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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
(A) the number of days with heavy rainfall was lower in 1990 than in
1910
(B) the number of days with some rainfall, but no more than two
inches, was the same in 1990 as in 1910
(C) the number of days with some rainfall, but no more than two
inches, was higher in 1990 than in 1910
(D) the total number of inches of rain that fell on days with
moderate rainfall in 1990 was more than twice what it had been in
1910
(E) the average amount of rainfall per month was lower in 1990 than
in 1910
http://gmatclub.com/forum/in-patton-city-days-are-categorized-ashaving-heavy-65469.html
For the writers who first gave feudalism its name, the existence of
feudalism presupposed the existence of a noble class. Yet there
cannot be a noble class, properly speaking, unless both the titles
that indicate superior, noble status and the inheritance of such titles
are sanctioned by law. Although feudalism existed in Europe as early
as the eighth century, it was not until the twelfth century, when
many feudal institutions were in decline, that the hereditary transfer
of legally recognized titles of nobility first appeared.
The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of
the following claims?
(A) To say that feudalism by definition requires the existence of a
nobility is to employ a definition that distorts history.
(B) Prior to the twelfth century, the institution of European feudalism
functioned without the presence of a dominant class.
(C) The fact that a societal group has a distinct legal status is not in
itself sufficient to allow that group to be properly considered a social

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class.
(D) The decline of feudalism in Europe was the only cause of the rise
of a European nobility.
(E) The prior existence of feudal institutions is a prerequisite for the
emergence of a nobility, as defined in the strictest sense of the
term.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/for-the-writers-who-first-gave-feudalismits-name-the-97634.html

Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been

required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are
allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure
that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the
students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass
the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the
number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the
previous year.
The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following
statement.
A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam
increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors
decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam
decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors
increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than
in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was
lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam
decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the
percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was
greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in
1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in
1997 was higher than the number in 1998.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/beginning-in-1997-high-school-seniorsin-state-q-have-been-122268.html

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Recently, the research and development departments at major
pharmaceutical companies have been experimenting with new
injections that provide the boost in iron that anemic children need to
reverse their condition. These companies have expressed
confidence that children who are suffering from anemia will be cured
relatively simply through the use of such biochemical supplements.
In concluding that the biochemical remedy being developed will
have its desired effect, the pharmaceutical companies assume that
(a)major pharmaceutical companies have the primary responsibility
to cure childhood anemia
(b)a low iron level in the body is the major factor influencing the
incidence of anemia in children
(c)a diet rich in iron cannot improve the conditions of children
suffering from anemia to the point that biochemical supplements
would become unnecessary
(d)children afflicted with anemia will find out about and submit to
injections that can reverse their conditions
(e)the use of biochemical supplements is the safest way to cure
anemia in children
http://gmatclub.com/forum/recently-the-research-and-developmentdepartments-at-major-103041.html
Editorial:The measures taken by our government to force Corollia to
prevent Corollian criminal rings from illegally copying computer
software developed in this country have failed. If they had
succeeded, there would not have been a steep drop over the past
year in the prices that our nation's computer companies can
command in Corollia for legally imported copies of their software.
The argument above depends on which of the following
assumptions?
-Over the past year, computer companies in the editorial writer's
country shipped considerably fewer copies of software to Corollia
than they had shipped in recent years.
-The price of computer software legally produced in Corollia did not
experience a drop over the past year.
-The sales of computer software legally produced in Corollia rose
over the past year.
-A decline in demand for computer software throughout Corollia
during the previous year was not the only reason for the decline in

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the prices of computer software in that country.
-There is no market for the computer software illegally copied by
Corollian criminal rings outside Corollia itself.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/editorial-the-measures-taken-by-ourgovernment-to-force-102068.html

In 1986, the city of Los Diablos had 20 days on which air pollution
reached unhealthful amounts and a smog alert was put into effect.
In early 1987, new air pollution control measures were enacted, but
the city had smog alerts on 31 days that year and on 39 days the
following year. In 1989, however, the number of smog alerts in Los
Diablos dropped to sixteen. The main air pollutants in Los Diablos
are ozone and carbon monoxide, and since 1986 the levels of both
have been monitored by gas spectrography.
Which of the following statements, assuming that each is true,
would be LEAST helpful in explaining the air pollution levels in Los
Diablos between 1986 and 1989?
(A) The 1987 air pollution control measures enacted in Los Diablos
were put into effect in November of 1988.
(B) In December of 1988 a new and far more accurate gas
spectrometer was invented.
(C) In February of 1989, the Pollution Control Board of Los Diablos
revised the scale used to determine the amount of air pollution
considered unhealthful.
(D) In 1988 the mayor of Los Diablos was found to have accepted
large campaign donations from local industries and to have
exempted those same industries from air pollution control
measures.
(E) Excess ozone and carbon monoxide require a minimum of two
years to break down naturally in the atmosphere above a given
area.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/in-1986-the-city-of-los-diablos-had-20days-on-which-air-78466.html

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If one of the effects of a genetic mutation makes a substantial
contribution to the survival of the species, then, and only then, will
that mutation be favored in natural selection. This process is subject
to one provison, namely that the traits that were not favored, yet
were carried along by a trait that was favored, must not be so
negative as to annul the benefits of having the new,
favored trait. If the statements above are true, each of the following
could be true EXCEPT:
(A) A species possesses a trait whose effects are all neutral for the
survival of that species.
(B) All the effects of some genetic mutations contribute substantially
to the survival of a species.
(C) A species possesses a trait that reduces the species survival
potential.
(D) A genetic mutation that carries along several negative traits is
favored in natural selection.
(E) A genetic mutation whose effects are all neutral to a species is
favored in natural selection.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/if-one-of-the-effects-of-a-geneticmutation-makes-a-110686.html

Doctor: Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) should not be

used to replace traditional fee-for-service methods of delivering
health care. The less health care that HMOs deliver, the greater the
profit these companies receive. Accordingly, there is a perverse
incentive for these companies to deliver very little health care,
regardless of the ill patient's needs.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the doctor's
conclusion?
a)Doctors are paid less by HMOs than they receive under a fee-forservice system, which allows HMOs to charge less for the service
they provide.
b)An effective way for HMOs to cut health care delivery costs is to
prevent diseases from occurring by providing considerable amounts
of preventive health care.
c) If HMOs deliver less health care, competitive pressures will force
these companies to lower the rates they charge for health care
coverage, returning the profit margin to former levels.
d)Fee-for-service methods of delivering health care have perverse
incentives to provide unnecessary health care at inflated costs.

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e)HMOs are the only proven way to reduce the high health care
costs produced by a fee-for-service system without governmental
interference.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/health-maintenance-organizations-hmos97535.html

The Action-Packed Gaming Company, based on the success of the

previous seasons video game featuring the character Sam Li, of the
popular Fist of Awe series of martial arts movies, developed for the
current season a similar martial arts game featuring a new
character who is also a martial arts master. The new game had
improved 3-D graphics, enhanced multiplayer capability, and dozens
of new martial arts moves developed by real-life masters. However,
marketing surveys showed that teenagers were uninterested in this
new game, and the game sold very poorly.
The passage implies that an explanation for the failure of the new
game is based on doubt regarding which of the following
assumptions?
A) Teenagers make purchasing decisions based on the technological
merits of video games, not the name recognition of the games main
characters.
B) Buyers of video games prefer to purchase games based on
popular movies.
C) The Fist of Awe series of movies was extremely popular with
teenagers who regularly purchase video games.
D) Technological improvement from one video game to the next
does not guarantee a corresponding increase in sales.
E) The successful video game may have benefited from advertising
associated with the Fist of Awe movies, a benefit the failed video
game did not have.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-action-packed-gaming-companybased-on-the-success-of-105403.html

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Some of our federal legislators are opposed to government
endowments or other financial support for photography as an art
form on the basis that much of modern photography portrays nudity
and is thus obscene. These legislators are mistaken, however, since
even they would agree that Michelangelo's works of art, most of
which depict nudity, are not obscene.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously
weaken the argument above?
(A) The artistic level of the works of the vast majority of modern
photographers does not approach that of Michelangelo's works.
(B) Many modern photographic works of art have been displayed in
museums alongside Michelangelo's works.
(C) The majority of Michelangelo's work was not funded or otherwise
supported by the government.
(D) What these legislators consider to be obscene does not coincide
with what the general citizenry views as obscene.
(E) Due to their relatively high artistic value, works of Michelangelo
that portray nudity are not considered obscene.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/some-of-our-federal-legislators-areopposed-to-government-100711.html

Biologists suspect that feathers are modified scales. Ancient reptiles

developed feathers as a way to insulate their bodies from the cold
and regulate their body temperatures. However, many of these
early feathered reptiles were unable to fly. Thus, todays flightless
birds probably developed their feathers as a way to manage their
body temperatures.
The argument above relies on which of the following assumptions?
A. A characteristic developed for a particular ability does not remain
after that ability is lost.
B. Some animals that are able to fly lack feathers.
C. Feathered dinosaurs that were able to fly also used their feathers

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to regulate body temperature.
D. Todays flightless birds are direct descendants of feathered
reptiles.
E. Without the ability to regulate their body temperature, flightless
birds will go extinct.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/biologists-suspect-that-feathers-aremodified-scales-114075.html

For a ten-month period, the total monthly sales of new cars within
the country of Calistan remained constant. During this period the
monthly sales of new cars manufactured by Marvel Automobile
Company doubled, and its share of the new car market within
Calistan increased correspondingly. At the end of this period,
emission standards were imposed on new cars sold within Calistan.
During the three months following this imposition, Marvel
Automobile Companys share of the Calistan market declined
substantially even though its monthly sales within Calistan remained
constant at the level reached in the last month of the ten-month
period.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following
CANNOT be true?
(A) The total monthly sales within Calistan of new cars by
companies other than Marvel Automobile Company decreased over
the three months following the imposition of the emission standards.
(B) Over the three months before the imposition of the emission
standards, the combined market share of companies other than
Marvel Automobile Company selling new cars in Calistan decreased.
(C) If the emission standards had not been imposed, Marvel
Automobile Company would have lost an even larger share of the
number of new cars sold in Calistan than, in fact, it did.
(D) A decrease in the total monthly sales of new cars within Calistan
will occur if
the emission standards remain in effect.
(E) Since the imposition of the emission standards, Marvel
Automobile Companys average profit on each new car sold within
Calistan has increased.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/for-a-ten-month-period-the-totalmonthly-sales-of-new-cars-94507.html

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In the United States, vacationers account for more than half of all
visitors to what are technically called pure aquariums but for
fewer than one quarter of all visitors to zoos, which usually include a
zoo aquarium of relatively modest scope.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the
difference described above between visitors to zoos and visitors to
pure aquariums?
(A) In cities that have both a zoo and a pure aquarium, local
residents are twice as likely to visit the aquarium as they are to visit
the zoo.
(B) Virtually all large metropolitan areas have zoos, whereas only a
few large metropolitan areas have pure aquariums.
(C) Over the last ten years, newly constructed pure aquariums have
outnumbered newly established zoos by a factor of two to one.
(D) People who visit a zoo in a given year are two times more likely
to visit a pure aquarium that year than are people who do not visit a
zoo.
(E) The zoo aquariums of zoos that are in the same city as a pure
aquarium tend to be smaller than the aquariums of zoos that have
no pure aquarium nearby.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-united-states-vacationersaccount-for-more-than-half-76884.html
Scientists have several rival theories on the causes of fibromyalgia,
a disorder that causes body-wide chronic pain and fatigue. One
leading theory holds that conditions such as depression, anxiety,
drug use and serotonin deficiency can aggravate or even cause
fibromyalgia by interfering with "stage 4," or "deep sleep." This
theory is concerned with the function of neuropeptide substance P,
which is released in the spinal cord in response to pain and causes
nerve endings around the initiating nerves to also become more
sensitive to pain. Normally, this mechanism is "reset" during deep
sleep. If pain becomes body-wide, however, and the mechanism can
not be reset, this process may run out of control.
The theory above on the cause of fibromyalgia rests on which of the
following assumptions?

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a. The body has a limited amount of control over neuropeptide
substance P.
b. Fibromyalgia is a completely preventable disorder, if only other
conditions are recognized and treated before it can develop.
c. Deep sleep is necessary to the healthy functioning of the nervous
system.
d. The functions of neuropeptides released by the spinal cord must
be better understood before a cure for fibromyalgia can be found.
e. Because the causes of fibromyalgia are linked to depression, the
disorder should be treated by mental health professionals.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/scientists-have-several-rival-theories-onthe-causes-of-96730.html

All bridges built from 1950 to 1960 are in serious need of

rehabilitation. Some bridges constructed in this period, however,
were built according to faulty engineering design. That is the bad
news. The good news is that at least some bridges in serious need
of rehabilitation are not suspension bridges, since no suspension
bridges are among the bridges that were built according to faulty
engineering design.
If the statements above are true, then, on the basis of those
statements, which one of the following must be true?
(A) Some suspension bridges are not in serious need of
rehabilitation.
(B) Some suspension bridges are in serious need of rehabilitation.
(C) Some bridges that were built according to faulty engineering
design are in serious need of rehabilitation.
(D) Some bridges built from 1950 to 1960 are not in serious need of
rehabilitation.
(E) Some bridges that were built according to faulty engineering
design are not bridges other than suspension bridges.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/all-bridges-built-from-1950-to-1960-arein-serious-need-of-101459.html
Naturally occurring chemicals cannot be newly patented once their
structures have been published. Before a naturally occurring

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chemical compound can be used as a drug, however, it must be put
through the same rigorous testing program as any synthetic
compound, culminating in a published report detailing the
chemicals structure and observed effects.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also
be true on the basis of them?
(A) Any naturally occurring chemical can be reproduced
synthetically once its structure is known.
(B) Synthetically produced chemical compounds cannot be patented
unless their chemical structures are made public.
(C) If proven no less effective, naturally occurring chemicals are to
be preferred to synthetic compounds for use in drugs.
(D) Once a naturally occurring compound has been approved for use
as a drug, it can no longer be newly patented.
(E) A naturally occurring chemical cannot be patented unless its
effectiveness as a drug has been rigorously established.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/naturally-occurring-chemicals-cannot-benewly-patented-once-89750.html
It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young
adults live longer than those who never marry. This dose not show
that marriage causes people to live longer, since, as compared with
other people of the same age, young adults who are about to get
married have fewer of the unhealthy habits that can cause a person
to have a shorter life, most notably smoking and immoderate
drinking of alcohol.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument
above?
A. Marriage tends to cause people to engage less regularly in sports
that involve risk of bodily harm.
B. A married person who has an unhealthy habit is more likely to
give up that habit than a person with the same habit who is
unmarried.
C. A person who smokes is much more likely than a nonsmoker to
marry a person who smokes at the time of marriage, and the same
is true for people who drink alcohol immoderately.
D. Among people who marry as young adults, most of those who
give up an unhealthy habit after marriage do not resume the habit
later in life.

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E. Among people who as young adults neither drink alcohol
immoderately nor smoke, those who never marry live as long as
those who marry.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/it-is-true-of-both-men-and-women-thatthose-who-marry-as-85533.html

Those who oppose abortion upon demand make the foundation of

their arguments the sanctity of human life, but this seeming bedrock
assumption is actually as weak as shifting sand. And it is not
necessary to invoke the red herring that many abortion opponents
would allow that human life must sometimes be sacrificed for a
great good, as in the fighting of a just war. There are
counterexamples to the principle of sanctity of life that are even
more embarrassing to abortion opponents. It would be possible to
reduce the annual number of traffic fatalities to virtually zero by
passing federal legislation mandating a nationwide 25-mile-per-hour
speed limit on all roads. Implicitly, we have always been willing to
trade off quantity of human life for quality.
Which of the following assumptions are made in the above
argument?
1) A human fetus should not be considered a life for purposes of
government protection.
2) An appropriate societal decision is made in the balancing of
individual lives and the quality of life.
3) The abortion question just makes explicit that which for so long
has remained hidden from view.
4) The protection of human life is not a justifiable goal of society.
5) Government may have no authority to act on behalf of families
but legitimately protect the interests of individuals.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/those-who-oppose-abortion-upondemand-make-the-foundation-of-135911.html
In a study of factors affecting employee satisfaction , investigators
polled staff at eight companies with over $100 million in revenues
and benefits including flexible schedules and on-site daycare. The
investigators found that overall satisfaction levels at the companies
were high, that the companies enjoyed profit margins averaging
over 20% over the last five years, and that the rates of employee

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departures at these companies had varied between 1% and 5% over
this period.
Which of the following conclusions may be drawn from the
information above?
(A) Flexible schedules and daycare are important benefits for raising
overall levels of employee satisfaction.
(B) High profitability levels for companies with revenues over $100
million are most likely the result of high employee satisfaction
levels.
(C) Companies without daycare and flexible-schedule benefits have
higher rates of employee departures than do those with these
benefits.
(D) At least 95% of employees will stay for at least one year at some
companies with daycare benefits.
(E) More companies have recently begun offering daycare and
flexible schedule benefits to attract potential employees who are
also parents.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/in-a-study-of-factors-affecting-employeesatisfaction-68735.html

In general, jobs are harder to get in times of economic recession

because many businesses cut back operations. However, any future
recessions in Vargonia will probably not reduce the availability of
teaching jobs at government-funded schools. This is because
Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that education in
government-funded schools be available, free of charge, to all
Vargonian children regardless of the state of the economy, and that
current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A. The current student-teacher ratio at Vargonias governmentfunded schools is higher than it was during the most recent period
of economic recession.
B. During recent periods when the Vargonian economy has been
strong, almost 25 percent of Vargonian children have attended
privately funded schools, many of which charge substantial fees.
C. Nearly 20 percent more teachers are currently employed in

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Vargonias government-funded schools than had been employed in
those schools in the period before the last economic recession.
D. Teachers in Vargonias government-funded schools are well paid
relative to teachers in most privately funded schools in Vargonia,
many of which rely heavily on part-time teachers.
E. During the last economic recession in Vargonia, the government
permanently closed a number of the schools that it had funded.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/in-general-jobs-are-harder-to-get-intimes-of-economic-132049.html

The anticipated retirement of tens of thousands of baby boomers

will create an unprecedented opportunity to move significant
numbers of people into career-track jobs at family-supporting
incomes. Major industries, from health care and construction to
automotive repair, will soon face deep shortages of workers as a
result of projected growth and boomer retirements. Fortunately,
many of these jobs have relatively low barriers to entry and could be
filled by out-of-work young people. To achieve this result, the city
government should convene employers and educators to determine
how best to create paths of upward mobility in these fields.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?
A. Immigration reform will limit the pool of available workers.
B. Government efforts have been shown to affect employment
trends only rarely.
C. The best available positions require skills not possessed by the
vast majority of the unemployed.
D. A small proportion of baby boomers will not retire as soon as is
anticipated.
E. Many out-of-work young people are unaware of these looming
employment opportunities.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-anticipated-retirement-of-tens-ofthousands-of-baby-105395.html
During a single hour of a pledge drive for a public radio station,
anyone making a pledge of a stated amount was given a free gift.

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Pledges were encouraged by the announcement that the retail cost
of the gift was equal to the amount of the pledge. Yet, at the end of
the hour, the total money raised from pledges accounted for a larger
dollar amount than the amount organizers had paid for all the free
gifts.
Which of the following, if true, is the best explanation for the fact
that funds raised from pledges during the hour accounted for more
money than the cost of the free gifts?
A)The cost of postage was included in the total cost assigned to the
gifts, making them seem more expensive to potential donors.
B)Organizers underestimated the amount of money that would be
raised during the hour and were surprised by the actual total of
pledges.
C)Organizers overestimated the number of donors who would
respond to the offer and were forced to offer gifts at half price when
there were fewer pledges than expected.
D)Free gifts were donated by a sponsor, eliminating the need to
subtract the cost of them from the total money raised through
pledges.
E)More money was raised during this hour than during the previous
three hours, driving down the average out-of-pocket cost of the free
gifts.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/during-a-single-hour-of-a-pledge-drivefor-a-public-radio-92544.html
Members of the Amazonian Akabe people commonly take an earlymorning drink of a tea made from the leaves of a forest plant.
Although they greatly enjoy this drink, at dawn they drink it only in
small amounts. Anthropologists hypothesize that since this tea is
extraordinarily high in caffeine, the explanation for the Akabes not
drinking more of it at dawn is that high caffeine intake would
destroy the surefootedness that their daily tasks require
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls the
anthropologists explanation into question?
(A) The drink is full of nutrients otherwise absent from the Akabe
diet.

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(B) The Akabe also drink the tea in the evening, after their days
work is done.
(C) The leaves used for the tea contain a soluble narcotic.
(D) Akabe children are introduced to the tea in only a very weak
form.
(E) When celebrating, the Akabe drink the tea in large quantities.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/members-of-the-amazonian-akabepeople-commonly-take-an-96425.html

Certain instruments used in veterinary surgery can be made either

of stainless steel or of nylon. In a study of such instruments, 10
complete sterilizations of a set of nylon instruments required 3.4
times the amount of energy used to manufacture that set of
instruments, whereas 50 complete sterilizations of a set of stainless
steel instruments required 2.1 times the amount of energy required
to manufacture that set of instruments.
If the statements above are true, each of the following could be true
EXCEPT:
(A) The 50 complete sterilizations of nylon instruments used more
energy than did the 50 complete sterilizations of the stainless steel
instruments.
(B) More energy was required for each complete sterilization of the
nylon instruments than was required to manufacture the nylon
instruments.
(C) More nylon instruments than stainless steel instruments were
sterilized in the study.
(D) More energy was used to produce the stainless steel instruments
than was used to produce the nylon instruments.
(E) The total cost of 50 complete sterilizations of the stainless steel
instruments was greater than the cost of manufacturing the
stainless steel instruments.
http://gmatclub.com/forum/certain-instruments-used-in-veterinarysurgery-can-be-made-68014.html