Free GMAT Practice Question

Question 1 of 1
ID: GMAT-VR-CR-023
Section: Verbal Reasoning - Critical Reasoning (CR)
Topic: Resolve the Paradox
Difficulty level: Hard

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Three years ago the Ardleigh county library system installed self-service borrowing machines at all twelve branches. In the year that followed, items borrowed per hour of paid staff time rose to almost exactly twice its previous level at every branch, and staff spent far less time at the lending desk. Yet the total number of items borrowed system-wide was about 9 percent lower than the year before, and the number of registered borrowers was unchanged.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the results described above?

AA self-service machine completes a borrowing transaction in less than half the time a staff member at the lending desk takes.

BThe cost of the machines was recovered within two years out of the system's reduced staffing budget.

CSeveral thousand of the county's most active borrowers moved away during the year and gave up their registrations.

DDuring the year the system added several thousand new titles to its collections, and borrowers rated the branches more highly than in any earlier survey.

EWhen the machines were installed, the system cut its branches' opening hours by more than half.

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