Bunuel wrote:
The amount of water consumed in Anderville on any given day in the summer is directly proportional to the heat index on that day. Since the average heat index this July was four points higher than the average heat index last August, it follows that more water was consumed in Anderville this July than last August.
Which one of the following arguments has a pattern of reasoning most similar to the one in the argument above?
(A) The number of doctors working in the emergency room on any day is directly proportional to the number of services delivered by the emergency room that day and also directly proportional to the number of patients that visit the emergency room. Thus, the number of services offered by the emergency room on any given day is directly proportional to the number of patients that visit the emergency room on that day.
(B) The number of doctors working in the emergency room on any given day is directly proportional to the number of nurses working in the emergency room on that day. But the emergency room employs the same number of orderlies every day. Hence, there are usually more doctors than orderlies working in the emergency room.
(C) The bill paid by a patient at the emergency room is directly proportional to the number of medical professionals the patient sees during his or her visit. Since the number of patients going through the emergency room is increasing, it follows that the emergency room is collecting a greater amount in fees paid by patients than it used to.
(D) The increase in patients at the emergency room is directly proportional to the amount of advertising the hospital has done the previous year. The hospital seeks to attract more patients to its emergency room by increasing the amount the hospital spends on advertising.
(E) The amount of analgesics prescribed in an emergency room is directly proportional to the number of patients that go through the emergency room on a given day. Since the emergency room handled 15 percent more patients in the last year than in the previous year, more analgesics were prescribed in the emergency room last year than in the previous year.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Answer: E
STEP 1: Read the question and identify your task.This is a Parallel question. It asks you to find an argument that follows the same logical pattern.
STEP 2: Read the argument with your task in mind.The given argument says that because there is a directly proportional relationship between a higher use of water and a higher heat index (increase leads to increase), then because the average heat index is four points higher, more water will be used.
STEP 3: Know what you’re looking for.You must look for a similar relationship in the answers.
STEP 4: Read every word of every answer choice. Answer A creates two proportionalities (doctors to services, doctors to patients) in relation to the first statement (doctors). Then it tries to create a relationship between the two conditionals (services to patients). This is a much more complicated relationship than you are looking for and thus not your answer. Answer B starts out with the right kind of proportionality between two terms (doctors and nurses), but then it adds an unrelated statement about orderlies and draws an unsupportable relationship between the doctors and orderlies, so it is also not your answer. Answer C starts out well with a directly proportional relationship, higher bill to higher number of medical professionals seen, but the conclusion is based on the number of patients and not the number of medical professionals the patients see during their visit, which is a break from the premise. Thus answer C cannot be your answer. Answer D makes a recommendation based on the premise but does not draw a conclusion. Answer E describes a directly proportional relationship. More analgesics are prescribed when there are more patients, and since the number of patients this year is up 15 percent, then the number of analgesics must be up as well. Thus, the correct choice is answer E.
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06 Sep 2021, 03:30
25%
(medium)
78%
(02:11)
correct 
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