In the shipping industry, the amount of time it takes for most of a worker's occupational knowledge and skills to become obsolete has been declining because of the introduction of wearable computing devices, such as smart watches and smart glasses. Given the rate at which wearable computing devices are currently being introduced into shipping, the average worker's old skills become obsolete and new skills are required within as little as two years.

Which of the following plans, if feasible, would allow a company to prepare most effectively for the rapid obsolescence of skills described above?

Solutional caves are formed in the earth when a soft rock, usually limestone, is eroded by rainwater that has mixed with soils and carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid. Troglotopia Cave and the surrounding earth contain low amounts of soft rock, so it is not a solutional cave.

For purposes of evaluating the argument it would be most useful to establish which of the following?

If the city goes on polluting the air at present rates, air quality and visibility over the city will begin to suffer, rainwater may be polluted, and the city will contribute to the global problem of greenhouse emissions. Taxing every polluting commercial establishment per volume of polluted air or per particulate volume of greenhouse emissions will induce businesses to reduce the amount of pollution they emit; this charge will therefore protect the city's air.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

While it is true that effects of disease have been overlooked, the ancient kingdom of People X began to collapse because of the violence, not the new diseases brought by explorers. This much is evident from the fact that the kingdom first fell in the south, in the region under attack by explorers, and only later in the northern part of the kingdom.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument above?

Consultant: Advertising in videos purchased for download has shown promise as a way to activate consumers with a specific product message. Because the long-term impact on brand perception have yet not been shown; however, I do not recommend its use at this time.

Client: Your position is inconsistent with your usual practice. You suggest many forms of advertising that are known to have a potential negative brand impact, so concern about long-term brand impact cannot be the real reason you will not recommend this form of advertising.

The client's argument is flawed because it fails to consider that

Nanotechnology may pose risks in the coming decades as we find it increasingly commonplace to introduce small robots into our bodies. But the fact that these robots might be invisible to the naked eye doesn't mean we are helpless against them. After all, since the initial development of germ theory, we have designed and continuously improved upon ways to protect ourselves from a variety of germs.

In the passage, the author develops the argument by

Professor: in one method of international conflict resolution, a nation that perceives itself to have been wronged by another nation should demand that conditions be met by the wrongdoing nation before negotiations between both parties can begin. If all countries behaved according to this method, countries in conflict would never succeed in beginning negotiations.

The professor's argument relies on which of the following assumptions?

Although computers can improve hand-eye coordination and spatial reasoning, computer games are a cause of poor literacy in children. After-school hours spent playing computer games are hours not spent reading. Therefore, children who spend most of their spare time playing these games have less experience reading than other children have.

The argument depends on which of the following assumptions?

Elephants are one of few animal species with intelligence and a capacity for empathy similar to that of humans. They habitually bury their dead by placing sticks and leaves over a member of their herd that has died. They are not known to bury animals other than elephants, but in some cases they have mourned humans with which they had established a relationship, leading to the theory that elephants will bury other animals with which they have had a direct relationship, but only those animals. Surprisingly, however, elephants have been found to visit the burial locations of other elephants they never knew in life.

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

Last year, Company X reconfigured its direct sales team to include more experienced sales people. The company spent less time and money training the experienced sales hires than they had found necessary to do with the previous, less experienced new hires, and both groups obtained equal direct sales results. The more experienced sales staff, however, received higher financial compensation, and what Company X saved on training costs was less than the additional expenditure of financial compensation. Company X concluded that the reconfiguration strategy would not increase profits in the future.

Which of the following would it be most useful to know in order to evaluate the argument?

The country of Olmantia has generally relied on growing soybeans as an export. Recently, the ministry of agriculture has implemented a system to reduce dependence on this single crop by encouraging farmers to grow other legumes. Olmantia currently grows more non-soy legumes each year than it consumes, and exports of soybeans are in decline, due to competition from suppliers in other nations. If these trends continue, Olmantia's ability to export other legumes is likely to grow in the near future.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in evaluating the argument?

Car dealerships in the state of Fairview have prospered over the term of the current governor: sales are up by 10 percent relative to four years ago. Nevertheless, car manufacturers have found that the proportion of credit they have extended to dealerships that was paid off on time, despite rising over the first two years of this period, has fallen sharply in the latter two years of the governor's term.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the change between the first two and the second two years of the governor's term in the proportion of credit paid off on time?

Adjusting the supply of money and increasing government spending are the two methods available to the country of Pontivius to stimulate its economy. While both methods can create economic growth, increased government spending brings unemployed resources into use, producing extra output and income and benefiting the economy in the long run. Therefore, by increasing spending, the government of Pontivius will do the most that it can do to stimulate its economy.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

The cost of producing cell phones in Country A is 12 percent less than the cost of producing cell phones in Country C. Even after transportation fees are added, it is still cheaper for a company to import cell phones from Country A to Country C than to produce cell phones in Country C.

The statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions?

A major car company experienced a drop in sales in the month following the publication of a widely read review of the latest model, which asserted the new model was of low quality. The company also received numerous complaints from consumers who had read the review. The company, nevertheless, insists that negative reactions to the review had nothing to do with the company's subsequent drop in sales.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the company's position?

Scientists have genetically modified three pigs so that they are thoroughly florescent both in daylight and in darkness. Pigs have been modified in this fashion before, but the scientists who have created the most recent set observe that their technique has improved the odds of successfully modifying a specific embryo and making the adult pig completely florescent. The presence of the green protein will allow genetically modified cells to be tracked if they were transplanted into a human. This will immediately speed scientists' understanding of genetic research for the purpose of improving human health.

Which of the following would be most useful to determine in evaluating the claim above?

Although a direct survey has yet to be produced, clearly the growing ubiquity of tablet computers in our country is leading to diminishing popularity of the original handheld entertainment-that is, books. In decades past, books were the primary source of print media, but one third of adults in our country now own tablet computers on which they can read electronic books, or e-books. And even as far back as eight years ago, before tablets had even hit the market, only about half of adults in our country said in a survey that they were reading a book at the present time.

Each of following would be useful to determine in order to evaluate the argument EXCEPT

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

Loans extended from banks to individuals can allow individuals to take well-measured financial risks or pay off existing debts that carry higher interest rates. However, more aggressive banks extend freely to individuals loans that are too large for those individuals to foreseeably pay back, causing other problems. Therefore, the creation of a new department to monitor and restrict banks would benefit public well-being, since _______________.

This year, our company has moved its call center service team from within the country to an offshore location. Some members of our organization have questioned whether we are providing equal customer service, per dollar of cost, as we did before. We most certainly are, as is indicated by our satisfaction surveys administered at random to people who call the company help line.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

The claim that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus, three classifications of hominids extant about 2 million years ago, might represent a single species, is considered tentative, since it is based on a single analysis in the journal Science of a single fossil specimen known as "skull 5." One evolutionary biologist reports several of his colleagues are writing concurring articles. Nonetheless even if that prediction proves correct, these new articles will lend no support to the claim that the three species are in fact one, since _______________.