Gwen invested $10,000 at 5% compounded annually. Cheng invested $5,000 at 10% compounded annually. How much greater will the total interest earned on Cheng's investment be in two years?

Len invested $5,000 at 2% compounded annually. Zarish invested $4,000 at 5% compounded annually. How much greater will the total interest earned on Zarish's investment be in two years, in comparison to Len's?

A common criticism of capitalist economies is that they encourage greed, but participants in capitalist systems must often act in their own self-interest. If they did otherwise—say they sold their product at a loss—then sustaining their companies, and the economy in general, would be difficult, if not impossible. Obviously, the greed people ascribe to capitalist economies is indicative of well-functioning economic systems.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines this reasoning?

To settle their stomachs, young wild dogs often eat a particular type of grass. This grass has properties that prevent certain types of illness-causing bacteria from proliferating in their intestines. When the dogs have reached maturity, though, they seldom eat grass, and thus a significant amount of the bacteria can be found in their intestines. Strangely enough, in areas where little grass is available for consumption, few young dogs are found to have the illness caused by the bacteria.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the strange finding?

In developing a policy platform, major political parties spend significant amounts of time and money supporting those researchers at think tanks who draft the legal details of new policy initiatives. Such researchers are dedicated advocates for the particularities of any policy they draft, so they tend to overlook any method of analysis that may undermine it. Strangely, however, most major political parties neglect to interview voters when developing policy positions, even though it is the voters—not the researchers—who ultimately decide whether a policy is a political success or not.

Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the typical policy development practices among major political parties?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Traditional treatments that fight cancer through the application of radiation and destructive chemicals pose a significant problem: how to destroy the cancer without losing the patient. For some individuals, enhanced genetic screening methods may reveal predisposition to the disease. Preventative treatment loses effectiveness upon the appearance of cancer cells. Therefore, genetic screenings will be especially effective for patients who _______.

Senate committee member: Public internet usage has increased by more than 100 percent in the last five years, and building more data centers to handle future increases is not feasible. That is why I propose legislating a strict limit on the amount of data any one person can use and implementing that policy nationwide.

The senate committee member’s proposal assumes which of the following?

Policy analyst: In medical records, the number of items indicating that patients had died as a result of tobacco use was higher this decade than it had been in previous decades. Regions that produce tobacco reported the end of agricultural shortages at the beginning of this decade, so it is likely that the rising number of fatalities can be attributed to an increase in the supply of tobacco products.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the policy analyst’s argument?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

Because tooth enamel can repair itself using fluoride, introducing fluoride into drinking water can improve the dental health of communities. However, the majority of all commercially available fluoride contains impurities that, when ingested, have negative health consequences for some of the population. Therefore, the introduction of a second chemical to fluoridated water, which neutralizes the impurities, would improve dental health in the affected communities, since _______.

High school principal: Many students will complete and hand in assigned homework, even if doing so isn’t compulsory. Some will do more than assigned because they recognize it is an effective means of studying. Our school could therefore increase the amount of homework completed by students if we make doing so optional and present it as an alternative method of studying.

Teacher: This plan is likely to fail. A significant number of students will decide that all homework is optional and use the opportunity to spend less time overall on academics.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the principal’s plan, in light of the teacher’s concern?

The corporate savings rate in Silvaria has been on the decline since 2009. Past data suggest that when the corporate savings rate declines, so does the unemployment rate. Clearly, reducing the corporate savings rate is one way to address the current unemployment crisis in Silvaria.

This argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which of the following grounds?

Although it is commonly believed that a healthy diet consists largely of fresh produce, many nutritionists in fact recommend that certain fruits and vegetables be purchased frozen.

Which of the following, if true, would most help explain the nutritionists’ recommendations?

Day Sales Outstanding (DSO) is a measure of how many days a company is left waiting on payment for services rendered. The construction industry faces especially high rates of late payment, with an average DSO of about 80 days. Such late payments make it extremely difficult for construction companies to manage their cash flow.

Which of the following plans, if feasible, would best allow a company to address the problem of late payments?

One company is thinking about reorganizing the way it divides its office space. At the moment, the company divides its floor space into cellular offices—a number of individual offices with permanent walls. Another option is the open-plan office, which consists of a large open area with few or no permanent divisions.

The implementation of an open-plan layout would be most advantageous to a company

Blahdenburg’s population of flutterfish declined in the past decade, mainly because of the harmful runoff from a local factory. These fish are the primary food source of the hamrat, a medium-sized species of rodent whose numbers had suffered along with their prey’s. Yet although the factory was shut down a few years ago, the population of hamrats has continued to decline.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the continued decline in the hamrat population?

Jeremy Clementov, an escaped prison inmate spotted in northern Georgia in recent weeks, has taken to robbing local banks, thus posing a danger to public safety. To ensure the suspect’s capture, the F.B.I. has taken to publishing information about the suspect on its Georgia division’s website. The website displays photographs of the suspect and a list of his crimes; the website also instructs visitors to report the suspect, should he be spotted.

Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for the prediction that the F.B.I.’s action will have its intended effect?

Politician: Implementing a tax on soda may not reduce soda consumption. In addition to irritating the vast majority of constituents who drink soda at least occasionally, it may inspire people who believe the tax is an overreach to defy the government’s public health initiative by buying more soda than ever. And there is no reason to expect that people who already waste money on empty calories will be deterred from wasting slightly more. The two sections in boldface play which of the following roles in the politician’s argument?

In order to continue to manufacture its product during local shortages, Company M purchased the necessary raw materials at an increased price. As a result, the cost of that product to Company M’s customers, primarily direct-to-consumer businesses, also increased, leading to a sharp decline in final sales of that product.

Which of the following conclusions about Company M’s negatively impacted business consumers is best supported by the passage?

The drug heparin is frequently administered intravenously in order to prevent blood clots. But some doctors point out that thousands of patients undergoing treatment with heparin have suffered adverse reactions in just the last year. Since there are no plans to make any modifications to the drug, adverse reactions in patients being treated with heparin will only increase if use of the drug becomes more widespread.

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

Fifteen years ago the number of homeowners in Pine Hills County was somewhat less than the number of renters. The number of renters has tripled over the previous fifteen years, while the number of homeowners has grown, but at a slower pace than has the number of renters.

Which of the following must be true in Pine Hills County if the statements above are true?