). Correlation between deficit size and population size (choice D) is not at issue in the passage. Finally, it is consistent with the passage that countries with the largest trade deficits sometimes have similarly large budget deficits (choice E). 73. The argument presupposes that, if bottlenecks and delays are eliminated, production work must have been accomplished flawlessly. This presupposition is questionable, since there might well be flaws that do not impede the manufacturing process. The best answer is thus choice A. None of the other choices is presupposed. The argument is consistent with redesigning the manufacturing process and not the product (choice B). The primary goal might be profits, and quality merely a means to that end (choice C). The argument does not rely on the feasibility of any one method of implementing “fast cycle time” (choice D). Finally, the concept of “fast cycle time” could already have been implemented operationally (choice E).
35s P: S and J are making the same gauge, and the employee cost occupies 40% for each of them. C: J has to lower the employee cost in order to make more revenue than S. W: Lower the employee cost will lower the employee's productivity. (A) Because they make a small number of precision instruments, gauge manufacturers cannot receive volume discounts on raw materials. -->文章说的是employee cost,和volume discounts on raw materials无关! (B) Lowering wages would reduce the quality of employee work, and this reduced quality would lead to lowered sales. --〉yeah!扣住结论~ (C) Jones Industries has taken away twenty percent of Shelby Industries’ business over the last year. --〉20% of S. Industry has been taken over is to support the conclusion. (D) Shelby Industries pays its employees, on average, ten percent more than does Jones Industries. --> Weaken the premise, it doesn't work! (E) Many people who work for manufacturing plants live in areas in which the manufacturing plant they work for is the only industry. --> it doesnt weaken the conclusion. Irrelevant!
30s P: The community in FL is exclusive to contain retired people and contains few children. P: However, the furnishing company is vanishing in this community by selling more furniture of children. R: The furnishing company is the best one in this area for shopping the children's furniture, so people from other communities also rent furniture from this company. (A) The businesses specializing in the rental of children’s furniture buy their furniture from distributors outside of Florida. --> where the business buy their furniture is irrelevant to the rental situation of consumers. (B) The few children who do reside in these communities all know each other and often make overnight visits to one another’s houses. --> the number of children won't change. so it doesn't solve the paradox. (C) Many residents of these communities who move frequently prefer renting their furniture to buying it outright. --> still, the children's number won't change. (D) Many residents of these communities must provide for the needs of visiting grandchildren several weeks a year. --> yeah! can be the reason! (E) Children’s furniture available for rental is of the same quality as that available for sale in the stores. --> if so, it's possible that the rental will be decreased in this community.
30s P: National budget deficit don't cause the large national trade deficit. C: There's no correlation that the deficit figure are adjusted to compare among countries. I: (A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to restrict foreign trade. --> NM (B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one country with those of another are impossible. --> Comparison of deficits among countries can be reliable. (C) Reducing a country’s national budget deficit will not necessarily result in a lowering of any trade deficit that country may have. --> yeah! (D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest in terms of population, the smallest countries generally have the smallest budget and trade deficits. --> there is correlation between population and the budget, trade deficits. (E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have similarly large national budget deficits. --> never---we don't know.
35s P: The fast cycle time is designed to eliminate the bottleneck, to speed up the production time and assures quality. C: However, the fast cycle time cannot be achieved if everything is not done right at the very first time. W: The fast cycle time can always modify the mistakes done at the first time in the later cycles. (A) any flaw in work on a product would cause a bottleneck or delay and so would be prevented from occurring on a “fast cycle” production line --> yeah! (B) the strategy of “fast cycle time” would require fundamental rethinking of product design --> what would be required is irrelevant here! (C) the primary goal of the organization is to produce a product of unexcelled quality, rather than to generate profits for stockholders --> the goal of the organization is irrelevant to the success of this plan. (D) “fast cycle time” could be achieved by shaving time off each of the component processes in production cycle --> the choice take another alternative option. (E) “fast cycle time” is a concept in business strategy that has not yet been put into practice in a factory --> weaken the conclusion somewhat.
70 T:1‘45 p: S manufactures and sells the same gauges as J .Employee wages account for the cost of manufacturing gauges at both Shelby and (they are the same) C: S should lower employee wages to seek a competitive advantage over J. pph:背景信息的暗示很强烈啊,都说了是销售和制造同一个产品,结论却成了要减少人力成本(制造的),那,销售方面的考虑呢??我猜答案是关于销售的 A:B 看了答案真的是b,应了某个g友的话,CR没有一句话是多余的!!
71 T:51' P:some community have more retired people and fewer small children.but its business is specialized in the rental of furniture for infants and small children. C:木有。。。这道题只有两个相矛盾的陈述。 PPH:找一句话支持后句而且不和前句冲突 A 哈,prephase有偏差,导致第一眼扫完答案发现。。。找不到选项。然后仔细读,看到 grandchildren 这个词,勉强和老人有关。。。。那就选它咯
72: T:做过很多次的题,再计时没意义 p:countries with the largest budget deficits would also have the largest trade deficits,if large national budget deficits caused large trade deficits.yet there is no such corelations Carge national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits. PPH:这道题,个人认为结论是在第一句话,后面都是在反证第一句话的正确性。找和第一句话相同意思的就可以啦 A: C 这道题做过很多次,都不太明白,感谢小分队推荐的逻辑链的方法,这次终于分析出来了!!
73 T:49’ P:bottlenecks and delays cannot be eliminated unless all work is done right the first time C: it can speed up production and assure quality. PPH:这个的条件也太苛刻了,万一不能达到done right the first time, 就不能eliminate,这样反而会降低效率吧。。。。推测答案应该是攻击原因的,也就是导致“他果” A: a