17. In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of laundry detergent. One carton was bright green and yellow; the other was drab brown and gray. After using the detergent in the two cartons for one month, 83 percent of the consumers in the study reported that the detergent in the bright green and yellow carton cleaned better. This study shows that packaging has a significant impact on consumers’ judgment of the effectiveness of a laundry detergent.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the marketing study?

(A) The detergent in the bright carton contained bleach crystals; the detergent in the drab carton did not.

(B) The detergents in the two cartons were the same.

(C) The detergents in the two cartons were different, but they had both been laboratory tested.

(D) The detergent in the drab carton was a popular name brand; the detergent in the bright carton was generic.

(E) The detergent in the drab carton was generic; the detergent in the bright carton was a popular name brand.

18. Don’s, a chain of supermarkets, has entered into an agreement in which Rose Computers will sell Don’s an unlimited number of its least expensive PC’s at one-fourth the regular wholesale price. In return, Don’s has agreed to purchase all of its scanners and other electronic information-processing equipment from Rose or from Omicron, Rose Computers’ parent company, for the next ten years. Don’s will offer a Rose PC free to any school that turns in Don’s register receipts totaling $100,000 within the next six months. The vice-president in charge of advertising for Don’s expects that the computer giveaway will obviate the need for a massive new advertising campaign for the next six months and that Don’s can make up the expenditures for the PC’s by writing them off its income taxes as charitable donations.

The plans formulated by Don’s assume each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) The prices that Rose or Omicron charges Don’s for information-processing equipment over the next ten years will be lower than those charged by other companies.

(B) The tax laws will not be changed to exclude or lessen the value of charitable donations as tax write-offs.

(C) Schools will be sufficiently attracted by Don’s computer giveaway offer that teachers will urge students to shop at Don’s.

(D) Rose will be able to supply Don’s with a sufficient number of PC’s to meet the demand generated by schools that collect Don’s receipts totaling $100,000.

(E) The effect of the computer giveaway offer on Don’s business will be comparable to that of a major advertising campaign.

19. Manufacturers of household appliances are still urging the public to purchase food processors. The various manufacturers’ advertisements all point out that the prices of these appliances are now lower than ever and that each food processor comes with a lifetime service warranty. In addition, many manufacturers offer sizable rebates to customers who purchase food processors within a given time period. With these incentives, the advertisements contend, people can hardly afford not to purchase food processors.

Which answer choice is a logically prior issue that the manufacturers’ advertisements fail to address?

(A) Whether the cost of repairs to the food processors over the years will cancel out the savings currently being offered

(B) Whether potential customers have enough uses for food processors to justify purchasing them

(C) Whether the heads of the companies manufacturing food processors own food processors themselves

(D) Whether the food processors currently being advertised will be outdated within the next five years
(E) Whether accessories and replacement parts will be readily available at retail outlets

20. Since the invention of digital readout, machine designers have rushed to replace conventional dials and gauges with digital units. Yet the digital gauge has drawbacks in some situations. Since it presents an exact numeric value, it must be decoded and analyzed by a human operator; its meaning cannot be read in an instantaneous scanning. An analog dial or gauge can be marked with red to alert the operator when a value is entering a danger zone; a digital gauge cannot. And it is difficult to tell whether a digital readout is increasing or decreasing over time, while the up or down movement of a pointer on an analog gauge can be quickly and easily observed.

The author of the passage above would probably recommend the use of digital gauge in cases when

I.       warning of a sudden rise or fall in value is needed

II.    an operator must read and interpret several gauges within a few seconds

III.   a precise numeric value is essential

(A) I only

(B) III only

(C) I and III only

(D) II and III only

(E) I, II, and III

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