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?

Consumer health advocate: Your candy company adds caffeine to your chocolate candy bars so that each one delivers a specified amount of caffeine. Since caffeine is highly addictive, this indicates that you intend to keep your customers addicted. Candy manufacturer: Our manufacturing process results in there being less caffeine in each chocolate candy bar than in the unprocessed cacao beans from which the chocolate is made.

The candy manufacturer’s response is flawed as a refutation of the consumer health advocate’s argument because it

Crops can be traded on the futures market before they are harvested. lf a poor corn harvest is predicted, prices of corn futures rise; if a bountiful corn harvest is predicted, prices of corn futures fall. This morning meteorologists are predicting much-needed rain for the corn-growing region starting tomorrow. Therefore, since adequate moisture is essential for the current crop’s survival, prices of corn futures will fall sharply today.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

The more worried investors are about losing their money, the more they will demand a high potential return on their investment; great risks must be offset by the chance of great rewards. This principle is the fundamental one in determining interest rates, and it is illustrated by the fact that

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Within the earth’s core, which is iron, pressure increases with depth. Because the temperature at which iron melts increases with pressure, the inner core is solid and the outer core is molten. Physicists can determine the melting temperature of iron at any given pressure and the pressure for any given depth in the earth. Therefore, the actual temperature at the boundary of the earth’s outer and inner cores-the melting temperature of iron there — ran be determined, since ________________.

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?

Newsletter: A condominium generally offers more value for its cost than an individual house because of economies of scale. The homeowners in a condominium association can collectively buy products and services that they could not afford on their own. And since a professional management company handles maintenance of common areas, condominium owners spend less time and money on maintenance than individual homeowners do.

The two portions in boldface play which of the following roles in the newsletter’s argument?