Mixed Deck — All EA Topics Flashcards

A city claims that adding bike lanes reduced car traffic by 15%. A critic argues this is misleading. Which data point would best support the critic's position?

Answer: A highway bypass was completed in the same year.

An alternative explanation (the bypass) undermines the city's causal claim that bike lanes drove the traffic reduction.

A project requires 240 person-hours. Team X works at 30 hours/day and Team Y works at 10 hours/day. If Team X works alone for 4 days, how many days does Team Y need to finish AND what is the total number of days elapsed?

Answer: Y needs 12 days; Total=16 days

Team X completes 4×30=120 hours; remaining=120 hours; Team Y: 120/10=12 days; total=4+12=16 days.

A bar chart shows quarterly sales: Q1=$200K, Q2=$250K, Q3=$220K, Q4=$300K. Which quarter showed the greatest percentage increase over the previous quarter?

Answer: Q2

Q2 increase = ($250K−$200K)/$200K = 25%; Q4 = ($300K−$220K)/$220K ≈ 36.4% — so Q4 is actually greatest.

A blend of two coffees: Type A costs $8/lb and Type B costs $5/lb. A 10 lb blend costs $6.50/lb total. How many pounds of each type are in the blend?

Answer: A=5 lbs, B=5 lbs

8a + 5b = 65 and a + b = 10; solving: a = 5, b = 5.

Email 1: a client requires delivery within 10 business days. Email 2: production takes 6 days. Email 3: shipping takes 3 days. Email 4: there is a 1-day quality check. Can the timeline be met?

Answer: Yes, exactly on time.

Total time = 6 + 3 + 1 = 10 days, which exactly meets the 10-day requirement.

A two-line chart shows projected vs. actual costs over 6 months. The actual line is consistently below the projected line. What does this indicate?

Answer: Costs are being managed better than expected.

Actual costs consistently below projections mean spending is better controlled than the budget assumed.

What is the average of five numbers? (1) The sum of the five numbers is 75. (2) Four of the five numbers are 12, 14, 16, and 18.

Answer: Each statement alone is sufficient.

Statement (1): avg = 75/5 = 15; sufficient. Statement (2): 4 known numbers sum to 60; with the 5th unknown, average cannot be found — actually insufficient alone.

What is the value of 3x − 2y? (1) x = 5. (2) y = 4.

Answer: Both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone.

With x=5 and y=4: 3(5)−2(4) = 15−8 = 7; both statements together are needed.

A bar chart shows monthly website traffic: Jan=10K, Feb=12K, Mar=11K, Apr=15K, May=14K, Jun=18K. What is the average monthly traffic?

Answer: 13,333

Sum = 80K; average = 80,000 / 6 ≈ 13,333.

An argument concludes that coffee consumption causes heart disease, citing a study of 500 heavy coffee drinkers who had a 20% higher incidence of heart disease. What critical flaw exists?

Answer: The study does not control for other lifestyle factors.

Without controlling for confounding variables (smoking, diet, exercise), the higher incidence cannot be attributed to coffee alone.

What is the area of circle O? (1) The diameter of circle O is 10. (2) The circumference of circle O is 10π.

Answer: Each statement alone is sufficient.

Both the diameter (r=5, area=25π) and circumference (r=5, area=25π) independently determine the area.

Does a bag contain more red balls than blue balls? (1) The bag contains 12 red balls. (2) The bag contains 9 blue balls.

Answer: Both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone.

Together: 12 red > 9 blue, so yes; neither statement alone provides comparison without knowing the other color count.

Question 1: Which of the following best describes the trajectory of the passage?

Answer: Attention is called to a disconnect between the way in which a crisis has been memorialized and the reality of that crisis; steps are taken to resolve that disconnect.

C. Yes. This choice clearly summarizes the flow of the passage. Attention is called to the lack of African-American representation in the AIDS Memorial Quilt; Call My Name is a response to this oversight.

All projects over $1M require executive approval. A project requires executive approval. What can be definitively concluded?

Answer: The project may or may not cost over $1M.

The conditional says over-$1M projects require approval, but approval may also be required for other reasons — so the project may or may not exceed $1M.

Amid the present wave of job redundancies for skilled but unemployed youth, the publication of an encouraging report on the viability of garage startup enterprises has led the Federal government to set up an investment fund, under its Federal light-industry program, to provide capital for such enterprises. This plan has drawn opposition from various quarters; the critics claim that similar funds, also set up under the Federal light-industry program, that aim to stimulate small enterprises frequently end up harming other American social groups unconnected to these enterprises. Which of the following best provides support for the claim made by the critics above?

Answer: The funding of the Federal light-industry program depends on the reallocation of resources earmarked for disadvantaged groups.

Argument construction The US is grappling under job redundancies for skilled but unemployed youth. To address this problem, Federal government is planning to set up an investment fund to provide capital for garage startup enterprises. It can be understood that with the help of capital, the skilled but unemployed persons could start their small business (garage startup enterprises). Many criticized this move; they pointed out that Federal light-industry programs (one of which will be the proposed garage enterprise support program) frequently harm the interest of other US social groups (other small businesses & unskilled individuals) that do not belong to the categories of enterprise served by these programs. Conclusion: Federal light-industry programs will adversely impact those who are not part of Federal light-industry programs. Predict a Strengthener By providing new information, we have to strengthen the conclusion that if the proposed investment fund supports Federal light-industry programs, the other US social groups that are not the beneficiaries of the program will suffer. Predictive Strengthener 1: The types of products and services that the 'other US social groups' (Category 1) deal in and that the 'skilled unemployed' group (Category 2) that would be the beneficiary of Federal light-industry programs deals in are same. So, there is a competition between Categories 1 and 2 and Category 2 will grow at the expense of Category 1. Predictive Strengthener 2: Currently, the Federal government does not have any program to support the other US social groups (Category 1), thereby making their position vulnerable if Category 2 grows strong. Predictive Strengthener 3: To be the beneficiaries of Federal light-industry programs, special qualification is mandatory that the other US social groups does not possess.

A company's workforce is 60% full-time and 40% part-time. Full-time employees earn $70K/yr and part-time earn $30K/yr. The company has 100 employees. What is the total annual payroll AND average salary?

Answer: Payroll=$5.0M, Average=$50K

60 full-time × $70K = $4.2M; 40 part-time × $30K = $1.2M; total = $5.4M; average = $54K.

Tab 1 lists three vendors' unit prices: $12, $15, and $10. Tab 2 shows order quantities of 500, 300, and 800 respectively. Which vendor incurs the highest total cost?

Answer: Vendor 3 ($10 × 800)

Vendor 3 total = $10 × 800 = $8,000; Vendor 1 = $6,000; Vendor 2 = $4,500.

Message 1: a shipment of 600 units arrived. Message 2: quality control rejects 15% of units. Message 3: the warehouse needs 520 units. Will the warehouse have enough after QC?

Answer: No, there will be a shortfall.

Accepted units = 600 × 85% = 510; warehouse needs 520; shortfall = 10 units.

A sales table has columns: Rep, Region, Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. Sorting by Q4 descending identifies the top performer in Q4. This does NOT tell you which rep:

Answer: Had the highest total annual sales.

Sorting by Q4 alone does not indicate total annual performance, which requires summing all four quarters.

A profitability table shows Gross Margin and Operating Margin for 8 companies. Company X has the highest Gross Margin but ranks 5th in Operating Margin. What does this suggest?

Answer: Company X has high operating expenses relative to gross profit.

High gross margin but low operating margin indicates that operating expenses (SG&A, R&D, etc.) are consuming much of the gross profit.