In two months, the legal minimum wage in the country of Kirlandia will increase from five Kirlandic dollars(KD5.00) Per hour to KD5.50 per hour. Opponents of this increase have argued that the resulting rise in wages will drive the inflation rate up. In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirfandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A.   Most people in Kirlandia who are currently earning the minimum wage have been employed at their current jobs for less than a year.

B.    Some firms in Kirlandia have paid workers considerably less than KD5.00 per hour, in violation of Kirlandic employment regulations.

C.   Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.

D.   The greatest growth in Kirlandia’s economy in recent years has been in those sectors where workers earn wages that tend to be much higher than the minimum wage.

E.    The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job.

Springfield Fire Commissioner: the vast majority of false fire alarms are prank calls made anonymously from fire alarm boxes on street corners. Since virtually everyone has access to a private telephone, these alarm boxes have outlived their usefulness. Therefore, we propose to remove the boxes. Removing the boxes will reduce the number of prank calls without hampering people’s ability to report a fire.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the claim that the proposal, if carried out, will have the announced effect?

A.   The fire department traces all alarm calls made from private telephones and records where they came from.

B.    Maintaining the fire alarm boxes costs Springfield approximately five million dollars annually.

C.   A telephone call can provide the fire department with more information about the nature and size of a fire than can an alarm placed from an alarm box.

D.   Responding to false alarms significantly reduces the fire department’s capacity for responding to fires.

E.    On any given day, a significant percentage of the public telephones in Springfield are out of service.