Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Biotechnology companies say that voluntary guideline for their industry are sufficient to ensure that no harm will result when a genetically altered organism is released into the environment. It is foolish, however, to rely on assurances from producers of genetically altered organisms that their products will not be harmful. Therefore, a biotechnology company should be required to apply to an independent regulatory board composed of scientists outside the biotechnology industry for the right to sell newly created organisms. Which one of the following principles, if accepted, most strongly justifies drawing the conclusion above?
(A) Voluntary guidelines are sufficient to regulate activities that pose little danger to the environment.
(B) People who engage in an activity and have a financial stake in that activity should not be the sole regulators of that activity.
(C) Methods that result in harm to the environment must sometimes be used in order to avoid even greater harm.
(D) A company is obligated to ensure the effectiveness of its products but not their environmental safety.
(E) Issues of environmental protection are so important that they should not be left to scientific experts.

2. Zoo director: The city is in a financial crisis and must reduce its spending. Nevertheless, at least one reduction measure in next year’s budget, cutting City Zoos funding in half, is false economy. The zoo’s current budget equals less than 1 percent of the city’s deficit, so withdrawing support from the zoo does little to help the city’s financial situation. Furthermore, the zoo, which must close if its budget is cut, attracts tourists and tax dollars to the city. Finally, the zoo adds immeasurably to the city’s cultural climate and thus makes the city an attractive place for business to locate. Which one of the following is the main conclusion of the zoo director’s argument?
(A) Reducing spending is the only means the city has of responding to the current financial crisis.
(B) It would be false economy for the city to cut the zoo’s budget in half.
(C) City Zoo’s budget is only a very small portion of the city’s entire budget.
(D) The zoo will be forced to close if its budget is cut.
(E) The city’s educational and cultural climate will be irreparably damaged if the zoo is forced to close.

3. A cat will not be affectionate toward people unless it is handled when it is a kitten. Since the cat that Paula plans to give to her friend was handled when it was a kitten, that cat will be affectionate toward people. The flawed reasoning in the argument above most closely parallels that in which one of the following?
(A) Tulip bulbs will not produce flowers unless they are chilled for two months. Since the tulip bulbs in the clay pot were not chilled for two months, these bulbs will
not produce flowers.
(B) Beets do not grow well unless the soil in which they are grown contains trace amounts of boron. Since the beets in this plot are growing well, the soil in the plot
must contain trace amounts of boron.
(C) Fruit trees will not produce much fruit unless they are pruned properly. That the fruit trees at the local orchard produce a large amount of fruit proves that they
have been pruned properly.
(D) Cranberries will not thrive unless they are grown in bogs. Since the cranberries in this area are not grown in bogs, these cranberries will not thrive.
(E) Crass seeds will not germinate well unless they are pressed firmly into the ground. The grass seeds sown in this yard were pressed firmly into the ground, so they
will germinate well.

4. Until recently, anthropologists generally agreed that higher primates originated about 30 million years ago in the Al Fayyum region of Egypt. However, a 40-million-year old fossilized fragment of a lower jawbone discovered in Burma (now called Myanmar) in 1978 was used to support the theory that the earliest higher primates originated in Burma. However, the claim is premature, for______ Which one or the following, if rue, is the most logical completion of the paragraph above?
(A) there are no more primate species in Burma than there are in Egypt
(B) several anthropologists, using different dating methods, independently confirmed the estimated age of the jawbone fragment
(C) higher primates cannot be identified solely by their lower jawbones
(D) several prominent anthropologists do not believe that higher primates could have originated in either Egypt or Burma
(E) other archaeological expeditions in Burma have unearthed higher-primate fossilized bone fragments that are clearly older than 40 million years

5. The ends of modern centuries have been greeted with both apocalyptic anxieties and utopian fantasies. It is not surprising that both reactions have consistently proven to be misplaced. After all, the precise time when a century happens to end cannot have any special significance, since the Gregorian calendar, though widely used, is only one among many that people have devised. Which one of the following, if true, could be substituted for the reason cited above while still preserving the force of the argument?
(A) It is logically impossible for both reactions to be correct at the same time.
(B) What is a utopian fantasy to one group of people may well be, for another group of people, a realization of their worst fears.
(C) The number system based on the number ten, in the absence of which one hundred years would not have the appearance of being a significant period of time, is
by no means the only one that people have created.
(D) The firm expectation that something extraordinary is about to happen can make people behave in a manner that makes it less likely that something extraordinary
will happen.
(E) Since a century far exceeds the normal human life span, people do not live long enough to learn from mistakes that they themselves made one hundred years
before.

6. People who listen to certain recordings of music are in danger of being unduly influenced by spoken messages that have been recorded backwards on the records or tapes. A consequence of the view above is that
(A) the spoken messages must be louder than the music on the recordings
(B) backwards messages can be added to a recording while still preserving all of the musical qualities of the recorded performance
(C) the recordings on which such messages appear are chosen for this purpose either because they are especially popular or because they introduce a trancelike
state
(D) if such messages must be comprehended to exert influence, then people must be able to comprehend spoken messages recorded backwards
(E) when people listen to recorded music, they pay full attention to the music as it plays

7. Advertisement: Over 80 percent of the people who test-drive a Zenith car end up buying one. So be warned: you should not test-drive a Zenith unless you are prepared to buy one, because if you so much as drive a Zenith around the block, there is a better than 80 percent chance you will choose to buy it. If the advertisement is interpreted as implying that the quality of the car is unusually impressive, which one of the following, if true, most clearly casts doubt on that implication?
(A) Test-drives of Zenith cars are, according to Zenith sales personnel, generally more extensive than a drive around the block and encounter varied driving
conditions.
(B) Usually dealers have enough Zenith models in stock that prospective purchasers are able to test-drive the exact model that they are considering for purchase.
(C) Those who take test-drives in cars are, in overwhelming proportions, people who have already decided to buy the model driven unless some fault should
become evident.
(D) Almost 90 percent of the people who purchase a car do not do so on the day they take a first test-drive but do so after another test-drive.
(E) In some Zenith cars, a minor part has broken within the first year, and Zenith dealers have issued notices to owners that the dealers will replace the part with a
redesigned one at no cost to owners.

8. In Malsenia sales of classical records are soaring. The buyers responsible for this boom are quite new to classical music and were drawn to it either by classical scores from television commercials or by theme tunes introducing major sports events on television. Audiences at classical concerts, however, are continually shrinking in Malsenia. It can be concluded from this that the new Malsenian converts to classical music, having initially experienced this music as recorded music, are most comfortable with classical music as recorded music and really have no desire to hear live performances. The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) To sell well in Malsenia, a classical record must include at least one piece familiar from television.
(B) At least some of the new Malsenian buyers of classical records have available to them the option of attending classical concerts.
(C) The number of classical concerts performed in Malsenia has not decreased in response to smaller audiences.
(D) The classical records available in Malsenia are, for the most part, not recordings of actual public concerts.
(E) Classical concerts in Malsenia are not limited to music that is readily available on recordings.

9. Brain scans of people exposed to certain neurotoxins reveal brain damage identical to that found in people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. This fact shows not only that these neurotoxins cause this type of brain damage, but also that the brain damage itself causes Parkinson’s disease. Thus brain scans can be used to determine who is likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. The argument contains which one of the following reasoning errors?
(A) It fails to establish that other methods that can be used to diagnose Parkinson’s disease are less accurate than brain scans.
(B) It overestimates the importance of early diagnosis in determining appropriate treatments for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
(C) It mistakes a correlation between the type of brain damage described and Parkinson’s disease for a causal relation between the two.
(D) It assumes that people would want to know as early as possible whether they were likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.
(E) It neglects to specify how the information provided by brain scans could be used either in treating Parkinson’s disease or in monitoring the progression of the
disease.

10. Almost all of the books published in the past 150 years were printed on acidic paper. Unfortunately, every kind of acidic paper gradually destroys itself due to its very acidity. This process of deterioration can be slowed if the books are stored in a cool, dry environment. Techniques, which are now being developed, to deacidify books will probably be applied only to books with historical significance. If all of the statements in the passage above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) If a book was published in the past 150 years and is historically insignificant, it will probably deteriorate completely.
(B) Almost all of the books published in the past 150 years will gradually destroy themselves.
(C) Almost all of the books that gradually deteriorate are made of acidic paper.
(D) If a book is of historical significance and was printed before 150 years ago, it will be deacidified.
(E) Books published on acidic paper in 1900 should now all be at about the same state of deterioration.

11. Civil libertarian: The categorical prohibition of any nonviolent means of expression inevitably poisons a society’s intellectual atmosphere. Therefore, those advocating censorship of all potentially offensive art are pursuing a course that is harmful to society. Censorship advocate: You’re wrong, because many people are in agreement about what constitutes potentially offensive art. The censorship advocate’s rebuttal is flawed because it
(A) attempts to extract a general rule from a specific case
(B) extracts an erroneous principle from a commonly held belief
(C) attacks the civil libertarians character instead of the argument
(D) relies on an irrelevant reason for rejecting the civil libertarian’s argument
(E) uses hyperbolic inflammatory language that obscures the issue at hand

12. Although most species of nondomestic mammals in Australia are marsupials, over 100 species—including seals, bats, and mice—are not marsupials but placentals. It is clear, however, that these placentals are not native to this island continent: all nonhuman placentals except the dingo, a dog introduced by the first humans that settled Australia, are animals whose ancestors could swim long distances, fly, or float on driftwood. The conclusion above is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Some marsupials now found in Australia might not be native to that continent, but rather might have been introduced to Australia by some other means.
(B) Humans who settled Australia probably introduced many of the placental mammal species now present on that Continent.
(C) The only Australian placentals that could be native to Australia would be animals whose ancestors could not have reached Australia from elsewhere.
(D) No marsupials now found in Australia can swim long distances, fly, or float on driftwood.
(E) Seals, bats, and mice are typically found only in areas where there are no native marsupials.

13. I. Room air conditioners produced by Japanese manufacturers tend to be more reliable than those produced by United States manufacturers. II. The average lifetime of room air conditioners produced by United States manufacturers is about fifteen years, the same as that of room air conditioners produced by Japanese manufacturers. Which one of the following, if true, would best reconcile the two statements above?
(A) Reliability is a measure of how long a product functions without needing repair.
(B) Production facilities of firms designated as United States manufacturers are not all located in the United States.
(C) Damage to room air conditioners during shipping and installation does not occur with great frequency in the United States or in Japan.
(D) Room air conditioners have been manufactured for a longer time in the United States than in Japan.
(E) Japanese manufacturers often use more reliable components in their room air conditioners than do United States manufacturers.

14. In 1980 there was growing concern that the protective ozone layer over the Antarctic might be decreasing and thereby allowing so much harmful ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth that polar marine life would be damaged. Some government officials dismissed these concerns, since statistics indicated that global atmospheric ozone levels remained constant. The relevance of the evidence cited by the government officials in support of their position would be most seriously undermined if it were true that
(A) most species of plant and animal life flourish in warm climates rather than in the polar regions
(B) decreases in the amount of atmospheric Ozone over the Antarctic ice cap tend to be seasonal rather than constant
(C) decreases in the amount of atmospheric ozone were of little concern before l980
(D) quantities of atmospheric ozone shifted away from the polar caps, correspondingly increasing ozone levels in other regions
(E) even where the amount of atmospheric ozone is normal, some ultraviolet light reaches the Earth’s surface

15. Goodbody, Inc., is in the process of finding tenants for its newly completed Parrot Quay commercial development, which will make available hundreds of thousands of square feet of new office space on what was formerly derelict property outside the financial center of the city. Surprisingly enough, the coming recession, though it will hurt most of the city’s businesses, should help Goodbody to find tenants. Which one of the following, if true, does most to help resolve the apparent paradox?
(A) Businesses forced to economize by the recession will want to take advantage of the lower rents available outside the financial center.
(B) Public transportation links the financial center with the area around Parrot Quay.
(C) The area in which the Parrot Quay development is located became derelict after the heavy industry that used to be there closed down in a previous recession.
(D) Many of Goodbody’s other properties are in financial center and will become vacant if the recession is severe enough to force Goodbody’s tenants out of
business.
(E) The recession is likely to have the most severe effect not on service industries, which require a lot of office space, but on manufacturers.

Questions 16-17

Dr. Kim: Electronic fetal monitors, now routinely used in hospital delivery rooms to check fetal heartbeat, are more intrusive than ordinary stethoscopes and do no more to improve the chances that a healthy baby will be born. Therefore, the additional cost of electronic monitoring is unjustified and such monitoring should be discontinued. Dr. Anders: I disagree. Although you and I know that both methods are capable of providing the same information, electronic monitoring has been well worth the cost. Doctors now know the warning signs they need to listen for with stethoscopes, but only because of what was learned from using electronic monitors.

16. Which one of the following principles, if accepted, would provide the most support for Dr. Kim’s contention that the use of electronic fetal monitors should be discontinued?
(A) Hospitals should discontinue the routine use of a monitoring method whenever an alternative method that provides more information becomes available.
(B) Monitoring procedures should be routinely used in delivery rooms only if they provide information of a kind that is potentially useful in ensuring that a healthy
baby will be born.
(C) When two methods available to hospitals provide the same kind of information, the more intrusive method should not be used.
(D) When the use of a medical device has enabled doctors to learn something that improves the chances that babies will be born healthy, that device is well worth its
cost.
(E) Routinely used medical procedures should be reevaluated periodically to be sure that these procedures provide reliable information.

17. As a reply to Dr. Kim’s argument, Dr. Anders’ response is inadequate because it
(A) misses the point at issue
(B) assumes what it sets out to prove
(C) confuses high cost with high quality
(D) overestimates the importance of technology to modem medicine
(E) overlooks the fact that a procedure can be extensively used without being the best procedure available

18. Professor Hartley’s new book on moral philosophy contains numerous passages that can be found verbatim in an earlier published work by Hartley’s colleague, Professor Lawrence. Therefore in view of the fact that these passages were unattributed in Hartley’s book, Hartley has been dishonest in not acknowledging the intellectual debt owed to Lawrence. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument is based?
(A) Hartley could not have written the new book without the passages in question.
(B) While writing the new book, Hartley had access to the manuscript of Lawrence s book.
(C) A book on moral philosophy should contain only material representing the author’s own convictions.
(D) Lawrence did not get the ideas in the passages in Question or did not get their formulations originally from Hartley.
(E) Hartley considered the passages in question to be the best possible expressions of the ideas they contain.

19. People who receive unsolicited advice from someone whose advantage would be served if that advice is taken should regard the proffered advice with skepticism unless there is good reason to think that their interests substantially coincide with those of the advice giver in the circumstance in question. This principle, if accepted, would justify which one of the following judgments?
(A) After learning by chance that Harriet is looking for a secure investment for her retirement savings, Floyd writes to her recommending the R&M Company as an
especially secure investment. But since Floyd is the sole owner of R&M, Harrier should reject his advice out of hand and invest the savings elsewhere.
(B) While shopping for a refrigerator, Ramon is approached by a salesperson who, on the basis of her personal experience, warns him against the least expensive
model. However, the salesperson’s commission increases with the price of the refrigerator sold, so Ramon should not reject the least expensive model on the
salesperson’s advice alone.
(C) Mario wants to bring pastry to Yvette’s party, and when he consults her Yvette suggests that he bring his favorite chocolate fudge brownies from the local
bakery. However, since Yvette also prefers those brownies to any other pastry, Mario would be wise to check with others before following her recommendation.
(D) Sara overhears Ron talking about a course he will be teaching and interrupts to recommend a textbook for his course. However, even though Sara and Ron
each wrote a chapter of’ this textbook, since the book’s editor is a personal friend of Sara’s, Ron should investigate further before deciding whether it is the best
textbook for his course.
(E) Mel is buying fish for soup. Joel, who owns the fish market where Mel is a regular and valued customer, suggests a much less expensive fish than the fish Mel
herself prefers. Since if Mel follows Joel’s advice, Joel will make less profit on the sale than he would have otherwise, Mel should follow his recommendation.

20. Last year the county park system failed to generate enough revenue to cover its costs. Any business should be closed if it is unprofitable, but county parks are not businesses. Therefore, the fact that county parks are unprofitable does not by itself justify closing them. The pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most closely paralleled in which one of the following?
(A) A prime-time television series should be canceled if it fails to attract a large audience, but the small audience attracted by the documentary series is not sufficient
reason to cancel it, since it does not air during prime time.
(B) Although companies that manufacture and market automobiles in the United States must meet stringent air-quality standards, the OKESA company should be
exempt from these standards since it manufactures bicycles in addition to automobiles.
(C) Although the province did not specifically intend to prohibit betting on horse races when it passed a law prohibiting gambling, such betting should be regarded as
being prohibited because it is a form of gambling.
(D) Even though cockatiels are not, strictly speaking, members of the parrot family, they should be fed the same diet as most parrots since the cockatiel’s dietary
needs are so similar to those of parrots.
(E) Since minors are not subject to the same criminal laws as are adults, they should not be subject to the same sorts of punishments as those that apply to adults.

21. Jane: Professor Harper’s ideas for modifying the design of guitars are of no value because there is no general agreement among musicians as to what a guitar should sound like and, consequently, no widely accepted basis for evaluating the merits of a guitar’s sound. Mark: What’s more, Harper’s ideas have had enough time to be adopted if they really resulted in superior sound. It took only ten years for the Torres design for guitars to be almost universally adopted because of the improvement it makes in tonal quality. Which one of the following most accurately describes the relationship between Jane’s argument and Mark’s argument?
(A) Mark’s argument shows how a weakness in Jane’s argument can be overcome.
(B) Mark’s argument has a premise in common with Jane’s argument.
(C) Mark and Jane use similar techniques to argue for different conclusions.
(D) Mark’s argument restates Jane’s argument in other terms.
(E) Mark’s argument and Jane’s argument are based on conflicting suppositions.

Questions 22-23

Doctors in Britain have long suspected that patients who wear tinted eyeglasses are abnormally prone to depression and hypochondria. Psychological tests given there to hospital patients admitted for physical complaints like heart pain and digestive distress confirmed such a relationship. Perhaps people whose relationship to the world is psychologically painful choose such glasses to reduce visual stimulation, which is perceived as irritating. At any rate, it can be concluded that when such glasses are worn, it is because the wearer has a tendency to be depressed or hypochondriacal.

22. The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) Depression is not caused in some cases by an organic condition of the body.
(B) Wearers do not think of the tinted glasses as a means of distancing themselves from ocher people.
(C) Depression can have many causes, including actual conditions about which it is reasonable for anyone to be depressed.
(D) For hypochondriacs wearing tinted glasses, the glasses serve as a visual signal to others that the wearer’s health is delicate.
(E) The tinting does not dim light to the eye enough to depress the wearer’s mood substantially.

23. Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument EXCEPT:
(A) Some people wear tinted glasses not because they choose to do so but because a medical condition of their eyes forces them to do so.
(B) Even a depressed or hypochondriacal person can have valid medical complaints, so a doctor should perform all the usual objective tests in diagnosing such
persons.
(C) The confirmatory tests were not done for places such as western North America where the usual quality of light differs from that prevailing in Britain.
(D) Fashions with respect to wearing tinted glasses differ in different parts of the world.
(E) At the hospitals where the tests were given, patients who were admitted for conditions less ambiguous than heart pain or digestive distress did not show the
relationship between tinted glasses and depression or hypochondria.

24. The only fossilized bones of large prey found in and around settlements of early humans bear teeth marks of nonhuman predators on areas of the skeleton that had the most meal, and cut marks made by humans on the areas that had the least meat. The predators that hunted large prey invariably are the meatiest parts of the carcasses, leaving uneaten remains behind. If the information above is true, it provides the most support for which one of the following?
(A) Early humans were predators of small prey, not of large prey.
(B) Early humans ate fruits and edible roots as well as meat.
(C) Early humans would have been more effective hunters of large prey if they had hunted in large groups rather than individually.
(D) Early humans were not hunters of large prey but scavenged the uneaten remains of prey killed by other predators.
(E) Early humans were nomadic, and their settlements followed the migratory patterns of predators of large prey.

25. George: A well-known educator claims that children who are read to when they are very young are more likely to enjoy reading when they grow up than are children who were not read to. But this claim is clearly false. My cousin Emory was regularly read to as a child and as an adult he seldom reads for pleasure, whereas no one read to me and reading is now my favorite form of relaxation. Ursula: You and Emory prove nothing in this case. Your experience is enough to refute the claim that all avid adult readers were read to as children, but what the educator said about reading to children is not that sort of claim. Which one of the following describes a flaw in Georges reasoning?
(A) He treats his own experience and the experiences of other members of his own family as though they have more weight as evidence than do the experiences of
other people.
(B) He does not distinguish between the quality and the quantity of the books that adults read to Emory when Emory was a child.
(C) He overlooks the well-known fact that not all reading is equally relaxing.
(D) He fails to establish that the claim made by this particular educator accurately reflects the position held by the majority of educators.
(E) He attempts to refute a general claim by reference to nonconforming cases, although the claim is consistent with the occurrence of such cases

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Of all of the surgeons practicing at the city hospital, the chief surgeon has the worst record in terms of the percentage of his patients who die either during or immediately following an operation performed by him. Paradoxically, the hospital’s administrators claim that he is the best surgeon currently working at the hospital. Which one of the following, if true, goes farthest toward showing that the administrators’ claim and the statistic cited might both be correct?
(A) Since the hospital administrators appoint the chief surgeon, the administrators are strongly motivated to depict the chief surgeon they have chosen as a wise
choice.
(B) In appointing the current chief surgeon, the hospital administrators followed the practice, well established at the city hospital, of promoting one of the surgeons
already on staff.
(C) Some of the younger surgeons on the city hospital’s staff received part of their training from the current chief surgeon.
(D) At the city hospital those operations that inherently entail the greatest risk to the life of the patient are generally performed by the chief surgeon.
(E) The current chief surgeon has a better record of patients’ surviving surgery than did his immediate predecessor.

2. Between 1971 and 1975, the government office that monitors drug companies issued an average of 60 citations a year for serious violations of drug-promotion laws. Between 1976 and 1980, the annual average for issuance of such citations was only 5. This decrease indicates that the government office was, on average, considerably more lax in enforcing drug-promotion laws between 1976 and 1980 than it was between 1971 and 1975. The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) The decrease in the number of citations was not caused by a decrease in drug companies violations of drug-promotion laws.
(B) A change in enforcement of drug-promotion laws did not apply to minor violations.
(C) The enforcement of drug-promotion laws changed in response to political pressure.
(D) The government office should not issue more than an average of 5 citations a year to drug companies for serious violations of drug-promotion laws.
(E) Before 1971 the government office issued more than 60 citations a year to drug companies for serious violations of drug-promotion laws.

3. Sheila: Health experts generally agree that smoking a tobacco product for many years is very likely to be harmful to the smoker’s health. Tim: On the contrary, smoking has no effect on health at all: although my grandfather smoked three cigars a day from the age of fourteen, he died at age ninety-six. A major weakness of Tim’s counterargument is that his counterargument
(A) attempts to refute a probabilistic conclusion by claiming the existence of a single counterexample
(B) challenges expert opinion on the basis of specific information unavailable to experts in the field
(C) describes an individual case that is explicitly discounted as an exception to the experts’ conclusion
(D) presupposes that longevity and health status are unrelated to each other in the general population
(E) tacitly assumes that those health experts who are in agreement on this issue arrived at that agreement independently of one another

4. The case of the French Revolution is typically regarded as the best evidence for the claim that societies can reap more benefit than harm from a revolution. But even the French Revolution serves this role poorly, since France at the time of the Revolution had a unique advantage. Despite the Revolution, the same civil servants and functionaries remained in office, carrying on the day-to-day work of government, and thus many of the disruptions that revolutions normally bring were avoided. Which one of the following most accurately characterizes the argumentative strategy used in the passage?
(A) demonstrating that the claim argued against is internally inconsistent
(B) supporting a particular position on the basis of general principles
(C) opposing a claim by undermining evidence offered in support of that claim
(D) justifying a view through the use of a series of persuasive examples
(E) comparing two positions in order to illustrate their relative strengths and weaknesses

5. A person can develop or outgrow asthma at any age. In children under ten, asthma is twice as likely to develop in boys. Boys are less likely than girls to outgrow asthma, yet by adolescence the percentage of boys with asthma is about the same as the percentage of girls with asthma because a large number of girls develop asthma in early adolescence. Assuming the truth of the passage, one can conclude from it that the number of adolescent boys with asthma is approximately equal to the number of adolescent girls with asthma, if one also knows that
(A) a tendency toward asthma is often inherited
(B) children who develop asthma before two years of age are unlikely to outgrow it
(C) there are approximately equal numbers of adolescent boys and adolescent girls in the population
(D) the development of asthma in childhood is not closely related to climate or environment
(E) the percentage of adults with asthma is lower than the percentage of adolescents with asthma

6. Harry Trevalga: You and your publication have unfairly discriminated against my poems. I have submitted thirty poems in the last two years and you have not published any of them! It is all because I won the Fenner Poetry Award two years ago and your poetry editor thought she deserved it. Publisher: Ridiculous! Our editorial policy and practice is perfectly fair, since our poetry editor judges all submissions for publication without ever seeing the names of the poets, and hence cannot possibly have known who wrote your poems. The publisher makes which one of the following assumptions in replying to Trevalga’s charges of unfair discrimination?
(A) The poetry editor does not bear a grudge against Harry Trevalga for his winning the Fenner Poetry Award.
(B) It is not unusual for poets to contribute many poems to the publisher’s publication without ever having any accepted for publication.
(C) The poetry editor cannot recognize the poems submitted by Harry Trevalga as his unless Trevalga’s name is attached to them.
(D) The poetry editor’s decisions on which poems to publish are not based strictly on judgments of intrinsic merit.
(E) Harry Trevalga submitted his poems to the publisher’s publication under his pen name.

7. In a study of the effect of radiation from nuclear weapons plants on people living in areas near them, researchers compared death rates in the areas near the plants with death rates in areas that had no such plants. Finding no difference in these rates, the researchers concluded that radiation from the nuclear weapons plants poses no health hazards to people living near them. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the researchers’ argument?
(A) Nuclear power plants were not included in the study.
(B) The areas studied had similar death rates before and after the nuclear weapons plants were built.
(C) Exposure to nuclear radiation can cause many serious diseases that do not necessarily result in death.
(D) Only a small number of areas have nuclear weapons plants.
(E) The researchers did not study the possible health hazards of radiation on people who were employed at the nuclear weapons plants if those employees did not
live in the study areas.

8. It was once believed that cells grown in laboratory tissue cultures were essentially immortal. That is, as long as all of their needs were met, they would continue dividing forever. However, it has been shown that normal cells have a finite reproductive limit. A human liver cell, for example, divides 60 times and then stops. If such a cell divides 30 times and then is put into a deep freeze for months or even years. It “remembers” where it stopped dividing. After thawing, it divides another 30 times—but no more. If the information above is accurate, a liver cell in which more than 60 divisions took place in a tissue culture CANNOT be which one of the following?
(A) an abnormal human liver cell
(B) a normal human liver cell that had been frozen after its first division and afterward thawed
(C) a normal cell that came from the liver of an individual of a nonhuman species and had never been frozen
(D) a normal liver cell that came from an individual of a nonhuman species and had been frozen after its first division and afterward thawed
(E) an abnormal cell from the liver of an individual of a nonhuman species

9. Complaints that milk bottlers take enormous markups on the bottled milk sold to consumers are most likely to arise when least warranted by the actual spread between the price that bottlers pay for raw milk and the price at which they sell bottled milk. The complaints occur when the bottled- ilk price rises, yet these price increases most often merely reflect the rising price of the raw milk that bottlers buy from dairy farmers. When the raw-milk price is rising, the bottlers’ markups are actually smallest proportionate to the retail price. When the raw-milk price is falling, however, the markups are greatest. If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
(A) Consumers pay more for bottled milk when raw-milk prices are falling than when these prices are rising.
(B) Increases in dairy farmers’ cost of producing milk are generally not passed on to consumers.
(C) Milk bottlers take substantially greater markups on bottled milk when its price is low for an extended period than when it is high for an extended period.
(D) Milk bottlers generally do not respond to a decrease in raw-milk prices by straightaway proportionately lowering the price of the bottled milk they sell.
(E) Consumers tend to complain more about the price they pay for bottled milk when dairy farmers are earning their smallest profits.

Questions 10-11

If the public library shared by the adjacent towns of Redville and Glenwood were relocated from the library’s current, overcrowded building in central Redville to a larger, available building in central Glenwood, the library would then be within walking distance of a larger number of library users. That is because there are many more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, and people generally will walk to the library only if it is located close to their homes.

10. Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
(A) The public library was located between Glenwood and Redville before being moved to its current location in central Redville.
(B) The area covered by central Glenwood is approximately the same size as that covered by central Redville.
(C) The building that is available in Glenwood is smaller than an alternative building that is available in Redville.
(D) Many of the people who use the public library do not live in either Glenwood or Redville.
(E) The distance that people currently walk to get to the library is farther than what is generally considered walking distance.

11. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Many more people who currently walk to the library live in central Redville than in central Glenwood.
(B) The number of people living in central Glenwood who would use the library if it were located there is smaller than the number of people living in central Redville
who currently use the library.
(C) The number of people using the public library would continue to increase steadily if the library were moved to Glenwood.
(D) Most of the people who currently either drive to the library or take public transportation to reach it would continue to do so if the library were moved to central
Glenwood.
(E) Most of the people who currently walk to the library would remain library users if the library were relocated to central Glenwood.

12. Light utility trucks have become popular among consumers who buy them primarily for the trucks’ rugged appearance. Yet although these trucks are tough-looking, they are exempt from the government’s car-safety standards that dictate minimum roof strength and minimum resistance to impact. Therefore, if involved in a serious high-impact accident, a driver of one of these trucks is more likely to be injured than is a driver of a car that is subject to these government standards. The argument depends on the assumption that
(A) the government has established safety standards for the construction of light utility trucks
(B) people who buy automobiles solely for their appearance are more likely than other people to drive recklessly
(C) light utility trucks are more likely than other kinds of vehicles to be involved in accidents that result in injuries
(D) the trucks’ rugged appearance is deceptive in that their engines are not especially powerful
(E) light utility trucks are less likely to meet the car-safety standards than are cars that are subject to the standards

13. Five years ago, during the first North American outbreak of the cattle disease CXC, the death rate from the disease was 5 percent of all reported cases, whereas today the corresponding figure is over 18 percent. It is clear, therefore, that during these past 5 years, CXC has increased in virulence. Which one of the following, if true, most substantially weakens the argument?
(A) Many recent cattle deaths that have actually been caused by CXC have been mistakenly attributed to another disease that mimics the symptoms of CXC.
(B) During the first North American outbreak of the disease, many of the deaths reported to have been caused by CXC were actually due to other causes.
(C) An inoculation program against CXC was recently begun after controlled studies showed inoculation to be 70 percent effective in preventing serious cases of the
illness.
(D) Since the first outbreak, farmers have learned to treat mild cases of CXC and no longer report them to veterinarians or authorities.
(E) Cattle that have contracted and survived CXC rarely contract the disease a second time.

Questions 14-15

Economist: Some policymakers believe that our country’s continued economic growth requires a higher level of personal savings than we currently have. A recent legislative proposal would allow individuals to set up savings accounts in which interest earned would be exempt from taxes until money is withdrawn from the account. Backers of this proposal claim that its implementation would increase the amount of money available for banks to loan at a relatively small cost to the government in lost tax revenues. Yet, when similar tax-incentive programs were tried in the past, virtually all of the money invested through them was diverted from other personal savings, and the overall level of personal savings was unchanged.

14. The passage as a whole provides the most support for which one of the following conclusions?
(A) Backers of the tax-incentive proposal undoubtedly have some motive other than their expressed aim of increasing the amount of money available for banks to
loan.
(B) The proposed tax incentive is unlikely to attract enough additional money into personal savings accounts to make up for the attendant loss in tax revenues.
(C) A tax-incentive program that resulted in substantial loss of tax revenues would be likely to generate a large increase in personal savings.
(D) The economy will be in danger unless some alternative to increased personal savings can be found to stimulate growth.
(E) The government has no effective means of influencing the amount of money that people are willing to put into savings accounts.

15. The author criticizes the proposed tax-incentive program by
(A) challenging a premise on which the proposal is based
(B) pointing out a disagreement among policymakers
(C) demonstrating that the proposal’s implementation is not feasible
(D) questioning the judgment of the proposal’s backers by citing past cases in which they had advocated programs that have proved ineffective
(E) disputing the assumption that a program to encourage personal savings is needed

16. Although all birds have feathers and all birds have wings, some birds do not fly. For example, penguins and ostriches use their wings to move in a different way from other birds. Penguins use their wings only to swim under water at high speeds. Ostriches use their wings only to run with the wind by lifting them as if they were sails. Which one of the following is most parallel in its reasoning to the argument above?
(A) Ancient philosophers tried to explain not how the world functions but why it functions. In contrast, most contemporary biologists seek comprehensive theories of
how organisms function, but many refuse to speculate about purpose.
(B) Some chairs are used only as decorations, and other chairs are used only to tame lions. Therefore, not all chairs are used for sitting in despite the fact that all
chairs have a seat and some support such as legs.
(C) Some musicians in a symphony orchestra play the violin, and others play the viola, but these are both in the same category of musical instruments, namely string
instruments.
(D) All cars have similar drive mechanisms, but some cars derive their power from solar energy, whereas others burn gasoline. Thus, solar-powered cars are less
efficient than gasoline-powered ones.
(E) Sailing ships move in a different way from steamships. Both sailing ships and steamships navigate over water, but only sailing ships use sails to move over the
surface.

Questions 17-18

Jones: Prehistoric wooden tools found in South America have been dated to 13,000 years ago. Although scientists attribute these tools to peoples whose ancestors first crossed into the Americas from Siberia to Alaska, this cannot be correct. In order to have reached a site so far south, these peoples must have been migrating southward well before 13,000 years ago. However, no such tools dating to before 13,000 years ago have been found anywhere between Alaska and South America. Smith: Your evidence is inconclusive. Those tools were found in peat bogs, which are rare in the Americas. Wooden tools in soils other than peat bogs usually decompose within only a few years.

17. The point at issue between Jones and Smith is
(A) whether all prehistoric tools that are 13,000 years or older were made of wood
(B) whether the scientists’ attribution of tools could be correct in light of Jones’s evidence
(C) whether the dating of the wooden tools by the scientists could be correct
(D) how long ago the peoples who crossed into the American from Siberia to Alaska first did so
(E) whether Smith’s evidence entails that the wooden tools have been dated correctly

18. Smith responds to Jones by
(A) citing several studies that invalidate Jones’s conclusion
(B) accusing Jones of distorting the scientists’ position
(C) disputing the accuracy of the supporting evidence cited by Jones
(D) showing that Jones’s evidence actually supports the denial of Jones’s conclusion
(E) challenging an implicit assumption in Jones’s argument

19. Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities were living up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities, the best-selling publications in most university bookstores would not be frivolous ones like TV Today and Gossip Review. However, in most university bookstores the only publication that sells better than Gossip Review is TV Today. If the statements in the editorial are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
(A) People who purchase publications that are devoted primarily to gossip or to television programming are intellectually irresponsible.
(B) It is irresponsible for university bookstores to carry publications such as Gossip Review and TV Today.
(C) Most people who purchase publications at university bookstores purchase either TV Today or Gossip Review.
(D) Many people who attend this country’s universities fail to live up to both their moral and their intellectual responsibilities.
(E) At least some of this country’s universities are not meeting their moral responsibilities or their intellectual responsibilities or both.

Questions 20-21

Saunders: Everyone at last week’s neighborhood association meeting agreed that the row of abandoned and vandalized houses on Carlton Street posed a threat to the safety of our neighborhood. Moreover, no one now disputes that getting the houses torn down eliminated that threat. Some people tried to argue that it was unnecessary to demolish what they claimed were basically sound buildings, since the city had established a fund to help people in need of housing buy and rehabilitate such buildings. The overwhelming success of the demolition strategy, however, proves that the majority, who favored demolition, were right and that those who claimed that the problem could and should be solved by rehabilitating the houses were wrong.

20. Which one of the following principles, if established, would determine that demolishing the houses was the right decision or instead would determine that the proposal advocated by the opponents of demolition should have been adopted?
(A) When what to do about an abandoned neighborhood building is in dispute, the course of action that would result in the most housing for people who need it
should be the one adopted unless the building is believed to pose a threat to neighborhood safety.
(B) When there are two proposals for solving a neighborhood problem, and only one of them would preclude the possibility of trying the other approach if the first
proves unsatisfactory, then the approach that does not foreclose the other possibility should be the one adopted.
(C) If one of two proposals for renovating vacant neighborhood buildings requires government funding whereas the second does not, the second proposal should be
the one adopted unless the necessary government funds have already been secured.
(D) No plan for eliminating a neighborhood problem that requires demolishing basically sound houses should be carried out until all other possible alternatives have
been thoroughly investigated.
(E) No proposal for dealing with a threat to a neighborhood’s safety should be adopted merely because a majority of the residents of that neighborhood prefer that
proposal to a particular counterproposal.

21. Saunders’ reasoning is flawed because it
(A) relies on fear rather than on argument to persuade the neighborhood association to reject the policy advocated by Saunders’ opponents
(B) fails to establish that there is anyone who could qualify for city funds who would be interested in buying and rehabilitating the houses
(C) mistakenly equates an absence of vocal public dissent with the presence of universal public support
(D) offers no evidence that the policy advocated by Saunders’ opponents would not have succeeded if it had been given the chance
(E) does not specify the precise nature of the threat to neighborhood safety supposedly posed by the vandalized houses

22. For the writers who first gave feudalism its name, the existence of feudalism presupposed the existence of a noble class. Yet there cannot be a noble class, properly speaking, unless both the titles that indicate superior, noble status and the inheritance of such titles are sanctioned by law. Although feudalism existed in Europe as early as the eighth century, it was not until the twelfth century, when many feudal institutions were in decline, that the hereditary transfer of legally recognized titles of nobility first appeared. The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following claims?
(A) To say that feudalism by definition requires the existence of a nobility is to employ a definition that distorts history.
(B) Prior to the twelfth century, the institution of European feudalism functioned without the presence of a dominant class.
(C) The fact that a societal group has a distinct legal status is not in itself sufficient to allow that group to be properly considered a social class.
(D) The decline of feudalism in Europe was the only cause of the rise of a European nobility.
(E) The prior existence of feudal institutions is a prerequisite for the emergence of a nobility, as defined in the strictest sense of the term.

23. Mayor Smith, one of our few government officials with a record of outspoken, informed, and consistent opposition to nuclear power plant construction projects, has now declared herself in favor of building the nuclear power plant at Littletown. If someone with her past antinuclear record now favors building this power plant, then there is good reason to believe that it will be safe and therefore should be built. The argument is vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?
(A) It overlooks the possibility that not all those who fail to speak out on issues of nuclear power are necessarily opposed to it.
(B) It assumes without warrant that the qualities enabling a person to be elected to public office confer on that person a grasp of the scientific principles on which
technical decisions are based.
(C) It fails to establish that a consistent and outspoken opposition is necessarily an informed opposition.
(D) It leads to the further but unacceptable conclusion that any project favored by Mayor Smith should be sanctioned simply on the basis of her having spoken out
in favor of it.
(E) It gives no indication of either the basis of Mayor Smith’s former opposition to nuclear power plant construction or the reasons for her support for the Littletown
project.

24. Advertisement: In today’s world, you make a statement about the person you are by the car you own. The message of the SKX Mach-5 is unambiguous: Its owner is Dynamic, Aggressive, and Successful. Shouldn’t you own an SKX Mach-5? If the claims made in the advertisement are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
(A) Anyone who is dynamic and aggressive is also successful.
(B) Anyone who is not both dynamic and successful would misrepresent himself or herself by being the owner of an SKX Mach-5.
(C) People who buy the SKX Mach-5 are usually more aggressive than people who buy other cars.
(D) No car other than the SKX Mach-5 announces that its owner is successful.
(E) Almost no one would fail to recognize the kind of person who would choose to own an SKX Mach-5.

25. The great medieval universities had no administrators, yet they endured for centuries. Our university has a huge administrative staff, and we are in serious financial difficulties. Therefore, we should abolish the positions and salaries of the administrators to ensure the longevity of the university. Which one of the following arguments contains flawed reasoning that most closely parallels the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
(A) No airplane had jet engines before 1940, yet airplanes had been flying since 1903. Therefore, jet engines are not necessary for the operation of airplanes.
(B) The novelist’s stories began to be accepted for publication soon after she started using a computer to write them. You have been having trouble getting your
stories accepted for publication, and you do not use a computer. To make sure your stories are accepted for publication, then, you should write them with the aid of
a computer.
(C) After doctors began using antibiotics, the number of infections among patients dropped drastically. Now, however, resistant strains of bacteria cannot be
controlled by standard antibiotics. Therefore, new methods of control are needed.
(D) A bicycle should not be ridden without a helmet. Since a good helmet can save the rider’s life, a helmet should be considered the most important piece of
bicycling equipment.
(E) The great cities of the ancient world were mostly built along waterways. Archaeologists searching for the remains of such cities should therefore try to determine
where major rivers used to run.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 24 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Rita: The original purpose of government farm subsidy programs was to provide income stability for small family farmers. But most farm-subsidy money goes to a few farmers with large holdings. Payments to farmers whose income, before subsidies, is greater than $100,000 a year should be stopped. Thomas: It would be impossible to administer such a cutoff point. Subsidies are needed during the planting and growing season, but farmers do not know their income for given calendar year until tax returns are calculated and submitted the following April. Which one of the following, if true, is the strongest counter Rita can make to Thomas’ objection?
(A) It has become difficult for small farmers to obtain bank loans to be repaid later by money from subsidies.
(B) Having such a cutoff point would cause some farmers whose income would otherwise exceed $100,000 to reduce their plantings.
(C) The income of a farmer varies because weather and market prices are not stable from year to year.
(D) If subsidy payments to large farmers were eliminated the financial condition of the government would improve.
(E) Subsidy cutoffs can be determined on the basis of income for the preceding year.

2. Modern physicians often employ laboratory tests, in addition to physical examinations, in order to diagnose diseases accurately. Insurance company regulations that deny coverage for certain laboratory tests therefore decrease the quality of medical care provided to patients. Which one of the following is an assumption that would serve to justify the conclusion above?
(A) Physical examinations and the uncovered laboratory tests together provide a more accurate diagnosis of many diseases than do physical examinations alone.
(B) Many physicians generally oppose insurance company regulations that, in order to reduce costs, limit the use of laboratory tests.
(C) Many patients who might benefit from the uncovered laboratory tests do not have any form of health insurance.
(D) There are some illnesses that experienced physicians can diagnose accurately from physicians examination alone.
(E) Laboratory tests are more costly to perform than are physical examinations.

3. Oil analysis predict that if the price of oil fails by half, the consumer’s purchase price for gasoline made from this oil will also fall by half. Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the prediction made by the oil analysts?
(A) Improved automobile technology and new kinds of fuel for cars have enabled some drivers to use less gasoline.
(B) Gasoline manufacturers will not expand their profit margins.
(C) There are many different gasoline companies that compete with each other to provide the most attractive price to consumers.
(D) Studies in several countries show that the amount of gasoline purchased by consumers initially rises after the price of gasoline has fallen.
(E) Refining costs, distribution costs, and taxes, none of which varies significantly with oil prices, constitute a large portion of the prices of gasoline.

4. A survey was recently conducted among ferry passengers on the North Sea. Among the results was this: more of those who had taken anti- easickness medication before their trip reported symptoms of seasickness than those who had not taken such medication. It is clear, then that despite claims by drug companies that clinical tests show the contrary, people would be better off not taking anti-seasickness medications. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion above?
(A) Given rough enough weather, most ferry passengers will have some symptoms of seasickness.
(B) The clinical tests reported by the drug companies were conducted by the drug companies’ staffs.
(C) People who do not take anti-seasickness medication are just as likely to respond to a survey on seasickness as people who do.
(D) The seasickness symptoms of the people who took anti-seasickness medication would have been more severe had they not taken the medication.
(E) People who have spent money on anti-seasickness medication are less likely to admit symptoms of seasickness than those who have not.

5. Economic considerations color every aspect of international dealings, and nations are just like individuals in that the lender sets the terms of its dealings with the borrower. That is why a nation that owes money to another nation cannot be world leader. The reasoning in the passage assumes which one of the following?
(A) A nation that does not lend to any other nation cannot be a world leader.
(B) A nation that can set the terms of its dealings with other nations is certain to be a world leader.
(C) A nation that has the terms of its dealings with another nation set by that nation cannot be a world leader.
(D) A nation that is a world leader can borrow from another nation as long as that other nation does not set the terms of the dealings between the two nations.
(E) A nation that has no dealings with any other nation cannot be world leader.

Questions 6-7

Rotelle: You are too old to address effectively the difficult issues facing the country, such as nuclear power, poverty, and pollution. Sims: I don’t want to make age an issue in this campaign, so I will not comment on your youth and inexperience.

6. Sims does which one of the following?
(A) demonstrates that Rotelle’s claim is incorrect(B) avoids mentioning the issue of age
(C) proposes a way to decide which issues are important
(D) shows that Rotelle’s statement is self-contradictory
(E) fails to respond directly to Rotelle’s claim

7. Rotelle is committed to which one of the following?
(A) Many old people cannot effectively address the difficult issues facing the country.
(B) Those at least as old as Sims are the only people who cannot effectively address the difficult issues facing the country.
(C) Some young people can effectively address the difficult issues facing the country.
(D) If anyone can effectively address the difficult issues facing the country, that person must be younger than Sims.
(E) Addressing the difficult issues facing the country requires an understanding of young people’s points of view.

8. Political theorist: The chief foundations of all governments are the legal system and the police force; and as there cannot be a good legal system where the police are not well paid. It follows that where the police are well paid there will be good legal system. The reasoning in the argument is not sound because it fails to establish that:
(A) many governments with bad legal systems have poorly paid police forces
(B) bad governments with good legal systems must have poorly paid police forces
(C) a well-paid police force cannot be effective without a good legal system
(D) a well-paid police force is sufficient to guarantee a good legal system
(E) some bad governments have good legal systems

9. Court records from medieval France show that in the years 1300 to 1400 the number of people arrested in the French realm for “violent interpersonal crimes” (not committed in wars) increased by 30 percent over the number of people arrested for such crimes in the years 1200 to 1300. If the increase was not the result of false arrests, therefore, medieval France had a higher level of documented interpersonal violence in the years 1300 to 1400 than in the years 1200 to 1300. Which one of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) In the years 1300 to 1400 the French government’s category of violent crimes included an increasing variety of interpersonal crimes that are actually nonviolent.
(B) Historical accounts by monastic chroniclers in the years 1300 to 1400 are filled with descriptions of violent attacks committed by people living in the French
realm.
(C) The number of individual agreements between two people in which they swore oaths not to attack each other increased substantially after 1300.
(D) When English armies tried to conquer parts of France in the mid- to late 1300s, violence in the northern province of Normandy and the southwestern province
of Gascony increased.
(E) The population of medical France increased substantially during the first five decades of the 1300s, until the deadly bubonic plague decimated the population of
France after 1348.

10. Rhizobium bacteria living in the roots of bean plants or other legumes produce fixed nitrogen which is one of the essential plant nutrients and which for non-legume crops, such as wheat, normally must be supplied by applications of nitrogen-based fertilizer. So if biotechnology succeeds in producing wheat strains whose roots will play host to Rhizobium bacteria, the need for artificial fertilizers will be reduced. The argument above makes which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Biotechnology should be directed toward producing plants that do not require artificial fertilizer.
(B) Fixed nitrogen is currently the only soil nutrient that must be supplied by artificial fertilizer for growing wheat crops.
(C) There are no naturally occurring strains of wheat or other grasses that have Rhizobium bacteria living in their roots.
(D) Legumes are currently the only crops that produce their own supply of fixed nitrogen.
(E) Rhizobium bacteria living in the roots of wheat would produce fixed nitrogen.

11. Current legislation that requires designated sections for smokers and nonsmokers on the premises of privately owned businesses is an intrusion into the privately owned businesses is an intrusion into the private sector that cannot be justified. The fact that studies indicate that nonsmokers might be harmed by inhaling the smoke from others’ cigarettes is not the main issue. Rather, the main issue concerns the government’s violation of the right of private businesses to determine their own policies and rule. Which one of the following is principle that, if accepted, could enable the conclusion to be properly drawn?
(A) Government intrusion into the policies and rules of private businesses is justified only when individuals might be harmed.
(B) The right of individuals to breathe safe air supersedes the right of businesses to be free from government intrusion.
(C) The right of businesses to self-determination overrides whatever right or duty the government may have to protect the individual.
(D) It is the duty of private businesses to protect employees from harm in the workplace.
(E) Where the rights of businesses and the duty of government conflict, the main issue is finding a successful compromise.

12. Leachate is a solution, frequently highly contaminated, that develops when water permeates a landfill site. If and only if the landfill’s capacity to hold liquids is exceeded does the leachate escape into the environment, generally in unpredictable quantities. A method must be found for disposing of leachate. Most landfill leachate is send directly to sewage treatment plants, but not all sewage plants are capable of handling the highly contaminated water. Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(A) The ability to predict the volume of escaping landfill leachate would help solve the disposal problem.
(B) If any water permeates a landfill, leachate will escape into the environment.
(C) No sewage treatment plants are capable of handling leachate.
(D) Some landfill leachate is send to sewage treatment plants that are incapable of handling it.
(E) If leachate does not escape from a landfill into the environment, then the landfill’s capacity to hold liquids has not been exceeded.

13. The soaring prices of scholarly and scientific journals have forced academic libraries used only by academic researchers to drastically reduce their list of subscriptions. Some have suggested that in each academic discipline subscription decisions should be determined solely by a journal’s usefulness in that discipline, measured by the frequency with which it is cited in published writings by researchers in the discipline. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the suggestion described above?
(A) The nonacademic readership of a scholarly or scientific journal can be accurately gauged by the number of times articles appearing in it are cited in daily
newspapers and popular magazines.
(B) The average length of a journal article in some sciences, such as physics, is less than half the average length of a journal article in some other academic
disciplines, such as history.
(C) The increasingly expensive scholarly journals are less and less likely to be available to the general public from nonacademic public libraries.
(D) Researchers often will not cite a journal article that has influenced their work if they think that the journal in which it appears is not highly regarded by the leading
researchers in the mainstream of the discipline.
(E) In some academic disciplines, controversies which begin in the pages of one journal spill over into articles in other journals that are widely read by researchers in
the discipline.

14. The average level of fat in the blood of people suffering from acute cases of disease W is lower than the average level for the population as a whole. Nevertheless, most doctors believe that reducing blood-fat levels is an effective way of preventing acute W. Which one of the following, if true, does most to justify this apparently paradoxical belief?
(A) The blood level of fat for patients who have been cured of W is on average the same as that for the population at large.
(B) Several of the symptoms characteristic of acute W have been produced in laboratory animals fed large doses of a synthetic fat substitute, though acute W itself
has not been produced in this way.
(C) The progression from latent to acute W can occur only when the agent that causes acute W absorbs large quantities of fat from the patient’s blood.
(D) The levels of fat in the blood of patients who have disease W respond abnormally slowly to changes in dietary intake of fat.
(E) High levels of fat in the blood are indicative of several diseases that are just as serious as W.

15. Baking for winter holidays is tradition that may have a sound medical basis. In midwinter, when days are short, many people suffer from a specific type of seasonal depression caused by lack of sunlight. Carbohydrates, both sugars and starches, boost the brain’s levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that improve the mood. In this respect, carbohydrates act on the brain in the same way as some antidepressants. Thus, eating holiday cookies may provide an effective form of self-prescribed medication. Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) Seasonal depression is one of the most easily treated forms of depression.
(B) Lack of sunlight lowers the level of serotonin in the brain.
(C) People are more likely to be depressed in midwinter than at other times of the year.
(D) Some antidepressants act by changing the brain’s level of serotonin.
(E) Raising the level of neurotransmitters in the brain effectively relieves depression.

16. The current proposal to give college students a broader choice in planning their own courses of study should be abandoned. The students who are supporting the proposal will never be satisfied, no matter what requirements are established. Some of these students have reached their third year without declaring a major. One first-year student has failed to complete four required courses. Several others have indicated a serious indifference to grades and intellectual achievement. A flaw in the argument is that it does which one of the following?
(A) avoids the issue by focusing on supporters of the proposal
(B) argues circularly by assuming the conclusion is true in stating the premises
(C) fails to define the critical term “satisfied”
(D) distorts the proposal advocated by opponents
(E) users the term “student” equivocally
Questions 17-18
The question whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is certainly imprecise, because we are not sure how different from us something might be and still count as “intelligent life.” Yet we cannot just decide to define “intelligent life” in some more precise way since it is likely that we will find and recognize intelligent life elsewhere in the universe only if we leave our definitions open to new, unimagined possibilities.
17. The argument can most reasonably be interpreted as an objection to which one of the following claims?
(A) The question whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is one that will never be correctly answered.
(B) Whether or not there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, our understanding of intelligent life is limited.
(C) The question about the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe must be made more precise if we hope to answer it correctly.
(D) The question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is so imprecise as to be meaningless.
(E) The question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is one we should not spend our time trying to answer.
18. The passage, if seen as an objection to an antecedent claim, challenges that claim by:
(A) showing the claim to be irrelevant to the issue at hand
(B) citing examples that fail to fit proposed definition of “intelligent life”
(C) claiming that “intelligent life” cannot be adequately defined
(D) arguing that the claim, if acted on, would be counterproductive
(E) maintaining that the claim is not supported by the available evidence
19. The efficiency of microwave ovens in destroying the harmful bacteria frequently found in common foods is diminished by the presence of salt in the food being cooked. When heated in a microwave oven, the interior of unsalted food reaches temperatures high enough to kill bacteria that cause food poisoning, but the interior of salted food does not. Scientists theorize that salt effectively blocks the microwaves from heating the interior.
Which one of the following conclusions is most supported by the information above?
(A) The kinds of bacteria that cause food poisoning are more likely to be found on the exterior of food than in the interior of food.
(B) The incidence of serious food poisoning would be significantly reduced if microwave ovens were not used by consumers to cook or reheat food.
(C) The addition of salt to food that has been cooked or reheated in a microwave oven can increase the danger of food poisoning.
(D) The danger of food poisoning can be lessened if salt is not used to prepare foods that are to be cooked in a microwave oven.
(E) Salt is the primary cause of food poisoning resulting from food that is heated in microwave ovens.

20. Pamela: Business has an interest in enabling employees to care for children, because those children will be the customers, employees, and managers of the future. Therefore, businesses should adopt policies, such as day-care benefits that facilitate parenting. Lee: No individual company, though, will be patronized, staffed, and managed only by its own employees’ children, so it would not be to a company’s advantage to provide such benefits to employees’ children, so it would not be to a company’s advantage to provide such benefits to employees when other companies do not. In which one of the following pairs consisting of argument and objection does the objection function most similarly to the way Lee’s objection functions in relation to Pamela’s argument?
(A) New roads will not serve to relieve this area’s traffic congestion, because new roads would encourage new construction and generate additional traffic.
Objection: Failure to build new roads would mean that traffic congestion would strangle the area even earlier.
(B) Humanity needs clean air to breathe, so each person should make an effort avoid polluting the air.
Objection: The air one person breathes is affected mainly by pollution caused by others, so it makes no sense to act alone to curb air pollution.
(C) Advertised discounts on products draw customers’ attention to the products， so advertised discounts benefit sales.
Objection: Customers already planning to purchase a product accelerate buying to take advantage of advertised discounts, and those subsequent sales suffer.
(D) If people always told lies, then no one would know what the truth was, so people should always tell the truth. Objection: If people always told lies, then everyone would know that the truth was the opposite of what was said.
(E) Human social institutions have always changed. So even if we do not know what those changes will be, we do know that the social institutions of the future will differ from those of the past. Objection: The existence of change in the past does not ensure that there will always be change in the future.

21. Pedro: Unlike cloth diapers, disposable diapers are a threat to the environment. Sixteen billion disposable diapers are discarded annually, filling up landfills at an alarming rate. So people must stop buying disposable diapers and use cloth diapers. Maria: But you forget that cloth diapers must be washed in hot water, which requires energy. Moreover, the resulting wastewater pollutes our rivers. When families use diaper services, diapers must be delivered by fuel-burning trucks that pollute the air and add to traffic congestion. Maria objects to Pedro’s argument by
(A) claiming that Pedro overstates the negative evidence about disposable diapers in the course of his argument in favor of cloth diapers
(B) indicating that Pedro draws a hasty conclusion, based on inadequate evidence about cloth diapers
(C) pointing out that there is an ambiguous use of the word “disposable” in Pedro’s argument
(D) demonstrating that cloth diapers are a far more serious threat to the environment than disposable diapers are
(E) suggesting that the economic advantages of cloth diapers outweigh whatever environmental damage they may cause

22. In an experiment, two-year-old boys and their fathers made pie dough together using rolling pins and other utensils. Each father-son pair used a rolling pin that was distinctively different from those used by the other father-son pairs, and each father repeated the phrase “rolling pin” each time his son used it. But when the children were asked to identify all of the rolling pins among a group of kitchen utensils that included several rolling pins, each child picked only the one that he had used. Which one of the following inferences is most supported by the information above?
(A) The children did not grasp the function of rolling pin.
(B) No two children understood the name “rolling pin” to apply to the same object.
(C) The children understood that all rolling pins have the same general shape.
(D) Each child was able to identify correctly only the utensils that he had used.
(E) The children were not able to distinguish the rolling pins they used from other rolling pins.

23. When 100 people who have not used cocaine are tested for cocaine use, on average only 5 will test positive. By contrast, of every 100 people who have used cocaine 99 will test positive. Thus, when a randomly chosen group of people is tested for cocaine use, the vast majority of those who test positive will be people who have used cocaine. A reasoning error in the argument is that the argument
(A) attempts to infer a value judgment from purely factual premises
(B) attributes to every member of the population the properties of the average member of the population
(C) fails to take into account what proportion of the population have used cocaine
(D) ignores the fact that some cocaine users do not test positive
(E) advocates testing people for cocaine use when there is no reason to suspect that they have used cocaine

24. If a society encourages freedom of thought and expression, then, during the time when it does so, creativity will flourish in that society. In the United States creativity flourished during the eighteenth century. It is clear, therefore, that freedom of thought was encouraged in the United States during the eighteenth century. An error of reasoning of the same kind as one contained in the passage is present in each of the following arguments EXCEPT:
(A) According to the airline industry, airfares have to rise if air travel is to be made safer; since airfares were just raised, we can rest assured that air travel will
therefore become safer.
(B) We can conclude that the Hillside police department has improved its efficiency, because crime rates are down in Hillside, and it is an established fact that crime
rates go down when police departments increase their efficiency.
(C) People who are really interested in the preservation of wildlife obviously do not go hunting for big game; since Gerda has never gone hunting for big game and
intends never to do so, it is clear that she is really interested in the preservation of wildlife.
(D) If the contents of a bottle are safe to drink, the bottle will not be marked “poison,” so, since the bottle is not marked “poison,” its contents will be safe to drink.
(E) None of the so-called Western democracies is really democratic, because, for a country to be democratic, the opinion of each of its citizens must have a
meaningful effect on government, and in none of these countries does each citizen’s opinion have such an effect.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Terry: If you want to get a decent job, you should go to college. Mark: That is not true. There are other reasons to go to college than wanting to get a good job. Mark’s response shows that he interpreted Terry’s remarks to mean that
(A) college is one of many places to get trained for a job
(B) decent jobs are obtained only by persons who have gone to college
(C) wanting to get a decent job is the only reason for going to college
(D) training for decent jobs is available only at colleges
(E) all people who want decent jobs go to college

2. Several studies have shown that hospitals are not all equally successful: patients are much more likely to die in some of them than in others. Since the hospitals in the studies had approximately equal per-patient funding, differences in the quality of care provided by hospital staff are probably responsible for the differences in mortality rates. Which one of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) The staff in some of the hospitals studied had earned more advanced degrees, on average, than the staff in the other hospitals.
(B) Patient populations vary substantially in average severity of illness from hospital to hospital.
(C) The average number of years that staff members stay on at a given job varies considerably from one hospital to another.
(D) Approximately the same surgical procedures were performed in each of the hospitals covered in the studies.
(E) Mortality rates for hospital patients do not vary considerably from one region of the country to anther.

Questions 3-4

The United States government generally tries to protect valuable natural resources. But one resource has been ignored for too long. In the United States, each bushel of corn produced might result in the loss of as much as two bushels of topsoil. Moreover, in the last 100 years, the topsoil in many states, which once was about fourteen inches thick, has been eroded to only six or eight inches. Nonetheless, federal expenditures for nationwide soil conservation programs have remained at ridiculously low levels. Total federal expenditures for nationwide soil conservation programs have been less than the allocations of some individual states.

3. Which one of the following best expresses the main point of the argument?
(A) Corn is not a cost-effective product and substitutes should be found where possible.
(B) A layer of topsoil only six to eight inches thick cannot support the continued cultivation of corn.
(C) Soil conservation is a responsibility of the federal government, not the states.
(D) The federal government’s expenditures for soil conservation in the various states have been inequitable.
(E) The federal government should spend much more on soil conservation than it has been spending.

4. In stating the argument, the author does which one of the following?
(A) makes a detailed statistical projection of future topsoil loss
(B) makes a generalization about total reduction in topsoil depth in all states
(C) assumes that the United States government does not place a high value on its natural resources
(D) refrains from using slanted language concerning the level of federal expenditures
(E) compares state expenditures with federal expenditures

5. Animals with a certain behavioral disorder have unusually high level of aluminum in their brain tissue. Since a silicon-based compound binds to aluminum and prevents it from affecting the brain tissue. Animals can be cured of the disorder by being treated with the compound. The argument is based on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Animals with the disorder have unusually high but invariable levels of aluminum in their brain tissue.
(B) Aluminum is the cause of the disorder rather than merely an effect of it.
(C) Introducing the compound into the brain tissue has no side effects.
(D) The amount of the compound needed to neutralize the aluminum in an animal’s brain tissue varies depending upon the species.
(E) Aluminum is never present in normal brain tissue.

6. As air-breathing mammals, whales must once have lived on land and needed hind limbs capable of supporting the mammals’ weight. Whales have the bare remnants of a pelvis. If animals have a pelvis, we expect them to have hind limbs. A newly discovered fossilized whale skeleton has very fragile hind limbs that could not have supported the animal’s weight on land. This skeleton had a partial pelvis. If the statements above are true, which one of the following, if also true, would most strongly support the conclusion that the fragile hind limbs are remnants of limbs that land-dwelling whales once had?
(A) Whale bones older than the fossilized hind limbs confirm that ancient whales had full pelvises.
(B) No skeletons of ancient whales with intact hind limbs capable of supporting the mammals’ weight have ever been found.
(C) Scientists are uncertain whether the apparently nonfunctioning limbs of other early mammals derived from once-functioning limbs of their ancestors.
(D) Other large-bodied mammals like seals and sea lions maneuver on beaches and rocky coasts without fully functioning hind limbs.
(E) Some smaller sea-dwelling mammals, such as modern dolphins, have no visible indications of hind limbs.

7. The stated goal of the government’s funding program for the arts is to encourage the creation of works of artistic excellence. Senator Beton claims, however, that a government-funded artwork can never reflect the independent artistic conscience of the artist because artists, like anyone else who accepts financial support, will inevitably try to please those who control the distribution of that support. Senator Beton concludes that government funding of the arts not only is a burden on taxpayers but also cannot lead to the creation of works of true artistic excellence. Which one of the following is an assumption on which Senator Beton’s argument is based?
(A) Most taxpayers have little or no interest in the creation of works of true artistic excellence.
(B) Government funding of the arts is more generous than other financial support most artists receive.
(C) Distribution of government funds for the arts is based on a broad agreement as to what constitutes artistic excellence.
(D) Once an artist has produced works of true artistic excellence, he or she will never accept government funding.
(E) A contemporary work of art that does not reflect the independent artistic conscience of the artist cannot be a work of true artistic excellence.

8. Older United States automobiles have been identified as contributing disproportionately to global air pollution. The requirement in many jurisdictions that automobiles pass emission-control inspections has had the effect of taking many such automobiles out of service in the United States, as they fail inspection and their owners opt to buy newer automobiles. Thus the burden of pollution such older United States automobiles contribute to the global atmosphere will be gradually reduced over the next decade. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) It is impossible to separate the air of one country or jurisdiction from that of others.
(B) When automobiles that are now new become older, they will, because of a design change, cause less air pollution than older automobiles do now.
(C) There is a thriving market for used older Untied States automobiles that are exported to regions that have no emission-control regulations.
(D) The number of jurisdictions in the United States requiring automobiles to pass emission-control inspections is no longer increasing.
(E) Even if all the older automobiles in the United States were retired from service, air pollution from United States automobiles could still increase if the total
number of automobiles in use should increase significantly.

9. The journalistic practice of fabricating remarks after an interview and printing them within quotation marks, as if they were the interviewee’s own words, has been decried as a form of unfair misrepresentation. However, people’s actual spoken remarks rarely convey their ideas as clearly as does a distillation of those ideas crafted, after an interview, by a skilled writer. Therefore, since this practice avoids the more serious misrepresentation that would occur if people’s exact words were quoted but their ideas only partially expressed, it is entirely defensible. Which one of the following is a questionable technique used in the argument?
(A) answering an exaggerated charge by undermining the personal authority of those who made that charge
(B) claiming that the prestige of a profession provides ample grounds for dismissing criticisms of that profession
(C) offering as an adequate defense of a practice an observation that discredits only one of several possible alternatives to that practice
(D) concluding that a practice is right on the grounds that it is necessary
(E) using the opponent’s admission that a practice is sometimes appropriate as conclusive proof that that practice is never inappropriate

10. The reforms to improve the quality of public education that have been initiated on the part of suppliers of public education have been insufficient. Therefore, reforms must be demanded by consumers. Parents should be given government vouchers with which to pay for their children’s education and should be allowed to choose the schools at which the vouchers will be spent. To attract students, academically underachieving schools will be forced to improve their academic offerings. The argument assumes that
(A) in selecting schools parents would tend to prefer a reasonable level of academic quality to greater sports opportunities or more convenient location
(B) improvement in the academic offerings of schools will be enforced by the discipline of the job market in which graduating students compete
(C) there is a single best way to educate students
(D) children are able to recognize which schools are better and would influence their parents’ decisions
(E) schools would each improve all of their academic offerings and would not tend to specialize in one particular field to the exclusion of others

11. Professor Smith published a paper arguing that a chemical found in minute quantities in most drinking water had an adverse effect on the human nervous system. Existing scientific theory held that no such effect was possible because there was no neural mechanism for bringing it about. Several papers by well-known scientists in the field followed, unanimously purporting to prove Professor Smith wrong. This clearly shows that the scientific establishment was threatened by Professor Smith’s work and conspired to discredit it. Which one of the following is the central flaw in the argument given by the author of the passage?
(A) The author passes over the possibility that Professor Smith had much to gain should Professor Smith’s discovery have found general acceptance.
(B) The author fails to mention whether or not Professor Smith knew that the existence of the alleged new effect was incompatible with established scientific theory.
(C) The author fails to show why the other scientists could not have been presenting evidence in order to establish the truth of the matter.
(D) The author neglects to clarify what his or her relationship to Professor Smith is.
(E) The author fails to indicate what, if any, effect the publication of Professor Smith’s paper had on the public’s confidence in the safety of most drinking water.

12. The number of North American children who are obese—that is, who have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age—is steadily increasing, according to four major studies conducted over the past 15 years. If the finding reported above is correct, it can be properly concluded that
(A) when four major studies all produce similar results, those studies must be accurate
(B) North American children have been progressively less physically active over the past 15 years
(C) the number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years
(D) over the past 15 years, the number of North American children who are underweight has declined
(E) the incidence of obesity in North American children tends to increase as the children grow older

13. Economist: Money, no matter what its form and in almost every culture in which it has been used, derives its value from its scarcity, whether real or perceived. Anthropologist: But cowrie shells formed the major currency in the Solomon Island economy of the Kwara’ae, and unlimited numbers of these shells washed up daily on the beaches to which the kwara’ae had access. Which one of the following, if true, about the Kwara’ae, best serves to resolve the apparently conflicting positions cited above?
(A) During festivals they exchanged strings of cowrie-shell money with each other as part of a traditional ritual that honored their elders.
(B) They considered porpoise teeth valuable, and these were generally threaded on strings to be worn as jewelry.
(C) The shells used as money by men were not always from the same species of cowrie as those used as money by women.
(D) They accepted as money only cowrie shells that were polished and carved by a neighboring people, and such shell preparation required both time and skilled
labor.
(E) After Western traders brought money in the form of precious-metal coins to the Solomon Islands, Cowrie-shell money continued to be used as one of the major
media of exchange for both goods and services.

14. School superintendent: It is a sad fact that, until now, entry into the academically best high school in our district has been restricted to the children of people who were wealthy enough to pay the high tuition. Parents who were previously denied the option of sending their children to this school now have this option, since I am replacing the tuition requirement with a requirement that allows only those who live in the neighborhood of the school to attend. The superintendent’s claim about the effect of replacing the tuition requirement relies on the assumption that
(A) the residents of the school’s neighborhood tend to be wealthy
(B) people other than those wealthy enough to have paid the old tuition are able to live in the neighborhood of the school
(C) people less wealthy than those who were able to pay the old tuition are in the majority in the district
(D) there are no high schools in the district other than the one referred to by the superintendent
(E) there are many people not wealthy enough to have paid the old tuition who wish to have their children attend the school

15. The Scorpio Miser with its special high-efficiency engine costs more to buy than the standard Scorpio sports car. At current fuel prices, a buyer choosing the Miser would have to drive it 60,000 miles to make up the difference in purchase price through savings on fuel. It follows that, if fuel prices fell, it would take fewer miles to reach the break-even point. Which one of the following arguments contains an error of reasoning similar to that in the argument above?
(A) The true annual rate of earnings on an interest-bearing account is the annual rate of interest less the annual rate of inflation. Consequently, if the rate of inflation
drips, the rate of interest can be reduced by an equal amount without there being a change in the true rate of earnings.
(B) For retail food stores, the Polar freezer, unlike the Arctic freezer, provides a consistent temperature that allows the store to carry premium frozen foods. Thus, if
electricity rates fell, a lower volume of premium-food sales could justify choosing the Polar freezer.
(C) With the Roadmaker, a crew can repave a mile of decayed road in less time than with the competing model, which is, however, much less expensive. Reduced
staffing levels made possible by the Roadmaker eventually compensate for its higher price. Therefore, the Roadmaker is especially advantageous where average
wages are low.
(D) The improve strain the Northland apple tree bears fruit younger and lives longer than the standard strain. The standard strain does grow larger at maturity, but to
allow for this, standard trees must be spaced farther apart. Therefore, new plantings should all be of the improved strain.
(E) Stocks pay dividends, which vary from year to year depending on profits made. Bonds pay interest, which remains constant from year to year. Therefore, since
the interest earned on bonds does not decrease when economic conditions decline, investors interested in a reliable income should choose bonds.

16. Approximately 7.6 million women who earn incomes have preschool-age children, and approximately 6.4 million women are the sole income earners’ for their families. These figures indicate that there are comparatively few income-earning women who have preschool-age children but are not the sole income earners for their families. A major flaw in the reasoning is that it
(A) relies in figures that are too imprecise to support the conclusion drawn
(B) overlooks the possibility that there is little or no overlap between the two populations of women cited
(C) fails to indicate whether the difference between the two figures cited will tend to remain stable over time
(D) ignores the possibility, that families with preschool-age children might also have older children
(E) provides no information on families in which men are the sole income earners

17. Being articulate has been equated with having a large vocabulary. Actually, however, people with large vocabularies have no incentive for, and tend not to engage in, the kind of creative linguistic self-expression that is required when no available words seem adequate. Thus a large vocabulary is a hindrance to using language in a truly articulate way. Which one of the following is an assumption made in the argument?
(A) When people are truly articulate, they have the capacity to express themselves in situations in which their vocabularies seem inadequate.
(B) People who are able to express themselves creatively in new situations have little incentive to acquire large vocabularies.
(C) The most articulate people are people who have large vocabularies but also are able to express themselves creatively when the situation demands it.
(D) In educating people’ to be more articulate, it would be futile to try to increase the size of their vocabularies.
(E) In unfamiliar situations, even people with large Vocabularies often do not have specifically suitable words available.

Questions 18-19

Dr. Schilling: Those who advocate replacing my country’s private health insurance system with nationalized health insurance because of the rising costs of medical care fail to consider the high human costs that consumers pay in countries with nationalized insurance: access to high-technology medicine is restricted. Kidney transplants and open-heart surgery—familiar life-saving procedures—are rationed. People are denied their right to treatments they want and need. Dr. Laforte: Your country’s reliance on private health insurance denies access even to basic, conventional medicine to the many people who cannot afford adequate health coverage. With nationalized insurance, rich and poor have equal access to life-saving medical procedures. And people’s right to decent medical treatment regardless of income is not violated.

18. Dr. Schilling’s and Dr. Laforte’s statements provide the most support for holding that they would disagree about the truth of which one of the following?
(A) People’s rights are violated less when they are denied an available medical treatment they need because they lack the means to pay for it than when they are
denied such treatment on noneconomic grounds.
(B) Where health insurance is provided by private insurance companies, people who are wealthy generally receive better health care than do people who are unable
to afford health insurance.
(C) In countries that rely primarily on private health insurance to pay for medical costs, most people who would benefit from a kidney transplant receive one.
(D) In countries with nationalized health insurance, no one who needs a familiar medical treatment in order to stay alive is denied that treatment.
(E) Anyone who wants a particular medical treatment has a right to receive that treatment.

19. In responding to Dr. Schillihng, Dr. Laforte employs which one of the following argumentative strategies?
(A) showing that the objections raised by Dr. Schilling have no bearing on the question of which of the two systems under consideration is the superior system
(B) calling into question Dr. Schilling’s status as an authority on the issue of whether consumers’ access to medical treatments is restricted in countries with
nationalized health insurance
(C) producing counterexamples to Dr. Schilling’s claims that nationalized health insurance schemes extract high human costs from consumers
(D) demonstrating that Dr. Schilling’s reasoning is persuasive only because of his ambiguous use of the key word “consumer”
(E) showing that the force of Dr. Schilling’s criticism depends on construing the key notion of access in a particular limited way

20. A certain viral infection is widespread among children, and about 30 percent of children infected with the virus develop middle ear infections. Antibiotics, although effective in treating bacterial infections, have no effect on the virus. Yet when middle ear infections in children infected with the virus are treated with antibiotics, the ear infections often clear up. Which one of the following most helps to explain the success of the treatments with antibiotics?
(A) Although some types of antibiotics fail to clear up certain infections, other types of antibiotics might provide effective treatment for those infections.
(B) Children infected with the virus are particularly susceptible to bacteria that infect the middle ear.
(C) Many children who develop middle ear infections are not infected with the virus.
(D) Most viral infections are more difficult to treat than are most bacterial infections.
(E) Among children not infected with the virus, fewer than 30 percent develop middle ear infections.

21. Naturalist: For decades we have known that the tuatara, a New Zealand reptile, has been approaching extinction on the South Island. But since South Island tuatara were thought to be of the same species as North Island tuatara there was no need to protect them. But new research indicates that the South Island tuatara are a distinct species, found only in that location. Because it is now known that if the South Island tuatara are lost an entire species will thereby be lost, human beings are now obliged to prevent their extinction, even if it means killing many of their unendangered natural predators. Which one of the following principles most helps to justify the naturalists’ argumentation?
(A) In order to maximize the number of living things on Earth, steps should be taken to preserve all local populations of animals.
(B) When an animal is in danger of dying, there is an obligation to help save its life, if doing so would not interfere with the health or well-being of other animals or
people.
(C) The threat of local extinction imposes no obligation to try to prevent that extinction, whereas the threat of global extinction does impose such an obligation.
(D) Human activities that either intentionally or unintentionally threaten the survival of an animal species ought to be curtailed.
(E) Species that are found in only one circumscribed geographical region ought to be given more care and attention than are other species because they are more
vulnerable to extinction.

22. Nursing schools cannot attract a greater number of able applicants than they currently do unless the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are solved. If the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level, either the profession will have to lower its entrance standards, or there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses. It is not certain, however, that lowering entrance standards will avert a shortage. It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards of the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained. Which one of the following can be property inferred from the passage?
(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently
does.
(B) The nursing profession will have to lower its entrance standards if the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level.
(C) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, high quality health care will be maintained.
(D) If the nursing profession fails to solve the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses.
(E) The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are not
solved.

Questions 23-24

There are about 75 brands of microwave popcorn on the market; altogether, they account for a little over half of the money from sales of microwave food products. It takes three minutes to pop corn in the microwave, compared to seven minutes to pop corn conventionally. Yet by weight, microwave popcorn typically costs over five times as much as conventional popcorn. Judging by the popularity of microwave popcorn, many people are willing to pay a high price for just a little additional convenience.

23. If the statements in the passage are true. Which one of the following must also be true?
(A) No single brand of microwave popcorn accounts for a large share of microwave food product sales.
(B) There are more brands of microwave popcorn on the market than there are of any other microwave food product.
(C) By volume, more microwave popcorn is sold than is conventional popcorn.
(D) More money is spent on microwave food products that take three minutes or less to cook than on microwave food products that take longer to cook.
(E) Of the total number of microwave food products on the market, most are microwave popcorn products.

24. Which one of the following statements, if true, would call into question the conclusion in the passage?
(A) More than 50 percent of popcorn purchasers buy conventional popcorn rather than microwave popcorn.
(B) Most people who prefer microwave popcorn do so because it is less fattening than popcorn that is popped conventionally in oil.
(C) The price of microwave popcorn reflects its packaging more than it reflects the quality of the popcorn contained in the package.
(D) The ratio of unpopped kernels to popped kernels is generally the same whether popcorn is popped in a microwave or conventionally in oil.
(E) Because microwave popcorn contains additives not contained in conventional popcorn, microwave popcorn weighs more than an equal volume of conventional
popcorn.

25. Situation: In the island nation of Bezun, the government taxes gasoline heavily in order to induce people not to drive. It uses the revenue from the gasoline tax to subsidize electricity in order to reduce prices charged for electricity. Analysis: The greater the success achieved in meeting the first of these objectives, the less will be the success achieved in meeting the second. The analysis provided for the situation above would be most appropriate in which one of the following situations?
(A) A library charges a late fee in order to induce borrowers to return books promptly. The library uses revenue from the late fee to send reminders to tardy
borrowers in order to reduce the incidence of overdue books.
(B) A mail-order store imposes a stiff surcharge for overnight delivery in order to limit use of this option. The store uses revenue from the surcharge to pay the extra
expenses it incurs for providing the overnight delivery service.
(C) The park management charges an admission fee so that a park’s users will contribute to the park’s upkeep. In order to keep admission fees low, the
management does mot finance any new projects from them.
(D) A restaurant adds a service charge in order to spare customers the trouble of individual tips. The service charge is then shared among the restaurant’s workers
in order to augment their low hourly wages.
(E) The highway administration charges a toll for crossing a bridge in order to get motorists to use other routes. It uses the revenue from that toll to generate a
reserve fund in order to be able one day to build a new bridge.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Something must be done to ease traffic congestion. In traditional small towns, people used to work and shop in the same town in which they lived; but now that stores and workplaces are located far away from residential areas, people cannot avoid traveling long distances each day. Traffic congestion is so heavy on all roads that, even on major highways where the maximum speed limit is 55 miles per hour, the actual speed averages only 35 miles per hour. Which one of the following proposals is most supported by the statements above?
(A) The maximum speed limit on major highways should be increased.
(B) People who now travel on major highways should be encouraged to travel on secondary roads instead.
(C) Residents of the remaining traditional small towns should be encouraged to move to the suburbs.
(D) Drivers who travel well below the maximum speed limit on major highways should be fined.
(E) New businesses should be encouraged to locate closer to where their workers would live.

2. College professor: College students do not write nearly as well as they used to. Almost all of the paper that my students have done for me this year have been poorly written and ungrammatical. Which one of the following is the most serious weakness in the argument made by the professor?
(A) It requires confirmation that the change in the professor’s students is representative of a change among college students in general.
(B) It offers no proof to the effect that the professor is an accurate judge of writing ability.
(C) It does not take into account the possibility that the professor is a poor teacher.
(D) It fails to present contrary evidence.
(E) It fails to define its terms sufficiently.

Questions 3-4

Mayor of Plainsville: In order to help the economy of Plainsville, I am using some of our tax revenues to help bring a major highway through the town and thereby attract new business to Plainsville. Citizens’ group: You must have interests other than our economy in mind. If you were really interested in helping our economy, you would instead allocate the revenues to building a new business park, since it would bring in twice the business that your highway would.

3. The argument by the citizens’ group relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Plainsville presently has no major highways running through it.
(B) The mayor accepts that a new business park would bring in more new business than would the new highway.
(C) The new highway would have no benefits for Plainsville other than attracting new business.
(D) The mayor is required to get approval for all tax revenue allocation plans from the city council.
(E) Plainsville’s economy will not be helped unless a new business park of the sort envisioned by the citizens’ group is built.

4. Which one of the following principles, if accepted, would most help the citizens’ group to justify drawing its conclusion that the mayor has in mind interests other than Plainsville’s economy?
(A) Anyone really pursuing a cause will choose the means that that person believes will advance the cause the farthest.
(B) Any goal that includes helping the economy of a community will require public revenues in order to be achieved.
(C) Anyone planning to use resources collected from a group must consult the members of the group before using the resources.
(D) Any cause worth committing oneself to must include specific goals toward which one can work.
(E) Any cause not pursued by public officials, if it is to be pursued at all, must be pursued by members of the community.

5. Recently, highly skilled workers in Eastern Europe have left jobs in record numbers to emigrate to the West. It is therefore likely that skilled workers who remain in Eastern Europe are in high demand in their home countries. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Eastern European factories prefer to hire workers from their home countries rather than to import workers from abroad.
(B) Major changes in Eastern European economic structures have led to the elimination of many positions previously held by the highly skilled emigrants.
(C) Many Eastern European emigrants need to acquire new skills after finding work in the West.
(D) Eastern European countries plan to train many new workers to replace the highly skilled workers who have emigrated.
(E) Because of the departure of skilled workers from Eastern European countries, many positions are now unfilled.

6. Historian: Alexander the Great should not be judged by appeal to current notions of justice. Alexander, an ancient figure of heroic stature, should be judged by the standards of his own culture. That is, did he live up to his culture’s ideals of leadership? Did Alexander elevate the contemporary standards of justice? Was he, in his day, judged to be a just and wise ruler? Student: But you cannot tell whether or not Alexander raised the contemporary standards of justice without invoking standards other than those of his own culture. Which one of the following argumentative strategies does the student use in responding to the historian?
(A) arguing that applying the historian’s principle would require a knowledge of the past that is necessarily inaccessible to current scholarship
(B) attempting to undermine the historian’s principle by showing that some of its consequences are inconsistent with each other
(C) showing that the principle the historian invokes, when applied to Alexander, does not justify the assertion that he was heroic
(D) questioning the historian’s motivation for determining whether a standard of behavior has been raised or lowered
(E) claiming that one of the historian’s criteria for judging Alexander is inconsistent with the principle that the historian has advanced

Questions 7-8

Two paleontologists, Dr Tyson and Dr. Rees, disagree over the interpretation of certain footprints that were left among other footprints in hardened volcanic ash at site G. Dr. Tyson claims they are clearly early hominid footprints since they show human characteristics: a squarish heel and a big toe immediately adjacent to the next toe. However, since the footprints indicate that if hominids made those prints they would have had to walk in an unexpected cross-stepping manner, by placing the left foot to the right of the right foot. Dr. Rees rejects Dr. Tyson’s conclusion.

7. The disagreement between the two paleontologists is over which one of the following?
(A) the relative significance of various aspects of the evidence
(B) the assumption that early hominid footprints are distinguishable from other footprints
(C) the possibility of using the evidence of footprints to determine the gait of the creature that made those footprints
(D) the assumption that evidence from one paleontologic site is enough to support a conclusion
(E) the likelihood that early hominids would have walked upright on two feet

8. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines Dr. Tyson’s conclusion?
(A) The foot prints showing human characteristics were clearly those of at least two distinct individuals.
(B) Certain species of bears had feet very like human feet, except that the outside toe on each foot was the biggest toe and the innermost toe was the smallest toe.
(C) Footprints shaped like a human’s that do not show a cross-stepping pattern exist at site M, which is a mile away from site G, and the two sets of footprints are
contemporaneous.
(D) When the moist volcanic ash became sealed under additional layers of ash before hardening, some details of some of the footprints were erased.
(E) Most of the other footprints at site G were of animals with hooves.

9. It is not known whether bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a disease of cattle invariably deadly to them, can be transmitted directly from one infected animal to another at all stages of the infection. If it can be, there is now a reservoir of infected cattle incubating the disease. There are no diagnostic tests to identify infected animals before the animals show overt symptoms. Therefore, if such direct transmission occurs, the disease cannot be eradicated by______ Which one of the following best completes the argument?
(A) removing from the herd and destroying any diseased animal as soon as it shows the typical symptoms of advanced BSE
(B) developing a drug that kills the agent that cause BSE, and then treating with that drug all cattle that might have the disease
(C) destroying all cattle in areas where BSE occurs and raising cattle only in areas to which BSE is known not to have spread
(D) developing a vaccine that confers lifelong immunity against BSE and giving it to all cattle, destroying in due course all those animals for which the vaccine
protection came too late
(E) developing a diagnostic test that does identify any infected animal and destroying all animals found to be infected

10. Auto industry executive: Statistics show that cars that were built smaller after 1977 to make them more fuel-efficient had a higher incidence of accident-related fatalities than did their earlier larger counterparts. For this reason we oppose recent guidelines that would require us to produce cars with higher fuel efficiency. Which of the following, if true, would constitute the strongest objection to the executive’s argument?
(A) Even after 1977, large automobiles were frequently involved in accidents that caused death or serious injury.
(B) Although fatalities in accidents involving small cars have increased since 1977, the number of accidents has decreased.
(C) New computerized fuel systems can enable large cars to meet fuel efficiency standards established by the recent guidelines.
(D) Modern technology can make small cars more fuel-efficient today than at any other time in their production history.
(E) Fuel efficiency in models of large cars rose immediately after 1977 but has been declining ever since.

11. No one who lacks knowledge of a subject is competent to pass judgment on that subject. Since political know-how is a matter, not of adhering to technical rules, but of insight and style learned through apprenticeship and experience, only seasoned politicians are competent to judge whether a particular political policy is fair to all. A major weakness of the argument is that it
(A) relies on a generalization about the characteristic that makes someone competent to pass judgment
(B) fails to give specific examples to illustrate how political know-how can be acquired
(C) uses the term “apprenticeship” to describe what is seldom a formalized relationship
(D) equates political know-how with understanding the social implications of political policies
(E) assumes that when inexperienced politicians set policy they are guided by the advice of more experienced politicians

12. Impact craters caused by meteorites smashing into Earth have been found all around the globe, but they have been found in the greatest density in geologically stable regions. This relatively greater abundance of securely identified crater in geologically stable regions must be explained by the lower rates of destructive geophysical processes in those regions. The conclusion is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) A meteorite that strikes exactly the same spot as an earlier meteorite will obliterate all traces of the earlier impact.
(B) Rates of destructive geophysical processes within any given region vary markedly throughout geological time.
(C) The rate at which the Earth is struck by meteorites has greatly increased in geologically recent times.
(D) Actual meteorite impacts have been scattered fairly evenly over the Earth’s surface in the course of Earth’s geological history.
(E) The Earth’s geologically stable regions have been studied more intensively by geologists than have its less stable regions.

13. That the policy of nuclear deterrence has worked thus far is unquestionable. Since the end of the Second World War, the very fact that there were nuclear armaments in existence has kept major powers from using nuclear weapons, for fear of starting a worldwide nuclear exchange that would make the land of the power initiating it uninhabitable. The proof is that a third world war between superpowers has not happened. Which one of the following, if true, indicates a flaw in the argument?
(A) Maintaining a high level of nuclear armaments represents a significant drain on a country’s economy.
(B) From what has happened in the past, it is impossible to infer with certainty what will happen in the future, so an accident could still trigger a third world war between superpowers.
(C) Continuing to produce nuclear weapons beyond the minimum needed for deterrence increases the likelihood of a nuclear accident.
(D) The major powers have engaged in many smaller-scale military operations since the end of the Second World War, while refraining from a nuclear confrontation.
(E) It cannot be known whether it was nuclear deterrence that worked, or some other factor, such as a recognition of the economic value of remaining at peace.

14. A survey of alumni of the class of 1960 at Aurora University yielded puzzling results. When asked to indicate their academic rank, half of the respondents reported that they were in the top quarter of the graduating class in 1960. Which one of the following most helps account for the apparent contradiction above?
(A) A disproportionately large number of high-ranking alumni responded to the survey.
(B) Few, if any, respondents were mistaken about their class rank.
(C) Not all the alumni who were actually in the top quarter responded to the survey.
(D) Almost all of the alumni who graduated in 1960 responded to the survey.
(E) Academic rank at Aurora University was based on a number of considerations in addition to average grades.

15. M: It is almost impossible to find a person between the ages of 85 an 90 who primarily uses the left hand. Q: Seventy to ninety years ago, however, children were punished for using their left hands to eat or to write and were forced to use their right hands. Q’s response serves to counter any use by M of the evidence about 85 to 90 year olds in supports of which one of the following hypotheses?
(A) Being born right-handed confers a survival advantage.
(B) Societal attitudes toward handedness differ at different times.
(C) Forcing a person to switch from a preferred hand is harmless.
(D) Handedness is a product of both genetic predisposition and social pressures.
(E) Physical habits learned in school often persist in old age.

16. The seventeenth-century physicist Sir Isaac Newton is remembered chiefly for his treaties on motion and gravity. But Newton also conducted experiments secretly for many years based on the arcane theories of alchemy, trying unsuccessfully to transmute common metals into gold and produce rejuvenating elixirs. If the alchemists of the seventeenth century had published the results of their experiments, chemistry in the eighteenth century would have been more advanced than it actually was. Which one of the following assumptions would allow the conclusion concerning eighteenth-century chemistry to be properly drawn?
(A) Scientific progress is retarded by the reluctance of historians to acknowledge the failures of some of the great scientists.
(B) Advances in science are hastened when reports of experiments, whether successful or not, are available for review by other scientists.
(C) Newton’s work on motion and gravity would not have gained wide acceptance if the results of his work in alchemy had also been make public.
(D) Increasing specialization within the sciences makes it difficult for scientists in one field to understand the principles of other fields.
(E) The seventeenth-century alchemists could have achieved their goals only if their experiments had been subjected to public scrutiny.

17. Sedimentary rock hardens within the earth’s crust as layers of matter accumulate and the pressure of the layers above converts the layers below into rock. One particular layer of sedimentary rock that contains an unusual amount of the element iridium has been presented as support for a theory that a meteorite collided with the earth some sixty million years ago. Meteorites are rich in iridium compared to the earth’s crust, and geologists theorize that a meteorite’s collision with the earth raised a huge cloud of iridium-laden dust. The dust, they say, eventually settled to earth where it combined with other matter, and as new layers accumulated above it, it formed a layer of iridium-rich rock. Which one of the following, if true, would counter the claim that the iridium-rich layer described in the passage is evidence for the meteorite collision theory?
(A) The huge dust cloud described in the passage would have blocked the transmission of sunlight and lowered the earth’s temperature.
(B) A layer of sedimentary rock takes millions of years to harden.
(C) Layers of sedimentary rock are used to determine the dates of prehistoric events whether or not they contain iridium.
(D) Sixty million years ago there was a surge in volcanic activity in which the matter spewed from the volcanoes formed huge iridium-rich dust clouds.
(E) The iridium deposit occurred at about the same time that many animal species became extinct and some scientists have theorized that mass dinosaur extinctions
were caused by a meteorite collision.

18. Mary, a veterinary student, has been assigned an experiment in mammalian physiology that would require her to take a healthy, anesthetized dog and subject it to a drastic blood loss in order to observe the physiological consequences of shock. The dog would neither regain consciousness nor survive the experiment. Mary decides not to do this assignment. Mary’s decision most closely accords with which one of the following principles?
(A) All other things being equal, gratuitously causing any animal to suffer pain is unjustified.
(B) Taking the life of an animal is not justifiable unless doing so would immediately assist in saving several animal lives or in protecting the health of a person.
(C) The only sufficient justification for experimenting on animals is that future animal suffering is thereby prevented.
(D) Practicing veterinarians have a professional obligation to strive to prevent the unnecessary death of an animal except in cases of severely ill or injured animals
whose prospects for recovery are dim.
(E) No one is ever justified in acting with the sole intention of causing the death of a living thing, be it animal or human.

19. A tree’s age can be determined by counting the annual growth rings in its trunk. Each ring represents one year, and the ring’s thickness reveals the relative amount of rainfall that year. Archaeologists successfully used annual rings to determine the relative ages of ancient tombs at Pazyryk. Each tomb was constructed from freshly cut logs, and the tombs builders were constrained by tradition to use only logs from trees growing in the sacred Pazyryk Valley. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the archaeologists’ success in using annual rings to establish the relative ages of the tombs at the Pazyryk site?
(A) The Pazyryk tombs were all robbed during ancient times, but breakage of the tombs seals allowed the seepage of water, which soon froze permanently, thereby
preserving the tombs’ remaining artifacts.
(B) The Pazyryk Valley, surrounded by extremely high mountains, has a distinctive yearly pattern of rainfall, and so trees growing in the Pazyryk Valley have annual
rings that are quite distinct from trees growing in nearby valleys.
(C) Each log in the Pazyryk tombs has among its rings a distinctive sequence of twelve annual rings representing six drought years followed by three rainy years and
three more drought years.
(D) The archaeologists determined that the youngest tree used in any of the tombs was 90 years old and that the oldest tree was 450 years old.
(E) All of the Pazyryk tombs contained cultural artifacts that can be dated to roughly 2300 years ago.

20. Experienced gardeners advise against planting snap peas after late April because peas do not develop properly in warm weather. This year, however, the weather was unusually cool into late June, and therefore the fact that these snap peas were planted in mid-May is unlikely to result in crop failure despite the experts’ warnings. The pattern of reasoning displayed above is most closely paralleled in which one of the following?
(A) According to many gardening authorities, tomatoes should not be planted near dill because doing so is likely to affect their taste adversely; however, since these
tomatoes were grown near dill and taste fine, there is clearly no reason to pay much attention to the so-called experts’ advice.
(B) Since African violets do not thrive in direct sunlight, it is said that in this region these plants should be placed in windows facing north rather than south; however,
since these south-facing windows are well shaded by evergreen trees, the African violets placed in them are likely to grow satisfactorily.
(C) Where flowers are to be planted under shade trees, gardening experts often advise using impatiens since impatiens does well in conditions of shade; however, it
is unlikely to do well under maple trees since maple tree roots are so near the surface that they absorb all available moisture.
(D) Most seeds tend to germinate at much higher rates when planted in warm soil than when planted in cold soil; spinach seeds, however, are unlikely to germinate
properly if the soil is too warm, and therefore experts advise that spinach should be planted earlier than most vegetables.
(E) House plants generally grow best in pots slightly larger than their existing root systems, so the usual advice is to repot when roots first reach the sides of the pot;
this rule should no be followed with amaryllis plants, however, because they are likely to do best with tightly compressed roots.

21. Whenever a major political scandal erupts before an election and voters blame the scandal on all parties about equally, virtually all incumbents, from whatever party, seeking reelection are returned to office. However, when voters blame such a scandal on only one party, incumbents from that party are likely to be defeated by challengers from other parties. The proportion of incumbents who seek reelection is high and remarkably constant from election to election. If the voters’ reactions are guided by a principle, which one of the following principles would best account for the contrast in reactions described above?
(A) Whenever one incumbent is responsible for one major political scandal and another incumbent is responsible for another, the consequences for the two
incumbents should be the same.
(B) When a major political scandal is blamed on incumbents from all parties, that judgment is more accurate than any judgment that incumbents from only on party
are to blame.
(C) Incumbents who are rightly blamed for a major political scandal should not seek reelection, but if they do, they should not be returned to office.
(D) Major political scandals can practically always be blamed on incumbents, but whether those incumbents should be voted out of office depends on who their
challengers are.
(E) When major political scandals are less the responsibility of individual incumbents than of the parties to which they belong, whatever party was responsible must
be penalized when possible.

22. Once people habitually engaged in conversation: now the television competes for their attention. When the television is on, communication between family members stops. Where there is no communication, family ties become frayed and eventually snap. Therefore, the only solution is to get rid of the television. Which one of the following is most closely parallel in its reasoning to the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
(A) Once friendships thrived on shared leisure time. But contemporary economic pressures minimize the amount of free time people have and thus jeopardize many
friendships.
(B) Once people listened to the radio while pursuing other activities. Now they passively watch television. Therefore, radio was less distracting for most people than
television is.
(C) Once sports enthusiasts regularly engaged in sports, but now they watch spectator sports when they could be getting physical exercise. Without physical
exercise, health deteriorates. Therefore, the only remedy is to eliminate spectator sports.
(D) Once people were willing to tailor their day to the constraints of a bus or train schedule: now they are spoiled by the private car. The only solution is for
government to offer financial incentives to encourage the use of public transportation.
(E) Once people did their shopping in urban retail districts, where they combined their shopping with other errands. Now many people shop in suburban malls,
where they concentrate on shopping exclusively. Therefore, shopping has become a leisure time activity.

23. In essence, all rent-control policies involve specifying a maximum rent that a landlord may charge for a dwelling. The rationale for controlling rents is to protect tenants in situations where limited supply will cause rents to rise sharply in the face of increased demand. However, although rent control may help some tenants in the short run, it affects the rental-housing market adversely in the long run because landlords become reluctant to maintain the quality of their existing properties and even more reluctant to have additional rental-housing units built. Which one of the following, if true, best explains the landlords’ reluctance described above?
(A) Tenants prefer low-quality accommodations with rent control to high-quality accommodations without it.
(B) Rent control makes it very difficult for landlords to achieve reasonable returns on any investments in maintenance or in new construction.
(C) Rent control is a common practice even though it does nothing to alleviate shortages in rental housing.
(D) Rent control is generally introduced for political reasons and it takes political action to have it lifted again.
(E) Tenants prefer rent control to the alternative of receiving direct government subsidies toward rents they cannot afford.

24. Certain minor peculiarities of language are used unconsciously by poets. If such peculiarities appear in the works of more than one poet, they are likely to reflect the language in common use during the poets’ time. However, if they appear in the work of only one poet, they are likely to be personal idiosyncrasies. As such, they can provide a kind of “fingerprint” that allows scholars, by comparing a poem of previously unknown authorship to the work of a particular known poet, to identify the poem as the work of that poet. For which one of the following reasons can the test described above never provide conclusive proof of the authorship of any poem?
(A) The labor of analyzing peculiarities of language both in the work of a known poet and in a poem of unknown authorship would not be undertaken unless other
evidence already suggested that the poem of unknown authorship was written by the known poet.
(B) A peculiarity of language that might be used as an identifying mark is likely to be widely scattered in the work of a poet, so that a single poem not known to have
been written by that poet might not include that peculiarity.
(C) A peculiarity of language in a poem of unknown authorship could be evidence either that the poem was written by the one author known to use that peculiarity
or that the peculiarity was not unique to that author.
(D) Minor peculiarities of language contribute far less to the literary effect of any poem than such factors as poetic form, subject matter, and deliberately chosen
wording.
(E) A poet’s use of some peculiarities of language might have been unconscious in some poems and conscious in other poems, and the two uses would be
indistinguishable to scholars at a later date.

25. Because of the recent transformation of the market. Quore, Inc., must increase productivity, 10 percent over the course of the next two years, or it will certainly go bankrupt. In fact, however, Quore’s production structure is such that if a 10 percent productivity increase is possible, then a 20 percent increase is attainable. If the statements above are true, which one of the following must on the basis of them also be true?
(A) It is only Quore’s production structure that makes it possible for Quore to survive the transformation of the market.
(B) Quore will not go bankrupt if it achieves a productivity increase of 20 percent over the next two years.
(C) If the market had not been transformed, Quore would have required no productivity increase in order to avoid bankruptcy.
(D) Because of the transformation of the market, Quore will achieve a productivity increase of 10 percent over the next two years.
(E) If a 20 percent productivity increase is unattainable for Quore, then it must go bankrupt.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. The translator of poetry must realize that word-for-word equivalents do not exist across languages, any more than piano sounds exist in the violin. The violin can, however, play recognizably the same music as the piano, but only if the violinist is guided by the nature and possibilities of the violin as well as by the original composition. As applied to the act of translating poetry from one language into another, the analogy above can best be understood as saying that
(A) poetry cannot be effectively translated because, unlike music, it is composed of words with specific meanings
(B) some languages are inherently more musical and more suitable to poetic composition than others
(C) the translator should be primarily concerned with reproducing the rhythms and sound patterns of the original, not with transcribing its meaning exactly
(D) the translator must observe the spirit of the original and also the qualities of expression that characterize the language into which the original is translated
(E) poetry is easier to translate if it focuses on philosophical insights or natural descriptions rather than on subjective impressions

2. Behind the hope that computers can replace teachers is the idea that the student’s understanding of the subject being taught consists in knowing facts and rules, the job of a teacher being to make the facts and rules explicit and convey them to the student, either by practice drills or by coaching. If that were indeed the way the mind works, the teacher could transfer facts and rules to the computer, which would replace the teacher as drillmaster and coach. But since understanding does not consist merely of knowing facts and rules, but of the grasp of the general concepts underlying them, the hope that the computer will eventually replace the teacher is fundamentally misguided. Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s conclusion that computers will not eventually be able to replace teachers?
(A) Computers are as good as teachers at drilling students on facts and rules.
(B) The job of a teacher is to make students understand the general concepts underlying specific facts and rules.
(C) It is possible to program computers so that they can teach the understanding of general concepts that underlie specific facts and rules.
(D) Because they are not subject to human error, computers are better than teachers at conveying facts and rules.
(E) It is not possible for students to develop an understanding of the concepts underlying facts and rules through practice drills and coaching.

3. If the city council maintains spending at the same level as this year’s, it can be expected to levy a sales tax of 2 percent next year. Thus, if the council levies a higher tax, it will be because the council is increasing its expenditure. Which one of the following exhibits a pattern of reasoning most closely similar to that of the argument above?
(A) If house-building costs are not now rising, builders cannot be expected to increase the prices of houses. Thus, if they decrease the prices of houses, it will be
because that action will enable them to sell a greater number of houses.
(B) If shops wish to reduce shoplifting, they should employ more store detectives. Thus, if shops do not, they will suffer reduced profits because of their loss from
stolen goods.
(C) If the companies in the state do not increase their workers’ wages this year, the prices they charge for their goods can be expected to be the same as they were
last year. Thus, if the companies do increase prices, it will be because they have increased wages.
(D) If airlines wish to make profits this year that are similar to last year’s, they should not increase their prices this year. Thus, if they charge more, they should be
expected to improve their services.
(E) If newspaper publishers wish to publish good papers, they should employ good journalists. Thus, if they employ poor journalists, it will not be surprising if their
circulation falls as a result.

4. The mind and the immune system have been shown to be intimately linked, and scientists are consistently finding that doing good deeds benefits one’s immune system. The bone marrow and spleen, which produce the white blood cells needed to fight infection, are both connected by neural pathways to the brain. Recent research has shown that the activity of these white blood cells is stimulated by beneficial chemicals produced by the brain as a result of magnanimous behavior. The statements above, if true, support the view that
(A) good deeds must be based on unselfish motives
(B) lack of magnanimity is the cause of most serious illnesses
(C) magnanimous behavior can be regulated by the presence or absence of certain chemicals in the brain
(D) magnanimity is beneficial to one’s own interests
(E) the number of white blood cells will increase radically if behavior is consistently magnanimous

5. The high cost of productions is severely limiting which operas are available to the public. These costs necessitate reliance on large corporate sponsors, who in return demand that only the most famous operas be produced. Determining which operas will be produced should rest only with ticket purchasers at the box office, not with large corporate sponsors. If we reduce production budgets so that operas can be supported exclusively by box-office receipts and donations from individuals, then the public will be able to see less famous operas. Which one of the following, if true, would weaken the argument?
(A) A few ticket purchasers go to the opera for the sake of going to the opera, not to see specific operatic productions.
(B) The reduction of opera production budgets would not reduce the desire of large corporate sponsors to support operas.
(C) Without the support of large corporate sponsors, opera companies could not afford to produce any but the most famous of operas.
(D) Large corporate sponsors will stop supporting opera productions if they are denied control over which operas will be produced.
(E) The combination of individual donations and box-office receipts cannot match the amounts of money obtained through sponsorship by large corporations.

6. When machines are invented and technologies are developed, they alter the range of choices open to us. The clock, for example, made possible the synchronization of human affairs, which resulted in an increase in productivity. At the same time that the clock opened up some avenues, it closed others. It has become harder and harder to live except by the clock, so that now people have no choice in the matter at all. Which one of the following propositions is best illustrated by the example presented in the passage?
(A) New machines and technologies can enslave as well as liberate us.
(B) People should make a concerted effort to free themselves from the clock.
(C) Some new machines and technologies bring us improvement to our lives.
(D) The increase in productivity was not worth our dependence on the clock.
(E) Most new machines and technologies make our lives synchronized and productive.

7. To become an expert on a musical instrument, a person must practice. If people practice a musical instrument for three hours each day, they will eventually become experts on that instrument. Therefore, if a person is an expert on a musical instrument, that person must have practiced for at least three hours each day. Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning above?
(A) The conclusion fails to take into account that people who practice for three hours every day might not yet have reached a degree of proficiency that everyone
would consider expert.
(B) The conclusion fails to take into account that practicing for less than three hours each day may be enough for some people to become experts.
(C) The conclusion fails to take into account that if a person has not practiced for at least three hours a day, the person has not become an expert.
(D) The conclusion fails to take into account that three consecutive hours of daily practice is not recommended by all music teachers.
(E) The conclusion fails to take into account that few people have the spare time necessary to devote three hours daily to practice.

8. On the basis of incontestable proof that car safety seats will greatly reduce the number of serious injuries sustained by children in car accidents, laws have been passed mandating the use of these seats. Unexpectedly, it has since been found that a large number of children who are riding in safety seats continue to receive serious injuries that safety seats were specifically designed to avoid, and in the prevention of which they in fact have proven to be effective. Which one of the following, if true, could by itself adequately explain the unexpected finding reported in the passage?
(A) Many parents are defying the law by not using safety seats for their children.
(B) Children are more likely to make automobile trips now than they were before the introduction of the safety seat.
(C) The high cost of child safety seats has caused many parents to delay purchasing them.
(D) The car safety seat was not designed to prevent all types of injuries, so it is not surprising that some injuries are sustained.
(E) The protection afforded by child safety seats depends on their being used properly, which many parents fail to do.

9. An easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself is the surest mark of supreme self-confidence. This willingness, often not acquired until late in life, is even more revealing than is good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one. Which one of the following inference is most supported by the statements above?
(A) A person who lacks self-confidence will enjoy neither telling nor hearing funny stories about himself or herself.
(B) People with high self-confidence do not tell funny stories or jokes about others.
(C) Highly self-confident people tell funny stories and jokes in order to let their audience know that they are self-confident.
(D) Most people would rather tell a funny story or joke than listen to one being told.
(E) Telling funny stories or jokes about people in their presence is a way of expressing one’s respect for them.

Questions 10-11

Nature constantly adjusts the atmospheric carbon level. An increase in the level causes the atmosphere to hold more heat, which causes more water to evaporate from the oceans, which causes increased rain. Rain washes some carbon from the air into the oceans, where it eventually becomes part of the seabed. A decrease in atmospheric carbon causes the atmosphere to hold less heat, which causes decreased evaporation from the oceans, which causes less rain, and thus less carbon is washed into the oceans. Yet some environmentalists worry that burning fossil fuels may raise atmospheric carbon to a dangerous level. It is true that a sustained increase would threaten human life. But the environmentalists should relax—nature will continually adjust the carbon level.

10. Each of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage EXCEPT:
(A) A decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the amount of carbon that rain washes into the oceans from the air.
(B) An increase in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes increased evaporation of ocean water.
(C) An increase in the level of atmospheric heat causes increased rainfall.
(D) A decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes decreased evaporation of ocean water.
(E) A decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere.

11. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument in the passage?
(A) Plant life cannot survive without atmospheric carbon.
(B) It is not clear that breathing excess carbon in the atmosphere will have a negative effect on human life.
(C) Carbon is part of the chemical “blanket” that keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain human life.
(D) Breathing by animals releases almost 30 times as much carbon as does the burning of fossil fuels.
(E) The natural adjustment process, which occurs over millions of years, allows wide fluctuations in the carbon level in the short term.

12. The more television children watch, the less competent they are in mathematical knowledge. More than a third of children in the United States watch television for more than five hours a day; in South Korea the figure is only 7 percent. But whereas less than 15 percent of children in the United States understand advanced measurement and geometric concept, 40 percent of South Korea children are competent in these areas. Therefore, if Untied States children are to do well in mathematics, they must watch less television. Which one of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
(A) Children in the United States are less interested in advanced measurement and geometric concepts than are South Korea children.
(B) South Korea children are more disciplined about doing schoolwork than are children in the United States.
(C) Children who want to do well in advanced measurement and geometry will watch less than television.
(D) A child’s ability in advanced measurement and geometry increases if he or she watches less than one hour of television a day.
(E) The instruction in advanced measurement and geometric concepts available to children in the United States in not substantially worse than that available to South
Korea children.

Questions 13-14

The only way that bookstores can profitably sell books at below-market prices is to get the books at a discount from publishers. Unless bookstores generate a high sales volume, however, they cannot get discounts from publishers. To generate such volume, bookstores must either cater to mass tastes or have exclusive access to a large specialized market, such as medical market, or both.

13. Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) If a bookstore receives discounts from publishers, it will profitably sell books at below-market prices.
(B) A bookstore that caters to mass tastes or has exclusive access to a large specialized market will have a high sales volume.
(C) A bookstore that profitably sells books at below-market prices gets discounts from publishers.
(D) A bookstore that does not sell books at below-market prices does not get discounts from publishers.
(E) A bookstore that not only caters to mass tastes but also has exclusive access to a large specialized market cannot profitably sell books at below-market prices.

14. If all statements in the passage are true and if it is also true that a bookstore does not cater to mass tastes, which one of the following CANNOT be true?
(A) The bookstore profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(B) The bookstore does not profitably sell any of its books at below-market prices.
(C) Either the bookstore has exclusive access to a large specialized market or else it does not get a discount from any publishers.
(D) The bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market but profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(E) The bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market, nor does it get a discount from any publishers.

15. Extinction is the way of nature. Scientists estimate that over half of the species that have ever come into existence on this planet were already extinct before humans developed even the most primitive of tools. This constant natural process of species emergence and extinction, however, is ignored by those who wish to trace the blame for more recent extinctions to humanity’s use of technology, with its consequent effects on the environment. These people must be made to understand that the species that have become extinct in modern times would have become extinct by now even if humans had never acquired technology. Which one of the following identifies a reasoning error in the passage?
(A) The author mistakenly assumes that technology has not caused any harm to the environment.
(B) The author ignores the fact that some species that are not yet extinct are in danger of extinction.
(C) The author fails to consider that there are probably species in existence that have not yet been identified and studied by scientists.
(D) The author cites scientists who support the theory that over half of all species that ever existed have become extinct, but fails to mention any scientists who do
not support that theory.
(E) The author provides no specific evidence that the species that have become extinct in modern times are the same species that would have become extinct in the
absence of human technology.

16. The public is aware of the possibility of biases in the mass media and distrusts the media as too powerful. The body of information against which the public evaluates the plausibility of each new media report comes, however, from what the public has heard of through the mass media. If the view above is correct, it provides a reason for accepting which one of the following conclusions?
(A) If there is a pervasive bias in the presentation of news by the mass media, it would be hard for the public to discern that bias.
(B) The mass media tailor their reports to confirm to a specific political agenda.
(C) The biases that news media impose on reporting tend not to be conscious distortions but rather part of a sense they share about what is interesting and
believable.
(D) News reporters and their public hold largely the same views about what is most important in society, because news reporters come out of that society.
(E) When a news event occurs that contradicts a stereotype formerly incorporated into reporting by the mass media, the public is predisposed to believe reports of
the event.

17. In a bureaucracy, all decisions are arrived at by a process that involves many people. There is no one person who has the authority to decide  whether a project will process or not. As a consequence, in bureaucracies, risky projects are never undertaken. The conclusion follows logically from the premises if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) All projects in a bureaucracy require risk.
(B) Decisive individuals choose not to work in a bureaucracy.
(C) An individual who has decision-making power will take risks.
(D) The only risky projects undertaken are those for which a single individual has decision-making power.
(E) People sometimes take risks as individuals that they would not take as part of a group.

18. “Physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. Achieving this goal requires knowledge of how neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. At present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. Thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future. Which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?
(A) The conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.
(B) The passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.
(C) The word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”
(D) The argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.
(E) The passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.

19. Because a large disparity in pay between the public and private sectors has developed in recent years, many experienced and extremely capable government administrators have quit their posts and taken positions in private-sector management. Government will be able to recapture these capable administrators by raising salaries to a level comparable to those of the private sector. In that way, the functioning of public agencies will be improved. The position taken above presupposes which one of the following?
(A) Experience gained from private-sector management will be very valuable in government administration.
(B) The most important factor determining how well government agencies function is the amount of experience the administrators have.
(C) Unless government action is taken, the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management will continue to increase.
(D) People who moved from jobs in government administration to private-sector management would choose to change careers again.
(E) If the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management increases, administrators will move to the public sector in large
numbers.

20. Politician: Homelessness is a serious social problem, but further government spending to provide low-income housing is not the cure for homelessness. The most cursory glance at the real-estate section of any major newspaper is enough to show that there is no lack of housing units available to rent. So the frequent claim that people are homeless because of a lack of available housing is wrong. That homelessness is a serious social problem figures in the argument in which one of the following ways?
(A) It suggests an alternative prospective to the one adopted in the argument.
(B) It sets out a problem the argument is designed to resolve.
(C) It is compatible either with accepting the conclusion or with denying it.
(D) It summarizes a position the argument as a whole is directed toward discrediting.
(E) It is required in order to establish the conclusion.

21. Leona: If the average consumption of eggs in the United States were cut in half, an estimated 5,000 lives might be saved each year. Thomas: How can that be? That would mean that if people adopt this single change in diet for ten years, the population ten years from now will be greater by 50,000 people than it otherwise would have been. Which one of the following is a statement that Leona could offer Thomas to clarify her own claim and to address the point he has made?
(A) It is possible for the population to grow by 5,000 people for every year if the base year chosen for purposes of comparison is one with unusually low population
growth.
(B) It is accurate to say that 5,000 lives have been saved as long as 5,000 people who would have died in a given year as a result of not changing their diet, did not
do so-even if they died for some other reason.
(C) If egg consumption were reduced by more than half, the estimated number of lives saved each year could be even more than 5,000.
(D) The actual rate of population growth depends not only on the birth rate, but also on changes in life expectancy.
(E) For the average consumption of eggs to be cut by half, many individual consumers would have to cut their own consumption by much more than half.

22. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the introduction of new therapeutic agents into the marketplace. Consequently, it plays a critical role in improving health care in the United States. While it is those in the academic and government research communities who engage in the long process of initial discovery and clinical testing of new therapeutic agents, it is the FDA’s role and responsibility to facilitate the transfer of new discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. Only after the transfer can important new therapies help patients. Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
(A) The FDA is responsible for ensuring that any therapeutic agent that is marketed is then regulated.
(B) Before new therapeutic agents reach the marketplace they do not help patients.
(C) The research community is responsible for the excessively long testing period for new drugs, not the FDA.
(D) The FDA should work more closely with researchers to ensure that the quality of therapeutic agents is maintained.
(E) If a new medical discovery has been transferred from the laboratory to the marketplace, it will help patients.

23. In a new program, automobile owners in some neighborhoods whose cars are not normally driven between 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. can display a special decal in the cars’ windows and authorize police to stop the cars during those hours to check the drivers’ licenses. The theft rate for cars bearing such decals is much lower than had been usual for cars in those neighborhoods. If it is concluded from the statements above that automobile theft has been reduced by the program, which one of the following would it be most important to answer in evaluating that conclusion?
(A) Are owners who are cautious enough to join the program taking other special measures to protect their cars against theft?
(B) In how many neighborhoods is the police program operating?
(C) Are cars in neighborhoods that are actively participating in the program sometimes stolen during daylight hours?
(D) Will owners who have placed decals on their cars’ windows but who find it necessary to drive between 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. be harassed by police?
(E) Are the neighborhoods in which the program has been put into effect a representative cross section of neighborhoods with respect to the types of automobiles
owned by residents?

24. It has been claimed that an action is morally good only if it benefits another person and was performed with that intention; whereas an action that harms another person is morally bad either if such harm was intended or if reasonable forethought would have shown that the action was likely to cause harm. Which one of the following judgments most closely confirms to the principle cited above?
(A) Pamela wrote a letter attempting to cause trouble between Edward and his friends; this action of Pamela’s was morally bad, even though the letter, in fact, had
an effect directly opposite from the one intended.
(B) In order to secure a promotion, Jeffery devoted his own time to resolving a backlog of medical benefits claims; Jeffrey’s action was morally good since it alone
enabled Sara’s claim to be processed in time for her to receive much-needed treatment.
(C) Intending to help her elderly neighbor by clearing his walkway after a snowstorm, Teresa inadvertently left ice on his steps; because of this exposed ice, her
neighbor had a bad fall, thus showing that morally good actions can have bad consequences.
(D) Marilees, asked by a homeless man for food, gave the man her own sandwich; however, because the man tried to talk while he was eating the sandwich, it
caused him to choke, and thus Marilees unintentionally performed a morally bad action.
(E) Jonathan agreed to watch his three-year-old niece while she played but, becoming engrossed in conversion, did not see her run into the street where she was hit
by a bicycle; even though he intended no harm, Jonathan’s action was morally bad.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. If you have a large amount of money in the bank, your spending power is great. If your spending power is great, you are happy. So if you have a large amount of money in the bank, you are happy. Which one of the following most closely parallels the reasoning in the argument above?
(A) If you have good health, you can earn a lot. If you can earn a lot, you can buy an expensive house. So if you have good health, you can have a comfortable life.
(B) If you drink too much alcohol, you will feel sick. If you drink too much alcohol, you will have no money left. So if you have no money left, you will feel sick.
(C) If you swim energetically, your heart rate increases. If your heart rate increases, you are overexcited. So if you swim energetically, you are overexcited.
(D) If you take a great deal of exercise, you are physically fit. If you take a great deal of exercise, you are exhausted. So if you are physically fit, you are exhausted.
(E) If you have a large amount of money in the bank, you are confident about the future. If you are optimistic by nature, you are confident about the future. So if you
have a large amount of money in the bank, you are optimistic by nature.

2. For a television program about astrology, investigators went into the street and found twenty volunteers born under the sign of Gemini who were willing to be interviewed on the program and to take a personality test. The test confirmed the investigators’ personal impressions that each of the volunteers was more sociable and extroverted than people are on average. This modest investigation thus supports the claim that one’s astrological birth sign influence one’s personality. Which one of the following, if true, indicates the most serious flaw in the method used by the investigators?
(A) The personality test was not administrated or scored personally by the investigators.
(B) People born under astrological signs other than Gemini have been judged by astrologers to be much less sociable than those born under Gemini.
(C) The personal impressions the investigators first formed of other people have tended to be confirmed by the investigators’ later experience of those people.
(D) There is not likely to be a greater proportion of people born under the sign of Gemini on the street than in the population as a whole.
(E) People who are not sociable and extroverted are not likely to agree to participate in such an investigation.

3. In Europe, schoolchildren devote time during each school day to calisthenics. North American schools rarely offer a daily calisthenics program. Tests prove that North American children are weaker, slower, and shorter-winded than European children. We must conclude that North American children can be made physically fit only if they participate in school calisthenics on a daily basis. Which one of the following is assumed in the passage?
(A) All children can be made physically fit by daily calisthenics.
(B) All children can be made equally physically fit by daily calisthenics.
(C) Superior physical fitness produces superior health.
(D) School calisthenics are an indispensable factor in European children’s superior physical fitness.
(E) North American children can learn to eat a more nutritious diet as well as to exercise daily.

4. A work of architecture, if it is to be both inviting and functional for public use, must be unobtrusive, taking second place to the total environment. Modern architects, plagued by egoism, have violated this precept. They have let their strong personalities take over their work, producing buildings that are not functional for public use. Which one of the statements below follows logically from the statements in the passage?
(A) Unobtrusive architecture is both inviting and functional.
(B) Modern architects who let their strong personalities take over their work produce buildings that are not unobtrusive.
(C) An architect with a strong personality cannot produce buildings that functional well for the public.
(D) A work of architecture that takes second place to the environment functions well for public use.
(E) A work of architecture cannot simultaneously express its architect’s personality and be functional for public use.

5. Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will benefit only the astronomers who will work with it. This dangerous point of view, applied to the work of Maxwell, Newton, or Einstein, would have stifled their research and deprived the world of beneficial applications, such as the development of radio, that followed from that research. If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?
(A) It appeals to the authority of experts who cannot have known all the issues involved in construction of the megatelescope.
(B) It does not identify those opposed to development of the megatelescope.
(C) It launches a personal attack on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.
(D) It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of “benefit.”
(E) It does not show that the proposed megatelescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications.

6. The Transit Authority’s proposal to increase fares by 40 percent must be implemented. Admittedly, this fare increase will impose a hardship on some bus and subway riders. But if the fare is not increased, service will have to be cut severely and that would result in an unacceptably large loss of ridership. The passage employs which one of the following argumentative strategies?
(A) It offers evidence that the recommended course of action would have no undesirable consequences.
(B) It shows that a proponent of any alternative position would be force into a contradiction.
(C) It arrives at its conclusion indirectly by providing reasons for rejecting an alternative course of action.
(D) It explains why the recommended course of action would not be subject to the objections raised against the alternative.
(E) It justifies the conclusion by showing that such a course of action has proven effective in the past.

7. Those who participate in local politics include people who are genuinely interested in public service and people who are selfish opportunists. Everyone who participates in local politics has an influence on the community’s values. If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) Some selfish opportunists have an influence on the community’s values.
(B) Some persons who are interested in public service do not have an influence on the community’s values.
(C) All those who have an influence on the community’s values participate in local politics.
(D) Some of those who influence the community’s values neither are interested in public service nor are selfish opportunists.
(E) All those who have an influence on the community’s values are either interested in public service or are selfish opportunists.

Questions 8-9

Although nondairy coffee lighteners made with coconut oil contain 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, or 7 times more than does whole milk, those lighteners usually contain no cholesterol. Yet one tablespoon of such lighteners causes the consumer’s blood cholesterol to rise to a higher level than does an identical amount of whole milk, which contains 2 milligrams of cholesterol per tablespoon.

8. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the apparent discrepancy noted above?
(A) Nutritionists recommend that adults consume as little saturated fat as possible and no more than 250 milligrams of cholesterol a day.
(B) One gram of saturated fat in food has roughly the same effect on blood cholesterol as 25 milligrams of cholesterol in food.
(C) Light cream, a dairy product that contains 5 times more cholesterol than does whole milk, is often chosen as a lightener by consumers who normally prefer
whole milk.
(D) Certain nondairy coffee lighteners made without coconut oil contain less saturated fat and less cholesterol than does whole milk.
(E) The lower the saturated fat content of dairy products, the less cholesterol they usually contain.

9. Manufacturers of coffee lighteners based on coconut oil claim that their products usually cause the typical consumer’s blood cholesterol to rise to a lower level than does the use of whole milk as a lighteners. Which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the manufacturers’ claim?
(A) Consumers of lighteners made with coconut oil who avoid other high-cholesterol foods and exercise more than average tend to have lower-than-average blood
cholesterol levels.
(B) Coffee is frequently consumed with pastries and other rich desserts that themselves result in high blood cholesterol levels.
(C) One popular nondairy coffee lightener that is not based on coconut oil has reduced its fat content by 20 percent while keeping its cholesterol content at zero.
(D) Consumers typically add to their coffee substantially smaller quantities of coconut-oil-based lighteners than of whole milk.
(E) Most consumers are convinced that whole dairy products increase blood cholesterol and that nondairy coffee lighteners do not.

10. People with serious financial problems are so worried about money that they cannot be happy. Their misery makes everyone close to them—family, friends, colleagues—unhappy as well. Only if their financial problems are solved can they and those around them be happy. Which one of the following statements can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) Only serious problems make people unhappy.
(B) People who solve their serious financial problems will be happy.
(C) People who do not have serious financial problems will be happy.
(D) If people are unhappy, they have serious financial problems.
(E) If people are happy, they do not have serious financial problems.

11. It is often said that people should be rewarded for doing a given job in proportion to the effort it costs them to do it. However, a little reflection will show that this is, in fact, a very bad idea, since it would mean that those people with the least skill or natural aptitude for a particular task would be the ones given the most incentive to do it. Which one of the following argumentative strategies is used above?
(A) stating a general principle and then presenting reasons in favor of adopting it
(B) providing evidence that where the principle under discussion has been adopted, the results usually have been undesirable
(C) demonstrating that a consequence that had been assumed to follow from the principle under consideration need not follow from it
(D) attempting to undermine a general principle by arguing that undesirable consequences would follow from it
(E) showing that, in practice, the principle under consideration could not be uniformly applied

12. Photovoltaic power plants produce electricity from sunlight. As a result of astonishing recent technological advances, the cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic power plants, allowing for both construction and operating costs, is one-tenth of what it was 20 years ago, whereas the corresponding cost for traditional plants, which burn fossil fuels, has increased. Thus, photovoltaic power plants offer a less expensive approach to meeting demand for electricity than do traditional power plants. The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) The cost of producing electric power at traditional plants has increased over the past 20 years.
(B) Twenty years ago, traditional power plants were producing 10 times more electric power than were photovoltaic plants.
(C) None of the recent technological advances in producing electric power at photovoltaic plants can be applied to producing power at traditional plants.
(D) Twenty years ago, the cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic plants was less than 20 times the cost of producing power at traditional plants.
(E) The cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic plants is expected to decrease further, while the cost of producing power at traditional plants is not
expected to decrease.

13. If that insect is a bee, it can only sting once. It only did sting once. So it is a bee. Which one of the following exhibits a pattern of reasoning most similar to that in the argument above?
(A) Spring is here. It has to be, because when it is spring, I cannot stop sneezing; and I just sneezed.
(B) When the sky is clear, the atmospheric pressure is high. At the moment, it is clearing up, so the atmospheric pressure is bound to be high soon.
(C) Old and brittle paintings are always moved with extreme care. That particular painting is never moved with extreme care. So it must not be old and brittle.
(D) Only one more thunderstorm was needed to ruin that roof. But the roof was still fine a month later. There must not have been any thunderstorm over that month.
(E) To survive in the wild requires physical stamina like Mark’s. All the same, Mark’s fear of spiders would prevent his survival.

14. Pamela: Physicians training for a medical specialty serve as resident staff physicians in hospitals. They work such long hours—up to 36 consecutive hours—that fatigue impairs their ability to make the best medical decisions during the final portion of their shifts. Quincy: Thousands of physicians now practicing have been trained according to the same regimen, and records show they generally made good medical decisions during their training periods. Why should what has worked in the past be changed now? Which one of the following, if true, is the most effective counter Pamela might make to Quincy’s argument?
(A) The basic responsibilities of resident staff physicians in hospitals have not changed substantially over the past few decades.
(B) Because medical reimbursement policies now pay for less recuperation time in hospitals, patients in hospitals are, on the average, more seriously ill during their
stay than in the past.
(C) It is important that emergency-room patients receive continuity of physician care, insofar as possible, over the critical period after admission, generally 24 hours.
(D) The load of work on resident physicians-in-training varies according to the medical specialty for which each is being trained.
(E) The training of physicians should include observation and recognition of the signs indicating a hospitalized patient’s progress or decline over a period of at least
36 hours.

15. When a group of children who have been watching television programs that include acts of violence is sent to play with a group of children who have been watching programs that do not include acts of violence, the children who have been watching violent programs commit a much greater number of violent acts in their play than do the children who have been watching nonviolent programs. Therefore, children at play can be prevented rom committing violent acts by not being allowed to watch violence on television. The argument in the passage assumes which one of the following?
(A) Television has a harmful effect on society.
(B) Parents are responsible for the acts of their children.
(C) Violent actions and passive observation of violent actions are not related.
(D) There are no other differences between the two groups of children that might account for the difference in violent behavior.
(E) Children who are treated violently will respond with violence.

16. It is repeatedly claimed that the dumping of nuclear waste poses no threat to people living nearby. If this claim could be made with certainty, there would be no reason for not locating sites in areas of dense population. But the policy of dumping nuclear waste only in the more sparsely populated regions indicates, at the very least, some misgiving about safety on the part of those responsible for policy. Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument?
(A) Evaluation plans in the event of an accident could not be guaranteed to work perfectly except where the population is small.
(B) In the event of an accident, it is certain that fewer people would be harmed in a sparsely populated than in a densely populated area.
(C) Dumping of nuclear waste poses fewer economic and bureaucratic problems in sparsely populated than in densely populated areas.
(D) There are dangers associated with chemical waste, and it, too, is dumped away from areas of dense population.
(E) Until there is no shred of doubt that nuclear dumps are safe, it makes sense to situate them where they pose the least threat to the public.

17. A society’s infant mortality rate is an accepted indicator of that society’s general health status. Even though in some localities in the United States the rate is higher than in many developing countries, in the United States overall the rate has been steadily declining. This decline does not necessarily indicate, however, that babies in the United States are now, on the average, healthier at birth than they were in the past. Which one of the following reasons, if true, most strongly supports the claim made above about the implications of the decline?
(A) The figure for infant mortality is compiled as an overall rate and thus masks deficiencies in particular localities.
(B) Low birth weight is a contributing factor in more than half of the infant deaths in the United States.
(C) The United States has been developing and has achieved extremely sophisticated technology for saving premature and low-birth-weight babies, most of whom
require extended hospital stays.
(D) In eleven states of the United States, the infant mortality rate declined last year.
(E) Babies who do not receive adequate attention from a caregiver fail to thrive and so they gain weight slowly.

Questions 18-19

Like a number of other articles, Ian Raghnall’s article relied on a recent survey in which over half the couples applying for divorces listed “money” as a major problem in their marriages. Raghnall’s conclusion from the survey data is that financial problems are the major problem in marriages and an important factor contributing to high divorce rate. Yet couples often express other types of marital frustrations in financial terms. Despite appearances, the survey data do not establish that financial problems are the major problem in contemporary marriages.

18. Which one of the following sentences best expresses the main point of the passage?
(A) Financial problems are not an important factor contributing to the divorce rate.
(B) Marital problems are more easily solved by marriage counselors than by married couples on their own.
(C) The conclusion drawn in Raghnall’s article is inadequately justified.
(D) Over half the couples applying for divorces listed money as a major problem in their marriages.
(E) Many articles wrongly claim that financial problems are the major factor contributing to the divorce rate.

19. In the passage, the author does which one of the following?
(A) undermines a conclusion drawn from statistical data by offering a specific counterexample
(B) undermines a conclusion drawn from statistical data by offering an alternative explanation for some of the data
(C) undermines a conclusion drawn from statistical data by showing that one cannot prove the presence of an emotion by using statistical methods
(D) undermines a conclusion drawn from statistical data by criticizing the survey for which the data was gathered
(E) undermines a conclusion by showing that couples cannot accurately describe their own problems

20. In Brazil, side-by-side comparisons of Africanized honeybees and the native honeybees have shown that the Africanized bees are far superior honey producers. Therefore, there is no reason to fear that domestic commercial honey production will decline in the United States if local honeybees are displaced by Africanized honeybees. Each of the following, if true, would weaken the argument EXCEPT:
(A) The honeybees native to Brazil are not of the same variety as those most frequently used in the commercial beekeeping industry in the United States.
(B) Commercial honey production is far more complicated and expensive with Africanized honeybees than it is with the more docile honeybees common in the
United States.
(C) If Africanized honeybees replace local honeybees, certain types of ornamental trees will be less effectively pollinated.
(D) In the United States a significant proportion of the commercial honey supply comes from hobby beekeepers, many of whom are likely to abandon beekeeping
with the influx of Africanized bees.
(E) The area of Brazil where the comparative study was done is far better suited to the foraging habits of the Africanized honeybees than are most areas of the
United States.

21. The public is well aware that high blood cholesterol levels raise the risk of stroke caused by blood clots. But a recent report concludes that people with low blood cholesterol levels are at increased risk of the other lethal type of stroke—cerebral hemorrhage, caused when a brain artery bursts. The report suggests that because blood cholesterol plays a vital role in maintaining cell membranes, low blood cholesterol weakens artery walls, making them prone to rupture. The conclusion thus supports a long-standing contention by Japanese researchers that Western diets better protect against cerebral hemorrhage than do non-Western diets. The argument is based on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Western diets are healthier than non-Western diets.
(B) Western diets result in higher blood cholesterol levels than do non-Western diets.
(C) High blood cholesterol levels preclude the weakening of artery walls.
(D) Cerebral hemorrhages are more dangerous than strokes caused by blood clots.
(E) People who have low blood pressure are at increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage.

22. Public reports by national commissions, governors’ conference, and leadership groups have stressed the great need for better understanding of international affairs by the citizenry. If the country is to remain a leading nation in an era of international competitiveness, the need is undeniable. If there is such a need for the citizenry to have a better understanding of international affairs, then all of our new teachers must be prepared to teach their subject matter with an international orientation. If all of the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) If the country is to remain a leading nation in an era of international competitiveness, then new teachers must be prepared to teach their subject matter with an
international orientation.
(B) If new teachers are prepared to teach their subject matter with an international orientation, then the country will remain a leading nation in an era of international
competitiveness.
(C) If there is better understanding of international affairs by the citizenry, then the country will remain a leading nation in an era of international competitiveness.
(D) If the country is to remain a leading nation in an era of international competitiveness, then there is no need for the citizenry to have a better understanding of
international affairs.
(E) Public reports from various groups and commissions have stressed the need for a more international orientation in the education of teachers.

23. “DNA fingerprinting” is a recently-introduced biochemical procedure that uses a pattern derived from a person’s genetic material to match a suspect’s genetic material against that of a specimen from a crime scene. Proponents have claimed astronomically high odds against obtaining a match by chance alone. These odds are based on an assumption that there is independence between the different characteristics represented by a single pattern. Which one of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the claim of the proponents of DNA fingerprinting?
(A) The large amount of genetic material that people share with all other people and with other animals is not included in the DNA fingerprinting procedure.
(B) There is generally accepted theoretical basis for interpreting the patterns produced by the procedure.
(C) In the whole population there are various different subgroups, within each of which certain sets of genetic characteristics are shared.
(D) The skill required of laboratory technicians performing the DNA fingerprinting procedure is not extraordinary.
(E) In the investigation of certain genetic diseases, the techniques used in DNA fingerprinting have traced the transmission of the diseases among the living members
of very large families.

24. Anthropologists assert that cultures advance only when independence replaces dependence—that is, only when imposition by outsiders is replaced by initiative from within. In other words, the natives of a culture are the only ones who can move that culture forward. Non-natives may provide valuable advice, but any imposition of their views threatens independence and thus progress. If one looks at individual schools as separate cultures, therefore, the key to educational progress is obvious______ Which one of the following best completes the passage?
(A) individual schools must be independent of outside imposition
(B) some schools require more independence than others, depending on the initiative of their staffs and students
(C) school system officials must tailor their initiatives for change to each individual school in the system
(D) outsiders must be prevented from participation in schools’ effort to advance
(E) the more independent a school is, the more educational progress it will make

25. The public in the United States has in the past been conditioned to support a substantial defense budget by the threat of confrontation with the Eastern bloc. Now that that threat is dissolving, along with the Eastern bloc itself, it is doubtful whether the public can be persuaded to support an adequate defense budget. Which one of the following indicates a weakness in the position expressed above?
(A) It presupposes that public opinion can be manipulated indefinitely, without the public’s becoming aware of that manipulation.
(B) It refers to past and present events that do not have a causal connection with public support of the budget.
(C) It assumes as fact what it seeks to establish by reasoning.
(D) It fails to give any reason for the judgment it reaches.
(E) It hinges on the term “adequate,” the precise meaning of which requires reevaluation in the new context.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 26 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Roses always provide a stunning display of color, but only those flowers that smell sweet are worth growing in a garden. Some roses have no scent. Which one the following conclusions can be properly drawn from the passage?
(A) Some flowers which provide a stunning display of color are not worth growing in a garden.
(B) All flowers with no scent provide a stunning display of color.
(C) Some flowers which are worth growing in a garden have no scent.
(D) Some roses which smell sweet are not worth growing in a garden.
(E) No sweet-smelling flower is worth growing in a garden unless it provides a stunning display of color.

2. The use of money causes a civilization to decline. That this is true is shown by the way the troubles of Western civilization began with the invention of money. While real money (gold and silver) is bad enough, imitation money (paper money) is a horror. The decline of Western civilization exactly parallels the increasing use of money—both real money and worthless paper money—as a substitute for things of intrinsic value. Which one of the following, if true, could contribute most to a refutation of the argument?
(A) People prefer using money to having a system in which goods are bartered for other goods of equal intrinsic value.
(B) Eastern cultures have used money, and Eastern civilizations have not declined.
(C) The use of paper money encourages disregard for the value of work because the money itself has no intrinsic value.
(D) The rate of exchange between gold and paper money has fluctuated greatly in Western civilization.
(E) Some employers exchange goods for their employees’ services in order to avoid the exchange of money.

3. Fire ants from Brazil now infest the southern United States. Unlike queen fire ants in Brazil, two queens in the United States share a nest. Ants from these nests are more aggressive than those from single-queen nests. By destroying virtually all insects in the nest area, these aggressive ants gain sole access to food sources, and the ant population skyrockets. Since certain predator insects in Brazil limit the fire-ant population there, importing such predator insects into the United States would be of overall benefit to the environment by stopping the increase of the fire-ant population in the United States. Each of the following is an assumption made in the argument EXCEPT:
(A) The imported insects would not prove more damaging to the environment in the United States than are the fire ants themselves.
(B) The predator insects from Brazil could survive in the ecological environment found in the United States.
(C) The especially aggressive fire ants from the two-queen nests would not be able to destroy the Brazilian predator insects.
(D) The predator insects would stop the increase of the ant population before the ants spread to states that are farther north.
(E) The rate of increase of the fire-ant population would not exceed the rate at which the predator insects could kill the ants.

4. In an attempt to counter complaints that a certain pesticide is potentially hazardous to humans if absorbed into edible plants, the pesticide manufacturer has advertised that “ounce for ounce, the active ingredient in this pesticide is less toxic than the active ingredient in mouthwash.” Which one of the following, if true, indicates a weakness in the manufacturer’s argument?
(A) The ounce-for-ounce toxicity of the active ingredient in mouthwash is less than that of most products meant for external use by humans, such as nail polish or
other cosmetics.
(B) The quantity of toxins humans ingest by consuming plants treated with the pesticide is, on average, much higher than the quantity of toxins humans ingest by using
mouthwash.
(C) The container in which the pesticide is packaged clearly identifies the toxic ingredients and carries warnings about their potential danger to humans.
(D) On average, the toxins present in the pesticide take longer than the toxins present in mouthwash to reach harmful levels in the human body.
(E) Since the government began to regulate the pesticide industry over ten years ago, there has been a growing awareness of the dangers of toxins used in
pesticides.

Questions 5-6

Four randomly chosen market research companies each produced population estimated for three middle-sized cities; the estimates of each company were then compared with those of the other companies. Two of the cities had relatively stable populations, and for them estimates of current population and of projected population in five years varied little from company to company. However, for the third city, which was growing rapidly, estimates varied greatly from company to company.

5. The passage provides the most support for which one of the following?
(A) It is more difficult to estimate the population of middle-sized cities than of smaller cities.
(B) Population estimates for rapidly growing cities can be accurate enough to be useful for marketing.
(C) The rate of change in population of rapidly growing cities does not fluctuate.
(D) The market research companies are likely to be equally reliable in estimating the population of stable cities.
(E) Estimates of city’s future population are likely to be more accurate than are estimates of that city’s current population.

6. Which one of the following, if true, would best help explain why estimates of the current population of the rapidly growing city varied more than did current population estimates for the two other cities?
(A) Population changes over time are more uniform from one district to another in the rapidly growing city than in the two other cities.
(B) The population of the rapidly growing city is increasing largely as a result of a high birth rate.
(C) The population of the rapidly growing city has a lower average age than the populations of either of the two other cities.
(D) All population estimates of the rapidly growing city were produced first by estimating the current populations of the city’s districts and then by adding those
estimates.
(E) Whereas the companies used different methods for estimating the current population of the rapidly growing city, the companies used the same method for the
two other cities.

7. Head injury is the most serious type of injury sustained in motorcycle accidents. The average cost to taxpayers for medical care for nonhelmeted motorcycle-accident victims is twice that for their helmeted counterparts. Jurisdictions that have enacted motorcycle-helmet laws have reduced the incidence and severity of accident-related head injuries, thereby reducing the cost to taxpayers. Therefore, to achieve similar cost reductions, other jurisdictions should enact motorcycle-helmet laws. For the same reason jurisdictions should also require helmets for horseback riders, since horseback-riding accidents are even more likely to cause serious head injury than motorcycle accidents are. Which one of the following is an assumption upon which the author’s conclusion concerning helmets for horseback riders depend?
(A) Medical care for victims of horseback-riding accidents is financial drain on tax funds.
(B) The higher rate of serious head injury suffered by victims of horseback-riding accidents is due to the difference in size between horses and motorcycles.
(C) The medical costs associated with treating head injuries are higher than those for other types of injury.
(D) Most fatalities resulting from horseback-riding and motorcycle accidents could have been prevented if the victims had been wearing helmets.
(E) When deciding whether to enact helmet laws for motorcyclists and horseback riders, the jurisdiction’s primary concerns is the safety of its citizens.

8. The senator has long held to the general principle that no true work of art is obscene, and thus that there is no conflict between the need to encourage free artistic expression and the need to protect the sensibilities of the public from obscenity. When well-known works generally viewed as obscene are cited as possible counterexamples, the senator justifies accepting the principle by saying that if these works really are obscene then they cannot be works of art. The senator’s reasoning contains which one of the following errors?
(A) It seeks to persuade by emotional rather than intellectual means.
(B) It contains an implicit contradiction.
(C) It relies on an assertion of the senator’s authority.
(D) It assumes what it seeks to establish.
(E) It attempts to justify a position by appeal to an irrelevant consideration.

9. Until he was dismissed amid great controversy, Hastings was considered one of the greatest intelligence agents of all time. It is clear that if his dismissal was justified, then Hastings was either incompetent or else disloyal. Soon after the dismissal, however, it was shown that he had never been incompetent. Thus, one is forced to conclude that Hastings must have been disloyal. Which one of the following states an assumption upon which the argument depends?
(A) Hastings’s dismissal was justified.
(B) Hastings was a high-ranking intelligence officer.
(C) The dismissal of anyone who was disloyal would be justified.
(D) Anyone whose dismissal was justified was disloyal.
(E) If someone was disloyal or incompetent, then his dismissal was justified.

10. Anyone who fails to answer a patient’s questions cannot be a competent physician. That is why I feel confident about my physician’s competence: she carefully answers every one of my questions, no matter how trivial. Which one of the following most closely parallels the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
(A) Anyone who grows up in a large family is accustomed to making compromises. Meredith is accustomed to making compromises, so she might have grown up in
a large family.
(B) Anyone who is not in favor of this proposal is ill informed on the issue. Jeanne opposes the proposal, so she is ill informed on the issue.
(C) No one who likes music misses a performance of the symphony. Paul likes music, yet last week he missed a performance of the symphony.
(D) Anyone who works two or more jobs is unable to find a balance between professional and personal life. Maggie has only one job, so she can find a balance
between her professional and personal life.
(E) No one who is hot-tempered and strong-willed will succeed in this business. Jeremy is strong-willed, so he will not succeed in this business.

11. The annual Journal for Publication, which often solicits articles, publishes only those articles that are both submitted before March 6 and written by certified psychoanalysts, Stevens, who publishes frequently in psychoanalytic literature, submitted an article to the Journal before March 6. This article was accepted for publication in the Journal. Which one of the following conclusions follows logically from the statement above?
(A) Stevens is a psychoanalyst.
(B) The Journal frequently accepts Stevens’ articles.
(C) Stevens is an authority on a large number of topics in psychoanalysis.
(D) The Journal asked Stevens to write an article.
(E) Stevens’ recently accepted article will be interesting to Journal readers.

Questions 12-13

Arguing that there was no trade between Europe and East Asia in the early Middle Ages because there are no written records of such trade is like arguing that the yeti, an apelike creature supposedly existing in the Himalayas, does not exist because there have been no scientifically confirmed sightings. A verifiable sighting of the yeti would prove that the creature does exist, but the absence of sightings cannot prove that it does not.

12. Which one of the following best expresses the point of the argument?
(A) Evidence for the existence of trade between Europe and East Asia in the early Middle Ages is, like evidence for the existence of the yeti, not scientifically
confirmed.
(B) In order to prove that in the early Middle Ages there was trade between Europe and East Asia it is necessary to find both Asian and European evidence that
such trade existed.
(C) That trade between Europe and East Asia did not exist in the early Middle Ages cannot be established simply by the absence of a certain sort of evidence that
this trade existed.
(D) The view that there was trade between Europe and East Asia in the early Middle Ages can only be disproved by showing that no references to this trade exist in
surviving records.
(E) There is no more evidence that trade between Europe and East Asia existed in the early Middle Ages than there is that the yeti exists.

13. Which one of the following considerations, if true, best counters the argument?
(A) Most of the evidence for the existence of trade between Europe and East Asia in the early Middle Ages is archaeological and therefore does not rely on written
records.
(B) Although written records of trade in East Asia in the early Middle Ages survived, there are almost no Europe documents from that period that mention trade at
all.
(C) Any trade between Europe and East Asia in the early Middle Ages would necessarily have been of very low volume and would have involved high-priced items,
such as precious metals and silk.
(D) There have been no confirmed sightings of the yeti, but there is indirect evidence, such as footprints, which if it is accepted as authentic would establish the yeti’s
existence.
(E) There are surviving European and East Asian written records from the early Middle Ages that do not mention trade between the two regions but would have
been very likely to do so if this trade had existed.

14. When the economy is in a recession, overall demand for goods and services is low. If overall demand for goods and services is low, bank interest rates are also low. Therefore, if bank interest rates are not low, the economy is not in a recession. The reasoning in which one of the following most closely parallels the reasoning in the argument above?
(A) If the restaurant is full, the parking lot will be full, and if the parking lot is full, the restaurant is full, so if the parking lot is not full, the restaurant is not full.
(B) If the fish is ready, it is cooked all the way through, and if it is cooked through it will be white, so if the fish is not white, it is not ready.
(C) If pterodactyls flew by flapping their wings, they must have been warm-blooded, so if they were cold-blooded, they must have flown only by gliding, if they flew
at all.
(D) If you want to put in pleats, you will have to double the amount of material for the skirt, and that means you will have none left for the top, so if you put in pleats
you will not be able to make the top.
(E) If economic forecasters are right, there will be inflation, and if there is inflation, the governing party will lose the election, so if it does lose the election, the
economic forecasters were right.

15. Twenty years ago the Republic of Rosinia produced nearly 100 million tons of potatoes, but last year the harvest barely reached 60 million tons. Agricultural researchers, who have failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Any current attempts by agricultural researchers to develop higher-yielding potato strains are futile.
(B) Strains of potatoes most commonly grown in Rosinia could not have produced the yields last year that they once did.
(C) Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions.
(D) Wide fluctuations in the size of the potato crop over a twenty-year period are not unusual.
(E) Agricultural research in Rosinia is funded by government grants.

16. An ancient Pavonian text describes how an army of one million enemies of Pavonia stopped to drink at a certain lake and drank the lake dry. Recently, archaeologists discovered that water-based life was suddenly absent just after the event was alleged by the text to have occurred. On the basis of reading the text and an account of the archaeological evidence, some students concluded that the events described really took place. When one of the following is a questionable technique used by the students to reach their conclusion?
(A) making a generalization about historical events on the basis of a single instance of that type of event
(B) ignoring available, potentially useful counterevidence
(C) rejecting a hypothesis because it is seemingly self-contradictory
(D) considering people and locations whose existence cannot be substantiated by modern historians
(E) taking evidence that a text has correctly described an effect to show that the text has correctly described the cause

17. Samples from the floor of a rock shelter in Pennsylvania were dated by analyzing the carbon they contained. The dates assigned to samples associated with human activities formed a consistent series, beginning with the present and going back in time, a series that was correlated with the depth from which the samples came. The oldest and deepest sample was dated at 19,650 years before the present, plus or minus 2,400 years. Skeptic, viewing that date as too early and inconsistent with the accepted date of human migration into North America, suggested that the samples could have been contaminated by dissolved “old carbon” carried by percolating groundwater from nearby coal deposits. Which one of the following considerations, if true, argues most strongly against the suggestion of the skeptics?
(A) No likely mechanism of contamination involving percolating groundwater would have affected the deeper samples from the site without affecting the uppermost
sample.
(B) Not every application of the carbon-dating procedure has led to results that have been generally acceptable to scientists.
(C) There is no evidence that people were using coal for fuel at any time when the deepest layer might have been laid down.
(D) No sample in the series, when retested by the carbon-dating procedure, was assigned an earlier date than that assigned to a sample from a layer above it.
(E) No North American site besides the one in Pennsylvania has ever yielded a sample to which the carbon-dating procedure assigned a date that was comparably
ancient.

18. Those influenced by modern Western science take it for granted that a genuine belief in astrology is proof of a credulous and unscientific mind. Yet, in the past, people of indisputable intellectual and scientific brilliance accepted astrology as a fact. Therefore, there is no scientific basis for rejecting astrology. The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?
(A) A belief can be consistent with the available evidence and accepted scientific theories at one time but not with the accepted evidence and theories of a later time.
(B) Since it is controversial whether astrology has a scientific basis, any argument that attempts to prove that it has will be specious.
(C) Although the conclusion is intended to hold in all cultures, the evidence advanced in its support is drawn only from those cultures strongly influenced by modern
Western science.
(D) The implicit assumption that all practitioners of Western science believe in astrology is false.
(E) The fact that there might be legitimate nonscientific reasons for rejecting astrology has been overlooked.

19. Amy McConnell is considering running for election against the incumbent, Gregory Lutz. If Lutz has a large campaign fund, then he is already far ahead, and McConnell will not run against him. If Lutz does not have a large campaign fund, McConnell will scrutinize Lutz’s record for any hints of scandal that she could use against him. Anything of a scandalous nature would increase McConnell’s chances of winning, and she would campaign for election. If Lutz has a clean record, however, McConnell will not run against him. Given the information in the passage, which one of the following must be false?
(A) Lutz does not have a large campaign fund, and McConnell does not run against him.
(B) Lutz’s record contains items that would increase McConnell’s chances of winning, and she runs against him.
(C) Lutz’s record contains scandalous items, and McConnell does not run against him.
(D) Lutz’s record contains nothing that would increase McConnell’s chances of winning, and she runs against him.
(E) Lutz has a large campaign fund, and McConnell does not run against him.

20. Psychotherapy has been described as a form of moral coercion. However, when people are coerced, their ability to make choices is restricted, and the goal of psychotherapy is to enhance people’s ability to make choices. Hence, psychotherapy cannot possibly be a form of coercion. Which one of the following describes a flaw in the argument?
(A) The position being argued against is redefined unfairly in order to make it an easier target.
(B) Psychotherapy is unfairly criticized for having a single goal, rather than having many complex goals.
(C) No allowance is made for the fact that the practice or results of psychotherapy might run counter to its goals.
(D) The goals of psychotherapy are taken to justify any means that are used to achieve those goals.
(E) It offers no argument to show that moral coercion is always undesirable.

21. Joel: A myth is a narrative told to convey a community’s traditional wisdom. Myths are not generally told in the modern world because there are no longer bodies of generally accepted truths that can be conveyed in this way. Giselle: Of course there are myths in the modern world. For example, there is the myth of the machine: we see the human body as a machine, to be fixed by mending defective parts. This may not be a narrative, but what medically trained specialist can deny the existence of that myth? Which one of the following most accurately characterizes Giselle’s response to Joel’s statement?
(A) It offers a scientific explanation to a problem of literary theory.
(B) It points out a weakness in Joel’s position by advancing an analogous position.
(C) It is based on an unsupported distinction between traditional societies and the modern world.
(D) It assumes that Joel is medically trained specialist.
(E) It offers a counterexample that calls into question part of Joel’s definition of myth.

22. The true scientific significance of a group of unusual fossils discovered by the paleontologist Charles Walcott is more likely to be reflected in a recent classification than it was in Walcott’s own classification. Walcott was, after all, a prominent member of the scientific establishment. His classifications are thus unlikely to have done anything but confirm what established science had already taken to be true. Which one of the following most accurately describes a questionable technique used in the argument?
(A) It draws conclusions about the merit of a position and about the content of that position from evidence about the position’s source.
(B) It cites two pieces of evidence, each of which is both questionable and unverifiable, and uses this evidence to support its conclusions.
(C) It bases a conclusion on two premises that contradict each other and minimizes this contradiction by the vagueness of the terms employed.
(D) It attempts to establish the validity of a claim, which is otherwise unsupported, by denying the truth of the opposite of that claim.
(E) It analyzes the past on the basis of social and political categories that properly apply only to the present and uses the results of this analysis to support its conclusion.

23. Anthony: It has been established that over 80 percent of those who use heroin have a history of having used marijuana. Such evidence would seem to prove that smoking marijuana definitely leads to heroin use. Judith: Maybe smoking marijuana does lead to heroin use, but it is absurd to thinks that citing those statistics proves that it does. After all, 100 percent of the people who take up heroin had a previous history of drinking water. Judith’s reply to Anthony’s argument relies on which one of the following argumentative strategies?
(A) offering evidence suggesting that the statistics Anthony cites in support of his conclusion are inaccurate
(B) undermining the credibility of his conclusion by showing that it is a statement from which absurd consequences can be derived
(C) providing an example to show that not everything that promotes heroin use is unsafe
(D) demonstrating that Anthony’s line of reasoning is flawed by showing such reasoning can lead to clearly false conclusions
(E) calling into question the possibility of ever establishing causal connections solely on the basis of statistical evidence

24. Rumored declines in automobile-industry revenues are exaggerated. It is true that automobile manufactures’ share of the industry’s revenues fell from 65 percent two years ago to 50 percent today, but over the same period suppliers of automobile parts had their share increase from 15 percent to 20 percent and service companies (for example, distributors, dealers, and repairers) had their share increase from 20 percent to 30 percent. Which one of the following best indicates why the statistics given above provide by themselves no evidence for the conclusion they are intended to support?
(A) The possibility is left open that the statistics for manufactures’ share of revenues come from a different source than the other statistics.
(B) No matter what changes the automobile industry’s overall revenues undergo, the total of all shares of these revenues must be 100 percent.
(C) No explanation is given for why the revenue shares of different sectors of the industry changed.
(D) Manufactures and parts companies depend for their revenue on dealers’ success in selling cars.
(E) Revenues are an important factor but are not the only factor in determining profits.

Questions 25-26

Proposals for extending the United States school year to bring it more in line with its European and Japanese counterparts are often met with the objection that curtailing the school’s three-month summer vacation would violate an established United States tradition dating from the nineteenth century. However, this objection misses its mark. True, in the nineteenth century, the majority of schools closed for three months every summer, but only because they were in rural areas where successful harvests depended on children labor. If any policy could be justified by those appears to tradition, it would be the policy of determining the length of the school year according to the needs of the economy.

25. Which one of the following principles, if accepted, would provide the strongest justification for the conclusion?
(A) That a given social policy has traditionally been in force justifies maintaining that policy only if doing so does not conflict with more pressing social needs.
(B) Appeals to its own traditions cannot excuse a country from the obligation to bring its practices in line with the legitimate expectations of the rest of the world.
(C) Because appeals to tradition often serve to mask the real interests at issue, such appeals should be disregarded.
(D) Traditional principles should be discarded when they no longer serve the needs of the economy.
(E) The actual tradition embodied in a given practice can be accurately identified only by reference to the reasons that originally prompted that practice.

26. The argument counters the objection by
(A) providing evidence to show that the objection relies on a misunderstanding about the amount of time each year United States schools traditionally have been
closed
(B) calling into question the relevance of information about historical practices to current disputes about proposed social change
(C) arguing for an alternative understanding of the nature of the United States tradition regarding the length of the school year
(D) showing that those who oppose extending the school year have no genuine concern for tradition
(E) demonstrating that tradition justifies bringing the United States school year in line with that of the rest of the industrialized world

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. A law that is not consistently enforced does not serve its purpose. Law without enforcement is not law; it is merely statute—a promise of law. To institute real law is not merely to declare that such and such behavior is forbidden, it is also to punish those who violate that edict. Furthermore, those who enforce law must punish without favor for their friends or malice for their enemies. To punish only those one dislike while forgiving others is not to enforce law but to engage in the arbitrary and unjust exercise of power. The main point of the passage is that instituting real law consists in
(A) the exercise of power
(B) authorizing the enforcement of punishments
(C) the unbiased punishment of prohibited behavior
(D) understanding the purpose of law
(E) clearly defining unacceptable behavior

2. Physiological research has uncovered disturbing evidence linking a number of structural disorders to jogging. Among the ailments seemingly connected with this now-popular sport are spinal disk displacements, stress fractures of the feet and ankles, knee and hip joint deterioration, and tendonitis. Furthermore, these injuries do not occur exclusively among beginning runners—veteran joggers suffer an equal percentage of injuries. What the accumulating data suggest is that the human anatomy is not able to withstand the stresses of jogging. Which one of the following is an assumption of the argument?
(A) The link between jogging and certain structural disorders appears to be a causal one.
(B) Jogging causes more serious disorders than other sports.
(C) The jogger’s level of experience is a factor determining the likelihood of a jogging injury.
(D) Some sports are safer for the human body than jogging.
(E) The human species is not very durable.

3. All students at Pitcombe College were asked to label themselves conservative, liberal, or middle-of-the-road politically. Of the students, 25 percent labeled themselves conservative, 24 percent labeled themselves liberal, and 51 percent labeled themselves middle-of-the-road. When asked about a particular set of issues, however, 77 percent of the students endorsed what is generally regarded as a liberal position. If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) All students who labeled themselves liberal endorsed what is generally regarded as a liberal position on that set of issues.
(B) More students who labeled themselves middle-of-the road than students who labeled themselves liberal opposed what is generally regarded as a liberal position
on that set of issues.
(C) The majority of students who labeled themselves middle-of-the-road opposed what is generally regarded as a liberal position on that set of issues.
(D) Some students who labeled themselves conservative endorsed what is generally regarded as a liberal position on that set of issues.
(E) Some students who labeled themselves liberal endorsed what is generally regarded as a conservative position on that set of issues.

4. Lenore: It is naive to think that historical explanations can be objective. In evaluating evidence, historians are always influenced by their national, political, and class loyalties. Victor: Still, the very fact that cases of biased thinking have been detected and sources of bias identified shows that there are people who can maintain objectivity. Victor’s response does not succeed as a rebuttal of Lenore’s argument because his response
(A) displays the same kind of biased thinking as that against which Lenore’s argument it directed
(B) does not address the special case of historians who purposely distort evidence in order to promote their own political objectives
(C) fails to provide examples of cases in which biased thinking has been detected and the source of that bias identified
(D) does not consider sources of bias in historical explanation other than those that are due to national, political, and class loyalties
(E) overlooks the possibility that those who detect and identify bias are themselves biased in some way

5. The museum’s night security guard maintains that the thieves who stole the portrait did not enter the museum at any point at or above ground level. Therefore, the thieves must have gained access to the museum from below ground level. The flawed pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?
(A) The rules stipulate the participants in the contest be judged on both form and accuracy. The eventual winner was judged highest in neither category, so there
must be a third criterion that judges were free to invoke.
(B) The store’s competitors claim that the store in selling off the shirts at those prices, neither made any profit nor broke even. Consequently, the store’s customers
must have been able to buy shirts there at less than the store’s cost.
(C) If the census is to be believed, the percentage of men who are married is higher than the percentage of women who are married. Thus, the census must show a
higher number of men than of women overall.
(D) The product label establishes that this insecticide is safe for both humans and pet. Therefore, the insecticide must also be safe for such wild mammals as deer
and rabbits.
(E) As had generally been expected, not all questionnaires were sent in by the official deadline. It follows that plans must have been made for the processing of
questionnaires received late.

Questions 6-7

High-technology medicine is driving up the nation’s health care costs. Recent advances in cataract surgery illustrate why this is occurring. Cataracts are a major cause of blindness, especially in elderly people. Ten years ago, cataract surgery was painful and not always effective. Thanks to the new technology used in cataract surgery, the operation now restores vision dramatically and is less expensive. These two factors have caused the number of cataract operations performed to increase greatly, which has, in turn, drive up the total amount spent on cataract surgery.

6. Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(A) Ten years ago, few people had successful cataract surgery.
(B) In the long run, the advantages of advanced medical technology are likely to be outweighed by the disadvantages.
(C) The total amount spent on cataract surgery has increased because the increased number of people electing to have the surgery more than offsets the decrease in
cost per operation.
(D) Huge increases in the nation’s health care costs are due primarily to increased demand for surgery for older people.
(E) Ten years ago, cataract surgery was affordable for more people than it was last year.

7. Each of the following, if true, would support a challenge to the author’s explanation of the increase in the number of cataract operations EXCEPT:
(A) The overall population of the nation has increased from what it was ten years ago.
(B) Any one individual’s chance of developing cataracts is greater than it was ten years ago.
(C) The number of older people has increased during the last ten years.
(D) Today, health insurance covers cataract surgery for more people than it did ten years ago.
(E) People who have had unsuccessful cataract surgery are left with more seriously impaired vision than they had before the surgery.

8. Some companies in fields where skilled employees are hard to find make signing an “agreement not to compete” a condition of employment. In such an agreement the employee promises not to go work for a competing firm for a set period after leaving his or her current employer. Courts are increasingly ruling that these agreements are not binding. Yet paradoxically, for people who signed such agreements when working for competing firms, many firms are unwilling to consider hiring them during the period covered by the agreement. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the paradox?
(A) Many companies will not risk having to become involved in lawsuits, even suits that they expect to have a favorable outcome.
(B) In some industries, for example the broadcast media, companies’ main source of new employees tends to be people who are already employed by competing
firms.
(C) Most companies that require their employees to sign agreements not to compete are aware that these documents are not legally binding.
(D) Many people who have signed agreements not to compete are unwilling to renege on a promise by going to work for a competing firm.
(E) Many companied consider their employees established relationships with clients and other people outside the company to be valuable company assets.

9. Many Ann: Our country should, above all, be strong. Strength gains the respect of other countries and makes a country admirable. Inez: There are many examples in history of countries that were strong but used their strength to commit atrocities. We should judge a country by the morality of its actions, not by its strength. If the actions are morally good, the country is admirable. Which one of the following is a presupposition that underlies Inez’ argument?
(A) At least one country is admirable.
(B) Countries can not be both strong and moral.
(C) It is possible to assign moral weight to the actions of countries.
(D) The citizens of any country believe that whatever their country does is good.
(E) Countries should impose their standards of morality on other countries by whatever means necessary.

10. All of John’s friends say they know someone who has smoked 40 cigarettes a day for the past 40 years and yet who is really fit and well. John does not know anyone like that and it is quite certain that he is not unique among his friends in this respect. If the statements in the passage are true, then which one of the following must also be true?
(A) Smokers often lie about how much they smoke.
(B) People often knowingly exaggerate without intending to lie.
(C) All John’s friends know the same lifelong heavy smoker.
(D) Most of John’s friends are not telling the truth.
(E) Some of John’s friends are not telling the truth.

11. For democracy to survive, it is imperative that the average citizen be able to develop informed opinions about important policy issues. In today’s society, this means that citizens must be able to develop informed opinions on many scientific subjects, from ecosystems to defense system. Yet, as scientific knowledge advances, the average citizen is increasingly unable to absorb enough information to develop informed opinions on many important issues. Of the following, which one follows logically from the passage?
(A) Scientists have a duty to educate the public.
(B) The survival of democracy is threatened by the advance of scientific knowledge.
(C) Every citizen has a duty to and can become scientifically literate.
(D) The most effective democracy is one that is the most scientifically unsophisticated.
(E) Democracy will survive if there are at least some citizens who are capable of developing informed opinions on important scientific issues.

12. By dating fossils of pollen and beetles, which returned after an Ice Age glacier left an area, it is possible to establish an approximate date when a warmer climate developed. In one glacial area, it appears from the insect record that a warm climate developed immediately after the melting of the glacier. From the pollen record, however, it appears that the warm climate did not develop until long after the glacier disappeared. Each one of the following, if true, helps to explain the apparent discrepancy EXCEPT:
(A) Cold-weather beetle fossils can be mistaken for those of beetles that live in warm climates.
(B) Warm-weather plants cannot establish themselves as quickly as can beetles in a new environment.
(C) Beetles can survive in a relatively barren postglacial area by scavenging.
(D) Since planes spread unevenly in a new climate, researchers can mistake gaps in the pollen record as evidence of no new overall growth.
(E) Beetles are among the oldest insect species and are much older then many warm-weather plants.

13. Using clean-coal technologies to “repower” existing factories promises ultimately a substantial reduction of polluting emissions, and will affect the full range of pollutants implicated in acid rain. The strategy of using these technologies could cut sulfur dioxide emission by more then 80 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 50 percent. The emission of smaller quantity of nitrogen pollutants would in turn reduce the formation of noxious ozone in the troposphere. Which one of the following statements is an inference that can be drawn from the information given in the passage?
(A) Sulfur dioxide emissions are the most dangerous pollutants implicated in acid rain.
(B) Noxious ozone is formed in factories by chemical reactions involving sulfur dioxide.
(C) Twenty percent of the present level of sulfur dioxide emissions in the atmosphere is not considered a harmful level.
(D) A substantial reduction of polluting emissions will be achieved by the careful design of new factories.
(E) The choice of technologies in factories could reduce the formation of noxious ozone in the troposphere.

14. Joshua Smith’s new novel was criticized by the book editor for The Daily Standard as implausible. That criticism, like so many other criticisms from the same source in the past, is completely unwarranted, as anyone who has actually read the novel would agree. Each one of the incidents in which Smith’s hero gets involved is the kind of incident that could very well have happened to someone or other. Which one of the following is the most serious error of reasoning in the argument?
(A) It relies on the assumption that a criticism can legitimately by dismissed as unwarranted if it is offended by someone who had previously displayed questionable
judgment.
(B) It ignores the fact that people can agree about something even though what they agree about is not the case.
(C) It calls into question the intellectual integrity of the critic in order to avoid having to address the grounds on which the criticism is based.
(D) It takes for granted that a whole story will have a given characteristics if each of its parts has that characteristics.
(E) It attempts to justify its conclusion by citing reasons that most people would find plausible only if they were already convinced that the conclusion was true.

15. J. J. Thomson, the discoverer of the electron and a recipient of the Nobel Price in physics, trained many physicists, among them seven Nobel Price winners, 32 fellows of the Royal Society of London, and 83 professors of physics. This shows that the skills needed for creative research can be taught and learned. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) J. J. Thomson was an internationally known physicist and scientists came from all over the world to work with him.
(B) All the scientists trained by J. J. Thomson were renowned for their creative scientific research.
(C) At least one of the eminent scientists trained by J. J. Thomson was not a creative researcher before coming to study with him.
(D) Creative research in physics requires research habits not necessary for creative research in other fields.
(E) Scientists who go on to be the most successful researchers often receive their scientific education in classes taught by renowned research scientists.

16. The ancient Romans understood the principles of water power very well and in some outlying parts of their empire they made extensive and excellent use of water as an energy sources. This makes it all the more striking that the Romans made do without water power in regions dominated by large cities. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the difference described above in the Romans’ use of water power?
(A) The ancient Romans were adept at constructing and maintaining aqueducts that could carry quantities of water sufficient to supply large cities over considerable
distances.
(B) In the areas in which water power was not used water flow in rivers and streams was substantial throughout the year but nevertheless exhibited some seasonal
variation.
(C) Water power was relatively vulnerable to sabotage but any damage could be quickly and inexpensively repaired.
(D) In most areas to which the use of water power was not extended other more traditional sources of energy continued to be used.
(E) In heavily populated areas the introduction of water power would have been certain to cause social unrest by depriving large numbers of people of their
livelihood.

17. From a book review: The authors blithely claim that there are “three basic ways to store energy: as heat, as electricity or as kinetic energy.” However, I cannot call to mind any affective ways to store energy as electricity, whereas any capable student of physics could readily suggest a few more ways to store energy: chemical, gravitational, nuclear. The reviewer makes which one of the following criticisms of a claim that appears in the book under review?
(A) There is no reason to consider any particular way to store energy any more basic than any other.
(B) The list given of ways to store energy is possibly inaccurate and certainly not exhaustive.
(C) It is overly limiting to treat basic ways to store energy as a question unrelated to the question of effective ways to use energy.
(D) What needs to be considered is not whether various ways to store energy are basic but whether they are effective.
(E) Except possibly for electricity, all ways to store energy are equally effective and therefore equally basic.

18. There is no mystery as to why figurative painting revived in the late 1970s. People want to look at recognizable images. Sorting out art theories reflected in abstract paintings is no substitute for the sense of empathy that comes form looking at a realistic painting of a figure in a landscape. Perhaps members of the art-viewing public resented abstract art because they felt that its lack of realistic subject matter was a rejection of the viewers and their world. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?
(A) Abstract paintings often include shapes or forms that are suggestive of real objects or emotions.
(B) The art-viewing public wished to see traditional subjects treated in a nontraditional manner.
(C) Paintings that depict a recognizable physical world rather than the emotional world of the artist’s life require more artistic talent to create.
(D) The general public is unable to understand the theories on which abstract painting is based.
(E) The artistic preferences of the art-viewing public stimulated the revival.

19. Valitania’s long-standing practice of paying high salaries to its elected politicians has had a disastrous effect on the level of integrity among politicians in that country. This is because the prospect of earning a high salary is always attractive to anyone whose primary aim in life is to make money, so that inevitably the wrong people must have been attracted into Valitanian politics: people who are more interested in making money than in serving the needs of the nation Which one of the following, if true, world weaken the argument?
(A) Many Valitanian candidates for elected office spend some of their own money to finance their campaigns.
(B) Most Valitanian elective offices have four-year terms.
(C) No more people compete for elected office when officeholders are paid well than when they are paid poorly.
(D) Only politicians who rely on their offices for income tend to support policies that advance their own selfish interests.
(E) Most of those who are currently Valitanian politicians could have obtained better-paid work outside politics.

Questions 20-21

Policy Adviser: Freedom of speech is not only a basic human right; it is also the only rational policy for this government to adopt. When ideas are openly aired, good idea flourish, silly proposals are easily recognized as such, and dangerous ideas can be responded to by rational argument. Nothing is ever gained by forcing citizens to disseminate their thoughts in secret.

20. The policy adviser’s method of persuasion, in recommending a policy of free speech to the government, is best described by which one of the following?
(A) a circular justification of the idea of free speech as an idea that flourishes when free speech is allowed
(B) advocating respect for basic rights of citizens for its own sake
(C) a coupling of moral ideals with self-interest
(D) a warning about the difficulty of suppressing the truth
(E) a description of an ideal situation that cannot realistically be achieved

21. Which one of the following, if true, world most strengthen the argument?
(A) Most citizens would tolerate some limits on freedom of speech.
(B) With or without a policy of freedom of speech, governments respond to dangerous ideas irrationally.
(C) Freedom of religion and freedom of assembly are also basic human rights that governments must recognize.
(D) Governments are less likely to be overthrown if they openly adopt a policy allowing freedom of speech.
(E) Great ideas have flourished in societies that repress free speech as often as in those that permit it.

22. The trustees of the Avonbridge summer drama workshop have decided to offer scholarships to the top 10 percent of local applicants and the top 10 percent of nonlocal applicants as judged on the basis of a qualifying audition. They are doing this to ensure that only the applicants with the most highly evaluated auditions are offered scholarships to the program. Which one of the following points out why the trustees’ plan might not be effective in achieving its goal?
(A) The best actors can also apply for admission to another program and then not enroll in the Avonbridge program.
(B) Audition materials that produce good results for one actor may disadvantage another, resulting in inaccurate assessment.
(C) The top 10 percent of local and nonlocal applicants might not need scholarships to the Avonbridge program.
(D) Some of the applicants who are offered scholarships could have less highly evaluated auditions than some of the applicants who are not offered scholarships.
(E) Dividing applicants into local and nonlocal groups is unfair because it favors nonlocal applicants.

23. Book Review: When I read a novel set in a city I know well, I must see that the writer knows the city as well as I do if I am to take that writer seriously. If the writer is faking, I know immediately and do not trust the writer. When a novelist demonstrates the required knowledge, I trust the story teller, so I trust the tale. This trust increases my enjoyment of a good novel. Peter Lee’s second novel is set in San Francisco, in this novel, as in his first, Lee passes my test with flying colors. Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) The book reviewer enjoys virtually any novel written by a novelist whom she trusts.
(B) If the book reviewer trusts the novelist as a storyteller, the novel in question must be set in a city the book reviewer knows well.
(C) Peter Lee’s first novel was set in San Francisco.
(D) The book reviewer does not trust any novel set in a city that she does not know well.
(E) The book reviewer does not believe that she knows San Francisco better than Peter Lee does.

24. Someone’s benefiting from having done harm to another person is morally justifiable only if the person who was harmed knew that what was done could cause that harm but consented to its being done anyway. Which of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle above?
(A) Attempting to avoid being kept after school as punishment for breaking a window, Sonia falsely claimed that her brother had broken it; Sonia’s action was
morally unjustifiable since it resulted in both children being kept after school for something only Sonia had done.
(B) Since Ned would not have won the prize for best model airplane if Penny’s brother had not inadvertently damaged her entry while playing with it. Ned is morally
unjustified in accepting his prize.
(C) Wesley, a doctor, persuade Max to take part in a medical experiment in which a new drug was being tested: since Wesley failed to warn Max about the serious
side effects of the drug and the drug proved to have no other effects, Wesley was morally unjustified in using the results obtained from Max in his report.
(D) Because Roger’s mother suffered severe complications as a result of donating a kidney to him for lifesaving kidney transplant, it was morally unjustifiable for
Roger to receive the transplant, even though his mother, herself a doctor, had been eager for the transplant to be performed.
(E) For James, who was convicted of having defrauded a large number of people out of their savings and wrote a book about his scheme while in prison, to be
denied the profits from his book would be morally unjustifiable since he was already been punished for his crime.

25. Certain governments subsidize certain basic agricultural products in order to guarantee an adequate domestic production of them. But subsidies encourage more intensive farming, which eventually leads to soil exhaustion and drastically reduced yields. The situation above is most nearly similar to which one of the following situations with respect to the relationship between the declared intent of a government practice and a circumstance relevant to it?
(A) Certain governments subsidize theaters in order to attract foreign tourists. But tourists rarely choose a destination for the theatrical performances it has to offer.
(B) Certain governments restrict imports in order to keep domestic producers in business. But, since domestic producers do not have to face the full force of foreign
competition, some domestic producers are able to earn inordinately high profits.
(C) Certain governments build strong armed forces in order to forestall armed conflict, but in order to maintain the sort of discipline and morale that keeps armed
forces strong, those forces must be used in actual combat periodically.
(D) Certain governments reduce taxes on business in order to stimulate private investment. But any investment is to some extent a gamble, and new business
ventures are not always as successful as their owners hoped.
(E) Certain governments pass traffic laws in order to make travel safer. But the population-driven growth in volumes of traffic often has the effect of making travel
less safe despite the passage of new traffic laws.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. In 1974 the speed limit on highways in the United States was reduced to 55 miles per hour in order to save fuel. In the first 12 months after the change, the rate of highway fatalities dropped 15 percent, the sharpest one-year drop in history. Over the next 10 years, the fatality rate declined by another 25 percent. It follows that the 1974 reduction in the speed limit saved many lives. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
(A) The 1974 fuel shortage cut driving sharply for more than a year.
(B) There was no decline in the rate of highway fatalities during the twelfth year following the reduction in the speed limit.
(C) Since 1974 automobile manufacturers have been required by law to install lifesaving equipment, such as seat belts, in all new cars.
(D) The fatality rate in highway accidents involving motorists driving faster than 55 miles per hour is much higher than in highway accidents that do not involve
motorists driving at such speeds.
(E) Motorists are more likely to avoid accidents by matching their speed to that of the surrounding highway traffic than by driving at faster or slower speeds.

2. Some legislators refuse to commit public funds for new scientific research if they cannot be assured that the research will contribute to the public welfare. Such a position ignores the lessons of experience. Many important contributions to the public welfare that resulted from scientific research were never predicted as potential outcomes of that research. Suppose that a scientist in the early twentieth century had applied for public funds to study molds: who would have predicted that such research would lead to the discovery of antibiotics—one of the greatest contributions ever made to the public welfare? Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the argument?
(A) The committal of public funds for new scientific research will ensure that the public welfare will be enhanced.
(B) If it were possible to predict the general outcome of a new scientific research effort, then legislators would not refuse to commit public funds for that effort.
(C) Scientific discoveries that have contributed to the public welfare would have occurred sooner if public funds had been committed to the research that generated
those discoveries.
(D) In order to ensure that scientific research is directed toward contributing to the public welfare, legislators must commit public funds to new scientific research.
(E) Lack of guarantees that new scientific research will contribute to the public welfare is not sufficient reason for legislators to refuse to commit public funds to new
scientific research.

3. When workers do not find their assignments challenging, they become bored and so achieve less than their abilities would allow. On the other hand, when workers find their assignments too difficult, they give up and so again achieve less than what they are capable of achieving. It is, therefore, clear that no worker’s full potential will ever be realized. Which one of the following is an error of reasoning contained in the argument?
(A) mistakenly equating what is actual and what is merely possible
(B) assuming without warrant that a situation allows only two possibilities
(C) relying on subjective rather than objective evidence
(D) confusing the coincidence of two events with a causal relation between the two
(E) depending on the ambiguous use of a key term

4. Our tomato soup provides good nutrition: for instance, a warm bowl of it contains more units of vitamin C than does a serving of apricots or fresh carrots! The advertisement is misleading if which one of the following is true?
(A) Few people depend exclusively on apricots and carrots to supply vitamin C to their diets.
(B) A liquid can lose vitamins if it stands in contact with the air for a protracted period of time.
(C) Tomato soup contains important nutrients other than vitamin C.
(D) The amount of vitamin C provided by a serving of the advertised soup is less than the amount furnished by a serving of fresh strawberries.
(E) Apricots and fresh carrots are widely known to be nutritious, but their contribution consists primarily in providing a large amount of vitamin A, not a large amount
of vitamin C.

Questions 5-6

The government provides insurance for individuals’ bank deposits, but requires the banks to pay the premiums for the insurance. Since it is depositors who primarily benefit from the security this insurance provides, the government should take steps to ensure that depositors who want this security bear the cost of it and thus should make depositors pay the premiums for insuring their own accounts.

5. Which one of the following principles, if established, would do most to justify drawing the conclusion of the argument on the basis of the reasons offered in its support?
(A) The people who stand to benefit from an economic service should always be made to bear the costs of that service.
(B) Any rational system of insurance must base the size of premiums on the degree of risk involved.
(C) Government-backed security for investors, such as bank depositors, should be provided only when it does not reduce incentives for investors to make
responsible investments.
(D) The choice of not accepting an offered service should always be available, even if there is no charge for the service.
(E) The government should avoid any actions that might alter the behavior of corporations and individuals in the market.

6. Which of the following is assumed by the argument?
(A) Banks are not insured by the government against default on the loans the banks make.
(B) Private insurance companies do not have the resources to provide banks or individual with deposit insurance.
(C) Banks do not always cover the cost of the deposit-insurance premiums by paying depositors lower interest rates on insured deposits than the banks would on
uninsured deposits.
(D) The government limits the insurance protection it provides by insuring accounts up to a certain legally defined amount only.
(E) The government does not allow banks to offer some kinds of accounts in which deposits are not insured.

7. When individual students are all treated equally in that they have identical exposure to curriculum material, the rate, quality, and quantity of learning will vary from student to student. If all students are to master a given curriculum, some of them need different types of help than others, as any experienced teacher knows. If the statements above are both true, which one of the following conclusions can be drawn on the basis of them?
(A) Unequal treatment, in a sense, of individual students is required in order to ensure equality with respect to the educational tasks they master.
(B) The rate and quality of learning, with learning understood as the acquiring of the ability to solve problems within a given curriculum area, depend on the quality of
teaching an individual student receives in any given curriculum.
(C) The more experienced the teacher is, the more the students will learn.
(D) All students should have identical exposure to learn the material being taught in any given curriculum.
(E) Teachers should help each of their students to learn as much as possible.

8. George: Some scientists say that global warming will occur because people are releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning trees and fossil fuels. We can see, though, that the predicted warming is occurring already. In the middle of last winter, we had a month of springlike weather in our area, and this fall, because of unusually mild temperatures, the leaves on our town’s trees were three weeks late in turning color. Which one of the following would it be most relevant to investigate in evaluating the conclusion of George’s argument?
(A) whether carbon dioxide is the only cause of global warming
(B) when leaves on the trees in the town usually change color
(C) what proportion of global emissions of carbon dioxide is due to the burning of trees by humans
(D) whether air pollution is causing some trees in the are to lose their leaves
(E) whether unusually warm weather is occurring elsewhere on the globe more frequently than before

9. Student representative: Our university, in expelling a student who verbally harassed his roommate, has erred by penalizing the student for doing what he surely has a right to do: speak his mind! Dean of students: But what you’re saying is that our university should endorse verbal harassment. Yet surely if we did that, we would threaten the free flow of ideas that is the essence of university life. Which one of the following is a questionable technique that the dean of students uses in attempting to refute the student representative?
(A) challenging the student representative’s knowledge of the process by which the student was expelled
(B) invoking a fallacious distinction between speech and other sorts of behavior
(C) misdescribing the student representative’s position, thereby making it easier to challenge
(D) questioning the motives of the student representative rather than offering reasons for the conclusion defended
(E) relying on a position of power to silence the opposing viewpoint with a threat

10. Famous personalities found guilty of many types of crimes in well-publicized trials are increasingly sentenced to the performance of community service, though unknown defendants convicted of similar crimes almost always serve prison sentences. However, the principle of equality before the law rules out using fame and publicity as relevant considerations in the sentencing of convicted criminals. The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions?
(A) The principle of equality before the law is rigorously applied in only a few types of criminal trials.
(B) The number of convicted celebrities sentenced to community service should equal the number of convicted unknown defendants sentenced to community
service.
(C) The principle of equality before the law can properly be overridden by other principles in some cases.
(D) The sentencing of celebrities to community service instead of prison constitutes a violation of the principle of equality before the law in many cases.
(E) The principle of equality before the law does not allow for leniency in sentencing.

11. Scientific research at a certain university was supported in part by an annual grant from a major foundation. When the university’s physics department embarked on weapons-related research, the foundation, which has a purely humanitarian mission, threatened to cancel its grant. The university then promised that none of the foundation’s money would be used for the weapons research, whereupon the foundation withdrew its threat, concluding that the weapons research would not benefit from the foundation’s grants. Which one of the following describes a flaw in the reasoning underlying the foundation’s conclusion?
(A) It overlooks the possibility that the availability of the foundation’s money for humanitarian uses will allow the university to redirect other funds from humanitarian
uses to weapons research.
(B) It overlooks the possibility that the physics department’s weapons research is not the only one of the university’s research activities with other than purely
humanitarian purposes.
(C) It overlooks the possibility that the university made its promise specifically in order to induce the foundation to withdraw its threat.
(D) It confuses the intention of not using a sum of money for a particular purpose with the intention of not using that sum of money at all.
(E) It assumes that if the means to achieve an objective are humanitarian in character, then the objective is also humanitarian in character.

12. To suit the needs of corporate clients, advertising agencies have successfully modified a strategy originally developed for political campaigns. This strategy aims to provide clients with free publicity and air time by designing an advertising campaign that is controversial, thus drawing prime- ime media coverage and evoking public comment by officials. The Statements above, if true, most seriously undermine which one of the following assertions?
(A) The usefulness of an advertising campaign is based solely on the degree to which the campaign’s advertisements persuade their audiences.
(B) Only a small percentage of eligible voters admit to being influenced by advertising campaigns in deciding how to vote.
(C) Campaign managers have transformed political campaigns by making increasing use of strategies borrowed from corporate advertising campaigns.
(D) Corporations are typically more concerned with maintaining public recognition of the corporate name than with enhancing goodwill toward the corporation.
(E) Advertising agencies that specialize in campaigns for corporate clients are not usually chosen for political campaigns.

13. The National Association of Fire Fighters says that 45 percent of homes now have smoke detectors, whereas only 30 percent of homes had them 10 years ago. This makes early detection of house fires no more likely, however, because over half of the domestic smoke detectors are either without batteries or else inoperative for some other reason. In order for the conclusion above to be properly drawn, which one of the following assumptions would have to be made?
(A) Fifteen percent of domestic smoke detectors were installed less than 10 years ago.
(B) The number of fires per year in homes with smoke detectors has increased.
(C) Not all of the smoke detectors in homes are battery operated.
(D) The proportion of domestic smoke detectors that are inoperative has increased in the past ten years.
(E) Unlike automatic water sprinklers, a properly functioning smoke detector cannot by itself increase fire safety in a home.

14. Advertisement: HomeGlo Paints, Inc., has won the prestigious Golden Paintbrush Award—given to the one paint manufacturer in the country that has increased the environmental safety of its product most over the past three years—for HomeGlo Exterior Enamel. The Golden Paintbrush is awarded only on the basis of thorough tests by independent testing laboratories. So when you choose HomeGlo Exterior Enamel, you will know that you have chosen the most environmentally safe brand of paint manufactured in this country today. The flawed reasoning in the advertisement most closely parallels that in which one of the following?
(A) The ZXC audio system received the overall top ranking for looks, performance, durability, and value in Listeners’ Report magazine’s ratings of currently
produced systems. Therefore, the ZXC must have better sound quality than any other currently produced sound system.
(B) Morning Sunshine breakfast cereal contains, ounce for ounce, more of the nutrients needed for a healthy diet than any other breakfast cereal on the market
today. Thus, when you eat Morning Sunshine, you will know you are eating the most nutritious food now on the market.
(C) The number of consumer visits increased more at Countryside Market last year than at any other market in the region. Therefore, Countryside’s profits must
also have increased more last year than those of any other market in the region.
(D) Jerrold’s teachers recognize him as the student who has shown more academic improvement than any other student in the junior class this year. Therefore, if
Jerrold and his classmates are ranked according to their current academic performance, Jerrold must hold the highest ranking.

(E) Margaret Durring’s short story “The Power Lunch” won three separate awards for best short fiction of the year. Therefore, any of Margaret Durring’s earlier
stories certainly has enough literary merit to be included in an anthology of the best recent short fiction.

15. The consistency of ice cream is adversely affected by even slight temperature changes in the freezer. To counteract this problem, manufacturers add stabilizers to ice cream. Unfortunately, stabilizers, though inexpensive, adversely affect flavor. Stabilizers are less needed if storage temperatures are very low. However, since energy costs are constantly going up, those costs constitute a strong incentive in favor of relatively high storage temperatures. Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) Even slight deviations from the proper consistency for ice cream sharply impair its flavor.
(B) Cost considerations favor sacrificing consistency over sacrificing flavor.
(C) It would not be cost effective to develop a new device to maintain the constancy of freezer temperatures.
(D) Stabilizers function well only at very low freezer temperatures.
(E) Very low, stable freezer temperatures allow for the best possible consistency and flavor of ice cream.

16. Edwina: True appreciation of Mozart’s music demands that you hear it exactly as he intended it to be heard; that is, exactly as he heard it. Since he heard it on eighteenth-century instruments, it follows that so should we. Alberto: But what makes you think that Mozart ever heard his music played as he had intended it to be played? After all, Mozart was writing at a time when the performer was expected, as a matter of course, not just to interpret but to modify the written score. Alberto adopts which one of the following strategies in criticizing Edwina’s position?
(A) He appeals to an academic authority in order to challenge the factual basis of her conclusion.
(B) He attacks her judgment by suggesting that she does not recognize the importance of the performer’s creativity to the audience’s appreciation of a musical
composition.
(C) He defends a competing view of musical authenticity.
(D) He attacks the logic of her argument by suggesting that the conclusion she draws does not follow from the premises she sets forth.
(E) He offers a reason to believe that one of the premises of her argument is false.

17. Since the introduction of the Impanian National Health Scheme, Impanians (or their private insurance companies) have had to pay only for the more unusual and sophisticated medical procedures. When the scheme was introduced, it was hoped that private insurance to pay for these procedures would be available at modest cost, since the insurers would no longer be paying for the bulk of health care costs, as they had done previously. Paradoxically, however, the cost of private health insurance did not decrease but has instead increased dramatically in the years since the scheme’s introduction. Which one of the following, if true, does most to explain the apparently paradoxical outcome?
(A) The National Health scheme has greatly reduced the number of medical claims handled annually by Impania’s private insurers, enabling these firms to reduce
overhead costs substantially.
(B) Before the National Health scheme was introduced, more than 80 percent of all Impanian medical costs were associated with procedures that are now covered
by the scheme.
(C) Impanians who previously were unable to afford regular medical treatment now use the National Health scheme, but the number of Impanians with private health
insurance has not increased.
(D) Impanians now buy private medical insurance only at times when they expect that they will need care of kinds not available in the National Health scheme.
(E) The proportion of total expenditures within Impania that is spent on health care has declined since the introduction of the National Health scheme.

18. In clinical trials of new medicines, half of the subjects receive the drug being tested and half receive a physiologically inert substance—a placebo. Trials are designed with the intention that neither subjects nor experimenters will find out which subjects are actually being given the drug being tested. However, this intention is frequently frustrated because______ Which one of the following, if true, most appropriately completes the explanation?
(A) often the subjects who receive the drug being tested develop symptoms that the experimenters recognize as side effects of the physiologically active drug
(B) subjects who believe they are receiving the drug being tested often display improvements in their conditions regardless of whether what is administered to them is
physiologically active or not
(C) in general, when the trial is intended to establish the experimental drug’s safety rather than its effectiveness, all of the subjects are healthy
(D) when a trial runs a long time, few of the experimenters will work on it from inception to conclusion
(E) the people who are subjects for clinical trials must, by law, be volunteers and must be informed of the possibility that they will receive a placebo

19. It takes 365.25 days for the Earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. Long-standing convention makes a year 365 days long, with an extra day added every fourth year, and the year is divided into 52 seven-day weeks. But since 52 times 7 is only 364, anniversaries do not fall on the same day of the week each year. Many scheduling problems could be avoided if the last day of each year and an additional day every fourth year belonged to no week, so that January 1 would be a Sunday every year. The proposal above, once put into effect, would be most likely to result in continued scheduling conflicts for which one of the following groups?
(A) people who have birthdays or other anniversaries on December 30 or 31
(B) employed people whose strict religious observances require that they refrain from working every seventh day
(C) school systems that require students to attend classes a specific number of days each year
(D) employed people who have three-day breaks from work when holidays are celebrated on Mondays or Fridays
(E) people who have to plan events several years before those events occur

20. Graphologists claim that it is possible to detect permanent character traits by examining people’s handwriting. For example, a strong cross on the “t” is supposed to denote enthusiasm. Obviously, however, with practice and perseverance people can alter their handwriting to include this feature. So it seems that graphologists must hold that permanent character traits can be changed. The argument against graphology proceeds by
(A) citing apparently incontestable evidence that leads to absurd consequences when conjoined with the view in question
(B) demonstrating that an apparently controversial and interesting claim is really just a platitude
(C) arguing that a particular technique of analysis can never be effective when the people analyzed know that it is being used
(D) showing that proponents of the view have no theoretical justification for the view
(E) attacking a technique by arguing that what the technique is supposed to detect can be detected quite readily without it

Questions 21-22

Historian: There is no direct evidence that timber was traded between the ancient nations of Poran and Nayal, but the fact that a law setting tariffs on timber imports from Poran was enacted during the third Nayalese dynasty does suggest that during that period a timber trade was conducted. Critic: Your reasoning is flawed. During its third dynasty, Nayal may well have imported timber from Poran, but certainly on today’s statute books there remain many laws regulating activities that were once common but in which people no longer engage.

21. The critic’s response to the historian’s reasoning does which one of the following?
(A) It implies an analogy between the present and the past.
(B) It identifies a general principle that the historian’s reasoning violates.
(C) It distinguishes between what has been established as a certainty and what has been established as a possibility.
(D) It establishes explicit criteria that must be used in evaluating indirect evidence.
(E) It points out the dissimilar roles that law plays in societies that are distinct from one another.

22. The critic’s response to the historian is flawed because it
(A) produces evidence that is consistent with there not having been any timber trade between Poran and Nayal during the third Nayalese dynasty
(B) cites current laws without indicating whether the laws cited are relevant to the timber trade
(C) fails to recognize that the historian’s conclusion was based on indirect evidence rather than direct evidence
(D) takes no account of the difference between a law’s enactment at a particular time and a law’s existence as part of a legal code at a particular time
(E) accepts without question that assumption about the purpose of laws that underlies the historian’s argument

23. The workers at Bell Manufacturing will shortly go on strike unless the management increases their wages. As Bell’s president is well aware, however, in order to increase the worker’s wages, Bell would have to sell off some of its subsidiaries. So, some of Bell’s subsidiaries will be sold. The conclusion above is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Bell Manufacturing will begin to suffer increased losses.
(B) Bell’s management will refuse to increase its worker’s wages.
(C) The workers at Bell Manufacturing will not be going on strike.
(D) Bell’s president has the authority to offer the workers their desired wage increase.
(E) Bell’s workers will not accept a package of improved benefits in place of their desired wage increase.

24. One sure way you can tell how quickly a new idea—for example, the idea of “privatization”—is taking hold among the population is to monitor how fast the word or words expressing that particular idea are passing into common usage. Professional opinions of whether or not words can indeed be said to have passed into common usage are available from dictionary editors, who are vitally concerned with this question. The method described above for determining how quickly a new idea is taking hold relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Dictionary editors are not professionally interested in words that are only rarely used.
(B) Dictionary editors have exact numerical criteria for telling when a word has passed into common usage.
(C) For a new idea to take hold, dictionary editors have to include the relevant word or words in their dictionaries.
(D) As a word passes into common usages, its meaning does not undergo any severe distortions in the process.
(E) Words denoting new ideas tend to be used before the ideas denoted are understood.

25. Because migrant workers are typically not hired by any one employer for longer than a single season, migrant workers can legally be paid less than the minimum hourly wage that the government requires employers to pay all their permanent employees. Yet most migrant workers work long hours each day for eleven or twelve months a year and thus are as much full-time workers as are people hired on a year-round basis. Therefore, the law should require that migrant workers be paid the same minimum hourly wage that other full-time workers must be paid. The pattern of reasoning displayed above most closely parallels that displayed in which one of the following arguments?
(A) Because day-care facilities are now regulated at the local level, the quality of care available to children in two different cities can differ widely. Since such
differences in treatment clearly are unfair, day care should be federally rather than locally regulated.
(B) Because many rural areas have few restrictions on development, housing estates in such areas have been built where no adequate supply of safe drinking water
could be ensured. Thus, rural areas should adopt building codes more like those large cities have.
(C) Because some countries regulate gun sales more strictly than do other countries, some people can readily purchase a gun, whereas others cannot. Therefore, all
countries should cooperate in developing a uniform international policy regarding gun sales.
(D) Because it is a democratic principle that laws should have the consent of those affected by them, liquor laws should be formulated not by politicians but by club
and restaurant owners, since such laws directly affect the profitability of their businesses.
(E) Because food additives are not considered drugs, they have not had to meet the safety standards the government applies to drugs. But food additives can be as
dangerous as drugs. Therefore, food additives should also be subject to safety regulations as stringent as those covering drugs.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Before the printing press, books could be purchased only in expensive manuscript copies. The printing press produced books that were significantly less expensive than the manuscript editions. The public’s demand for printed books in the first years after the invention of the printing press was many times greater than demand had been for manuscript copies. This increase demonstrates that there was a dramatic jump in the number of people who learned how to read in the years after publishers first started producing books on the printing press. Which one of the following statements, if true, casts doubt on the argument?
(A) During the first years after the invention of the printing press, letter writing by people who wrote without the assistance of scribes or clerks exhibited a dramatic
increase.
(B) Books produced on the printing press are often found with written comments in the margins in the handwriting of the people who owned the books.
(C) In the first years after the printing press was invented, printed books were purchased primarily by people who had always bought and read expensive
manuscripts but could afford a greater number of printed books for the same money.
(D) Books that were printed on the printing press in the first years after its invention often circulated among friends in informal reading clubs or libraries.
(E) The first printed books published after the invention of the printing press would have been useless to illiterate people, since the books had virtually no
illustrations.

2. Bevex, an artificial sweetener used only in soft drinks, is carcinogenic for mice, but only when it is consumed in very large quantities. To ingest an amount of Bevex equivalent to the amount fed to the mice in the relevant studies, a person would have to drink 25 cans of Bevex-sweetened soft drinks per day. For that reason, Bevex is in fact safe for people. In order for the conclusion that Bevex is safe for people to be properly drawn, which of the following must be true?
(A) Cancer from carcinogenic substances develops more slowly in mice than it does in people.
(B) If all food additives that are currently used in foods were tested, some would be found to be carcinogenic for mice.
(C) People drink fewer than 25 cans of Bevex-sweetened soda per day.
(D) People can obtain important health benefits by controlling their weight through the use of artificially sweetened soft drinks.
(E) Some of the studies done on Bevex were not relevant to the question of whether or not Bevex is carcinogenic for people.

3. Harry: Airlines have made it possible for anyone to travel around the world in much less time than was formerly possible. Judith: That is not true. Many flights are too expensive for all but the rich. Judith’s response shows that she interprets Harry’s statement to imply that
(A) the majority of people are rich
(B) everyone has an equal right to experience world travel
(C) world travel is only possible via routes serviced by airlines
(D) most forms of world travel are not affordable for most people
(E) anyone can afford to travel long distances by air

4. Nutritionists have recommended that people eat more fiber. Advertisements for a new fiber-supplement pill state only that it contains “44 percent fiber”. The advertising claim is misleading in its selection of information on which to focus if which one of the following is true?
(A) There are other products on the market that are advertised as providing fiber as a dietary supplement.
(B) Nutritionists base their recommendation on medical findings that dietary fiber protects against some kinds of cancer.
(C) It is possible to become addicted to some kinds of advertised pills, such as sleeping pills and painkillers.
(D) The label of the advertised product recommends taking 3 pills every day.
(E) The recommended daily intake of fiber is 20 to 30 grams, and the pill contains one-third gram.

5. Many environmentalists have urged environmental awareness on consumers, saying that if we accept moral responsibility for our effects on the environment, then products that directly or indirectly harm the environment ought to be avoided. Unfortunately it is usually impossible for consumers to assess the environmental impact of a product, and thus impossible for them to consciously restrict their purchases to environmentally benign products. Because of this impossibility there can be no moral duty to choose products in the way these environmentalists urge, since______ Which one of the following principles provides the most appropriate completion for the argument?
(A) a moral duty to perform an action is never based solely on the effects the action will have on other people
(B) a person cannot possibly have a moral duty to do what he or she is unable to do
(C) moral considerations should not be the sole determinants of what products are made available to consumers
(D) the morally right action is always the one whose effects produce the least total harm
(E) where a moral duty exists, it supersedes any legal duty and any other kind of duty

6. Advertisement: Anyone who exercises knows from firsthand experience that exercise leads to better performance of such physical organs as the heart and lungs, as well as to improvement in muscle tone. And since your brain is a physical organ, your actions can improve its performance, too. Act now. Subscribe to Stimulus: read the magazine that exercises your brain. The Advertisement employs which one of the following argumentative strategies?
(A) It cites experimental evidence that subscribing to the product being advertised has desirable consequences.
(B) It ridicules people who do not subscribe to Stimulus by suggesting that they do not believe that exercise will improve brain capacity.
(C) It explains the process by which the product being advertised brings about the result claimed for its use.
(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
(E) It implies that brains and muscle are similar in one respect because they are similar in another respect.

Questions 7- 8

Coherent solutions for the problem of reducing health-care costs cannot be found within the current piecemeal (done, made, or accomplished piece by piece or in a fragmentary way *piecemeal reforms in the system*) system of paying these costs. The reason is that this system gives health-care providers and insurers every incentive to shift, wherever possible, the costs of treating illness onto each other or any other party, including the patient. That clearly is the lesson of the various reforms of the 1980s: push in on one part of this pliable spending balloon and an equally expensive bulge pops up elsewhere. For example, when the government health-care insurance program for the poor cut costs by disallowing payments for some visits to physicians, patients with advanced illness later presented themselves at hospital emergency rooms in increased numbers.

7. The argument proceeds by
(A) showing that shifting costs onto the patient contradicts the premise of health-care reimbursement
(B) attributing without justification fraudulent intent to people
(C) employing an analogy to characterize interrelationships
(D) denying the possibility of a solution by disparaging each possible alternative system
(E) demonstrating that cooperation is feasible by citing an instance

8. The argument provides the most support for which one of the following?
(A) Under the conditions in which the current system operates, the overall volume of health-care costs could be shrunk, if at all, only by a comprehensive approach.
(B) Relative to the resources available for health-care funding, the income of the higher-paid health-care professionals is too high.
(C) Health-care costs are expanding to meet additional funds that have been made available for them.
(D) Advances in medical technology have raised the expected standards of medical care but have proved expensive.
(E) Since unfilled hospital beds contribute to overhead charges on each patient’s bill, it would be unwise to hold unused hospital capacity in reserve for large-scale
emergencies.

9. The commercial news media emphasize exceptional events such as airplane crashes at the expense of those such as automobile accidents, which occur far more frequently and represent a far greater risk to the public. Yet the public tends to interpret the degree of emphasis the news media give to these occurrences as indicating the degree of risk they represent. If the statements above are true, which one of the following conclusions is more strongly supported by them?
(A) Print media, such as newspapers and magazines, are a better source of information than are broadcast media.
(B) The emphasis given in the commercial news media to major catastrophes is dictated by the public’s taste for the extraordinary.
(C) Events over which people feel they have no control are generally perceived as more dangerous than those which people feel they can avert or avoid.
(D) Where commercial news media constitute the dominant source of information, public perception of risk does not reflect actual risk.
(E) A massive outbreak of cholera will be covered more extensively by the news media than will the occurrence of a rarer but less serious disease.

10. A large group of hyperactive children whose regular diets included food containing large amounts of additives was observed by researchers trained to assess the presence or absence of behavior problems. The children were then placed on a low-additive diet for several weeks, after which they were observed again. Originally nearly 60 percent of the children exhibited behavior problems; after the change in diet, only 30 percent did so. On the basis of these data, it can be concluded that food additives can contribute to behavior problems in hyperactive children. The evidence cited fails to establish the conclusion because
(A) there is no evidence that the reduction in behavior problems was proportionate to the reduction in food-additive intake
(B) there is no way to know what changes would have occurred without the change of diet, since only children who changed to a low-additive diet were studied
(C) exactly how many children exhibited behavior problems after the change in diet cannot be determined, since the size of the group studied is not precisely given
(D) there is no evidence that the behavior of some of the children was unaffected by additives
(E) the evidence is consistent with the claim that some children exhibit more frequent behavior problems after being on the low-additive diet than they had exhibited
when first observed

11. In 1990 major engine repairs were performed on 10 percent of the cars that had been built by the National Motor Company in the 1970s and that were still registered. However, the corresponding figure for the cars that the National Motor Company had manufactured in the 1960s was only five percent. Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the discrepancy?
(A) Government motor vehicle regulations generally require all cars, whether old or new, to be inspected for emission levels prior to registration.
(B) Owners of new cars tend to drive their cars more carefully than do owners of old cars.
(C) The older a car is, the more likely it is to be discarded for scrap rather than repaired when major engine work is needed to keep the car in operation.
(D) The cars that the National Motor Company built in the 1970s incorporated simplified engine designs that made the engines less complicated than those of earlier
models.
(E) Many of the repairs that were performed on the cars that the National Motor Company built in the 1960s could have been avoided if periodic routine
maintenance had been performed.

12. No mathematician today would flatly refuse to accept the results of an enormous computation as an adequate demonstration of the truth of a theorem. In 1976, however, this was not the case. Some mathematicians at that time refused to accept the results of a complex computer demonstration of a very simple mapping theorem. Although some mathematicians still hold a strong belief that a simple theorem ought to have a short, simple proof, in fact, some simple theorems have required enormous proofs. If all of the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) Today, some mathematicians who believe that a simple theorem ought to have a simple proof would consider accepting the results of an enormous computation
as a demonstration of the truth of a theorem.
(B) Some individuals who believe that a simple theorem ought to have a simple proof are not mathematicians.
(C) Today, some individuals who refuse to accept the results of an enormous computation as a demonstration of the truth of a theorem believe that a simple theorem
ought to have a simple proof.
(D) Some individuals who do not believe that a simple theorem ought to have a simple proof would not be willing to accept the results of an enormous computation
as proof of a complex theorem.
(E) Some nonmathematicians do not believe that a simple theorem ought to have a simple proof.

13. If you climb mountains, you will not live to a ripe old age. But you will be bored unless you climb mountains. Therefore, if you live to a ripe old age you will have been bored. Which of the following most closely parallels the reasoning in the arguments above?
(A) If you do not try to swim, you will not learn how to swim. But you will not be safe in boats if you do not learn how to swim. Therefore, you must try to swim.
(B) If you do not play golf, you will not enjoy the weekend. But you will be tired next week unless you relax during the weekend. Therefore, to enjoy the weekend,
you will have to relax by playing golf.
(C) If you work for your candidate, you will not improve your guitar playing. But you will neglect your civic duty unless you work for your candidate. Therefore, if
you improve your guitar playing, you will have neglected your civic duty.
(D) If you do not train, you will not be a good athlete. But you will become exhausted easily unless you train. Therefore, if you train, you will not have become
exhausted easily.
(E) If you spend all of your money, you will not become wealthy. But you will become hungry unless you spend all of your money. Therefore, if you become
wealthy, you will not become hungry.

14. Marine biologists had hypothesized that lobsters kept together in lobster traps eat one another in response to hunger. Periodic checking of lobster traps, however, has revealed instances of lobsters sharing traps together for weeks. Eight lobsters even shared one trap together for two months without eating one another. The marine biologists’ hypothesis, therefore, is clearly wrong. The argument against the marine biologists’ hypothesis is based on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) Lobsters not caught in lobster traps have been observed eating one another.
(B) Two months is the longest known period during which eight or more lobsters have been trapped together.
(C) It is unusual to find as many as eight lobsters caught together in one single trap.
(D) Members of other marine species sometimes eat their own kind when no other food sources are available.
(E) Any food that the eight lobsters in the trap might have obtained was not enough to ward off hunger.

15. Eight years ago hunting was banned in Greenfield County on the grounds that hunting endangers public safety. Now the deer population in the county is six times what it was before the ban. Deer are invading residential areas, damaging property and causing motor vehicle accidents that result in serious injury to motorists. Since there were never any hunting-related injuries in the county, clearly the ban was not only unnecessary but has created a danger to public safety that would not otherwise exist. Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest additional support for the conclusion above?
(A) In surrounding counties, where hunting is permitted, the size of the deer population has not increased in the last eight years.
(B) Motor vehicle accidents involving deer often result in damage to the vehicle, injury to the motorist, or both.
(C) When deer populations increase beyond optimal size, disease and malnutrition become more widespread among the deer herds.
(D) In residential areas in the county, many residents provide food and salt for deer.
(E) Deer can cause extensive damage to ornamental shrubs and trees by chewing on twigs and saplings.

16. Comets do not give off their own light but reflect light from other sources, such as the Sun. Scientists estimate the mass of comets by their brightness: the greater a comet’s mass, the more light that comet will reflect. A satellite probe, however, has revealed that the material of which Halley’s comet is composed reflects 60 times less light per unit of mass than had been previously thought. The statements above, if true, give the most support to which one of the following?
(A) Some comets are composed of material that reflects 60 times more light per unit of mass than the material of which Halley’s comet is composed.
(B) Previous estimates of the mass of Halley’s comet which were base on its brightness were too low.
(C) The total amount of light reflected from Halley’s comet is less than scientists had previously thought.
(D) The reflective properties of the material of which comets are composed vary considerably from comet to comet.
(E) Scientists need more information before they can make a good estimate of the mass of Halley’s comet.

17. Office manager: I will not order recycled paper for this office. Our letters to clients must make a good impression, so we cannot print them on inferior paper. Stationery supplier: recycled paper is not necessarily inferior. In fact, from the beginning, the finest paper has been made of recycled material. It was only in the 1850s that paper began to be made from wood fiber, and then only because there were no longer enough rags to meet the demand for paper. In which of the following ways does the stationer’s response fail to address the office manager’s objection to recycled paper?
(A) It does not recognize that the office manager’s prejudice against recycled paper stems from ignorance.
(B) It uses irrelevant facts to justify a claim about the quality of the disputed product.
(C) It assumes that the office manager is concerned about environmental issues.
(D) It presupposes that the office manager understands the basic technology of paper manufacturing.
(E) It ignores the office manager’s legitimate concern about quality.

Question 18-19

When Alicia Green borrowed a neighbor’s car without permission, the police merely gave her a warning. However, when Peter Foster did the same thing, he was charged with automobile theft. Peter came to the attention of the police because the car he was driving was hit by a speeding taxi. Alicia was stopped because the car she was driving had defective taillights. It is true that the car Peter took got damaged and the car Alicia took did not, but since it was the taxi that caused the damage this difference was not due to any difference in the blameworthiness of their behavior. Therefore, Alicia should also have been charged with automobile theft.

18. The statement that the car Peter took got damaged and the car Alicia took did not plays which one of the following roles in the argument?
(A) It presents a reason that directly supports the conclusion.
(B) It justifies the difference in the actual outcome in the two cases.
(C) It demonstrates awareness of a fact on which a possible objection might be based.
(D) It illustrates a general principle on which the argument relies.
(E) It summarizes a position against which the argument is directed.

19. If all of the claims offered in support of the conclusion are accurate, each of the following could be true EXCEPT:
(A) The interests of justice would have been better served if the police had released Peter Foster with a warning.
(B) Alicia Green had never before driven a car belonging to someone else without first securing the owner’s permission.
(C) Peter Foster was hit by the taxi while he was running a red light, whereas Alicia Green drove with extra care to avoid drawing the attention of the police to the
car she had taken.
(D) Alicia Green barely missed hitting a pedestrian when she sped through a red light ten minutes before she was stopped by the police for driving a car that had
defective taillights.
(E) Peter Foster had been cited for speeding twice in the preceding month, whereas Alicia Green had never been cited for a traffic violation.

20. According to sources who can be expected to know, Dr. Maria Esposito is going to run in the mayoral election. But if Dr. Esposito runs, Jerome Krasman will certainly not run against her. Therefore Dr. Esposito will be the only candidate in the election. The flawed reasoning in the argument above most closely parallels that in which one of the following?
(A) According to its management, Brown’s Stores will move next year. Without Brown’s being present, no new large store can be attracted to the downtown area.
Therefore the downtown area will no longer be viable as a shopping district.
(B) The press release says that the rock group Rollercoaster is playing a concert on Saturday. It won’t be playing on Friday if it plays on Saturday. So Saturday willbe the only day this week on which Rollercoaster will perform.
(C) Joshua says the interviewing panel was impressed by Marilyn. But if they were impressed by Marilyn, they probably thought less of Sven. Joshua is probably
right, and so Sven will probably not get the job.
(D) An informant says that Rustimann was involved in the bank robbery, If Rustimann was involved, Jones was certainly not involved. Since these two are the only
people who could have been involved. Rustimann is the only person the police need to arrest.
(E) The review said that this book is the best one for beginners at programming. If this book is the best, that other one can’t be as good. So this one is the book we should buy.

21. The initial causes of serious accidents at nuclear power plants have not so far been flaws in the advanced-technology portion of the plants. Rather, the initial causes have been attributed to human error, as when a worker at the Browns Mills reactor in the United States dropped a candle and started a fire, or to flaws in the plumbing, exemplified in a recent incident in Japan. Such everyday events cannot be thought unlikely to occur over the long run. Which of the following is most strongly supported by the statements above?
(A) Now that nuclear power generation has become a part of everyday life, an ever-increasing yearly incidence of serious accidents at plants can be expected.
(B) If nuclear power plants continue in operation, a serious accident at such a plant is not improbable.
(C) The likelihood of human error at the operating consoles of nuclear power generators cannot be lessened by thoughtful design of dials, switches, and displays.
(D) The design of nuclear power plants attempts to compensate for possible failures of the materials used in their construction.
(E) No serious accident will be caused in the future by some flaw in the advanced-technology portion of a nuclear power plant.

22. There is a widespread belief that people can predict impending earthquakes from unusual animal behavior. Skeptics claim that this belief is based on selective coincidence: people whose dogs behaved oddly just before an earthquake will be especially likely to remember that fact. At any given time, the skeptics say, some of the world’s dogs will be behaving oddly. Clarification of which one of the following issues would be most important to an evaluation of the skeptics’ position?
(A) Which is larger, the number of skeptics or the number of people who believe that animal behavior can foreshadow earthquakes?
(B) Are there means other than the observation of animal behavior that nonscientists can use to predict earthquakes?
(C) Are there animals about whose behavior people know too little to be able to distinguish unusual from everyday behavior?
(D) Are the sorts of behavior supposedly predictive of earthquakes as pronounced in dogs as they are in other animals?
(E) Is the animal behavior supposedly predictive of earthquakes specific to impending earthquakes or can it be any kind of unusual behavior?

23. Defendants who can afford expensive private defense lawyers have a lower conviction rate than those who rely on court-appointed public defenders. This explains why criminals who commit lucrative crimes like embezzlement or insider trading are more successful at avoiding conviction than are street criminals. The explanation offered above would be more persuasive if which one of the following were true?
(A) Many street crimes, such as drug dealing, are extremely lucrative and those committing them can afford expensive private lawyers.
(B) Most prosecutors are not competent to handle cases involving highly technical financial evidence and have more success in prosecuting cases of robbery or
simple assault.
(C) The number of criminals convicted of street crimes is far greater than the number of criminals convicted of embezzlement or insider trading.
(D) The percentage of defendants who actually committed the crimes of which they are accused is no greater for publicly defended than for privately defended
defendants.
(E) Juries, out of sympathy for the victims of crimes, are much more likely to convict defendants accused of violent crimes than they are to convict defendants
accused of “victimless” crimes or crimes against property.

24. Many major scientific discoveries of the past were the product of serendipity, the chances discovery of valuable findings that investigators had not purposely sought. Now, however, scientific research tends to be so costly that investigators are heavily dependent on large grants to fund their research. Because such grants require investigators to provide the grant sponsors with clear projections of the outcome of the proposed research, investigators ignore anything that does not directly bear on the funded research. Therefore, under the prevailing circumstances, serendipity can no longer play a role in scientific discovery. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Only findings that an investigator purposely seeks can directly bear on that investigator’s research.
(B) In the past few scientific investigators attempted to make clear predictions of the outcome of their research.
(C) Dependence on large grants is preventing investigators from conducting the type of scientific research that those investigators would personally prefer.
(D) All scientific investigators who provide grant sponsors with clear projections of the outcome of their research receive at least some of the grants for which they
apply.
(E) In general the most valuable scientific discoveries are the product of serendipity.

25. Police statistics have shown that automobile antitheft devices reduce the risk of car theft, but a statistical study of automobile theft by the automobile insurance industry claims that cars equipped with antitheft devices are, paradoxically, more likely to be stolen than cars that are not so equipped. Which one of the following, if true, does the most to resolve the apparent paradox?
(A) Owners of stolen cars almost invariably report the theft immediately to the police but tend to delay notifying their insurance company, in the hope that the vehicle
will be recovered.
(B) Most cars that are stolen are not equipped with antitheft devices, and most cars that are equipped with antitheft devices are not stolen.
(C) The most common automobile antitheft devices are audible alarms, which typically produce ten false alarms for every actual attempted theft.
(D) Automobile owners who have particularly theft-prone cars and live in areas of greatest incidence of car theft are those who are most likely to have antitheft
devices installed.
(E) Most automobile thefts are the work of professional thieves against whose efforts antitheft devices offer scant protection.

ANSWERS

 

Time 35 minutes 24 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages...

1. Parent 1: Ten years ago, children in communities like ours did not date until they were thirteen to fifteen years old. Now our nine to eleven year olds are dating. Obviously, children in communities like ours are becoming romantically interested in members of the opposite sex at an earlier age today than they did ten years ago. Parent 2: I disagree. Our nine to eleven year olds do not want to date, but they feel intense peer pressure to act grown up by dating. Parent 2, in responding to Parent 1, does which one of the following?
(A) draws a conclusion about a new phenomenon by comparing it to a phenomenon that is known and understood
(B) refutes a generalization about nine- to eleven-year-old children by means of an exceptional case overlooked by Parent 1
(C) assumes that nine- to eleven-year-old children are as interested in dating as thirteen- to fifteen-year-old children
(D) provides an alternative explanation for the changes in children’s dating described by Parent 1
(E) criticizes Parent 1 as a proponent of a claim rather than criticizing the claim itself

2. All cattle ranchers dislike long winters. All ski resort owners like long winters because long winters mean increased profits. Some lawyers are cattle ranchers. Which one of the following statements, if true, and added to those above, most supports the conclusion that no ski resort owners are lawyers?
(A) Some cattle ranchers are lawyers.
(B) Some people who dislike long winters are not cattle ranchers.
(C) All lawyers are cattle ranchers.
(D) All people who dislike long winters are cattle ranchers.
(E) All people with increasing profits own ski resorts.

3. Citizen of Mooresville: Mooresville’s current city council is having a ruinous effect on municipal finances. Since a majority of the incumbents are running for reelection, I am going to campaign against all these incumbents in the upcoming city council election. The only incumbent I will support and vote for is the one who represents my own neighborhood, because she has the experience necessary to ensure that our neighborhoods interests are served. If everyone in Mooresville would follow my example, we could substantially change the council’s membership. Assuming that each citizen of Mooresville is allowed to vote only for a city council representative from his or her own neighborhood, for the council’s membership to be changed substantially, it must be true that
(A) at least some other voters in Mooresville do not make the same exception for their own incumbent in the upcoming election
(B) most of the eligible voters in Mooresville vote in the upcoming election
(C) few of the incumbents on the Mooresville city council have run for reelection in previous elections
(D) all of the seats on the Mooresville city council are filled by incumbents whose terms are expiring
(E) none of the challengers in the upcoming election for seats on Mooresville’s city council are better able to serve the interests of their neighborhoods than were the
incumbents

4. Marianna: The problem of drunk driving has been somewhat ameliorated by public education and stricter laws. Additional measures are nevertheless needed. People still drive after drinking, and when they do, the probability is greatly increased that they will cause an accident involving death or serious injury. David: I think you exaggerate the dangers of driving while drunk. Actually, a driver who is in an automobile accident is slightly less likely to be seriously injured if drunk than if sober. In responding to Marianna’s argument, David makes which one of the following errors of reasoning?
(A) He contradicts himself.
(B) He assumes what he is seeking to establish.
(C) He contradicts Marianna’s conclusion without giving any evidence for his point of view.
(D) He argues against a point that is not one that Marianna was making.
(E) He directs his criticism against the person making the argument rather than directing it against the argument itself.

5. From a magazine article: Self-confidence is a dangerous virtue: it often degenerates into the vice of arrogance. The danger of arrogance is evident to all who care to look. How much more humane the twentieth century would have been without the arrogant self-confidence of a Hitler or a Stalin. The author attempts to persuade by doing all of the following EXCEPT:
(A) Using extreme cases to evoke an emotional response
(B) Introducing value-laden terms, such as “vice”
(C) Illustrating the danger of arrogance
(D) Appealing to authority to substantiate an assertion
(E) Implying that Hitler’s arrogance arose from self-confidence

6. A study was designed to establish what effect, if any, the long-term operation of offshore oil rigs had on animal life on the bottom of the sea. The study compared the sea-bottom communities near rigs with those located in control sites several miles from any rig and found no significant differences. The researchers concluded that oil rigs had no adverse effect on sea-bottom animals. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the researcher’ conclusion?
(A) Commercially important fish depend on sea-bottom animals for much of their food, so a drop in catches of these fish would be evidence of damage to sea-
ottom communities.
(B) The discharge of oil from offshore oil rigs typically occurs at the surface of the water, and currents often carry the oil considerable distances before it settles on
the ocean floor.
(C) Contamination of the ocean floor from sewage and industrial effluent does not result in the destruction of all sea-bottom animals but instead reduces species
diversity as well as density of animal life.
(D) Only part of any oil discharged into the ocean reaches the ocean floor: some oil evaporates, and some remains in the water as suspended drops.
(E) Where the ocean floor consists of soft sediment, contaminating oil persists much longer than where the ocean floor is rocky.

7. Scientists are sometimes said to assume that something is not the case until there is proof that it is the case. Now suppose the question arises whether a given food additive is safe. At that point, it would be neither known to be safe nor known not to be safe. By the characterization above, scientists would assume the additive not to be safe because it has not been proven safe. But they would also assume it to be safe because it has not been proven otherwise. But no scientist could assume without contradiction that a given substance is both safe and not safe: so this characterization of scientists is clearly wrong. Which one of the following describes the technique of reasoning used above?
(A) A general statement is argued to be false by showing that it has deliberately been formulated to mislead.
(B) A statement is argued to be false by showing that taking it to be true leads to implausible consequences.
(C) A statement is shown to be false by showing that it directly contradicts a second statement that is taken to be true.
(D) A general statement is shown to be uninformative by showing that there are as many specific instances in which it is false as there are instances in which it is true.
(E) A statement is shown to be uninformative by showing that it supports no independently testable inferences.

8. During the 1980s the homicide rate in Britain rose by 50 percent. The weapon used usually was a knife. Potentially lethal knives are sold openly and legally in many shops. Most homicide deaths occur as a result of unpremeditated assaults within the family. Even if these are increasing, they would probably not result in deaths if it were not for the prevalence of such knives. Thus the blame lies with the permissiveness of the government that allows such lethal weapons to be sold. Which one of the following is the strongest criticism of the argument above?
(A) There are other means besides knives, such as guns or poison, that can be used to accomplish homicide by a person who intends to cause the death of another.
(B) It is impossible to know how many unpremeditated assaults occur within the family, since many are not reported to the authorities.
(C) Knives are used in other homicides besides those that result from unpremeditated assaults within the family.
(D) The argument assumes without justification that the knives used to commit homicide are generally purchased as part of a deliberate plan to commit murder or to
inflict grievous harm on a family member.
(E) If the potentially lethal knives referred to are ordinary household knives, such knives were common before the rise in the homicide rate; but if they are weaponry,
such knives are not generally available in households.

9. Nutritionist: Vitamins synthesized by chemists are exactly the same as vitamins that occur naturally in foods. Therefore, it is a waste of money to pay extra for brands of vitamin pills that are advertised as made of higher-quality ingredients or more natural ingredients than other brands are. The nutritionist’s advice is based on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) It is a waste of money for people to supplement their diets with vitamin pills.
(B) Brands of vitamin pills made of natural ingredients always cost more money than brands that contain synthesized vitamins.
(C) All brands of vitamin pills contain some synthesized vitamins.
(D) Some producers of vitamin pills are guilty of false advertising.
(E) There is no nonvitamin ingredient in vitamin pills whose quality makes one brand worth more money than another brand.

10. Most people are indignant at the suggestion that they are not reliable authorities about their real wants. Such self-knowledge, however, is not the easiest kind of knowledge to acquire. Indeed, acquiring it often requires hard and even potentially risky work. To avoid such effort, people unconsciously convince themselves that they want what society says they should want. The main point of the argument is that
(A) acquiring self-knowledge can be risky
(B) knowledge of what one really wants is not as desirable as it is usually thought to be
(C) people cannot really want what they should want
(D) people usually avoid making difficult decisions
(E) people are not necessarily reliable authorities about what they really want

11. Since 1945 pesticide use in the United Stares has increased tenfold despite an overall stability in number of acres planted. During the same period, crop loss from insects has approximately doubled, from about seven to thirteen percent. Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to explaining the paradoxical findings above?
(A) Extension agents employed by state governments to advise farmers have recently advocated using smaller amounts of pesticide, though in past years they
promoted heavy pesticide use.
(B) While pesticide-resistant strains of insects were developing, crop rotation, which for insects disrupts a stable food supply, was gradually abandoned because
farmers’ eligibility to receive government crop subsidies depended on continuing to plant the same crop.
(C) Since 1970 the pesticides most lethal to people have generally been replaced by less-lethal chemicals that are equally effective against insects and have a less-
amaging effect on the fish in streams fed by water that runs off from treated agricultural fields.
(D) Because farmers’ decisions about how much land to plant are governed by their expectations about crop prices at harvest time, the amount of pesticide they
apply also depends in part on expected crop prices.
(E) Although some pesticides can be removed from foodstuffs through washing, others are taken up into the edible portion of plants, and consumers have begun to
boycott foods containing pesticides that cannot be washed off.

12. In discussing the pros and cons of monetary union among several European nations, some politicians have claimed that living standards in the countries concerned would first have to converge if monetary union is not to lead to economic chaos. This claim is plainly false, as is demonstrated by the fact that living standards diverge widely between regions within countries that nevertheless have stable economies. In attempting to refute the politicians’ claim, the author does which one of the following?
(A) argues that those making the claim are mistaken about a temporal relationship that has been observed
(B) presents an earlier instance of the action being considered in which the predicted consequences did not occur
(C) argues that the feared consequence would occur regardless of what course of action was followed
(D) gives an example of a state of affairs, assumed to be relevantly similar, in which the allegedly incompatible elements coexist
(E) points out that if an implicit recommendation is followed, the claim can be neither shown to be true nor shown to be false

13. Because some student demonstrations protesting his scheduled appearance have resulted in violence, the president of the Imperialist Society has been prevented from speaking about politics on campus by the dean of student affairs. Yet to deny anyone the unrestricted freedom to speak is to threaten everyone’s right to free expression. Hence the dean’s decision has threatened everyone’s right to free expression. The pattern of reasoning displayed above is most closely paralleled in which one of the following?
(A) Dr. Pacheco saved a child’s life by performing emergency surgery. But surgery rarely involves any risk to the surgeon. Therefore, if an act is not heroic unless it
requires the actor to take some risk, Dr. Pacheco’s surgery was not heroic.
(B) Because anyone who performs an act of heroism acts altruistically rather than selfishly, a society that rewards heroism encourages altruism rather than pure self-
nterest.
(C) In order to rescue a drowning child, Isabel jumped into a freezing river. Such acts of heroism performed to save the life of one enrich the lives of all. Hence,
Isabel’s action enriched the lives of all.
(D) Fire fighters are often expected to perform heroically under harsh conditions. But no one is ever required to act heroically. Hence, fire fighters are often
expected to perform actions they are not required to perform.
(E) Acts of extreme generosity are usually above and beyond the call of duty. Therefore, most acts of extreme generosity are heroic, since all actions that are above
and beyond the call of duty are heroic.

14. Professor: Members of most species are able to communicate with other members of the same species, but it is not true that all communication can be called “language.” The human communication system unquestionably qualifies as language. In fact, using language is a trait without which we would not be human. Student: I understand that communication by itself is not language, but how do you know that the highly evolved communication systems of songbirds, dolphins, honeybees, and apes, for example, are not languages? The student has interpreted the professor’s remarks to mean that
(A) different species can have similar defining traits
(B) every human trait except using language is shared by at least one other species
(C) not all languages are used to communicate
(D) using language is a trait humans do not share with any other species
(E) humans cannot communicate with members of other species

Questions 15-16

Environmentalist: An increased number of oil spills and the consequent damage to the environment indicate the need for stricter safety standards for the oil industry. Since the industry refuses to take action, it is the national government that must regulate industry safety standards. In particular, the government has to at least require oil companies to put double hulls on their tankers and to assume financial responsibility for accidents. Industry representative: The industry alone should be responsible for devising safety standards because of its expertise in handling oil and its understanding of the cost entailed. Implementing the double-hull proposal is not currently feasible because it creates new safety issues. Furthermore, the cost would be burdensome to the industry and consumers.

15. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument of the environmentalist depends?
(A) The only effective sources of increased stringency in safety standards for oil tankers are action by the industry itself or national government regulation.
(B) The requirement of two hulls on oil tankers, although initially costly, will save money over time by reducing cleanup costs.
(C) The oil industry’s aging fleet of tankers must either be repaired or else replaced.
(D) Government safety regulations are developed in a process of negotiation with industry leaders and independent experts.
(E) Environmental concerns outweigh all financial considerations when developing safety standards.

16. Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the industry representative’s position against the environmentalist’s position?
(A) Recently a double-hulled tanker loaded with oil was punctured when it ran aground, but no oil was released.
(B) Proposed government regulation would mandate the creation of regional response teams within the Coast Guard to respond to oil spills and coordinate cleanup
activities.
(C) Proposed legislation requires that new tankers have double hulls but that existing tankers either be refitted with double hulls in the next 20 years or else be
retired.
(D) Fumes can become trapped between the two hull layers of double-hulled tankers, and the risk of explosions that could rupture the tankers hull is thereby
increased.
(E) From now on, the oil industry will be required by recent legislation to finance a newly established oil-spill cleanup fund.

17. Biographer: Arnold’s belief that every offer of assistance on the part of his colleagues was a disguised attempt to make him look inadequate and that no expression of congratulations on his promotion should be taken at face value may seem irrational. In fact, this belief was a consequence of his early experiences with an admired older sister who always made fun of his ambitions and achievements. In light of this explanation, therefore, Arnold’s stubborn belief that his colleagues were duplicitous emerges as clearly justified. The flawed reasoning in the biographer’s argument is most similar to that in which one of the following?
(A) The fact that top executives generally have much larger vocabularies than do their subordinates explains why Sheldon’s belief, instilled in him during his
childhood, that developing a large vocabulary is the way to get to the top in the world of business is completely justified.
(B) Emily suspected that apples are unhealthy ever since she almost choked to death while eating an apple when she was a child. Now, evidence that apples treated
with certain pesticides can be health hazards shows that Emily’s long-held belief is fully justified.
(C) As a child. Joan was severely punished whenever she played with her father’s prize Siamese cat. Therefore, since this information makes her present belief that
cats are not good pets completely understandable, that belief is justified.
(D) Studies show that when usually well-behaved children become irritable, they often exhibit symptoms of viral infections the next day. The suspicion, still held by
many adults, that misbehavior must always be paid for is thus both explained and justified.
(E) Sumayia’s father and mother were both concert pianists, and as a child, Sumayia knew several other people trying to make careers as musicians. Thus
Sumayia’s opinion that her friend Anthony lacks the drive to be a successful pianist is undoubtedly justified.

18. The television documentary went beyond the save-the-wildlife pieties of some of those remote from East Africa and showed that in a country pressed for food, the elephant is a pest, and an intelligent pest at that. There appears to be no way to protect East African farms from the voracious foraging of night-raiding elephant herds. Clearly this example illustrates that______ Which one of the following most logically completes the paragraph?
(A) the preservation of wildlife may endanger human welfare
(B) it is time to remove elephants from the list of endangered species
(C) television documentaries are incapable of doing more than reiterating accepted pieties
(D) farmers and agricultural agents should work closely with wildlife conservationists before taking measures to control elephants
(E) it is unfair that people in any country should have to endure food shortages

Questions 19-20

Oxygen-18 is a heavier-than-normal isotope of oxygen. In a rain cloud, water molecules containing oxygen-18 are rarer than water molecules containing normal oxygen. But in rainfall, a higher proportion of all water molecules containing oxygen-18 than of all water molecules containing ordinary oxygen descends to earth. Consequently, scientists were surprised when measurements along the entire route of rain clouds’ passage from above the Atlantic Ocean, the site of their original formation, across the Amazon forests, where it rains almost daily, showed that the oxygen-18 content of each of the clouds remained fairly constant.

19. Which one of the following statements, if true, best helps to resolve the conflict between scientists’ expectations, based on the known behavior of oxygen-18, and the result of their measurements of the rain clouds’ oxygen-18 content?
(A) Rain clouds above tropical forests are poorer in oxygen-18 than rain clouds above unforested regions.
(B) Like the oceans, tropical rain forests can create or replenish rain clouds in the atmosphere above them.
(C) The amount of rainfall over the Amazon rain forests is exactly the same as the amount of rain originally collected in the clouds formed above the Atlantic Ocean.
(D) The amount of rain recycled back into the atmosphere from the leaves of forest vegetation is exactly the same as the amount of rain in river runoffs that is not
recycled into the atmosphere.
(E) Oxygen-18 is not a good indicator of the effect of tropical rain forests on the atmosphere above them.

20. Which one of the following inferences about an individual rain cloud is supported by the passage?
(A) Once it is formed over the Atlantic, the rain cloud contains more ordinary oxygen than oxygen-18.
(B) Once it has passed over the Amazon, the rain cloud contains a greater-than-normal percentage of oxygen-18.
(C) The clouds rainfall contains more oxygen-18 than ordinary oxygen.
(D) During a rainfall, the cloud must surrender the same percentage of its ordinary oxygen as of its oxygen-18.
(E) During a rainfall, the cloud must surrender more of its oxygen-l8 than it retains.

21. It is very difficult to prove today that a painting done two or three hundred years ago, especially one without a signature or with a questionably authentic signature, is indubitably the work of this or that particular artist. This fact gives the traditional attribution of a disputed painting special weight, since that attribution carries the presumption of historical continuity. Consequently, an art historian arguing for a deattribution will generally convince other art historians only if he or she can persuasively argue for a specific reattribution. Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the position that the traditional attribution of a disputed painting should not have special weight?
(A) Art dealers have always been led by economic self-interest to attribute any unsigned paintings of merit to recognized masters rather than to obscure artists.
(B) When a painting is originally created, there are invariably at least some eyewitnesses who see the artist at work, and thus questions of correct attribution cannot
arise at that time.
(C) There are not always clearly discernible differences between the occasional inferior work produced by a master and the very best work produced by a lesser
talent.
(D) Attribution can shape perception inasmuch as certain features that would count as marks of greatness in a master’s work would be counted as signs of inferior
artistry if a work were attributed to a minor artist.
(E) Even though some masters had specialists assist them with certain detail work, such as depicting lace, the resulting works are properly attributed to the masters
alone.

22. Much of the best scientific research of today shows that many of the results of earlier scientific work that was regarded in its time as good are in fact mistaken. Yet despite the fact that scientists are above all concerned to discover the truth, it is valuable for today’s scientists to study firsthand accounts of earlier scientific work. Which one of the following, if true, would best reconcile the two statements above?
(A) Many firsthand accounts of earlier, flawed scientific work are not generally known to be mistaken.
(B) Lessons in scientific methodology can be learned by seeing how earlier scientific work was carried out, sometimes especially when the results of that work are
known to be incorrect.
(C) Scientists can make valuable contributions to the scientific work of their time even if the results of their work will later be shown to be mistaken.
(D) There are many scientists today who are not thoroughly familiar with earlier scientific research.
(E) Some of the better scientific research of today does not directly address earlier scientific work.

23. Teachers are effective only when they help their students become independent learners. Yet not until teachers have the power to make decisions in their own classrooms can they enable their students to make their own decisions. Students’ capability to make their own decisions is essential to their becoming independent learners. Therefore, if teachers are to be effective, they must have the power to make decisions in their own classrooms. According to the argument, each of the following could be true of teachers who have enabled their students to make their own decisions EXCEPT:
(A) Their students have not become independent learners.
(B) They are not effective teachers.
(C) They are effective teachers.
(D) They have the power to make decisions in their own classrooms.
(E) They do not have the power to make decisions.

24. Dr. Ruiz: Dr. Smith has expressed outspoken antismoking views in public. Even though Dr. Smith is otherwise qualified, clearly she cannot be included on a panel that examines the danger of secondhand cigarette smoke. As an organizer of the panel, I want to ensure that the panel examines the issue in an unbiased manner before coming to any conclusion. Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for countering Dr. Ruiz’ argument that Dr. Smith should not be included on the panel?
(A) A panel composed of qualified people with strong but conflicting views on a particular topic is more likely to reach an unbiased conclusion than a panel
composed of people who have kept their views, if any, private.
(B) People who hold strong views on a particular topic tend to accept new evidence on that topic only if it supports their views.
(C) A panel that includes one qualified person with publicly known strong views on a particular topic is more likely to have lively discussions than a panel that
includes only people with no well-defined views on that topic.
(D) People who have expressed strong views in public on a particular topic are better at raising funds to support their case than are people who have never
expressed strong views in public.
(E) People who have well-defined strong views on a particular topic prior to joining a panel are often able to impose their views on panel members who are not committed at the outset to any conclusion.

ANSWERS