1. Which one of the following best expresses the main ideas of the passage?(A) Oil companies are experimenting with technologies that may help diminish the danger to workers from offshore crude processing.
(B) Oil companies are seeking methods of installing processing facilities underwater.
(C) Researchers are developing several new pumps designed to enhance human labor efficiency in processing facilities.
(D) Researchers are seeking to develop equipment that would preempt the need for processing facilities onshore.
(E) Researchers are seeking ways to separate liquids from gases in crude in order to enable safer processing.
2. The passage supports which one of the following statements about the natural pressure driving the flow of crude?(A) It is higher than that created by the centrifugal pump.
(B) It is constant, regardless of relative proportions of gas and liquid.
(C) It is able to carry the crude only as far as the wellhead.
(D) It is able to carry the crude to the platform.
(E) It is able to carry the crude to the shore.
3. Which one of the following best describes the relationship of the second paragraph to the passage as a whole?(A) It offers concrete detail designed to show that the argument made in the first paragraph is flawed.
(B) It provides detail that expands upon the information presented in the first paragraph.
(C) It enhances the author’s discussion by objectively presenting in detail the pros and cons of a claim made in the first paragraph.
(D) It detracts from the author’s discussion by presenting various problems that qualify the goals presented.
(E) It modifies an observation made in the first paragraph by detailing viewpoints against it.
4. Which one of the following phrases, if substituted for the word “head” in line 47, would LEAST change the meaning of the sentence?(A) the flow of the crude inside the pump
(B) the volume of oil inside the pump
(C) the volume of gas inside the pump
(D) the speed of the impeller moving the crude
(E) the pressure inside of the pump
5. With which one of the following statements regarding offshore platforms would the author most likely agree?(A) If a reduction of human labor on offshore platforms is achieved, there is no real need to eliminate platforms altogether.
(B) Reducing human labor on offshore platforms is desirable because researchers’ knowledge about the transportation of crude is danerously incomplete.
(C) The dangers involved in working on offshore platforms make their elimination a desirable goal.
(D) The positive-displacement pump is the better alternative for researchers, because it would allow them to eliminate platforms altogether.
(E) Though researchers have succeeded in reducing human labor on offshore platforms, they think that it would be inadvisable to eliminate platforms altogether, because these platforms have other uses.
6. Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage about pumps that are currently available to boost the natural pressure of crude?(A) The efficiency of these pumps depends on there being no gas in the flow of crude.
(B) These pumps are more efficient when the crude is less subject to sudden increases in the proportion of gas to liquid.
(C) A sudden change from solid to liquid in the flow of crude increases the efficiency of these pumps.
(D) The proportion of liquid to gas in the flow of crude does not affect the efficiency of these pumps.
(E) A sudden change from liquid to gas in the flow of crude increases the risk of explosion due to rising pressure inside these pumps.
7. The passage implies that the positive-displacement pump differs from the centrifugal pump in that the positive-displacement pump(A) is more promising, but it also is more expensive and demands more maintenance
(B) is especially well researched, since it has been used in other settings
(C) involves the use of a single or twin screw that sucks fluid in at one end of the pump
(D) is problematic because it causes rapid shifts from liquid to gas content in crude
(E) involves exposure of many parts of the pump to crude
8. The passage implies that the current state of technology necessitates that crude be moved to shore(A) in a multiphase state
(B) in equal proportions of gas to liquid
(C) with small proportions of corrosive material
(D) after having been processed
(E) largely in the form of a liquid