10/3/2015 CatExams

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Question5of41

Forthelastfiveyears,theXYZCourierCompanyhasmaderegulardeliverytripsbetweenTownAandTownB.The
averagetimetakenbythecompanysdriverstodrivetheroundtripbetweenthetwotowns,excludingthetimetaken
forloading,unloading,anddelivery,overthatperiodhasbeen80minutes.John,adriverforXYZ,needstomakea
personaltripbetweenthetwotownshefiguresthatheshouldallowapproximately80minutesfortheroundtrip.

Whichofthefollowing,iftrue,doesnotcallJohnsconclusionintoquestion?

TheroutebetweenTownAandTownBhasbeenplaguedbyincreasingcongestionoverthelastfive
years,asthearea'spopulationhasdoubledduringthattime.

MostofXYZscouriervehiclesareheavytrucks,forwhichspeedlimitsarelowerthanforpassenger
vehicles.

ManyofthepackagescarriedbyXYZbetweenTownAandTownBarelarge,highsecuritypackages,
forwhichtheprocessesofloading,unloading,anddeliverycantakeuptohalfthelengthofthetripitself.

JohnwillmakehispersonaltripatanhourwhenXYZdoesnotmakedeliverytrips.

BeforeafreewaywasbuiltbetweenTownAandTownBtwoyearsago,theonlyroutesbetweenthetwo
townswerestatehighwayswithmultipletrafficlightsandreducedspeeddowntownzones.

HideExplanation
JohnassumesthathisroundtripdrivingtimebetweenthetwotownswillbesimilartoXYZsaveragetime,overthe
lastfiveyears,forthesameroundtrip.Therefore,Johnsconclusionwillbeweakenedby(a)anysystematic
differencebetweenJohnspersonaltripandXYZscompanytrips,or(b)anyreasonwhythefiveyearaverageisnot
representativeofthetimecurrentlyrequiredtodrivebetweenthetwotowns.

(A)
Ifthisstatementistrue,thenthefiveyearaveragecommutetimewillnotberepresentativeofthecurrentcommute
time,sincetheincreasingcongestionwillhaveraisedthecurrentcommutetimetoalevelgreaterthanthefiveyear
average.

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(B)
IfmostofXYZscouriervehiclesaresubjecttospeedlimitslowerthanthoseforcommuterautomobiles,thenthe
couriervehiclescommutetimewillprobablybelongerthanJohnscommutetimeinhispersonalvehicle.

(C)Correct
Thecitedroundtriptimespecificallyexcludesthetimerequiredforloading,unloading,anddelivery,sothelengthof
timetakenbythesetasksisirrelevanttotheconclusionathand.

(D)
Sincetrafficpatternsarehighlydependentuponthetimeofday,thegiven80minuteaveragecannotnecessarilybe
expectedtoholdattimeswhenXYZdoesnotmakedeliveries.

(E)
Ifthisstatementistrue,then,forthefirstthreeyearsofthefiveyearperiodinquestion,thetransittimebetweenthe
twotownswouldhavebeenmuchlongerthanthatforthelasttwoyearsoftheperiod(andthusthecurrent
time).Therefore,inthiscase,thefiveyearaveragewillnotberepresentativeofthecurrenttime.


ThecorrectanswerisC.

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