PrepTest 153, Section 4, Question 4
Forests are among the world's most valuable resources,(432 more words not shown)
The stated relationship between the(32 more words not shown)
- APay increases in(25 more words not shown)
- BEndangered species of(21 more words not shown)
- CEnergy is expended(20 more words not shown)
- DAn increase in(27 more words not shown)
- EWater evaporates from(28 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The key relationship is a complete cancellation. Living trees produce oxygen; decomposition consumes as much oxygen as they produced. On this account, there is no net addition or subtraction.
What we’re looking for
So look for a process followed by an offsetting process that restores the balance. A partial offset isn't enough, and neither is a benefit that exceeds a cost. We need the two sides to come out even.
Working the answers
- A
This starts promisingly: higher pay increases buying power, and inflation works against that increase. But the increase is only “partially eroded.” Some gain remains. Our oxygen example says the consumption equals the production, so the offset here is incomplete.
- B
Shortening a reproductive cycle and improving resistance to parasites aren't described as canceling each other out. Two effects occurring together don't establish the relationship we need.
- C
The cash return “more than pays” for the energy expended. That leaves a net benefit rather than an even balance. A offsets too little; C more than offsets the expenditure. Neither matches complete cancellation.
- D
One company's rising share value prompts other shares to rise. Picture one streaming company's success helping another's stock price. That's one increase encouraging another, with no opposing process that restores the starting balance.
- ECorrect
Water leaves the ground through evaporation and returns through precipitation. The water has moved through a cycle rather than simply disappeared. It needn't land in the same spot: the relevant match is the outgoing water returning, just as oxygen production is balanced by its later consumption.
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