1. In recent years the climate has been generally cool in northern Asia. But during periods when the average daily temperature and humidity in northern Asia were slightly higher than their normal levels the yields of most crops grown there increased significantly. In the next century, the increased average daily temperature and humidity attained during those periods are expected to become the norm. Yet scientists predict that the yearly yields of most of the region's crops will decrease during the next century. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox in the information above?
A.Crop yields in southern Asia are expected to remain constant even after the average daily temperature and humidity there increase from recent levels.
B.Any increases in temperature and humidity would be accompanied by higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is vital to plant respiration.
C.The climate in northern Asia has generally been too cool and dry in recent years for populations of many crop insect pests to become established.
D.In many parts of Asia, the increased annual precipitation that would result from warmer and wetter climates would cause most edible plant species to flourish.
E.The recent climate of northern Asia prevents many crops from being farmed there during the winter.
A B C D E
C
2. Essayist: The existence of a moral order in the universe—i.e., an order in which bad is always eventually punished and good rewarded—depends upon human souls being immortal. In some cultures this moral order is regarded as the result of a karma that controls how one is reincarnated, in others it results from the actions of a supreme being who metes out justice to people after their death. But however a moral order is represented, if human souls are immortal, then it follows that the bad will be punished. Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the essayist's reasoning?
A.From the assertion that something is necessary to a moral order the argument concludes that that thing is sufficient for an element of the moral order to be realized.
B.The argument takes mere beliefs to be established facts.
C.From the claim that the immortality of human souls implies that there is a moral order in the universe, the argument concludes that there being a moral order in the universe implies that human souls are immortal.
D.The argument treats two fundamentally different conceptions of a moral order as essentially the same.
E.The argument's conclusion is presupposed in the definition it gives of a moral order.
A B C D E
A
3. Speakers of the Caronian language constitute a minority of the population in several large countries. An international body has recommended that the regions where Caronian-speakers live be granted autonomy as an independent nation in which Caronian-speakers would form a majority. But Caronian-speakers live in several widely scattered areas that cannot be united within a single continuous boundary while at the same time allowing Caronian-speakers to be the majority population. Hence, the recommendation cannot be satisfied. The argument relies on which one of the following assumptions?
A.A nation once existed in which Caronian-speakers formed the majority of the population.
B.Caronian-speakers tend to perceive themselves as constituting a single community.
C.The recommendation would not be satisfied by the creation of a nation formed of disconnected regions.
D.The new Caronian nation will not include as citizens anyone who does not speak Caronian.
E.In most nations several different languages are spoken.
A B C D E
C
4. Found in caves with the bones of australopithecines, which are thought by some to be ancient ancestors of the human species, were great collections of animal bones. From the frequencies of types of bones, it can be seen that many bones represented only parts of animals that must have died elsewhere. The australopithecines thus must have been mighty hunters, to have brought home so much meat. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn above?
A.The australopithecines sometimes moved from cave to cave for shelter and did not remain in one cave for a lifetime.
B.The australopithecine bones found in the caves were those of adult males, adult females, and juveniles.
C.Evidence of the use of fire was absent from the caves in which the collections of bones were found.
D.Marks on the bones, including the bones of the australopithecines, are consistent with teeth marks of large catlike animals of the period.
E.The bones in the cave did not include bones of an elephant like animal that existed in the area at the time of the australopithecines.
A B C D E
D
5. According to a recent cross-cultural study, married people in general have longer life expectancies than do people who divorce and do not remarry. This fact indicates that the stress associated with divorce adversely affects health. Which of the following, if true, points to a weakness in the argument above?
A.Overall life expectancies differ among countries, even among countries with similar cultures.
B.People often show signs of stress when undergoing a divorce.
C.Life expectancy varies with age-group, even among married people.
D.Stress of many kinds has been shown to affect health adversely.
E.Adults who have never married have shorter life expectancies than do married people of the same age.
A B C D E
E
6. A new law gives ownership of patents—documents providing exclusive right to make and sell an invention—to universities, not the government, when those patents result from government-sponsored university research. Administrators at Logos University plan to sell any patents they acquire to corporations in order to fund programs to improve undergraduate teaching. Which of the following, if true, would cast most doubt on the viability of the college administrators' plan described above?
A.Profit-making corporations interested in developing products based on patents held by universities are likely to try to serve as exclusive sponsors of ongoing university research projects.
B.Corporate sponsors of research in university facilities are entitled to tax credits under new federal tax-code guidelines.
C.Research scientists at Logos University have few or no teaching responsibilities and participate little if at all in the undergraduate programs in their field.
D.Government-sponsored research conducted at Logos University for the most part duplicates research already completed by several profit-making corporations.
E.Logos University is unlikely to attract corporate sponsorship of its scientific research.
A B C D E
D
7. The senator has long held to the general printable that no true work of art is obscene and thus that there is no conflict between the need to encourage free artistic expression and the need to protect the sensibilities of the public from obscenity. When well-known works generally viewed as obscene are cited as possible counterexamples, the senator justifies accepting the principle by saying that if these works really are obscene then they cannot be works of art. The senator's reasoning contains which one of the following errors?
A.It seeks to persuade by emotional rather than intellectual means.
B.It contains an implicit contradiction.
C.It relies on an assertion of the senator authority.
D.It assumes what it seeks to establish.
E.It attempts to justify a position by appeal to an irrelevant consideration.
A B C D E
D
8. Do strong electric currents, by means of the electromagnetic fields that accompany them, cause cancer in people who live and work nearby? Telephone line workers, who work near such currents every day, can provide a test case. They show elevated levels of brain cancer; therefore, the hypothesis of electromagnetic causation is supported. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.Burying power lines and other measures to protect the public from such electromagnetic fields would be prohibitively expensive.
B.Telephone line workers are exposed to levels of chemical solvents high enough to cause brain cancer.
C.High exposure to strong electromagnetic fields is correlated with a slightly higher-than-normal incidence of childhood leukemia, which is a form of cancer.
D.Public health officials who found that a group of different illnesses in people living near a power substation could not reliably be attributed to its electromagnetic field were accused of covering up the facts.
E.Telephone line workers, like most people have electrical appliances at home, and most electrical appliances, when turned on, are surrounded by an electromagnetic field of some measurable level.
A B C D E
B
9. Spiders of many species change color to match the pigmentation of the flowers they sit on. The insects preyed on by those spiders, unlike human beings, possess color discrimination so acute that they can readily see the spiders despite the seeming camouflage. Clearly, then, it must be in evading their own predators that the spiders' color changes are useful to them. Which of the following, if tree, most strengthens the argument?
A.Among the animals that feed on color-changing spiders are a few species of bat, which find their prey through sound echoes.
B.Certain animals that feed on color-changing spiders do so only sparingly in order to keep from ingesting harmful amounts of spider venom.
C.Color-changing spiders possess color discrimination that is more acute than that of spiders that lack the ability to change color.
D.Color-changing spiders spin webs that are readily seen by the predators of those spiders.
E.The color discrimination of certain birds that feed on color-changing spiders is no more acute than that of human beings.
A B C D E
E
10. When cut, the synthetic material fiberglass, like asbestos, releases microscopic fibers into the air. It is known that people who inhale asbestos fibers suffer impairment of lung function. A study of 300 factory workers who regularly cut fiberglass showed that their lung capacity is, on average, only 90 percent of that of a comparable group of people who do not cut fiberglass. The statements above, if tree, most strongly support which of the following hypotheses?
A.People who work with fiberglass are likely also to work with asbestos.
B.Fiberglass fibers impair lung function in people who inhale them.
C.Fiberglass releases as many fibers into the air when cut as does asbestos.
D.Coarse fibers do not impair lung function in people who inhale them.
E.If uncut, fiberglass poses no health risk to people who work with it.
A B C D E
B
11. The greatest chance for the existence of extraterrestrial life is on a planet beyond our solar system. The Milky Way galaxy alone contains 100 billion other suns, many of which could be accompanied by planets similar enough to Earth to make them suitable abodes of life. The statement above assumes which of the following?
A.Living creatures on another planet would probably have the same appearance as those on Earth.
B.Life cannot exist on other planets in our solar system.
C.If the appropriate physical conditions exist, life is an in evitable consequence.
D.More than one of the suns in the galaxy is accompanied by an Earth-like planet.
E.It is likely that life on another planet would require conditions similar to those on Earth.
A B C D E
E
12. Armtech, a temporary-employment agency, previously gave its employees 2. 5 paid vacation days after each 700 hours worked. Armtech's new policy is to give its employees 5.0 paid vacation days after each 1,200 hours worked. Therefore, this new policy is more generous to Armtech employees in giving them more vacation days per hour worked than the old policy did. Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A.Most current Armtech employees approve of the company's new vacation policy.
B.A few Armtech employees leave the company before having worked 700 hours.
C.Most Armtech employees were not aware that the company planned to change its vacation policy until after it had already done so.
D.A significant portion of Armtech employees stay with the company long enough to work for 1,200 hours.
E.Armtech's new vacation policy closely matches the vacation policies of competing temporary employment agencies.
A B C D E
D
13. When a group of children who have been watching television programs that include acts of violence is sent to play with a group of children who have been watching programs that do not include acts of violence, the children who have been watching violent programs commit a much greater number of violent acts in their play than do the children who have been watching nonviolent programs. Therefore, children at play can be prevented from committing violent acts by not being allowed to watch violence on television. The argument in the passage assumes which one of the following?
A.Television has a harmful effect on society.
B.Parents are responsible for the acts of their children.
C.Violent actions and passive observation of violent actions are not related.
D.There are no other differences between the two groups of children that might account for the difference in violent behavior.
E.Children who are treated violently will respond with violence.
A B C D E
D
14. A freight elevator can carry a maximum load of 1200 pounds. Sean, who weighs 200 pounds, is in the elevator with two packages weighing 150 pounds and 280 pounds. If he needs to fit three more packages in the elevator that weigh as much as possible without exceeding the elevator limit, what is the difference between their average and the average of the two packages already in the elevator?
A.25
B.85
C.190
D.215
E.210
A B C D E
A
15. Although spinach is rich in calcium, it also contains large amounts of oxalic acid, a substance that greatly impedes calcium absorption by the body. Therefore, other calcium-containing foods must be eaten either instead of or in addition to spinach if a person is to be sure of getting enough calcium. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
A.Rice, which does not contain calcium, counteracts the effects of oxalic acid on calcium absorption.
B.Dairy products, which contain even more calcium than spinach does, are often eaten by people who eat spinach on a regular basis.
C.Neither the calcium nor the oxalic acid in spinach is destroyed when spinach is cooked.
D.Many leafy green vegetables other than spinach that are rich in calcium also contain high concentrations of oxalic acid.
E.Oxalic acid has little effect on the body's ability to absorb nutrients other than calcium.
A B C D E
A
16. Psychological maladjustment in children is caused by the stress of the birthing process as is proved by the discovery of a positive relationship between the duration of the mother's labor and the amount of time the child spent crying in the first month of life. Which of the following, if true, LEAST damages the author's assertion?
A.There is no relationship between the amount of time spent crying and psychological maladjustment.
B.Behavior indicative of psychological maladjustment does not appear until the third month of a child's life.
C.From the infant's point of view, a hurried labor is more stressful than a gradual, slow delivery.
D.The estimates of the duration of labor were based on obstetricians' estimates of the time of the onset of labor.
E.The infants who have experienced the greatest stress during birth are often too weak to cry for extended periods of time.
A B C D E
D
17. Hotco oil burners, designed to be used in asphalt plants, are so efficient that Hotco will sell one to the Clifton Asphalt plant for no payment other than the cost savings between the total amount the asphalt plant actually paid for oil using its former burner during the last two years and the total amount it will pay for oil using the Hotco burner during the next two years. On installation, the plant will make an estimated payment, which will be adjusted after two years to equal the actual cost savings. Which of the following, if it occurred, would constitute a disadvantage for Hotco of the plan described above?
A.Another manufacturer's introduction to the market of a similarly efficient burner.
B.The Clifton Asphalt plant's need for more than one new burner.
C.Very poor efficiency in the Clifton Asphalt plant's old burner.
D.A decrease in the demand for asphalt.
E.A steady increase in the price of oil beginning soon after the new burner is installed.
A B C D E
E
18. A company that ships boxes to a total of 12 distribution centers uses color coding to identify each center. If either a single color or a pair of two different colors is chosen to represent each center and if each center is uniquely represented by that choice of one or two colors, what is the minimum number of colors needed for the coding? (Assume that the order of the colors in a pair does not matter.)
A.4
B.5
C.6
D.12
E.24
A B C D E
B
19. When airlines were deregulated in the 1970s, the average price of a ticket was $135. Three decades later, the average price is $275, there are twice as many in-air collisions, fliers in small markets are at the mercy of predatory carriers, and air rage is at an all-time high. It is time to re-regulate the air travel industry. All of the following statements, if true, weaken the above argument except for which statement?
A.Because of inflation, a $275 ticket today is actually 10 to 20 percent less expensive than a $135 ticket was in 1975.
B.Deregulation has increased the choices available to fliers in terms of both time of flight and carrier.
C.Airlines are currently flying more than five times as many passenger miles per year as they did in 1975.
D.Compared with passengers in large urban areas, passengers in small markets pay, on average, twice as much per mile flown on domestic flights because their airports are generally served by fewer airlines.
E.Psychologists have been able to determine no connection between the deregulation of the airline industry and the onset of increased levels of air rage.
A B C D E
D
20. Students at a certain university have complained that some of their professors do not provide copies of their lecture notes at every class. The student body president has argued that, in order to further the educational purposes of the university, all professors should be required to post their lecture notes online. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the students' argument that the professors should be required to post their lecture notes online?
A.At the most popular classes, there are often insufficient quantities of lecture note copies to accommodate all of the students.
B.Students have acknowledged that if the lecture notes are posted online, they will be less likely to go to class.
C.Professors complain that the university does not provide sufficient copying funds, so that professors often have to pay for copies of lecture notes out of their own pockets.
D.Over 80 percent of students have access to the Internet in their dorm rooms, and all students have 24-hour access to the Internet at the computer lab.
E.The university has publicly stated that one of the educational goals of the university is to help all students gain competency with the Internet.
A B C D E
B
21. The school board has determined that it is necessary to reduce the number of teachers on the staff. Rather than deciding which teachers will be laid off on the basis of seniority, the school board plans to lay off the least effective teachers first. The school board's plan assumes that
A.there is a way of determining the effectiveness of teachers
B.what one individual defines as effective teaching will not be defined as effective teaching by another individual
C.those with the most experience teaching are the best teachers
D.those teachers who are paid the most are generally the most qualified
E.some teachers will be more effective working with some students than with other students
A B C D E
A
22. Since applied scientific research is required for technological advancement, many have rightly urged an increased emphasis in universities on applied research. But we must not give too little attention to basic research, even though it may have no foreseeable application, for tomorrow's applied research will depend on the basic research of today. If the statements above are true, which of the following can be most reliably inferred?
A.If future technological advancement is desired, basic research should receive greater emphasis than applied research.
B.If basic research is valued in universities, applied research should be given less emphasis than it currently has.
C.If future technological advancement is desired, research should be limited to that with some foreseeable application.
D.If too little attention is given to basic research today, future technological advancement will be jeopardized.
E.If technological advancement is given insufficient emphasis, basic research will also receive too little attention.
A B C D E
D
23. The First Banking Group's decision to invest in an electronic network for transferring funds was based on a cost advantage over a no electronic system of about ten dollars per transaction in using an electronic system. Executives reasoned further that the system would give them an advantage over competitors. Which of the following, if it is a realistic possibility, most seriously weakens the executives' projection of an advantage over competitors?
A.The cost advantage of using the electronic system will not increase sufficiently to match the pace of inflation.
B.Competitors will for the same reasons install electronic systems, and the resulting overcapacity will lead to mutually damaging price wars.
C.The electronic system will provide a means for faster transfer of funds, if the First Banking Group wishes to provide faster transfer to its customers.
D.Large banks from outside the area served by the First Banking Group have recently established branches in that area as competitors to the First Banking Group.
E.Equipment used in the electronic network for transferring funds will be compatible with equipment used in other such networks.
A B C D E
B
24. Which of the following best completes the argument below? One effect of the introduction of the electric refrigerator was a collapse in the market for ice. Formerly householders had bought ice to keep their iceboxes cool and the food stored in the iceboxes fresh. Now the iceboxes cool themselves. Similarly, the introduction of crops genetically engineered to be resistant to pests will______
A.increase the size of crop harvests
B.increase the cost of seeds
C.reduce demand for chemical pesticides
D.reduce the value of farmland
E.reduce the number of farmers keeping livestock
A B C D E
C
25. In 1985 the city's Fine Arts Museum sold 30,000 single-entry tickets. In 1986 the city's Folk Arts and Interior Design museums opened, and these three museums together sold over 80,000 such tickets that year. These museums were worth the cost, since more than twice as many citizens are now enjoying the arts. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the author's assertion that more than twice as many citizens are now enjoying the arts?
A.Most visitors to one museum also visit the other two.
B.The cost of building the museums will not be covered by revenues generated by the sale of museum tickets.
C.As the two new museums become better known, even more citizens will visit them.
D.The city's Fine Arts Museum did not experience a decrease in single-entry tickets sold in 1986.
E.Fewer museum entry tickets were sold in 1986 than the museum planners had hoped to sell.
A B C D E
A
26. F: We ought not to test the safety of new drugs on sentient animals, such as dogs and rabbits. Our benefit means their pain, and they are equal to us in the capacity to feel pain. G: We must carry out such tests; otherwise, we would irresponsibly sacrifice the human lives that could have been saved by the drugs. Which of the following, if true, is the best objection that could be made from F's point of view to counter G's point?
A.Even though it is not necessary for people to use cosmetics, cosmetics are also being tested on sentient animals.
B.Medical science already has at its disposal a great number of drugs and other treatments for serious illnesses.
C.It is not possible to obtain scientifically adequate results by testing drugs in the test tube, without making tests on living tissue.
D.Some of the drugs to be tested would save human beings from great pain.
E.Many tests now performed on sentient animals can be performed equally well on fertilized chicken eggs that are at a very early stage of development.
A B C D E
E
27. Which of the following best completes the passage below? The unemployment rate in the United States fell from 7.5 percent in 1981 to 6.9 percent in 1986. It cannot, however, be properly concluded from these statistics that the number of unemployed in 1986 was lower than it had been in 1981 because______
A.help-wanted advertisements increased between 1981 and 1986
B.many of the high-paying industrial jobs available in 1981 were replaced by low-wage service jobs in 1986, resulting in displacements of hundreds of thousands of workers
C.in some midwestern industrial states, the unemployment rate was much higher in 1986 than it had been in 1981
D.the total available work force, including those with and without employment, increased between 1981 and 1986
E.the average time that employees stay in any one job dropped during the period 1981 to 1986
A B C D E
D
28. To reduce costs, a company is considering a drastic reduction in the number of middle-level managers. This reduction would be accomplished by first offering early retirement to those 50 years of age or older with 15 years of service, and then by firing enough of the others to bring the overall reduction to 50 percent. Each of the following, assuming that it is a realistic possibility, is a possible disadvantage to the company of the plan EXCEPT:
A.Loyalty to the company will be reduced among those surviving the reduction, because they will perceive the status of even good managers as uncertain.
B.The restructuring of managerial jobs will allow business units to be adapted to fit a changing business environment.
C.The company will have a smaller pool of managers from which to choose in selecting future senior managers.
D.Some of the best managers, unsure of their security against being fired, will choose early retirement.
E.The increased workload of managers remaining with the company will subject them to stress that will eventually affect their performance.
A B C D E
B
29. In order to relieve congestion in the airspace near the airports of a certain country, transportation officials propose sending passengers by new rapid trains between the country's major airport and several small cities within a 300-mile radius of it. This plan was proposed even though the officials realized that it is the major airport that is congested, not those in the small cities. The plan to relieve congestion would work best if which of the following were true about the major airport?
A.Rail tickets between the airport and the small cities will most likely cost more than the current air tickets for those routes.
B.Most passengers who frequently use the airport prefer to reach their cities of destination exclusively by air, even if they must change planes twice.
C.There are feasible changes in the airport's traffic control system which would significantly relieve congestion.
D.Some of the congestion the airport experiences could be relieved if more flights were scheduled at night and at other off-peak hours.
E.A significant proportion of the airport's traffic consists of passengers transferring between international flights and flights to the small cities.
A B C D E
E
30. Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the relevance of the survey results described above for drawing conclusions about illegal drug use in the teen-age population as a whole?
A.Because of cuts in funding, no survey of illegal drug use by high school seniors will be conducted next year.
B.The decline uncovered in the survey has occurred despite the decreasing cost of illegal drugs.
C.Illegal drug use by teen-agers is highest in those areas of the country where teen-agers are least likely to stay in high school for their senior year.
D.Survey participants are more likely now than they were three years ago to describe as “heroic” people who were addicted to illegal drugs and have been able to quit.
E.The proportion of high school seniors who say that they strongly disapprove of illegal drug use has declined over the last three years.
A B C D E
C
31. Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for concluding from the survey results described above that the use of illegal drugs by people below the age of 20 is declining?
A.Changes in the level of drug use by high school seniors are seldom matched by changes in the level of drug use by other people below the age of 20.
B.In the past, high school seniors were consistently the population group most likely to use illegal drugs and most likely to use them heavily.
C.The percentage of high school seniors who use illegal drugs is consistently very similar to the percentage of all people below the age of 20 who use illegal drugs.
D.The decline revealed by the surveys is the result of drug education programs specifically targeted at those below the age of 20.
E.The number of those surveyed who admit to having sold illegal drugs has declined even faster than has the number who have used drugs.
A B C D E
C
32. President of the United States: I have received over 2,000 letters on this issue, and the vast majority of them support my current position. These letters prove that most of the people in the country agree with me. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the President's conclusion?
A.The issue is a very divisive one on which many people have strong opinions.
B.Some members of Congress disagree with the President's position.
C.People who disagree with the President feel more strongly about the issue than do people who agree with him.
D.People who agree with the President are more likely to write to him than are people who disagree with him.
E.During the presidential campaign, the President stated a position on this issue that was somewhat different from his current position.
A B C D E
D
33. Some governments have tried to make alcohol and tobacco less attractive to consumers by regulating what can be shown in advertisements for these products, rather than by banning advertising of them altogether. However, the need to obey the letter of these restrictions has actually stimulated advertisers to create advertisements that are more inventive and humorous than they were prior to the restrictions' introduction. which of the following, if true, would, in conjunction with the statements above, best support the conclusion that the government policy described above fails to achieve its objective?
A.Because of the revenues gained from the sale of alcohol and tobacco, governments have no real interest in making these products less attractive to consumers.
B.Advertisers tend to create inventive and humorous advertisements only if they have some particular reason to do so.
C.Banning advertising of alcohol and tobacco is a particularly effective way of making these products less attractive to consumers.
D.With the policy in place, advertisements for alcohol and tobacco have become far more inventive and humorous than advertisements for other kinds of products.
E.The more inventive an advertisement is, the more attractive it makes the advertised product appear.
A B C D E
E
34. Which of the following, if true, best completes the argument below? Comparisons of the average standards of living of the citizens of two countries should reflect the citizens' comparative access to goods and services. Reliable figures in a country's own currency for the average income of its citizens are easily obtained. But it is difficult to get an accurate comparison of average standards of living from these figures, because______
A.there are usually no figures comparing how much of two different currencies must be spent in order to purchase a given quantity of goods and services
B.wage levels for the same job vary greatly from country to country, depending on cultural as well as on purely economic factors
C.these figures must be calculated by dividing the gross national product of a country by the size of its population
D.comparative access to goods and services is only one of several factors relevant in determining quality of life
E.the wealth, and hence the standard of living, of a country's citizens is very closely related to their income
A B C D E
A
35. The level of lead contamination in United States rivers declined between 1975 and 1985. Federal regulations requiring a drop in industrial discharges of lead went into effect in 1975, but the major cause of the decline was a 75 percent drop in the use of leaded gasoline between 1975 and 1985. Which of the following, if true, best supports the claim that the major cause of the decline in the level of lead contamination in United States rives was the decline in the use of leaded gasoline?
A.The level of lead contamination in United States rivers fell sharply in both 1975 and 1983.
B.Most of the decline in industrial discharges of lead occurred before 1976, but the largest decline in the level of river contamination occurred between 1980 and 1985.
C.Levels of lead contamination in rivers fell sharply in 1975-1976 and rose very slightly over the next nine years.
D.Levels of lead contamination rose in those rivers where there was reduced river flow due to drought.
E.Although the use of leaded gasoline declined 75 percent between 1975 and 1985, 80 percent of the decline took place in 1985.
A B C D E
B
36. George Bernard Shaw wrote: “That any sane nation, having observed that you could provide for the supply of bread by giving bakers a pecuniary interest in baking for you, should go on to give a surgeon a pecuniary interest in cutting off your leg is enough to make one despair of political humanity.” Shaw's statement would best serve as an illustration in an argument criticizing which of the following?
A.Dentists who perform unnecessary dental work in order to earn a profit
B.Doctors who increase their profits by specializing only in diseases that affect a large percentage of the population
C.Grocers who raise the price of food in order to increase their profit margins
D.Oil companies that decrease the price of their oil in order to increase their market share
E.Bakers and surgeons who earn a profit by supplying other peoples' basic needs
A B C D E
A
37. Since 1975 there has been in the United States a dramatic decline in the incidence of traditional childhood diseases such as measles. This decline has been accompanied by an increased incidence of Peterson's disease, a hitherto rare viral infection, among children. Few adults, however, have been affected by the disease. Which of the following, if true, would best help to explain the increased incidence of Peterson's disease among children?
A.Hereditary factors determine in part the degree to which a person is susceptible to the virus that causes Peterson's disease.
B.The decrease in traditional childhood diseases and the accompanying increase in Peterson's disease have not been found in any other country.
C.Children who contract measles develop an immunity to the virus that causes Peterson's disease.
D.Persons who did not contract measles in childhood might contract measles in adulthood, in which case the consequences of the disease would generally be more severe.
E.Those who have contracted Peterson's disease are at increased risk of contracting chicken pox.
A B C D E
C
38. Many plant varieties used in industrially developed nations to improve cultivated crops come from less developed nations. No compensation is paid on the grounds that the plants used are “the common heritage of humanity.” Such reasoning is, however, flawed. After all, no one suggests that coal, oil, and ores should be extracted without payment. Which of the following best describes an aspect of the method used by the author in the argument above?
A.The author proceeds from a number of specific observations to a tentative generalization.
B.The author applies to the case under discussion facts about phenomena assumed to be similar in some relevant respect.
C.A position is strengthened by showing that the opposite of that position would have logically absurd consequences.
D.A line of reasoning is called into question on the grounds that it confuses cause and effect in a causal relation.
E.An argument is analyzed by separating statements of fact from individual value judgments.
A B C D E
B
39. It is widely assumed that a museum is helped financially when a generous patron donates a potential exhibit. In truth, however, donated objects require storage space, which is not free, and routine conservation, which is rather expensive. Therefore, such gifts exacerbate rather than lighten the demands made on a museum's financial resources. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
A.To keep patrons well disposed, a museum will find it advisable to put at least some donated objects on exhibit rather than merely in storage.
B.The people who are most likely to donate valuable objects to a museum are also the people who are most likely to make cash gifts to it.
C.A museum cannot save money by resorting to cheap storage under less than adequate conditions, because so doing would drive up the cost of conservation.
D.Patrons expect a museum to keep donated objects in its possession rather than to raise cash by selling them.
E.Objects donated by a patron to a museum are often of such importance that the museum would be obliged to add them to its collection through purchase if necessary.
A B C D E
E
40. Despite the approach of winter, oil prices to industrial customers are exceptionally low this year and likely to remain so. Therefore, unless the winter is especially severe, the price of natural gas to industrial customers is also likely to remain low. Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the conclusion above?
A.Long-term weather forecasts predict a mild winter.
B.The industrial users who consume most natural gas can quickly and cheaply switch to using oil instead.
C.The largest sources of supply for both oil and natural gas are in subtropical regions unlikely to be affected by winter weather.
D.The fuel requirements of industrial users of natural gas are not seriously affected by the weather.
E.Oil distribution is more likely to be affected by severe winter weather than is the distribution of natural gas.