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Canadians now increasingly engage in “out-shopping,” which is shopping across the national border, where prices are lower. Prices are lower outside of Canada in large part because the goods-and-services tax that pays for Canadian social services is not applied.

Which one of the following is best supported on the basis of the information above?

(A) If the upward trend in out-shopping continues at a significant level and the amounts paid by the government for Canadian social services are maintained, the Canadian goods-and-services tax will be assessed at a higher rate.

(B) If Canada imposes a substantial tariff on the goods bought across the border, a reciprocal tariff on cross-border shopping in the other direction will be imposed, thereby harming Canadian businesses.

(C) The amounts the Canadian government pays out to those who provide social services to Canadians are increasing.

(D) The same brands of goods are available to Canadian shoppers across the border as are available in Canada.（A）

(E) Out-shopping purchases are subject to Canadian taxes when the purchaser crosses the border to bring them into Canada.

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Politician: Fewer people are entering the labor market now than previously. If the economy grows, the demand for motivated and educated people will far outstrip the supply. Some companies have already started to respond to this labor-market situation by finding better ways to keep their current employees. Their concern is a sure indicator that the economy is growing.

Which of the following is the best criticism of the politician’s reasoning?

(A) The fact that companies are making prudent preparations for a possible future development does not mean that this development is already taking place.

(B) The fact that some companies now try harder to keep their employees does not mean that they used to be indifferent to employee morale.

(C) The fact that demand will outstrip supply does not mean that there will be no supply at all.

(D) The fact that the number of new entrants into the labor market is declining does not mean that the number of new entrants is lower than it has ever been.（A）

(E) The fact that current employees have become more valuable to some companies does not mean that those employees will do their jobs better than they used to.

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Purebred cows native to Mongolia produce, on average, 400 liters of milk per year; if Mongolian cattle are crossbred with European breeds, the crossbred cows can produce, on average, 2,700 liters per year. An international agency plans to increase the profitability of Mongolia’s dairy sector by encouraging widespread crossbreeding of native Mongolian cattle with European breeds.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the viability of the agency’s plan?

(A) Not all European breeds of cattle can be successfully bred with native Mongolian cattle.

(B) Many young Mongolians now regard cattle raising as a low-status occupation because it is less lucrative than other endeavors open to them.

(C) Mongolia’s terrain is suitable for grazing native herds but not for growing the fodder needed to keep crossbred animals healthy.

(D) Cowhide and leather products, not milk, make up the bulk of Mongolia’s animal product exports to Europe.（C）

(E) Many European breeds of cattle attain average milk production levels exceeding 2,700 liters.

1. Inuits of the Bering Sea were in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than Aleuts or Inuits of the North Pacific and northern Alaska.

(A) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than

(B) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than

(C) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than were

(D) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than were（D）

(E) in isolation and without contacts with Europeans longer than

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1. International sporting events need not be fiscal disasters, the financial success of the 1992 Olympic Games demonstrates that fact.

(A) the financial success of the 1992 Olympic Games demonstrates that fact

(B) for example, the 1992 Olympic Games were financially successful

(C) like the financial success of the 1992 Olympic Games demonstrates

(D) a fact demonstrated by the 1992 Olympic Games, which were financially successful（E）

(E) as the financial success of the 1992 Olympic Games demonstrates

TODAYS CR

The cotton farms of Country Q became so productive that the market could not absorb all that they produced. Consequently, cotton prices fell. The government tried to boost cotton prices by offering farmers who took 25 percent of their cotton acreage out of production direct support payments up to a specified maximum per farm.

The government’s program, if successful, will not be a net burden on the budget. Which of the following, if true, is the best basis for an explanation of how this could be so?

(A) Depressed cotton prices meant operating losses for cotton farms, and the government lost revenue from taxes on farm profits.

(B) Cotton production in several counties other than Q declined slightly the year that the support-payment program went into effect in Q.

(C) The first year that the support-payment program was in effect, cotton acreage in Q was 5% below its level in the base year for the program.

(D) The specified maximum per farm meant that for very large cotton farms the support payments were less per acre for those acres that were withdrawn from production than they were for smaller farms.（A）

(E) Farmers who wished to qualify for support payments could not use the cotton acreage that was withdrawn from production to grow any other crop.

Advertisement: The world’s best coffee beans come from Colombia. The more Colombian beans in a blend of coffee, the better the blend, and no company purchases more Colombian beans than Kreemo Coffee, Inc. So it only stands to reason that if you buy a can of Kreemo’s coffee, you’re buying the best blended coffee available today.

The reasoning of the argument in the advertisement is flawed because it overlooks the possibility that

(A) the equipment used by Kreemo to blend and package its coffee is no different from that used by most other coffee producers

(B) not all of Kreemo’s competitors use Colombian coffee beans in the blends of coffee they sell

(C) Kreemo sells more coffee than does any other company

(D) Kreemo’s coffee is the most expensive blended coffee available today（C）

(E) the best unblended coffee is better than the best blended coffee