GMAT TEST-6 ( Questions)

30 Minutes 20 Questions

1. Rural households have more purchasing power than do urban or suburban households at the same income level, since some of the income urban and suburban households use for food and shelter can be used by rural households for other needs. Which of the following inferences is best supported by the statement made above?
(A) The average rural household includes more people than does the average urban or suburban household.
(B) Rural households have lower food and housing costs than do either urban or suburban households.
(C) Suburban households generally have more purchasing power than do either rural or urban households.
(D) The median income of urban and suburban households is generally higher than that of rural households.
(E) All three types of households spend more of their income on food and housing than on all other purchases combined.

2. In 1985 state border colleges in Texas lost the enrollment of more than half, on average, of the Mexican nationals they had previously served each year. Teaching faculties have alleged that this extreme drop resulted from a rise in tuition for international and out-of-state students from $40 to $120 per credit hour. Which of the following, if feasible, offers the best prospects for alleviating the problem of the drop in enrollment of Mexican nationals as the teaching faculties assessed it?
(A) Providing grants-in-aid to Mexican nationals to study in Mexican universities
(B) Allowing Mexican nationals to study in Texas border colleges and to pay in-state tuition rates, which are the same as the previous international rate
(C) Reemphasizing the goals and mission of the Texas state border colleges as serving both in-state students and Mexican nationals
(D) Increasing the financial resources of Texas colleges by raising the tuition for in-state students attending state institutions
(E) Offering career counseling for those Mexican nationals who graduate from state border colleges and intend to return to Mexico

3. Affirmative action is good business. So asserted the National Association of Manufacturers while urging retention of an executive order requiring some federal contractors to set numerical goals for hiring minorities and women. “Diversity in work force participation has produced new ideas in management, product development, and marketing,” the association claimed. The association’s argument as it is presented in the passage above would be most strengthened if which of the following were true?
(A) The percentage of minority and women workers in business has increased more slowly than many minority and women’s groups would prefer.
(B) Those businesses with the highest percentages of minority and women workers are those that have been the most innovative and profitable.
(C) Disposable income has been rising as fast among minorities and women as among the population as a whole.
(D) The biggest growth in sales in the manufacturing sector has come in industries that market the most innovative products.
(E) Recent improvements in management practices have allowed many manufacturers to experience enormous gains in worker productivity.

Questions 4-5 refer to the following.

If the airspace around centrally located airports were restricted to commercial airliners and only those private planes equipped with radar, most of the private-plane traffic would be forced to use outlying airfields. Such a reduction in the amount of private-plane traffic would reduce the risk of midair collision around the centrally located airports.

4. The conclusion drawn in the first sentence depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Outlying airfields would be as convenient as centrally located airports for most pilots of private planes.
(B) Most outlying airfields are not equipped to handle commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Most private planes that use centrally located airports are not equipped with radar.
(D) Commercial airliners are at greater risk of becoming involved in midair collisions than are private planes.
(E) A reduction in the risk of midair collision would eventually lead to increases in commercial-airline traffic.

5. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the second sentence?
(A) Commercial airliners are already required by law to be equipped with extremely sophisticated radar systems.
(B) Centrally located airports are experiencing over-crowded airspace primarily because of sharp increases in commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Many pilots of private planes would rather buy radar equipment than be excluded from centrally located airports.
(D) The number of midair collisions that occur near centrally located airports has decreased in recent years.
(E) Private planes not equipped with radar systems cause a disproportionately large number of midair collisions around centrally located airports.

6. Which of the following best completes the passage below? Established companies concentrate on defending what they already have. Consequently, they tend not to be innovative themselves and tend to underestimate the effects of the innovations of others. The clearest example of this defensive strategy is the fact that______
(A) ballpoint pens and soft-tip markers have eliminated the traditional market for fountain pens, clearing the way for the marketing of fountain pens as luxury or
prestige items
(B) a highly successful automobile was introduced by the same company that had earlier introduced a model that had been a dismal failure
(C) a once-successful manufacturer of slide rules reacted to the introduction of electronic calculators by trying to make better slide rules
(D) one of the first models of modern accounting machines, designed for use in the banking industry, was purchased by a public library as well as by banks
(E) the inventor of a commonly used anesthetic did not intend the product to be used by dentists, who currently account for almost the entire market for that drug

7. Most archaeologists have held that people first reached the Americas less than 20,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge into North America. But recent discoveries of human shelters in South America dating from 32,000 years ago have led researchers to speculate that people arrived in South America first, after voyaging across the Pacific, and then spread northward. Which of the following, if it were discovered, would be pertinent evidence against the speculation above?
(A) A rock shelter near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contains evidence of use by human beings 19,000 years ago.
(B) Some North American sites of human habitation predate any sites found in South America.
(C) The climate is warmer at the 32,000-year-old south American site than at the oldest known North American site.
(D) The site in South America that was occupied 32,000 years ago was continuously occupied until 6,000 years ago.
(E) The last Ice Age, between 11,500 and 20,000 years ago, considerably lowered worldwide sea levels.

8. In Asia, where palm trees are non-native, the trees’ flowers have traditionally been pollinated by hand, which has kept palm fruit productivity unnaturally low. When weevils known to be efficient pollinators of palm flowers were introduced into Asia in 1980, palm fruit productivity increased—by up to fifty percent in some areas—but then decreased sharply in 1984. Which of the following statements, if true, would best explain the 1984 decrease in productivity?
(A) Prices for palm fruit fell between 1980 and 1984 following the rise in production and a concurrent fall in demand.
(B) Imported trees are often more productive than native trees because the imported ones have left behind their pests and diseases in their native lands.
(C) Rapid increases in productivity tend to deplete trees of nutrients needed for the development of the fruit-producing female flowers.
(D) The weevil population in Asia remained at approximately the same level between 1980 and 1984.
(E) Prior to 1980 another species of insect pollinated the Asian palm trees, but not as efficiently as the species of weevil that was introduced in 1980.

9. Since the mayor’s publicity campaign for Greenville’s bus service began six months ago, morning automobile traffic into the midtown area of the city has decreased seven percent. During the same period, there has been an equivalent rise in the number of persons riding buses into the midtown area. Obviously, the mayor’s publicity campaign has convinced many people to leave their cars at home and ride the bus to work. Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Fares for all bus routes in Greenville have risen an average of five percent during the past six months.
(B) The mayor of Greenville rides the bus to City Hall in the city’s midtown area.
(C) Road reconstruction has greatly reduced the number of lanes available to commuters in major streets leading to the midtown area during the past six months.
(D) The number of buses entering the midtown area of Greenville during the morning hours is exactly the same now as it was one year ago.
(E) Surveys show that longtime bus riders are no more satisfied with the Greenville bus service than they were before the mayor’s publicity campaign began.

10. In the aftermath of a worldwide stock-market crash, Country T claimed that the severity of the stock-market crash it experienced resulted from the accelerated process of denationalization many of its industries underwent shortly before the crash. Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of Country T’s assessment of the causes of the severity of its stock-market crash?
(A) Calculating the average loss experienced by individual traders in Country T during the crash
(B) Using economic theory to predict the most likely date of the next crash in Country T
(C) Comparing the total number of shares sold during the worst days of the crash in Country T to the total number of shares sold in Country T just prior to the crash
(D) Comparing the severity of the crash in Country T to the severity of the crash in countries otherwise economically similar to Country T that have not experienced
recent denationalization
(E) Comparing the long-term effects of the crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T to the immediate, more severe short-term effects of the
crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T

11. With the emergence of biotechnology companies, it was feared that they would impose silence about proprietary results on their in-house researchers and their academic consultants. This constraint, in turn, would slow the development of biological science and engineering. Which of the following, if true, would tend to weaken most seriously the prediction of scientific secrecy described above?
(A) Biotechnological research funded by industry has reached some conclusions that are of major scientific importance.
(B) When the results of scientific research are kept secret, independent researchers are unable to build on those results.
(C) Since the research priorities of biotechnology companies are not the same as those of academic institutions, the financial support of research by such companies
distorts the research agenda.
(D) To enhance the companies’ standing in the scientific community, the biotechnology companies encourage employees to publish their results, especially results
that are important.
(E) Biotechnology companies devote some of their research resources to problems that are of fundamental scientific importance and that are not expected to
produce immediate practical applications.

12. Some people have questioned the judge’s objectivity in cases of sex discrimination against women. But the record shows that in sixty percent of such cases, the judge has decided in favor of the women. This record demonstrates that the judge has not discriminated against women in cases of sex discrimination against women. The argument above is flawed in that it ignores the possibility that
(A) a large number of the judge’s cases arose out of allegations of sex discrimination against women
(B) many judges find it difficult to be objective in cases of sex discrimination against women
(C) the judge is biased against women defendants or plaintiffs in cases that do not involve sex discrimination
(D) the majority of the cases of sex discrimination against women that have reached the judge’s court have been appealed from a lower court
(E) the evidence shows that the women should have won in more than sixty percent of the judge’s cases involving sex discrimination against women

13. The tobacco industry is still profitable and projections are that it will remain so. In the United States this year, the total amount of tobacco sold by tobacco-farmers has increased, even though the number of adults who smoke has decreased. Each of the following, if true, could explain the simultaneous increase in tobacco sales and decrease in the number of adults who smoke EXCEPT:
(A) During this year, the number of women who have begun to smoke is greater than the number of men who have quit smoking.
(B) The number of teen-age children who have begun to smoke this year is greater than the number of adults who have quit smoking during the same period.
(C) During this year, the number of nonsmokers who have begun to use chewing tobacco or snuff is greater than the number of people who have quit smoking.
(D) The people who have continued to smoke consume more tobacco per person than they did in the past.
(E) More of the cigarettes made in the United States this year were exported to other countries than was the case last year.

14. Kale has more nutritional value than spinach. But since collard greens have more nutritional value than lettuce, it follows that kale has more nutritional value than lettuce. Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an additional premise, makes the argument above logically correct EXCEPT:
(A) Collard greens have more nutritional value than kale.
(B) Spinach has more nutritional value than lettuce.
(C) Spinach has more nutritional value than collard greens.
(D) Spinach and collard greens have the same nutritional value.
(E) Kale and collard greens have the same nutritional value.

15. On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population, many colleges now anticipate increasingly smaller freshman classes each year. Surprised by a 40 percent increase in qualified applicants over the previous year, however, administrators at Nice College now plan to hire more faculty for courses taken by all freshmen. Which of the following statements about Nice College’s current qualified applicants, if true, would strongly suggest that the administrators’ plan is flawed?
(A) A substantially higher percentage than usual plan to study for advanced degrees after graduation from college.
(B) According to their applications, their level of participation in extracurricular activities and varsity sports is unusually high.
(C) According to their applications, none of them lives in a foreign country.
(D) A substantially lower percentage than usual rate Nice College as their first choice among the colleges to which they are applying.
(E) A substantially lower percentage than usual list mathematics as their intended major.

Questions 16-17 are based on the following.

A researcher discovered that people who have low levels of immune-system activity tend to score much lower on tests of mental health than do people with normal or high immune-system activity. The researcher concluded from this experiment that the immune system protects against mental illness as well as against physical disease.

16. The researcher’s conclusion depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) High immune-system activity protects against mental illness better than normal immune-system activity does.
(B) Mental illness is similar to physical disease in its effects on body system.
(C) People with high immune-system activity cannot develop mental illness.
(D) Mental illness does not cause people’s immune-system activity to decrease.
(E) Psychological treatment of mental illness is not as effective as is medical treatment.

17. The researcher’s conclusion would be most seriously weakened if it were true that
(A) there was a one-year delay between the completion of a pilot study for the experiment and the initiation of the experiment itself
(B) people’s levels of immune-system activity are not affected by their use of medications
(C) a few people with high immune-system activity had scores on the test of mental health that were similar to the scores of people who had normal immune-system
activity
(D) people who have low immune-system activity tend to contract more viral infections than do people with normal or high immune-system activity
(E) high levels of stress first cause mental illness and then cause decreased immune-system activity in normal individuals

18. The value of a product is determined by the ratio of its quality to its price. The higher the value of a product, the better will be its competitive position. Therefore, either increasing the quality or lowering the price of a given product will increase the likelihood that consumer will select that product rather than a competing one. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn above?
(A) It is possible to increase both the quality and the price of a product without changing its competitive position.
(B) For certain segments of the population of consumers, higher-priced brands of some product lines are preferred to the lower-priced brands.
(C) Competing products often try to appeal to different segments of the population of consumers.
(D) The competitive position of a product can be affected by such factors as advertising and brand loyalty.
(E) Consumers’ perceptions of the quality of a product are based on the actual quality of the product.

19. In January there was a large drop in the number of new houses sold, because interest rates for mortgages were falling and many consumers were waiting to see how low the rates would go. This large sales drop was accompanied by a sharp rise in the average price of new houses sold. Which of the following, if true, best explains the sharp rise in the average price of new houses?
(A) Sales of higher-priced houses were unaffected by the sales drop because their purchasers have fewer constraints limiting the total amount they pay.
(B) Labor agreements of builders with construction unions are not due to expire until the next January.
(C) The prices of new houses have been rising slowly over the past three years because there is an increasing shortage of housing.
(D) There was a greater amount of moderate-priced housing available for resale by owners during January than in the preceding three months.
(E) Interest rates for home mortgages are expected to rise sharply later in the year if predictions of increased business activity in general prove to be accurate.

20. Seven countries signed a treaty binding each of them to perform specified actions on a certain fixed date, with the actions of each conditional on simultaneous action taken by the other countries. Each country was also to notify the six other countries when it had completed its action. The simultaneous-action provision of the treaty leaves open the possibility that
(A) the compliance date was subject to postponement, according to the terms of the treaty
(B) one of the countries might not be required to make any changes or take any steps in order to comply with the treaty, whereas all the other countries are so
required
(C) each country might have a well-founded excuse, based on the provision, for its own lack of compliance
(D) the treaty specified that the signal for one of the countries to initiate action was notification by the other countries that they had completed action
(E) there was ambiguity with respect to the date after which all actions contemplated in the treaty are to be complete

ANSWERS

GMAT TEST-7 ( Questions)

30 Minutes 20 Questions

1. A milepost on the towpath read “21” on the side facing the hiker as she approached it and “23” on its back. She reasoned that the next milepost forward on the path would indicate that she was halfway between one end of the path and the other. However, the milepost one mile further on read “20” facing her and “24” behind. Which of the following, if true, would explain the discrepancy described above?
(A) The numbers on the next milepost had been reversed.
(B) The numbers on the mileposts indicate kilometers, not miles.
(C) The facing numbers indicate miles to the end of the path, not miles from the beginning.
(D) A milepost was missing between the two the hiker encountered.
(E) The mileposts had originally been put in place for the use of mountain bikers, not for hikers.

2. Airline: Newly developed collision-avoidance systems, although not fully tested to discover potential malfunctions, must be installed immediately in passenger planes. Their mechanical warnings enable pilots to avoid crashes. Pilots: Pilots will not fly in planes with collision-avoidance systems that are not fully tested. Malfunctioning systems could mislead pilots, causing crashes. The pilots’ objection is most strengthened if which of the following is true?
(A) It is always possible for mechanical devices to malfunction.
(B) Jet engines, although not fully tested when first put into use, have achieved exemplary performance and safety records.
(C) Although collision-avoidance systems will enable pilots to avoid some crashes, the likely malfunctions of the not-fully-tested systems will cause even more
crashes.
(D) Many airline collisions are caused in part by the exhaustion of overworked pilots.
(E) Collision-avoidance systems, at this stage of development, appear to have worked better in passenger planes than in cargo planes during experimental flights
made over a six-month period.

3. Guitar strings often go “dead”—become less responsive and bright in tone—after a few weeks of intense use. A researcher whose son is a classical guitarist hypothesized that dirt and oil, rather than changes in the material properties of the string, were responsible. Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help to evaluate the researcher’s hypothesis?
(A) Determining if a metal alloy is used to make the strings used by classical guitarists
(B) Determining whether classical guitarists make their strings go dead faster than do folk guitarists
(C) Determining whether identical lengths of string, of the same gauge, go dead at different rates when strung on various brands of guitars
(D) Determining whether a dead string and a new string produce different qualities of sound
(E) Determining whether smearing various substances on new guitar strings causes them to go dead

4. Most consumers do not get much use out of the sports equipment they purchase. For example, seventeen percent of the adults in the United States own jogging shoes, but only forty-five percent of the owners jog more than once a year, and only seventeen percent jog more than once a week. Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the claim that most consumers get little use out of the sports equipment they purchase?
(A) Joggers are most susceptible to sports injuries during the first six months in which they jog.
(B) Joggers often exaggerate the frequency with which they jog in surveys designed to elicit such information.
(C) Many consumers purchase jogging shoes for use in activities other than jogging.
(D) Consumers who take up jogging often purchase an athletic shoe that can be used in other sports.
(E) Joggers who jog more than once a week are often active participants in other sports as well.

5. Two decades after the Emerald River Dam was built, none of the eight fish species native to the Emerald River was still reproducing adequately in the river below the dam. Since the dam reduced the annual range of water temperature in the river below the dam from 50 degrees to 6 degrees, scientists have hypothesized that sharply rising water temperatures must be involved in signaling the native species to begin the reproductive cycle. Which of the following statements, if true, would most strengthen the scientists’ hypothesis?
(A) The native fish species were still able to reproduce only in side streams of the river below the dam where the annual temperature range remains approximately
50 degrees.
(B) Before the dam was built, the Emerald River annually overflowed its banks, creating backwaters that were critical breeding areas for the native species of fish.
(C) The lowest recorded temperature of the Emerald River before the dam was built was 34 degrees, whereas the lowest recorded temperature of the river after the
dam was built has been 43 degrees.
(D) Nonnative species of fish, introduced into the Emerald River after the dam was built, have begun competing with the declining native fish species for food and
space.
(E) Five of the fish species native to the Emerald River are not native to any other river in North America.

6. It is true that it is against international law to sell plutonium to countries that do not yet have nuclear weapons. But if United States companies do not do so, companies in other countries will. Which of the following is most like the argument above in its logical structure?
(A) It is true that it is against the police department’s policy to negotiate with kidnappers. But if the police want to prevent loss of life, they must negotiate in some
cases.
(B) It is true that it is illegal to refuse to register for military service. But there is a long tradition in the United States of conscientious objection to serving in the armed
forces.
(C) It is true that it is illegal for a government official to participate in a transaction in which there is an apparent conflict of interest. But if the facts are examined
carefully, it will clearly be seen that there was no actual conflict of interest in the defendant’s case.
(D) It is true that it is against the law to burglarize people’s homes. But someone else certainly would have burglarized that house if the defendant had not done so
first.
(E) It is true that company policy forbids supervisors to fire employees without two written warnings. But there have been many supervisors who have disobeyed
this policy.

7. In recent years many cabinetmakers have been winning acclaim as artists. But since furniture must be useful, cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product. For this reason, cabinetmaking is not art. Which of the following is an assumption that supports drawing the conclusion above from the reason given for that conclusion?
(A) Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where it will not be used by anyone.
(B) Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others with the practical utility of the products they produce.
(C) Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the practical utility of their products than they currently are.
(D) An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention to the object’s practical utility.
(E) Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of their products.

8. Although custom prosthetic bone replacements produced through a new computer-aided design process will cost more than twice as much as ordinary replacements, custom replacements should still be cost-effective. Not only will surgery and recovery time be reduced, but custom replacements should last longer, thereby reducing the need for further hospital stays. Which of the following must be studied in order to evaluate the argument presented above?
(A) The amount of time a patient spends in surgery versus the amount of time spent recovering from surgery
(B) The amount by which the cost of producing custom replacements has declined with the introduction of the new technique for producing them
(C) The degree to which the use of custom replacements is likely to reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared with the use of ordinary replacements
(D) The degree to which custom replacements produced with the new technique are more carefully manufactured than are ordinary replacements
(E) The amount by which custom replacements produced with the new technique will drop in cost as the production procedures become standardized and
applicable on a larger scale

9. Extinction is a process that can depend on a variety of ecological, geographical, and physiological variables. These variables affect different species of organisms in different ways, and should, therefore, yield a random pattern of extinctions. However, the fossil record shows that extinction occurs in a surprisingly definite pattern, with many species vanishing at the same time. Which of the following, if true, forms the best basis for at least a partial explanation of the patterned extinctions revealed by the fossil record?
(A) Major episodes of extinction can result from widespread environmental disturbances that affect numerous different species.
(B) Certain extinction episodes selectively affect organisms with particular sets of characteristics unique to their species.
(C) Some species become extinct because of accumulated gradual changes in their local environments.
(D) In geologically recent times, for which there is no fossil record, human intervention has changed the pattern of extinctions.
(E) Species that are widely dispersed are the least likely to become extinct.

10. Neither a rising standard of living nor balanced trade, by itself, establishes a country’s ability to compete in the international marketplace. Both are required simultaneously since standards of living can rise because of growing trade deficits and trade can be balanced by means of a decline in a country’s standard of living. If the facts stated in the passage above are true, a proper test of a country’s ability to be competitive is its ability to
(A) balance its trade while its standard of living rises
(B) balance its trade while its standard of living falls
(C) increase trade deficits while its standard of living rises
(D) decrease trade deficits while its standard of living falls
(E) keep its standard of living constant while trade deficits rise

11. Certain messenger molecules fight damage to the lungs from noxious air by telling the muscle cells encircling the lungs’ airways to contract. This partially seals off the lungs. An asthma attack occurs when the messenger molecules are activated unnecessarily, in response to harmless things like pollen or household dust. Which of the following, if true, points to the most serious flaw of a plan to develop a medication that would prevent asthma attacks by blocking receipt of any messages sent by the messenger molecules referred to above?
(A) Researchers do not yet know how the body produces the messenger molecules that trigger asthma attacks.
(B) Researchers do not yet know what makes one person’s messenger molecules more easily activated than another’s.
(C) Such a medication would not become available for several years, because of long lead times in both development and manufacture.
(D) Such a medication would be unable to distinguish between messages triggered by pollen and household dust and messages triggered by noxious air.
(E) Such a medication would be a preventative only and would be unable to alleviate an asthma attack once it had started.

12. Since the routine use of antibiotics can give rise to resistant bacteria capable of surviving antibiotic environments, the presence of resistant bacteria in people could be due to the human use of prescription antibiotics. Some scientists, however, believe that most resistant bacteria in people derive from human consumption of bacterially infected meat. Which of the following statements, if true, would most significantly strengthen the hypothesis of the scientists?
(A) Antibiotics are routinely included in livestock feed so that livestock producers can increase the rate of growth of their animals.
(B) Most people who develop food poisoning from bacterially infected meat are treated with prescription antibiotics.
(C) The incidence of resistant bacteria in people has tended to be much higher in urban areas than in rural areas where meat is of comparable quality.
(D) People who have never taken prescription antibiotics are those least likely to develop resistant bacteria.
(E) Livestock producers claim that resistant bacteria in animals cannot be transmitted to people through infected meat.

13. The recent decline in the value of the dollar was triggered by a prediction of slower economic growth in the coming year. But that prediction would not have adversely affected the dollar had it not been for the government’s huge budget deficit, which must therefore be decreased to prevent future currency declines. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion about how to prevent future currency declines?
(A) The government has made little attempt to reduce the budget deficit.
(B) The budget deficit has not caused a slowdown in economic growth.
(C) The value of the dollar declined several times in the year prior to the recent prediction of slower economic growth.
(D) Before there was a large budget deficit, predictions of slower economic growth frequently caused declines in the dollar’s value.
(E) When there is a large budget deficit, other events in addition to predictions of slower economic growth sometimes trigger declines in currency value.

14. Which of the following best completes the passage below? At a recent conference on environmental threats to the North Sea, most participating countries favored uniform controls on the quality of effluents, whether or not specific environmental damage could be attributed to a particular source of effluent. What must, of course, be shown, in order to avoid excessively restrictive controls, is that______
(A) any uniform controls that are adopted are likely to be implemented without delay
(B) any substance to be made subject to controls can actually cause environmental damage
(C) the countries favoring uniform controls are those generating the largest quantities of effluents
(D) all of any given pollutant that is to be controlled actually reaches the North Sea at present
(E) environmental damage already inflicted on the North Sea is reversible

15. Traditionally, decision-making by managers that is reasoned step-by-step has been considered preferable to intuitive decision-making. However, a recent study found that top managers used intuition significantly more than did most middle- or lower-level managers. This confirms the alternative view that intuition is actually more effective than careful, methodical reasoning. The conclusion above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Methodical, step-by-step reasoning is inappropriate for making many real-life management decisions.
(B) Top managers have the ability to use either intuitive reasoning or methodical, step-by-step reasoning in making decisions.
(C) The decisions made by middle- and lower-level managers can be made as easily by using methodical reasoning as by using intuitive reasoning.
(D) Top managers use intuitive reasoning in making the majority of their decisions.
(E) Top managers are more effective at decision-making than middle- or lower-level managers.

16. The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will not help the big American steel mills. In fact, the quotas will help “mini-mills” flourish in the United States. Those small domestic mills will take more business from the big American steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel mills in the absence of quotas. Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim made in the last sentence above?
(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in determining the type of steel to be used for a particular application.
(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel comparable in quality to the steel produced by the big American mills.
(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced other countries to impose similar quotas on American goods.
(D) Domestic “mini-mills” consistently produce better grades of steel than do the big American mills.
(E) Domestic “mini-mills” produce low-volume, specialized types of steels that are not produced by the big American steel mills.

17. Correctly measuring the productivity of service workers is complex. Consider, for example, postal workers: they are often said to be more productive if more letters are delivered per postal worker. But is this really true? What if more letters are lost or delayed per worker at the same time that more are delivered? The objection implied above to the productivity measure described is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?
(A) Postal workers are representative of service workers in general.
(B) The delivery of letters is the primary activity of the postal service.
(C) Productivity should be ascribed to categories of workers, not to individuals.
(D) The quality of services rendered can appropriately be ignored in computing productivity.
(E) The number of letters delivered is relevant to measuring the productivity of postal workers.

18. Male bowerbirds construct elaborately decorated nests, or bowers. Basing their judgment on the fact that different local populations of bowerbirds of the same species build bowers that exhibit different building and decorative styles, researchers have concluded that the bowerbirds’ building styles are a culturally acquired, rather than a genetically transmitted, trait. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the researchers?
(A) There are more common characteristics than there are differences among the bower-building styles of the local bowerbird population that has been studied most
extensively.
(B) Young male bowerbirds are inept at bower-building and apparently spend years watching their elders before becoming accomplished in the local bower style.
(C) The bowers of one species of bowerbird lack the towers and ornamentation characteristic of the bowers of most other species of bowerbird.
(D) Bowerbirds are found only in New Guinea and Australia, where local populations of the birds apparently seldom have contact with one another.
(E) It is well known that the song dialects of some songbirds are learned rather than transmitted genetically.

19. A greater number of newspapers are sold in Town S than in Town T. Therefore, the citizens of Town S are better informed about major world events than are the citizens of Town T. Each of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above EXCEPT:
(A) Town S has a larger population than Town T.
(B) Most citizens of Town T work in Town S and buy their newspapers there.
(C) The average citizen of Town S spends less time reading newspapers than does the average citizen of Town T.
(D) A weekly newspaper restricted to the coverage of local events is published in Town S.
(E) The average newsstand price of newspapers sold in Town S is lower than the average price of newspapers sold in Town T.

20. One analyst predicts that Hong Kong can retain its capitalist ways after it becomes part of mainland China in 1997 as long as a capitalist Hong Kong is useful to China; that a capitalist Hong Kong will be useful to China as long as Hong Kong is prosperous; and that Hong Kong will remain prosperous as long as it retains its capitalist ways. If the predictions above are correct, which of the following further predictions can logically be derived from them?
(A) If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer remain part of mainland China.
(B) If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.
(C) If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.
(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997.
(E) The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions placed on them by the government of mainland China.

ANSWERS

GMAT TEST-8 ( Questions)

30 Minutes 20 Questions

1. A drug that is highly effective in treating many types of infection can, at present, be obtained only from the bark of the ibora, a tree that is quite rare in the wild. It takes the bark of 5,000 trees to make one kilogram of the drug. It follows, therefore, that continued production of the drug must inevitably lead to the ibora’s extinction. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) The drug made from ibora bark is dispensed to doctors from a central authority.
(B) The drug made from ibora bark is expensive to produce.
(C) The leaves of the ibora are used in a number of medical products.
(D) The ibora can be propagated from cuttings and grown under cultivation.
(E) The ibora generally grows in largely inaccessible places.

2. High levels of fertilizer and pesticides, needed when farmers try to produce high yield of the same crop year after year, pollute water supplies. Experts therefore urge farmers to diversify their crops and to rotate their plantings yearly. To receive governmental price-support benefits for a crop, farmers must have produced that same crop for the past several years. The statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions?
(A) The rules for governmental support of farm prices work against efforts to reduce water pollution.
(B) The only solution to the problem of water pollution from fertilizers and pesticides is to take farmland out of production.
(C) Farmers can continue to make a profit by rotating diverse crops, thus reducing costs for chemicals, but not by planting the same crop each year.
(D) New farming techniques will be developed to make it possible for farmers to reduce the application of fertilizers and pesticides.
(E) Governmental price supports for farm products are set at levels that are not high enough to allow farmers to get out of debt.

3. Shelby Industries manufactures and sells the same gauges as Jones Industries. Employee wages account for forty percent of the cost of manufacturing gauges at both Shelby Industries and Jones Industries. Shelby Industries is seeking a competitive advantage over Jones Industries. Therefore, to promote this end, Shelby Industries should lower employee wages. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
(A) Because they make a small number of precision instruments, gauge manufacturers cannot receive volume discounts on raw materials.
(B) Lowering wages would reduce the quality of employee work, and this reduced quality would lead to lowered sales.
(C) Jones Industries has taken away twenty percent of Shelby Industries’ business over the last year.
(D) Shelby Industries pays its employees, on average, ten percent more than does Jones Industries.
(E) Many people who work for manufacturing plants live in areas in which the manufacturing plant they work for is the only industry.

4. Some communities in Florida are populated almost exclusively by retired people and contain few, if any, families with small children. Yet these communities are home to thriving businesses specializing in the rental of furniture for infants and small children. Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the seeming discrepancy described above?
(A) The businesses specializing in the rental of children’s furniture buy their furniture from distributors outside of Florida.
(B) The few children who do reside in these communities all know each other and often make overnight visits to one another’s houses.
(C) Many residents of these communities who move frequently prefer renting their furniture to buying it outright.
(D) Many residents of these communities must provide for the needs of visiting grandchildren several weeks a year.
(E) Children’s furniture available for rental is of the same quality as that available for sale in the stores.

5. Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits. If they did, countries with the largest budget deficits would also have the largest trade deficits. In fact, when deficit figures are adjusted so that different countries are reliably comparable to each other, there is no such correlation. If the statements above are all true, which of the following can properly be inferred on the basis of them?
(A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to restrict foreign trade.
(B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one country with those of another are impossible.
(C) Reducing a country’s national budget deficit will not necessarily result in a lowering of any trade deficit that country may have.
(D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest in terms of population, the smallest countries generally have the smallest budget and trade deficits.
(E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have similarly large national budget deficits.

6. “Fast cycle time” is a strategy of designing a manufacturing organization to eliminate bottlenecks and delays in production. Not only does it speed up production, but it also assures quality. The reason is that the bottlenecks and delays cannot be eliminated unless all work is done right the first time. The claim about quality made above rests on a questionable presupposition that
(A) any flaw in work on a product would cause a bottleneck or delay and so would be prevented from occurring on a “fast cycle” production line
(B) the strategy of “fast cycle time” would require fundamental rethinking of product design
(C) the primary goal of the organization is to produce a product of unexcelled quality, rather than to generate profits for stockholders
(D) “fast cycle time” could be achieved by shaving time off each of the component processes in production cycle
(E) “fast cycle time” is a concept in business strategy that has not yet been put into practice in a factory

7. Many breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin supplements. Some of these cereals provide 100 percent of the recommended daily requirement of vitamins. Nevertheless, a well-balanced breakfast, including a variety of foods, is a better source of those vitamins than are such fortified breakfast cereals alone. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the position above?
(A) In many foods, the natural combination of vitamins with other nutrients makes those vitamins more usable by the body than are vitamins added in vitamin
supplements.
(B) People who regularly eat cereals fortified with vitamin supplements sometimes neglect to eat the foods in which the vitamins occur naturally.
(C) Foods often must be fortified with vitamin supplements because naturally occurring vitamins are removed during processing.
(D) Unprocessed cereals are naturally high in several of the vitamins that are usually added to fortified breakfast cereals.
(E) Cereals containing vitamin supplements are no harder to digest than similar cereals without added vitamins.

8. Which of the following best completes the passage below? The more worried investors are about losing their money, the more they will demand a high potential return on their investment; great risks must be offset by the chance of great rewards. This principle is the fundamental one in determining interest rates, and it is illustrated by the fact that______
(A) successful investors are distinguished by an ability to make very risky investments without worrying about their money
(B) lenders receive higher interest rates on unsecured loans than on loans backed by collateral
(C) in times of high inflation, the interest paid to depositors by banks can actually be below the rate of inflation
(D) at any one time, a commercial bank will have a single rate of interest that it will expect all of its individual borrowers to pay
(E) the potential return on investment in a new company is typically lower than the potential return on investment in a well-established company

9. A famous singer recently won a lawsuit against an advertising firm for using another singer in a commercial to evoke the famous singer’s well- nown rendition of a certain song. As a result of the lawsuit, advertising firms will stop using imitators in commercials. Therefore, advertising costs will rise, since famous singers’ services cost more than those of their imitators. The conclusion above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Most people are unable to distinguish a famous singer’s rendition of a song from a good imitator’s rendition of the same song.
(B) Commercials using famous singers are usually more effective than commercials using imitators of famous singers.
(C) The original versions of some well-known songs are unavailable for use in commercials.
(D) Advertising firms will continue to use imitators to mimic the physical mannerisms of famous singers.
(E) The advertising industry will use well-known renditions of songs in commercials.

10. A certain mayor has proposed a fee of five dollars per day on private vehicles entering the city, claiming that the fee will alleviate the city’s traffic congestion. The mayor reasons that, since the fee will exceed the cost of round-trip bus fare from many nearby points, many people will switch from using their cars to using the bus. Which of the following statements, if true, provides the best evidence that the mayor’s reasoning is flawed?
(A) Projected increases in the price of gasoline will increase the cost of taking a private vehicle into the city.
(B) The cost of parking fees already makes it considerably more expensive for most people to take a private vehicle into the city than to take a bus.
(C) Most of the people currently riding the bus do not own private vehicles.
(D) Many commuters opposing the mayor’s plan have indicated that they would rather endure traffic congestion than pay a five-dollar-per day fee.
(E) During the average workday, private vehicles owned and operated by people living within the city account for twenty percent of the city’s traffic congestion.

11. A group of children of various ages was read stories in which people caused harm, some of those people doing so intentionally, and some accidentally. When asked about appropriate punishments for those who had caused harm, the younger children, unlike the older ones, assigned punishments that did not vary according to whether the harm was done intentionally or accidentally. Younger children, then, do not regard people’s intentions as relevant to punishment. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?
(A) In interpreting these stories, the listeners had to draw on a relatively mature sense of human psychology in order to tell whether harm was produced intentionally
or accidentally.
(B) In these stories, the severity of the harm produced was clearly stated.
(C) Younger children are as likely to produce harm unintentionally as are older children.
(D) The older children assigned punishment in a way that closely resembled the way adults had assigned punishment in a similar experiment.
(E) The younger children assigned punishments that varied according to the severity of the harm done by the agents in the stories.

12. When hypnotized subjects are told that they are deaf and are then asked whether they can hear the hypnotist, they reply, “No.” Some theorists try to explain this result by arguing that the selves of hypnotized subjects are dissociated into separate parts, and that the part that is deaf is dissociated from the part that replies. Which of the following challenges indicates the most serious weakness in the attempted explanation described above?
(A) Why does the part that replies not answer, “Yes”?
(B) Why are the observed facts in need of any special explanation?
(C) Why do the subjects appear to accept the hypnotist’s suggestion that they are deaf?
(D) Why do hypnotized subjects all respond the same way in the situation described?
(E) Why are the separate parts of the self the same for all subjects?

Questions 13-14 are based on the following.

The program to control the entry of illegal drugs into the country was a failure in 1987. If the program had been successful, the wholesale price of most illegal drugs would not have dropped substantially in 1987.

13. The argument in the passage depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) The supply of illegal drugs dropped substantially in 1987.
(B) The price paid for most illegal drugs by the average consumer did not drop substantially in 1987.
(C) Domestic production of illegal drugs increased at a higher rate than did the entry of such drugs into the country.
(D) The wholesale price of a few illegal drugs increased substantially in 1987.
(E) A drop in demand for most illegal drugs in 1987 was not the sole cause of the drop in their wholesale price.

14. The argument in the passage would be most seriously weakened if it were true that
(A) in 1987 smugglers of illegal drugs, as a group, had significantly more funds at their disposal than did the country’s customs agents
(B) domestic production of illegal drugs increased substantially in 1987
(C) the author’s statements were made in order to embarrass the officials responsible for the drug-control program
(D) in 1987 illegal drugs entered the country by a different set of routes than they did in 1986
(E) the country’s citizens spent substantially more money on illegal drugs in 1987 than they did in 1986

15. Excavation of the ancient city of Kourion on the island of Cyprus revealed a pattern of debris and collapsed buildings typical of towns devastated by earthquakes. Archaeologists have hypothesized that the destruction was due to a major earthquake known to have occurred near the island in A.D. 365. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the archaeologists’ hypothesis?
(A) Bronze ceremonial drinking vessels that are often found in graves dating from years preceding and following A.D. 365 were also found in several graves near
Kourion.
(B) No coins minted after A.D. 365 were found in Kourion, but coins minted before that year were found in abundance.
(C) Most modern histories of Cyprus mention that an earthquake occurred near the island in A.D. 365.
(D) Several small statues carved in styles current in Cyprus in the century between A.D. 300 and 400 were found in Kourion.
(E) Stone inscriptions in a form of the Greek alphabet that was definitely used in Cyprus after A.D. 365 were found in Kourion.

16. Sales of telephones have increased dramatically over the last year. In order to take advantage of this increase, Mammoth Industries plans to expand production of its own model of telephone, while continuing its already very extensive advertising of this product. Which of the following, if true, provides most support for the view that Mammoth Industries cannot increase its sales of telephones by adopting the plan outlined above?
(A)Although it sells all of the telephones that it produces, Mammoth Industries’ share of all telephone sales has declined over the last year.
(B) Mammoth Industries’ average inventory of telephones awaiting shipment to retailers has declined slightly over the last year.
(C) Advertising has made the brand name of Mammoth Industries’ telephones widely known, but few consumers know that Mammoth Industries owns this brand.
(D) Mammoth Industries’ telephone is one of three brands of telephone that have together accounted for the bulk of the last year’s increase in sales.
(E) Despite a slight decline in the retail price, sales of Mammoth Industries’ telephones have fallen in the last year.

17. Many institutions of higher education suffer declining enrollments during periods of economic slowdown. At two-year community colleges, however, enrollment figures boom during these periods when many people have less money and there is more competition for jobs. Each of the following, if true, helps to explain the enrollment increases in two-year community colleges described above EXCEPT:
(A) During periods of economic slowdown, two-year community colleges are more likely than four-year colleges to prepare their students for the jobs that are still
available.
(B) During periods of economic prosperity, graduates of two-year community colleges often continue their studies at four-year colleges.
(C) Tuition at most two-year community colleges is a fraction of that at four-year colleges.
(D) Two-year community colleges devote more resources than do other colleges to attracting those students especially affected by economic slowdowns.
(E) Students at two-year community colleges, but not those at most four-year colleges, can control the cost of their studies by choosing the number of courses they
take each term.

Questions 18-19 are based on the following.

Hardin argued that grazing land held in common (that is, open to any user) would always be used less carefully than private grazing land. Each rancher would be tempted to overuse common land because the benefits would accrue to the individual, while the costs of reduced land quality that results from overuse would be spread among all users. But a study comparing 217 million acres of common grazing land with 433 million acres of private grazing land showed that the common land was in better condition.

18. The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating the significance, in relation to Hardin’s claim, of the study described above?
(A) Did any of the ranchers whose land was studied use both common and private land?
(B) Did the ranchers whose land was studied tend to prefer using common land over using private land for grazing?
(C) Was the private land that was studied of comparable quality to the common land before either was used for grazing?
(D) Were the users of the common land that was studied at least as prosperous as the users of the private land?
(E) Were there any owners of herds who used only common land, and no private land, for grazing?

19. Which of the following, if true, and known by the ranchers, would best help explain the results of the study?
(A) With private grazing land, both the costs and the benefits of overuse fall to the individual user.
(B) The cost in reduced land quality that is attributable to any individual user is less easily measured with common land than it is with private land.
(C) An individual who overuses common grazing land might be able to achieve higher returns than other users can, with the result that he or she would obtain a
competitive advantage.
(D) If one user of common land overuses it even slightly, the other users are likely to do so even more, with the consequence that the costs to each user outweigh
the benefits.
(E) There are more acres of grazing land held privately than there are held in common.

20. In tests for pironoma, a serious disease, a false positive result indicates that people have pironoma when, in fact, they do not; a false negative result indicates that people do not have pironoma when, in fact, they do. To detect pironoma most accurately, physicians should use the laboratory test that has the lowest proportion of false positive results. Which of the following, if true, gives the most support to the recommendation above?
(A) The accepted treatment for pironoma does not have damaging side effects.
(B) The laboratory test that has the lowest proportion of false positive results causes the same minor side effects as do the other laboratory tests used to detect
pironoma.
(C) In treating pironoma patients, it is essential to begin treatment as early as possible, since even a week of delay can result in loss of life.
(D) The proportion of inconclusive test results is equal for all laboratory tests used to detect pironoma.
(E) All laboratory tests to detect pironoma have the same proportion of false negative results.

ANSWERS

GMAT TEST-9 ( Questions)

30 Minutes 20 Questions

Questions 1-2 are based on the following.

Companies O and P each have the same number of employees who work the same number of hours per week. According to records maintained by each company, the employees of Company O had fewer job-related accidents last year than did the employees of Company P. Therefore, employees of Company O are less likely to have job-related accidents than are employees of Company P.

1. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
(A) Company P manufactures products that are more hazardous for workers to produce than does Company O.
(B) Company P holds more safety inspections than does Company O.
(C) Company P maintains a more modern infirmary than does Company O.
(D) Company O paid more for new job-related medical claims than did Company P.
(E) Company P provides more types of health-care benefits than does Company O.

2. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion above?
(A) The employees of Company P lost more time at work due to job-related accidents than did the employees of Company O.
(B) Company P considered more types of accidents to be job-related than did Company O.
(C) The employees of Company P were sick more often than were the employees of Company O.
(D) Several employees of Company O each had more than one job-related accident.
(E) The majority of job-related accidents at Company O involved a single machine.

3. In comparison to the standard typewriter keyboard, the EFCO keyboard, which places the most-used keys nearest the typist’s strongest fingers, allows faster typing and results in less fatigue, Therefore, replacement of standard keyboards with the EFCO keyboard will result in an immediate reduction of typing costs. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn above?
(A) People who use both standard and EFCO keyboards report greater difficulty in the transition from the EFCO keyboard to the standard keyboard than in the
transition from the standard keyboard to the EFCO keyboard.
(B) EFCO keyboards are no more expensive to manufacture than are standard keyboards and require less frequent repair than do standard keyboards.
(C) The number of businesses and government agencies that use EFCO keyboards is increasing each year.
(D) The more training and experience an employee has had with the standard keyboard, the more costly it is to train that employee to use the EFCO keyboard.
(E) Novice typists can learn to use the EFCO keyboard in about the same amount of time it takes them to learn to use the standard keyboard.

Questions 4-5 are based on the following.

Half of the subjects in an experiment—the experimental group—consumed large quantities of a popular artificial sweetener. Afterward, this group showed lower cognitive abilities than did the other half of the subjects—the control group—who did not consume the sweetener. The detrimental effects were attributed to an amino acid that is one of the sweetener’s principal constituents.

4. Which of the following, if true, would best support the conclusion that some ingredient of the sweetener was responsible for the experimental results?
(A) Most consumers of the sweetener do not consume as much of it as the experimental group members did.
(B) The amino acid referred to in the conclusion is a component of all proteins, some of which must be consumed for adequate nutrition.
(C) The quantity of the sweetener consumed by individuals in the experimental group is considered safe by federal food regulators.
(D) The two groups of subjects were evenly matched with regard to cognitive abilities prior to the experiment.
(E) A second experiment in which subjects consumed large quantities of the sweetener lacked a control group of subjects who were not given the sweetener.

5. Which of the following, if true, would best help explain how the sweetener might produce the observed effect?
(A) The government’s analysis of the artificial sweetener determined that it was sold in relatively pure form.
(B) A high level of the amino acid in the blood inhibits the synthesis of a substance required for normal brain functioning.
(C) Because the sweetener is used primarily as a food additive, adverse reactions to it are rarely noticed by consumers.
(D) The amino acid that is a constituent of the sweetener is also sold separately as a dietary supplement.
(E) Subjects in the experiment did not know whether they were consuming the sweetener or a second, harmless substance.

6. Adult female rats who have never before encountered rat pups will start to show maternal behaviors after being confined with a pup for about seven days. This period can be considerably shortened by disabling the female’s sense of smell or by removing the scent-producing glands of the pup. Which of the following hypotheses best explains the contrast described above?
(A) The sense of smell in adult female rats is more acute than that in rat pups.
(B) The amount of scent produced by rat pups increases when they are in the presence of a female rat that did not bear them.
(C) Female rats that have given birth are more affected by olfactory cues than are female rats that have never given birth.
(D) A female rat that has given birth shows maternal behavior toward rat pups that she did not bear more quickly than does a female rat that has never given birth.
(E) The development of a female rat’s maternal interest in a rat pup that she did not bear is inhibited by the odor of the pup.

7. The interview is an essential part of a successful hiring program because, with it, job applicants who have personalities that are unsuited to the requirements of the job will be eliminated from consideration. The argument above logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) A hiring program will be successful if it includes interviews.
(B) The interview is a more important part of a successful hiring program than is the development of a job description.
(C) Interviewers can accurately identify applicants whose personalities are unsuited to the requirements of the job.
(D) The only purpose of an interview is to evaluate whether job applicants’ personalities are suited to the requirements of the job.
(E) The fit of job applicants’ personalities to the requirements of the job was once the most important factor in making hiring decisions.

8. An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is responsible for the poor agricultural production in Country X since its new government came to power. Neighboring Country Y has experienced the same climatic conditions, but while agricultural production has been falling in Country X, it has been rising in Country Y. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X.
(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport.
(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.
(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.
(E) Country X’s new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods.

9. Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered by the cumbersome procedure of injection under the skin. If proteins are taken orally, they are digested and cannot reach their target cells. Certain nonprotein drugs, however, contain chemical bonds that are not broken down by the digestive system. They can, thus, be taken orally. The statements above most strongly support a claim that a research procedure that successfully accomplishes which of the following would be beneficial to users of protein drugs?
(A) Coating insulin with compounds that are broken down by target cells, but whose chemical bonds are resistant to digestion
(B) Converting into protein compounds, by procedures that work in the laboratory, the nonprotein drugs that resist digestion
(C) Removing permanently from the digestive system any substances that digest proteins
(D) Determining, in a systematic way, what enzymes and bacteria are present in the normal digestive system and whether they tend to be broken down within the
body
(E) Determining the amount of time each nonprotein drug takes to reach its target cells

10. Country Y uses its scarce foreign-exchange reserves to buy scrap iron for recycling into steel. Although the steel thus produced earns more foreign exchange than it costs, that policy is foolish. Country Y’s own territory has vast deposits of iron ore, which can be mined with minimal expenditure of foreign exchange. Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for Country Y’s policy of buying scrap iron abroad?
(A) The price of scrap iron on international markets rose significantly in 1987.
(B) Country Y’s foreign-exchange reserves dropped significantly in 1987.
(C) There is virtually no difference in quality between steel produced from scrap iron and that produced from iron ore.
(D) Scrap iron is now used in the production of roughly half the steel used in the world today, and experts predict that scrap iron will be used even more extensively
in the future.
(E) Furnaces that process scrap iron can be built and operated in Country Y with substantially less foreign exchange than can furnaces that process iron ore.

11. Last year the rate of inflation was 1.2 percent, but for the current year it has been 4 percent. We can conclude that inflation is on an upward trend and the rate will be still higher next year. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?
(A) The inflation figures were computed on the basis of a representative sample of economic data rather than all of the available data.
(B) Last year a dip in oil prices brought inflation temporarily below its recent stable annual level of 4 percent.
(C) Increases in the pay of some workers are tied to the level of inflation, and at an inflation rate of 4 percent or above, these pay raises constitute a force causing
further inflation.
(D) The 1.2 percent rate of inflation last year represented a ten-year low.
(E) Government intervention cannot affect the rate of inflation to any significant degree.

12. Because no employee wants to be associated with bad news in the eyes of a superior, information about serious problems at lower levels is progressively softened and distorted as it goes up each step in the management hierarchy. The chief executive is, therefore, less well informed about problems at lower levels than are his or her subordinates at those levels. The conclusion drawn above is based on the assumption that
(A) problems should be solved at the level in the management hierarchy at which they occur
(B) employees should be rewarded for accurately reporting problems to their superiors
(C) problem-solving ability is more important at higher levels than it is at lower levels of the management hierarchy
(D) chief executives obtain information about problems at lower levels from no source other than their subordinates
(E) some employees are more concerned about truth than about the way they are perceived by their superiors

13. In the United States in 1986, the average rate of violent crime in states with strict gun-control laws was 645 crimes per 100,000 persons—about 50 percent higher than the average rate in the eleven states where strict gun-control laws have never been passed. Thus one way to reduce violent crime is to repeal strict gun control laws. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
(A) The annual rate of violent crime in states with strict gun-control laws has decreased since the passage of those laws.
(B) In states with strict gun-control laws, few individuals are prosecuted for violating such laws.
(C) In states without strict gun-control laws, many individuals have had no formal training in the use of firearms.
(D) The annual rate of nonviolent crime is lower in states with strict gun-control laws than in states without such laws.
(E) Less than half of the individuals who reside in states without strict gun-control laws own a gun.

14. Corporate officers and directors commonly buy and sell, for their own portfolios, stock in their own corporations. Generally, when the ratio of such inside sales to inside purchases falls below 2 to 1 for a given stock, a rise in stock prices is imminent. In recent days, while the price of MEGA Corporation stock has been falling, the corporation’s officers and directors have bought up to nine times as much of it as they have sold. The facts above best support which of the following predictions?
(A) The imbalance between inside purchases and inside sales of MEGA stock will grow even further.
(B) Inside purchases of MEGA stock are about to cease abruptly.
(C) The price of MEGA stock will soon begin to go up.
(D) The price of MEGA stock will continue to drop, but less rapidly.
(E) The majority of MEGA stock will soon be owned by MEGA’s own officers and directors.

15. The proposal to hire ten new police officers in Middletown is quite foolish. There is sufficient funding to pay the salaries of the new officers, but not the salaries of additional court and prison employees to process the increased caseload of arrests and convictions that new officers usually generate. Which of the following, if true, will most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Studies have shown that an increase in a city’s police force does not necessarily reduce crime.
(B) When one major city increased its police force by 19 percent last year, there were 40 percent more arrests and 13 percent more convictions.
(C) If funding for the new police officers’ salaries is approved, support for other city services will have to be reduced during the next fiscal year.
(D) In most United States cities, not all arrests result in convictions, and not all convictions result in prison terms.
(E) Middletown’s ratio of police officers to citizens has reached a level at which an increase in the number of officers will have a deterrent effect on crime.

16. A recent report determined that although only three percent of drivers on Maryland highways equipped their vehicles with radar detectors, thirty-three percent of all vehicles ticketed for exceeding the speed limit were equipped with them. Clearly, drivers who equip their vehicles with radar detectors are more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than are drivers who do not. The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Drivers who equip their vehicles with radar detectors are less likely to be ticketed for exceeding the speed limit than are drivers who do not.
(B) Drivers who are ticketed for exceeding the speed limit are more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than are drivers who are not ticketed.
(C) The number of vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit was greater than the number of vehicles that were equipped with radar detectors.
(D) Many of the vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit were ticketed more than once in the time period covered by the report.
(E) Drivers on Maryland highways exceeded the speed limit more often than did drivers on other state highways not covered in the report.

17. There is a great deal of geographical variation in the frequency of many surgical procedures—up to tenfold variation per hundred thousand between different areas in the numbers of hysterectomies, prostatectomies, and tonsillectomies. To support a conclusion that much of the variation is due to unnecessary surgical procedures, it would be most important to establish which of the following?
(A) A local board of review at each hospital examines the records of every operation to determine whether the surgical procedure was necessary.
(B) The variation is unrelated to factors (other than the surgical procedures themselves) that influence the incidence of diseases for which surgery might be
considered.
(C) There are several categories of surgical procedure (other than hysterectomies, prostatectomies, and tonsillectomies) that are often performed unnecessarily.
(D) For certain surgical procedures, it is difficult to determine after the operation whether the procedures were necessary or whether alternative treatment would
have succeeded.
(E) With respect to how often they are performed unnecessarily, hysterectomies, prostatectomies, and tonsillectomies are representative of surgical procedures in
general.

18. Researchers have found that when very overweight people, who tend to have relatively low metabolic rates, lose weight primarily through dieting, their metabolisms generally remain unchanged. They will thus burn significantly fewer calories at the new weight than do people whose weight is normally at that level. Such newly thin persons will, therefore, ultimately regain weight until their body size again matches their metabolic rate. The conclusion of the argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Relatively few very overweight people who have dieted down to a new weight tend to continue to consume substantially fewer calories than do people whose
normal weight is at that level.
(B) The metabolisms of people who are usually not overweight are much more able to vary than the metabolisms of people who have been very overweight.
(C) The amount of calories that a person usually burns in a day is determined more by the amount that is consumed that day than by the current weight of the
individual.
(D) Researchers have not yet determined whether the metabolic rates of formerly very overweight individuals can be accelerated by means of chemical agents.
(E) Because of the constancy of their metabolic rates, people who are at their usual weight normally have as much difficulty gaining weight as they do losing it.

19. In 1987 sinusitis was the most common chronic medical condition in the United States, followed by arthritis and high blood pressure, in that order. The incidence rates for both arthritis and high blood pressure increase with age, but the incidence rate for sinusitis is the same for people of all ages. The average age of the United States population will increase between 1987 and 2000. Which of the following conclusions can be most properly drawn about chronic medical conditions in the United States from the information given above?
(A) Sinusitis will be more common than either arthritis or high blood pressure in 2000.
(B) Arthritis will be the most common chronic medical condition in 2000.
(C) The average age of people suffering from sinusitis will increase between 1987 and 2000.
(D) Fewer people will suffer from sinusitis in 2000 than suffered from it in 1987.
(E) A majority of the population will suffer from at least one of the medical conditions mentioned above by the year 2000.

20. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs directly into the eggs of various host insects in exactly the right numbers for any suitable size of host egg. If they laid too many eggs in a host egg, the developing wasp larvae would compete with each other to the death for nutrients and space. If too few eggs were laid, portions of the host egg would decay, killing the wasp larvae. Which of the following conclusions can properly be drawn from the information above?
(A) The size of the smallest host egg that a wasp could theoretically parasitize can be determined from the wasp’s egg-laying behavior.
(B) Host insects lack any effective defenses against the form of predation practiced by parasitic wasps.
(C) Parasitic wasps learn from experience how many eggs to lay into the eggs of different host species.
(D) Failure to lay enough eggs would lead to the death of the developing wasp larvae more quickly than would laying too many eggs.
(E) Parasitic wasps use visual clues to calculate the size of a host egg.

ANSWERS

GMAT TEST-10 ( Questions)

30 Minutes 20 Questions

1. In 1985 in the country of Alissia, farmers brought to market a broccoli crop that was one-and-a-half times as large as the 1985 broccoli crop in its neighbor country, Barbera. Yet total quantities of broccoli available for sale to consumers in Alissia were smaller than were total quantities in Barbera in 1985. Which of the following, if true, in 1985, contributes most to an explanation of why there was less broccoli available for sale to consumers in Alissia than in Barbera?
(A) Barbera’s farmers produced much more cabbage than did Alissia’s farmers.
(B) Barbera’s farmers produced fewer heads of broccoli per acre than did Alissia’s farmers.
(C) Alissia exported a much higher proportion of its broccoli crop than did Barbera.
(D) Broccoli was much more popular among consumers in Alissia than in Barbera.
(E) Alissia had more land suitable for growing broccoli than did Barbera.

2. A manufacturer of men’s dress socks sought to increase profits by increasing sales. The size of its customer pool was remaining steady, with the average customer buying twelve pairs of dress socks per year. The company’s plan was to increase the number of promotional discount-sale periods to one every six months. Which of the following, if it is a realistic possibility, casts the most serious doubt on the viability of the company’s plan?
A) New manufacturing capacity would not be required if the company were to increase the number of pairs of socks sold.
(B) Inventory stocks of merchandise ready for sale would be high preceding the increase in the number of discount-sale periods.
(C) The manufacturer’s competitors would match its discounts during sale periods, and its customers would learn to wait for those times to make their purchases.
(D) New styles and colors would increase customers’ consciousness of fashion in dress socks, but the customers’ requirements for older styles and colors would
not be reduced.
(E) The cost of the manufacturer’s raw materials would remain steady, and its customers would have more disposable income.

3. Previous studies have indicated that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease. However, a new, more reliable study has indicated that eating chocolate does not increase the likelihood of getting heart disease. When the results of the new study become known, consumption of chocolate will undoubtedly increase. Which of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion above is based?
(A) Most people who eat a great deal of chocolate will not get heart disease.
(B) Although they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease, some people still eat as much chocolate as they want.
(C) People who have heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease do not believe it.
(D) There are people who currently eat as much chocolate as they want because they have not heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart
disease.
(E) There are people who currently limit their consumption of chocolate only because they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart
disease.

4. The fossil record shows that the climate of North America warmed and dried at the end of the Pleistocene period. Most of the species of large mammals then living on the continent became extinct, but the smaller mammalian species survived. Which of the following, if true, provides the best basis for an explanation of the contrast described above between species of large mammals and species of small mammals?
(A) Individual large mammals can, in general, travel further than small mammals and so are more able to migrate in search of a hospitable environment.
(B) The same pattern of comparative success in smaller, as opposed to larger, species that is observed in mammals is also found in bird species of the same period.
(C) The fossil record from the end of Pleistocene period is as clear for small mammals as it is for large mammals.
(D) Larger mammals have greater food and space requirements than smaller mammals and are thus less able to withstand environmental change.
(E) Many more of the species of larger mammals than of the species of smaller mammals living in North America in that period had originated in climates that were
warmer than was that of North America before the end of the Pleistocene period.

5. Bonuses at DSR Industries cannot be awarded unless profits exceed a ten percent return on stockholders’ investments in the company. Higher profits mean higher bonuses. Therefore, bonuses in a year of general economic recession will be considerably lower than bonuses in a year of peak profits at DSR. The conclusion above depends on the assumption that
(A) the firm will have relatively low profits in recession years
(B) the amount represented by a ten percent return on stockholders’ investments in the company will increase from year to year
(C) profits rarely exceed a ten percent return on stockholders’ investments in the company
(D) profits in excess of a ten percent return on stockholders’ investments in the company are all distributed in the form of bonuses
(E) bonuses at DSR never drop to zero

Questions 6-7 are based on the following.

Suitable habitats for gray wolves have greatly diminished in area. In spite of this fact, the most sensible course would be to refrain from reestablishing gray wolves in places where previously they have been hunted out of existence. Striving to bring back these animals to places where they will only face lethal human hostility is immoral.

6. The argument above depends on
(A) an appeal to an authority
(B) a belief that gray wolves are dangerous to human beings and livestock
(C) an assumption that two events that occur together must be causally connected
(D) an assumption that the future will be like the past
(E) a threat of violence against those persons presenting the opposing view

7. The argument above would be most significantly weakened if which of the following were true?
(A) Effective laws against the hunting of gray wolves have been enacted.
(B) Ranchers, farmers, and hunters still have an ingrained bias against gray wolves.
(C) By the 1930’s bounty hunters had exterminated most of the gray wolves in the United States.
(D) Programs for increasing the gray wolf population are not aided by federal laws that require the licensing of hunters of certain predators.
(E) Suggested programs for increasing the gray wolf population have been criticized by environmentalists and biologists.

8. For the safety-conscious Swedish market, a United States manufacturer of desktop computers developed a special display screen that produces a much weaker electromagnetic field surrounding the user than do ordinary screens. Despite an advantage in this respect over its competitors, the manufacturer is introducing the screen into the United States market without advertising it as a safety improvement. Which of the following, if true, provides a rationale for the manufacturer’s approach to advertising the screen in the United States?
(A) Many more desktop computers are sold each year in the United States market than are sold in the Swedish market.
(B) The manufacturer does not want its competitors to become aware of the means by which the company has achieved this advance in technology.
(C) Most business and scientific purchasers of desktop computers expect to replace such equipment eventually as better technology becomes available on the
market.
(D) An emphasis on the comparative safety of the new screen would call into question the safety of the many screens the manufacturer has already sold in the United
States.
(E) Concern has been expressed in the United States over the health effects of the large electromagnetic fields surrounding electric power lines.

9. In the suburbs surrounding Middletown, there is an average of 2.4 automobiles per family, and thus very few suburban residents use public buses. The suburban communities, therefore, would derive little benefit from continuing to subsidize the portion of Middletown’s public bus system that serves the suburbs. Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) The real-estate tax rate in Middletown is higher than it is in the suburbs.
(B) Last year voters in the suburban communities defeated by a narrow margin a bill designed to increase subsidies for public bus routes.
(C) Many suburban shops can attract enough employees to remain in business only because subsidized public transportation from Middletown is available.
(D) Public buses operated with less than a 35 percent occupancy rate produce more pollution per passenger mile than would the operation of private automobiles
for each passenger.
(E) Most voters in Middletown’s suburban communities are unwilling to continue subsidies for public buses next year if ridership on those buses drops below current
levels.

10. Any tax relief received by the solar industry would not benefit the homeowner who installs a solar-energy system. Even though homeowners would pay a lower price for solar-energy system installations because of this tax relief, with the government paying the balance, government revenues come from the public. The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) The tax relief would cause the homeowner to lose, through taxes or reduced government benefits or both, an amount at least equal to the reduction in the price
of that homeowner’s solar-energy system installation.
(B) The tax relief that would be received by solar-energy industries would not be offered at the same time as any tax relief for other industries.
(C) Advertisements of the solar-energy industry, by failing to identify the source of government revenues explicitly to the public, mask the advantage the industry
receives from the public.
(D) Homeowners generally believe that they benefit from any tax relief offered to the solar-energy industry.
(E) Tax relief would encourage solar industries to sell solar-energy systems at higher prices.

11. Less than 50 percent of a certain tropical country’s wildlands remains intact. Efforts are under way to restore biological diversity in that country by restoring some destroyed wild habitats and extending some relatively intact portions of forests. However, opponents argue that these efforts are not needed because there is still plenty of wildland left. Which of the following, if true, most significantly weakens the argument of the opponents of conservation efforts?
(A) As much, if not more, effort is required to restore a wild habitat as to preserve an intact habitat.
(B) The opponents of restoration efforts are, for the most part, members of the wealthier classes in their own villages and cities.
(C) Existing conservation laws have been very effective in preserving biological diversity within the wildlands that remain intact.
(D) For many tropical species native to that country, the tropical wildlands that are still relatively intact do not provide appropriate habitats for reproduction.
(E) If a suitable population of plants and animals is introduced and is permitted to disperse and grow, tropical habitats can most certainly be restored.

12. A study comparing a group of chronically depressed individuals with an otherwise matched group of individuals free from depression found significantly more disorders of the immune system among the depressed group. According to the researchers, these results strongly support the hypothesis that mental states influence the body’s vulnerability to infection. Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the researchers’ interpretation of their findings?
(A) The researchers’ view does little more than echo a familiar theme in folklore and literature.
(B) Chronically depressed individuals are no less careful than others to avoid exposure to infections.
(C) Disorders of the immune system cause many of those individuals who have them to become chronically depressed.
(D) Individuals who have previously been free from depression can become depressed quite suddenly.
(E) A high frequency of infections can stem from an unusually high level of exposure rather than from any disorder of the immune system.

13. Exports of United States wood pulp will rise considerably during this year. The reason for the rise is that the falling value of the dollar will make it cheaper for paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe to buy American wood pulp than to get it from any other source. Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?
(A) Factory output of paper products in Japan and Western Europe will increase sharply during this year.
(B) The quality of the wood pulp produced in the United States would be adequate for the purposes of Japanese and Western European paper manufacturers.
(C) Paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe would prefer to use wood pulp produced in the United States if cost were not a factor.
(D) Demand for paper products made in Japan and Western Europe will not increase sharply during this year.
(E) Production of wood pulp by United States companies will not increase sharply during this year.

14. A company’s personnel director surveyed employees about their satisfaction with the company’s system for awarding employee performance ratings. The survey data indicated that employees who received high ratings were very satisfied with the system. The personnel director concluded from these data that the company’s best-performing employees liked the system. The personnel director’s conclusion assumes which of the following?
(A) No other performance rating system is as good as the current system.
(B) The company’s best-performing employees received high ratings.
(C) Employees who received low ratings were dissatisfied with the system.
(D) Employees who receive high ratings from a performance-rating system will like that system.
(E) The company’s best-performing employees were motivated to perform well by the knowledge that they would receive performance ratings.

15. In Argonia the average rate drivers pay for car accident insurance is regulated to allow insurance companies to make a reasonable profit. Under the regulations, the rate any individual driver pays never depends on the actual distance driven by that driver each year. Therefore, Argonians who drive less than average partially subsidize the insurance of those who drive more than average. The conclusion above would be properly drawn if it were also true that in Argonia
(A) the average accident insurance rate for all drivers rises whenever a substantial number of new drivers buy insurance
(B) the average cost to insurance companies of insuring drivers who drive less than the annual average is less than the average cost of insuring drivers who drive
more than the annual average
(C) the lower the age of a driver, the higher the insurance rate paid by that driver
(D) insurance company profits would rise substantially if drivers were classified in terms of the actual number of miles they drive each year
(E) drivers who have caused insurance companies to pay costly claims generally pay insurance rates that are equal to or lower than those paid by other drivers

16. In the 1970’s there was an oversupply of college graduates. The oversupply caused the average annual income of college graduates to fall to a level only 18 percent greater than that of workers with only high school diplomas. By the late 1980’s the average annual income of college graduates was 43 percent higher than that of workers with only high school diplomas, even though between the 1970’s and the late 1980’s the supply of college graduates did not decrease. Which of the following, if true, in the late 1980’s, best reconciles the apparent discrepancy described above?
(A) The economy slowed, thus creating a decreased demand for college graduates.
(B) The quality of high school education improved.
(C) Compared to the 1970’s, a greater number of high schools offered vocational guidance programs for their students.
(D) The proportion of the population with at least a college-level education increased.
(E) There was for the first time in 20 years an oversupply of job seekers with only high school diplomas.

17. Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than does working longer workweeks. In addition, greater perceived control over one’s work life reduces stress levels. It can be concluded, therefore, that shorter workweeks cause managers to feel they have more control over their work life. The argument made above uses which of the following questionable techniques?
(A) Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon
(B) Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together
(C) Assuming what it sets out to prove
(D) Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion
(E) Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers

18. There are fundamentally two possible changes in an economy that will each cause inflation unless other compensating changes also occur. These changes are either reductions in the supply of goods and services or increases in demand. In a prebanking economy the quantity of money available, and hence the level of demand, is equivalent to the quantity of gold available. If the statements above are true, then it is also true that in a prebanking economy
(A) any inflation is the result of reductions in the supply of goods and services
(B) if other factors in the economy are unchanged, increasing the quantity of gold available will lead to inflation
(C) if there is a reduction in the quantity of gold available, then, other things being equal, inflation must result
(D) the quantity of goods and services purchasable by a given amount of gold is constant
(E) whatever changes in demand occur, there will be compensating changes in the supply of goods and services

19. Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Distopian intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits during the war. Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars. Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?
(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in
Distopia.
(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.
(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.
(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.

20. In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile accidents are typically more severe than in Europe, where laws require a different kind of safety belt. It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better. Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument above EXCEPT:
(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States.
(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their
passengers.
(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars built for the United States market.
(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe.
(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents.

  ANSWERS