PrepTest 158, Section 4, Question 10
Railroads rely increasingly on automation.(48 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AThe volume of(9 more words not shown)
- BIncreasing reliance on(8 more words not shown)
- CNo reduction in(8 more words not shown)
- DOperating costs for(12 more words not shown)
- EThe chief competitor(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Lower railroad costs sound promising. But who gets the savings—the railroad or its customers?
Automation means fewer workers are needed, so the railroad spends less on operations. Perhaps it keeps that money as additional profit. Or perhaps it charges less to ship freight, making rail more attractive to customers. Imagine a company that has been sending corn by truck. A lower rail price might persuade that company to switch.
That's the direction the author takes. Trucking is rail's chief competitor, and the trucking industry isn't expected to see a reduction in operating costs. The author uses rail's cost reduction and the comparison with trucking to predict more freight shipped by rail.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for the overall conclusion, so follow the reasoning to that final prediction. Automation explains the reduced need for workers; that explains lower costs; the lower costs help support the expectation of more rail freight. The last of those is the point the other facts are meant to establish.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The author expects the volume of freight shipped by rail to increase. That is the prediction introduced by “This means.” The discussion of automation, workers, costs, and trucking gives reasons for believing it.
- B
Needing fewer workers is an earlier step in the reasoning. It helps explain why railroad costs have fallen, and those lower costs support the prediction about freight. B stops before the argument reaches its overall point.
- C
This is a fact about rail's main competitor. It helps the author suggest that the reduction in railroad costs could improve rail's competitive position. But the conclusion is about the expected amount shipped by rail, not about trucking's operating costs.
- D
The lower operating costs are supported by the discussion of automation and fewer workers, but they also support a further claim: rail freight will grow. That further claim makes D an intermediate step rather than the overall conclusion.
- E
Identifying trucking as rail's chief competitor explains why the author discusses trucking's costs. It connects that comparison to the argument, but it doesn't state what the author expects to happen. The forecast in A does.
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