TEST 25

SECTION II

Time 35 minutes 25 Questions

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

1.     Braille is a method of producing text by means of raised dots that can be read by touch. A recent development in technology will allow flat computer screens to be made of a material that can be heated in patterns that replicate the patterns used in Braille. Since the thermal device will utilize the same symbol system as Braille, it follows that anyone who is accustomed to reading Braille can easily adapt to the use of this electronic system.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion depends?

(A)   Braille is the only symbol system that can be readily adapted for use with the new thermal screen.

(B) Only people who currently use Braille as their sole medium for reading text will have the capacity to adapt to the use of thermal screen.

(C) People with the tactile ability to discriminate symbols in Braille have an ability to discriminate similar patterns on a flat heated surface.

(D) Some symbol systems encode a piece of text by using dots that replicate the shape of letters of the alphabet.（C）

(E) Eventually it will be possible to train people to read Braille by first training them in the use of the thermal screen.

2.     Mayor of Outerville, a suburb of Center City: Outerville must grow if it is to survive, so, as we have agreed, efforts should be made to attract more residents. The best strategy for attracting residents is to renovate the train station. The numbers of jobs in Center City and of people who prefer to live in suburban towns are increasing. With the rise in tolls, driving into the city is becoming more expensive than train travel. Therefore, people want to live in towns where train travel is convenient and pleasant.

The argument leads to the conclusion that

(A) the town of Outerville should attract more residents

(B) the train station in Outerville should be renovated

(C) residents of Outerville who are in need of work should look for jobs in Center City

(D) people who work in Center City but live in Outerville should commute by train rather than driving（B）

(E) people who want to live where train travel is convenient and pleasant should live in Outerville

3.     Land developer: By attempting to preserve endangered species that otherwise would become extinct during our lifetime, we are wasting money on species that will disappear over time regardless of our efforts. Paleontologists have established that extinction is the normal fate of species on the geological time scale of millions of years.

Environmentalist: To claim that wee should let species disappear because all species eventually die out makes about as much sense as arguing that we should not spend money to find a cure for cancer because all humans are inevitably mortal.

The method the environmentalist uses to object to the land developer’s argument is to

(A) clarify a dilemma that is embedded in the land developer’s argument

(B) attack the character of the land developer rather than the position the land developer is taking

(C) show that more evidence is needed to substantiate the land developer’s conclusion

(D) show that the land developer’s line of reasoning would lead to an unacceptable conclusion if applied to a different situation（D）

(E) argue that there are problems that money, however judiciously spent, cannot solve

4.     Most small children are flat-footed. This failure of the foot to assume its natural arch, if it persists past early childhood, can sometimes result in discomfort and even pain later in life. Traditionally, flat-footedness in children has been treated by having the children wear special shoes that give extra support to the foot, in order to foster the development of the arch.

Which of the following, if true, most calls into question the efficacy of the traditional treatment described above?

(A) Many small children who have normal feet wear the same special shoes as those worn by flat-footed children.

(B) Studies of flat-footed adults show that flat feet are subject to fewer stress fractures than are feet with unusually high arches.

(C) Although most children’s flat-footedness is corrected by the time the children reach puberty, some people remain flat-footed for life.

(D) Flat-footed children who do not wear the special shoes are as likely to develop natural arches as are flat-footed children who wear the special shoes.（D）

(E) Some children who are not flat-footed have hip and lower leg bones that are rotated excessively either inward or outward.

5.     The chances that tropical storms will develop in a given area increase whenever the temperature of a large body of water in that area exceeds 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters. If the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere continues to increase, the temperatures of all of the Earth’s waters will rise, with the result that the number of large bodies of water whose temperatures exceed 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters will eventually be greater than it is today.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions?

(A) There are likely to be more tropical storms if the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere continues to increase.

(B) Tropical storms can occur only when the air temperature exceeds 26 degrees Celsius.

(C) The number of large bodies of water whose temperatures exceed 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters is greater today than it ever was.

(D) The ferocity of tropical storms does not depend on the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.（A）

(E) Any increase in the temperatures of the Earth’s oceans would cause the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase as well.

6.     Astorga’s campaign promises are apparently just an attempt to please voters. What she says she will do if elected mayor is simply what she has learned from opinion polls that voters want the new mayor to do. Therefore, voters are not being told what Astorga actually intends to do if she becomes mayor.

Which of the following is a questionable assumption on which the argument relies?

(A) If she is elected mayor, Astorga will not be capable of carrying out the campaign promises she has made.

(B) The opinion polls on which Astorga’s promises are based do not accurately reflect what voters want the new mayor to do.

(C) Most voters are unlikely to be persuaded by Astorga’s campaign promises to vote for her in the mayoral election.

(D) Astorga has no strong opinions of her own about what the new mayor ought to do in office.（E）

(E) Astorga does not actually intend, if elected, to do what she has learned from the public opinion polls that voters want the new mayor to do.

7.     Newsletter for community-center volunteers: Retired persons who regularly volunteer their time to help others generally display fewer and milder effects of aging than their nonvolunteering contemporaries: in social resources, mental outlook, physical health, economic resources, and overall functioning, they are found to be substantially stronger than nonvolunteers. Volunteering is often described as doing good works to improve the lives of others. How good to know that there is evidence that it can equally benefit your own well-being!

The inference drawn above is unwarranted because

(A) the center has a self-interested motive to attract new volunteers

(B) it interprets “well-being” as including the factors of social and economic resources, mental outlook, physical health, and overall functioning

(C) some of those who do not volunteer might be older than some volunteers and so could not be considered their peers

(D) growing older might not necessarily result in a change in mental outlook（E）

(E) those with better resources, health, outlook, and functioning are more able to work as volunteers

Questions 8-9

The local agricultural official gave the fruit growers of the District 10 Farmers Cooperative a new pesticide that they applied for a period of three years to their pear orchards in place of the pesticide they had formerly applied. During those three years, the proportion of pears lost to insects was significantly less than it had been during the previous three-year period. On the basis of these results, the official concluded that the new pesticide was more effective than the old pesticide, at least in the short term, in limiting the loss of certain fruit to insects.

8.     Each of the following, if true, weakens the official’s argument EXCEPT:

(A) The amount of fruit that an orchard can potentially produce depends in part on how many mature trees it contains, and the number of mature pear trees in District 10 has declined steadily over the past eight years.

(B) During the past five years, the farmers of the District 10 Farmers’ Cooperative have been gradually implementing a variety of insect-abatement programs, and some of these programs have proven successful.

(C) Over the past five years, one of the several species of birds that typically prey on the insects that feed on pears has gradually shifted its migratory patterns, spending more and more months each year in the region that contains District 10.

(D) Some of the species of insects in District 10 that infest pear trees are water breeders, and the reservoirs and marshlands in this district have been shrinking rapidly over the past three years.（A）

(E) The effects of certain pesticides, including the pesticide that had formerly been used in District 10, are cumulative and persist for several years after the pesticide is no longer applied.

9.     The official’s conclusion is most strongly supported if which one of the following groups of trees did not show a reduction in losses of fruit to insects?

(A) peach trees grown in the district that were treated with the new pesticide instead of the old pesticide

(B) peach trees grown in the district that were treated with the new pesticide in addition to the old pesticide

(C) pear trees grown in the district that were treated with the old pesticide instead of the new pesticide

(D) pear trees grown in neighboring district that were treated with neither the old nor the new pesticide（C）

(E) pear trees grown in a neighboring district that were treated with the new pesticide instead of the old pesticide

10.   The only motives that influence all human actions arise from self-interest. It is clear, therefore, that self-interest is the chief influence on human action.

The reasoning in the argument is fallacious because the argument

(A) denies that an observation that a trait is common to all the events in a pattern can contribute to a causal explanation of the pattern

(B) takes the occurrence of one particular influence on a patterns or classes of events as showing that its influence outweighs any other influence on those events

(C) concludes that a characteristic of pattern or class of events at one time is characteristic of similar patterns or classes of events at all times

(D) concludes that because an influence is the paramount influence on a particular pattern or class of events, that influence is the only influence on the pattern or class of events（B）

(E) undermines its own premise that a particular attribute is present in all instances of a certain pattern or class of events

11.   Astronomer: Astronomical observatories in many areas have become useless because light from nearby cities obscures the stars. Many people argue that since streetlights are needed for safety, such interference from lights is inevitable. Here in Sandsville, however, the local observatory’s view remains relatively clear, since the city has restricted unnecessary lighting and installed special street lamps than direct all their light downward. It is therefore possible to have both well-lighted streets and relatively dark skies.

The astronomer’s argument proceeds by

(A) appealing to scientific authority to challenge a widely held belief

(B) questioning the accuracy of evidence given in support of the opposing position

(C) proposing an alternative scientific explanation for a natural phenomenon

(D) making a distinction between terms（E）

(E) offering a counterexample to a general claim

12.   Music critic: Some people argue that, unlike certain works of Handel, which set to music familiar religious texts, the organ symphonies of Louis Vierne are not religious music. Quite the contrary. Sitting in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and hearing his organ symphonies demonstrates that Vierne’s works are divinely inspired.

The music critic’s reasoning is vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it

(A) takes for granted that all religious music is inspiring

(B) confuses two different meanings of the term “religious”

(C) overlooks the possibility that some organ music is not divinely inspired

(D) confuses two different meanings of the term “symphonies”（B）

(E) takes for granted that all organ symphonies are religious music

Questions 13-14

Charles: During recessions unemployment typically rises. Thus, during a recession air pollution due to automobile exhaust decreases, since fewer people commute in cars to jobs and so cars emitting pollutants into the air are used less.

Darla: Why think that air pollution would decrease? During a recession fewer people can afford to buy new cars, and cars tend to emit more pollutants as they get older.

13.   Which one of the following most accurately describes how Darla’s response is related to Charles’s argument?

(A) It calls into question the truth of the premises that Charles uses to support his conclusion.

(B) It makes an additional claim that can be true only if Charles’s conclusion is false.

(C) It presents an additional consideration that weakens the support given to Charles’s conclusion by his evidence.

(D) It argues that Charles’s conclusion is true, although not for he reasons Charles gives to support that conclusion.（C）

(E) It presents an argument showing that the premises in Charles’s argument support an absurd conclusion that Charles has overlooked.

14.   Which one of the following is an assumption on which Charles’s argument depends?

(A) People who have never been employed drive no less frequently during a recession than they would otherwise.

(B) Most air pollution is caused by automobile exhaust emitted by cars used by people commuting to jobs.

(C) Most people who are employed do not use any form of public transportation to commute to their jobs.

(D) During a recession, decreases in the use of cars resulting from reductions in commuting to jobs are not offset by increased use of cars for other reasons.（D）

(E) During a recession, a higher proportion of people who commute in cars to their jobs lose those jobs than do people who do not use cars to commute to their jobs.

15.   For the condor to survive in the wild, its breeding population must be greatly increased. But because only a few eggs can be produced by a breeding pair over their lifetime, any significant increase in the number of birds depends upon most of these eggs hatching, which is extremely unlikely in the wild due to environmental dangers. One possible way to eliminate the effects of these factors is to breed the birds in captivity and subsequently return them to the wild.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

(A) The condor as a species will eventually become extinct in the wild.

(B) The best way to save the condor from extinction is to breed it in captivity.

(C) It is almost impossible to eliminate all the environmental threats to the eggs of condors.

(D) If more condor eggs do not hatch, the condor as a species will not survive in the wild.（D）

(E) The most feasible way to save the condor from extinction is to increase egg production.

16.   Allowing more steel imports would depress domestic steel prices and harm domestic steel manufacturers. Since the present government will not do anything that would harm the domestic steel industry, it will not lift restrictions on steel imports.

The pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?

(A) Building construction increases only when people are confident that the economy is doing well. Therefore, since people are now confident in the economy we can expect building construction to increase.

(B) Since workers are already guaranteed the right to a safe and healthful workplace by law, there is no need for the government to establish further costly health regulations for people who work all day at computer terminals.

(C) In countries that have deregulated their airline industry, many airlines have gone bankrupt. Since many companies in other transportation industries are in weaker economic condition than were those airlines, deregulating other transportation industries will probably result in bankruptcies as well.

(D) The chief executive officer of Silicon, Inc., will probably not accept stock in the company as a bonus next year, since next year’s tax laws will require companies to pay a new tax on stock given to executives.（E）

(E) The installation of bright floodlights on campus would render the astronomy department’s telescope useless. The astronomy department will not support any proposal that would render its telescope useless; it will therefore not support proposals to install bright floodlights on campus.

17.   Wild cheetahs live in the African grasslands. Previous estimates of the size that the wild cheetah population must be in order for these animals to survive a natural disaster in the African grasslands region were too small, and the current population barely meets the previous estimates. At present, however, there is not enough African grassland to support a wild cheetah population larger than the current population.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions?

(A) Previous estimates of the size of the existing wild cheetah population were inaccurate.

(B) The cheetah’s natural habitat is decreasing in size at a faster rate than is the size of the wild cheetah population.

(C) The principal threat to the endangered wild cheetah population is neither pollution nor hunting, but a natural disaster.

(D) In the short term, the wild cheetah population will be incapable of surviving a natural disaster in the African grasslands.（D）

(E) In regions where land is suitable for cheetah habitation, more natural disasters are expected to occur during the next decade than occurred during the past decade.

18.   To classify a wok of art as truly great, it is necessary that the wok have both originality and far-reaching influence upon the artistic community.

The principle above, if valid, most strongly supports which one of the following arguments?

(A) By breaking down traditional schemes of representation, Picasso redefined painting. It is this extreme originality that warrants his work being considered truly great.

(B) Some of the most original art being produced today is found in isolated communities, but because of this isolation these works have only minor influence, and hence cannot be considered truly great.

(C) Certain examples of the drumming practiced in parts of Africa’s west coast employ a musical vocabulary that resists representation in Western notational schemes. This tremendous originality, coupled with the profound impact these pieces are having on musicians everywhere, is enough to consider these works to be truly great.

(D) The piece of art in the lobby is clearly not classified as truly great, so it follows that it fails to be original.（B）

(E) Since Bach’s music is truly great, it not only has both originality and a major influence on musicians, it has broad popular appeal as well.

19.   Professor Robinson: A large meteorite impact crater in a certain region was thought to be the clue to explaining the mass extinction of plant and animal species that occurred at the end of the Mesozoic era. However, the crystalline structure of rocks recovered at the site indicates that the impact that formed this crater was not the culprit. When molten rocks crystallize, they display the polarity of Earth’s magnetic field at that time. But the recrystallized rocks recovered at the site display normal magnetic polarity, even though Earth’s magnetic field was reversed at the time of the mass extinction.

Each of the following is an assumption on which Professor Robinson’s argument depends EXCEPT:

(A) The crater indicates an impact of more than sufficient size to have caused the mass extinction.

(B) The recovered rocks recrystallized shortly after they melted.

(C) No other event caused the rocks to melt after the impact formed the crater.

(D) The recovered rocks melted as a result of the impact that formed the crater.（A）

(E) The mass extinction would have occurred soon after the impact that supposedly caused it.

20.   Pieces of music consist of sounds and silences presented to the listener in a temporal order. A painting, in contrast, is not presented one part at a time to the viewer; there is thus no particular path that the viewer’s eye must follow in order to “read” the painting. Therefore, an essential distinction between the experiences of hearing music and of viewing paintings is that hearing music has a temporal dimension but viewing a painting has none.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because

(A) the argument does not allow for the possibility of being immersed in experiencing a painting without being conscious of the passage of time

(B) the argument is based on a very general definition of music that does not incorporate any distinctions among particular styles

(C) the argument fails to bring out the aspects of music and painting that are common to both as forms of artistic expression

(D) relying on the metaphor of “reading” to characterize how a painting is viewed presupposes the correctness of the conclusion to be drawn on the basis of that characterization（E）

(E) the absence of a particular path that the eye must follow does not entail that the eye follows no path

21.   A study of the difference in earnings between men and women in the country of Naota found that the average annual earnings of women who are employed full time is 80 percent of the average annual earnings of men who are employed full time. However, other research consistently shows that, in Naota, the average annual earnings of all employed women is 65 percent of the average annual earnings of all employed men.

Which one of the following, if also established by research, most helps explain the apparent discrepancy between the research results described above?

(A) In Naota, the difference between the average annual earnings of all female workers and the average annual earnings of all male workers has been gradually increasing over the past 30 years.

(B) In Naota, the average annual earnings of women who work full time in exactly the same occupations and under exactly the same conditions as men is almost the same as the men’s average annual earnings.

(C) In Naota, a growing proportion of female workers hold full-time managerial, supervisory, or professional positions, and such positions typically pay more than other types of positions pay.

(D) In Naota, a larger proportion of female workers than male workers are part-time workers, and part-time workers typically earn less than full-time workers earn.（D）

(E) In ten other countries where the proportion of women in the work force is similar to that of Naota, the average annual earnings of women who work full time ranges from a low of 50 percent to a high of 90 percent of the average annual earnings of men who work full time.

22.   Biologist: Some speculate that the unusually high frequency of small goats found in island populations is a response to evolutionary pressure to increase the number of goats so as to ensure a diverse gene pool. However, only the reproductive success of a trait influences its frequency in a population. So, the only kind of evolutionary pressure that can reduce the average size of the members of a goat population is that resulting from small goats achieving greater reproductive success than their larger cousins.

The biologist’s view, if true, provides the most support for which one of the following?

(A) The evolutionary pressure to ensure a diverse gene pool could have the effect of increasing the frequency of a gene for small size.

(B) The unusual frequency of small goats in island populations is not a result of the greater reproductive success small goats possess when space is limited.

(C) Contrary to what some believe, large goats achieve greater reproductive success than small goats even when space is limited.

(D) The evolutionary pressure to ensure diverse gene pool does not have the effect of increasing the frequency of a gene for small size.（D）

(E) A diverse gene pool cannot be achieved in a goat population unless the average size of its members is reduced.

23.   Several carefully conducted studies showed that 95 percent of strict vegetarians reached age 50 without developing serious heart disease. We can conclude from this that avoiding meat increases one’s chances of avoiding serious heart disease. Therefore, people who want to reduce the risk of serious heart disease should not eat meat.

The flawed pattern of reasoning exhibited by which one of the following is most similar to that exhibited by the argument above?

(A) The majority of people who regularly drive over the speed limit will become involved in traffic accidents. To avoid harm to people who do not drive over the speed limit, we should hire more police officers to enforce the speed laws.

(B) Studies have shown that cigarette smokers have a greater chance of incurring heart disease than people who do not smoke. Since cigarette smoking increases one’s chances of incurring heart disease, people who want to try to avoid heart disease should give up cigarette smoking.

(C) The majority of people who regularly drink coffee experience dental problems in the latter part of their lives. Since there is this correlation between drinking coffee and incurring dental problems, the government should make coffee less accessible to the general public.

(D) Studies show that people who do not exercise regularly have a shorter life expectancy than those who exercise regularly. To help increase their patients’ life expectancy, doctors should recommend regular exercise to their patients.（E）

(E) Most people who exercise regularly are able to handle stress. This shows that exercising regularly decreases one’s chances of being overwhelmed by stress. So people who want to be able to handle stress should regularly engage in exercise.

24.   Mr. Nance: Ms. Chan said that she retired from Quad Cities Corporation, and had received a watch and a wonderful party as thanks for her 40 years of loyal service. But I overheard a colleague of hers say that Ms. Chan will be gone for much of the next year on business trips and is now working harder than she ever did before; that does not sound like retirement to me. At least one of them is not telling the truth.

M. Nance’s reasoning is flawed because it

(A) is based in part on hearsay

(B) criticizes Ms. Chan rather than the claims she made

(C) draws a conclusion based on equivocal language

(D) fails to consider that Ms. Chan’s colleague may have been deceived by her（C）

(E) fails to infer that Ms. Chan must be a person of superior character, given her long loyal service

25.   A recent survey showed that 50 percent of people polled believe that elected officials should resign if indicted for a crime, whereas 35 percent believe that elected officials should resign only if they are convicted of a crime. Therefore, more people believe that elected officials should resign if indicted than believe that they should resign if convicted.

The reasoning above is flawed because it

(A) draws a conclusion about the population in general based only on a sample of that population

(B) confuses a sufficient condition with a required condition

(C) is based on an ambiguity of one of its terms

(D) draws a conclusion about a specific belief based on responses to queries about two different specific beliefs（B）

(E) contains premises that cannot all be true

SECTION IV

Time 35 minutes 26 Questions

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

1.     Advertisement: Among popular automobiles, Sturdimades stand apart. Around the world, hundreds of longtime Sturdimade owners have signed up for Sturdimade’s “long distance” club, members of which must have a Sturdimade they have driven for a total of at least 100,000 miles or 160,000 kilometers. Some members boast of having driven their Sturdimades for a total of 300,000 miles (480,000 kilometers). Clearly, if you buy a Sturdimade you can rely on being able to drive it for a very long distance.

Construed as an argument, the advertisement’s reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?

(A) It draws a general conclusion from cases selected only on the basis of having a characteristic that favors that conclusion.

(B) Its conclusion merely restates the evidence given to support it.

(C) It fails to clarify in which of two possible ways an ambiguous term is being used in the premises.

(D) The evidence given to support the conclusion actually undermines that conclusion.（A）

(E) It treats popular opinion as if it constituted conclusive evidence for a claim.

2.     Faced with a financial crisis, Upland University’s board of trustees reduced the budget for the university’s computer center from last year’s $4 million to $1.5 million for the coming year. However, the center cannot operate on less than $2.5 million. Since the board cannot divert funds from other programs to the computer center, there is no way that the center can be kept operating for the coming year.

The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) The computer center did not use all of the $4 million that was budgeted to it last year.

(B) The budgets of other programs at the university were also reduced.

(C) The computer center has no source of funds other than those budgeted to it for the coming year by the university’s board of trustees.

(D) No funds from any program at the university can be diverted to other programs.（C）

(E) The board of trustees at the university value other programs at the university more highly than they do the computer center.

Questions 3-4

Muriel: I admire Favilla’s novels, but she does not deserve to be considered a great writer. The point is that, no matter how distinctive her style may be, her subject matter is simply not varied enough.

John: I think you are wrong to use that criterion. A great writer does not need any diversity in subject matter; however, a great writer must at least have the ability to explore a particular theme deeply.

3.     Which one of the following is a point at issue between Muriel and John?

(A) whether Favilla has treated a wide variety of subjects in her novels

(B) whether Favilla should be considered a great writer because her style is distinctive

(C) whether treating a variety of subjects should be prerequisite for someone to be considered a great writer

(D) whether the number of novels that a novelist has written should be a factor in judging whether that novelist is great（C）

(E) whether there are many novelists who are considered to be great but do not deserve to be so considered

4.     John’s statements commit him to which one of the following position?

(A) Even if the subject matter in Favilla’s writings is not particularly varied, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.

(B) Even if Favilla cannot explore any particular theme deeply in her writings, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.

(C) If Favilla has explored some particular theme exceptionally deeply in her writings, she deserves to be considered a great writer.

(D) If the subject matter in Favilla’s writings were exceptionally varied, she would not deserve to be considered a great writer.（A）

(E) If Favilla’s writings show no evidence of a distinctive style, she does not deserve to be considered a great writer.

5.     Astronaut: Any moon, by definition, orbits some planet in a solar system. So, the moons in solar system S4 all orbit the planet Alpha.

The astronaut’s conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) There is only one moon in S4.

(B) Every moon in S4 orbits the same planet.

(C) Alpha is the only planet in S4.

(D) Every planet in S4 is orbited by more than one moon.（C）

(E) There is at least one moon that orbits Alpha.

6.     A worker for a power company trims the branches of trees that overhang power lines as a prevention against damage to the lines anticipated because of the impending stormy season. The worker reasons that there will be no need for her to trim the overhanging branches of a certain tree because the owners of the tree have indicated that they might cut it down anyway.

Which one of the following decisions is based on flawed reasoning that is most similar to the worker’s flawed reasoning?

(A) A well inspector has a limited amount of time to inspect the wells of a town. The inspector reasons that the wells should be inspected in the order of most used to least used, because there might not be enough time to inspect them all.

(B) All sewage and incoming water pipes in a house must be replaced. The plumber reasons that the cheaper polyvinyl chloride pipes should be used for sewage rather than copper pipes, since the money saved might be used to replace worn fixtures.

(C) A mechanic must replace the worn brakes on a company’s vans that are used each weekday. The mechanic reasons that since one of the vans is tentatively scheduled to be junked, he will not have to replace its brakes.

(D) A candidate decides to campaign in the areas of the city where the most new votes are concentrated. The candidate reasons that campaigning on other areas is unnecessary because in those areas the candidate’s message is actually liable to alienate voters.（C）

(E) None of the children in a certain kindergarten class will take responsibility for the crayon drawing on the classroom wall. The teacher reasons that it is best to keep all the kindergarten children in during recess in order to be certain to punish the one who did the drawing on the wall.

7.     Currently, the city of Grimchester is liable for any injury incurred because of a city sidewalk in need of repair or maintenance. However, Grimchester’s sidewalks are so extensive that it is impossible to hire enough employees to locate and eliminate every potential danger in its sidewalks. Governments should be liable for injuries incurred on public property only if they knew about the danger beforehand and negligently failed to eliminate it.

Which one of the following describes an injury for which the city of Grimchester is now liable, but should not be according to the principle cited above?

(A) A person is injured after tripping on a badly uneven city sidewalk, and the city administration had been repeatedly informed of the need to repair the sidewalk for several years.

(B) A person is injured after tripping over a shopping bag that someone had left lying in the middle of the sidewalk.

(C) A person is injured after stepping in a large hole in a city sidewalk, and the city administration had first learned of the need to repair that sidewalk minutes before.

(D) A person who is heavily intoxicated is injured after falling on a perfectly even city sidewalk with no visible defects.（C）

(E) A person riding a bicycle on a city sidewalk is injured after swerving to avoid a pedestrian who had walked in front of the bicycle without looking.

8.     Early in the development of a new product line, the critical resource is talent. New marketing ventures require a degree of managerial skill disproportionate to their short-term revenue prospects. Usually, however, talented managers are assigned only to established high-revenue product lines and, as a result, most new marketing ventures fail. Contrary to current practice, the best managers in a company should be assigned to development projects.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the author’s argument?

(A) On average, new ventures under the direction of managers at executive level survive no longer than those managed by lower-ranking managers.

(B) For most established companies, the development of new product lines is a relatively small part of the company’s total expenditure.

(C) The more talented a manager is, the less likely he or she is to be interested in undertaking the development of a new product line.

(D) The current revenue and profitability of an established product line can be maintained even if the company’s best managers are assigned elsewhere.（D）

(E) Early short-term revenue prospects of a new product line are usually a good predictor of how successful a product line will ultimately be.

9.     Television news coverage gives viewers a sense of direct involvement with current events but does not provide the depth of coverage needed for the significance of those events to be appreciated. Newspapers, on the other hand, provide depth of coverage but no sense of direct involvement. Unfortunately, a full understanding of current events requires both an appreciation of their significance and a sense of direct involvement with them. Therefore, since few people seek out news sources other than newspapers and television, few people ever full understand current events.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument

(A) treats two things, neither one of which can plausibly be seen as excluding the others, as though they were mutually exclusive

(B) ignores the possibility that people read newspapers or watch television for reasons other than gaining a full understanding of current events

(C) makes crucial use of the term “depth of coverage” without defining it

(D) fails to consider the possible disadvantages of having a sense of direct involvement with tragic or violent events（A）

(E) mistakenly reasons that just because something has the capacity to perform a given function it actually does so

10.   Critic: Some writers have questioned Stalin’s sanity during his last years. They typically characterized his vindictiveness and secrecy as “paranoia” and “morbid suspiciousness,” the latter almost a standard term applied by the Soviet writers under glasnost to explain this extraordinary man’s misdeeds. But Stalin’s cruelty and deviousness are not more apparent during those years than in earlier periods of his rule. “Morbid suspiciousness” has to be a characteristic of tyrants. Without it they would not remain long in power.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses a point of disagreement between the critic and the writers?

(A) whether Stalin should be held guilty of the cruel deeds attributed to him

(B) whether Stalin’s cruel misdeeds provide evidence of morbid suspiciousness

(C) whether it is Stalin’s state of paranoia or rather his cruelty that gives the stronger reason for doubting his sanity

(D) whether tyranny tends to lead to cruelty（E）

(E) whether it was Stalin’s psychological state or rather his political condition that was the primary cause of his cruel misdeeds

11.   Even though apes are the only nonhuman creatures able to learn human language, no ape has ever used its human language skills to ask such philosophical questions as, “How am I different from all creatures?” Therefore, philosophical thought is unique to humans.

The conclusion in the passage above relies on which one of the following assumptions?

(A) Human language is unique to humans.

(B) Apes are incapable of thinking in human language.

(C) Philosophical thought can be expressed only in human language.

(D) Speaking in human language is easier than thinking in human language.（C）

(E) It is more difficult to learn human language than to express philosophical questions.

12.   Most adults in country X consume an increasing amount of fat as they grow older. However, for nearly all adults in country X, the percentage of fat in a person’s diet stays the same throughout adult life.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions about adults in country X?

(A) They generally consume more fat than do people of the same age in other countries.

(B) They generally eat more when they are older than they did earlier in their adulthood.

(C) They generally have diets that contain a lower percentage of fat than do the diets of children in country X.

(D) They tend to eat more varied kinds of food as they become older.（B）

(E) They tend to lose weight as they become older.

13.   Politician: The bill that makes using car phones while driving illegal should be adopted. My support of this bill is motivated by a concern for public safety. Using a car phone seriously distracts the driver, which in turn poses a threat to safe driving. People would be deterred from using their car phones while driving if it were illegal to do so.

The argument’s main conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) The more attention one pays to driving, the safer a driver one is.

(B) The only way to reduce the threat to public safety posed by car phones is through legislation.

(C) Some distractions interfere with one’s ability to safely operate an automobile.

(D) Any proposed law that would reduce a threat to public safety should be adopted.（D）

(E) Car phone use by passengers does not distract the driver of the car.

14.   When soil is plowed in the spring, pigweed seeds that have been buried in the soil all winter are churned up to the surface and redeposited just under the surface. The brief exposure of the seeds to sunlight stimulates receptors, which have become highly sensitive to sunlight during the months the seeds were buried in the soil, and the stimulated receptors trigger germination. Without the prolonged darkness, followed by exposure to sunlight, the seeds do not germinate.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following statements about a field that will be plowed in the spring and in which pigweed seeds have been buried in the soil all winter?

(A) Fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed only at night than if it is plowed during the day.

(B) Fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is not plowed at all than if it is plowed only at night.

(C) Fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed just before sunrise than if it is plowed just after sunset.

(D) The pigweed seeds that are churned up to the surface of the soil during the plowing will not germinate unless they are redeposited under the surface of the soil.（A）

(E) All of the pigweed seeds that are already on the surface of the soil before the field is plowed will germinate.

15.   In 1992, there were over 250 rescues of mountain climbers, costing the government almost 3 million dollars. More than 25 people died in climbing mishaps that year. Many new climbers enter the sport each year. Members of a task force have proposed a bonding arrangement requiring all climbers to post a large sum of money to be forfeited to the government in case of calamity.

Each of the following principles, if valid, supports the task force members’ proposal EXCEPT:

(A) Taxpayers should not subsidize a freely chosen hobby and athletic endeavor of individuals.

(B) The government is obliged to take measures to deter people from risking their lives.

(C) For physically risky sports the government should issue permits only to people who have had at least minimal training in the sport.

(D) Citizens who use publicly subsidized rescue services should be required to pay more toward the cost of these services than citizens who do not.（C）

(E) People who engage in physically risky behavior that is not essential to anyone’s welfare should be held responsible for the cost of treating any resulting injuries.

16.   The familiar slogan “survival of the fittest” is popularly used to express the claim, often mistakenly attributed to evolutionary biologists, that the fittest are most likely to survive. However, biologists use the term “fittest” to mean “most likely to survive are the most likely to survive,” so the slogan is merely claiming that the most likely to survive are the most likely to survive. While this claim is clearly true, it is a tautology and so is neither informative nor of scientific interest.

The argument above depends on assuming which one of the following?

(A) All claims that are of scientific interest are informative.

(B) Only claims that are true are of scientific interest.

(C) Popular slogans are seldom informative or of scientific interest.

(D) Informative scientific claims cannot use terms in the way they are popularly used.（E）

(E) The truth of a purported scientific claim is not sufficient for it to be of scientific interest.

17.   Council member: The preservation of individual property rights is of the utmost importance to the city council. Yet, in this city, property owners are restricted to little more than cutting grass and weeding. Anything more extensive, such as remodeling, is prohibited by our zoning laws.

Which one of the following provides a resolution to the apparent inconsistency described by the council member?

(A) Property owners are sometimes allowed exemptions from restrictive zoning laws.

(B) It is in the best interest of property owners to maintain current laws in order to prevent an increase in their property taxes.

(C) The city council places less importance on property rights than do property owners.

(D) An individual’s property rights may be infringed upon by other people altering their own property.（D）

(E) Zoning laws ensure that property rights are not overly extensive.

18.   Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players（B）

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few

19.   Speaker: Contemporary business firms need to recognize that avoiding social responsibility leads to the gradual erosion of power. This is Davis and Blomstrom’s Iron Law of Responsibility: “In the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it.” The law’s application to human institutions certainly stands confirmed by history. Though the “long run” may require decades or even centuries in some instances, society ultimately acts to reduce power when society thinks it is not being used responsibly. Therefore, a business that wishes to retain its power as long as it can must act responsibly.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the speaker’s argument?

(A) Government institutions are as subject to the Iron Law of Responsibility as business institutions.

(B) Public relations programs can cause society to consider an institution socially responsible even when it is not.

(C) The power of some institutions erodes more slowly than the power of others, whether they are socially responsible or not.

(D) Since no institution is eternal, every business will eventually fail.（B）

(E) Some businesses that have used power in socially responsible ways have lost it.

20.   It would be wrong to conclude that a person has a Streptococcus infection if there is no other evidence than the fact that Streptococcus bacilli are present in the person’s throat; after all, infection does not occur unless the host is physically run down.

The reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to the reasoning in the argument above?

(A) When a person experiences blurred vision, it does not follow that a physical defect in the person’s eyes is the cause, since blurring of a person’s vision also can be induced by certain drugs.

(B) Even if a healthy lavender plant receives six or more hours of direct sunlight each day, one cannot predict on that basis alone that the plant will bloom, because lavender requires both six or more hours of sunlight per day and slightly alkaline soil to bloom.

(C) When a bee colony fails to survive the winter, it would be wrong to conclude that low temperatures were the causes. Bees have very good defense mechanisms against extreme cold, which are designed to ensure survival of the colony, though not of individual bees.

(D) A female holly plant cannot produce berries without a male plant nearby to provide pollen. But it does not follow that two or more male hollis in the vicinity will cause a female plant to bear more berries than it would with only a single male holly nearby.（B）

(E) A person cannot be presumed to be hypertensive on the basis of a high reading for blood pressure that is exceptional for that person, since only people with chronically high blood pressure are properly called hypertensive.

21.   Terry: Some actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences. But an action is good only if it has favorable consequences. So, some actions considered to be bad by our society are actually good.

Pat: I agree with your conclusion, but not with the reasons you give for it. Some good actions actually do not have favorable consequences. But no actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences, so your conclusion, that some actions our society considers bad are actually good, still holds.

Which one of the following correctly describes both an error in Terry’s reasoning and an error in Pat’s reasoning?

(A) presupposing that if a certain property distinguishes one type of action from another type of action, then that property is one of many properties distinguishing the two types of action

(B) presupposing that if most actions of a certain type share a certain property, then all actions of that type share that property

(C) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by actions of a certain type in a given society, then that property is shared by actions of that type in every society

(D) presupposing that if an action’s having a certain property is necessary for its being a certain type of action, then having that property is sufficient for being that type of action（D）

(E) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by two types of action, then that property is the only property distinguishing the two types of action from actions of other types

22.   Dinosaur expert: Some paleontologists have claimed that birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs called dromeosaurs. They appeal to the fossil record, which indicates that dromeosaurs have characteristics more similar to birds than do most dinosaurs. But there is a fatal flaw in their argument; the earliest bird fossils that have been discovered date back tens of millions of years farther than the oldest known dromeosaur fossils. Thus the paleontologists’ claim is false.

The expert’s argument depends on assuming which one of the following?

(A) Having similar characteristics is not a sign that types of animals are evolutionarily related.

(B) Dromeosaurs and birds could have common ancestors.

(C) Knowledge of dromeosaur fossils and the earliest bird fossils is complete.

(D) Known fossils indicate the relative dates of origin of birds and dromeosaurs.（D）

(E) Dromeosaurs are dissimilar to birds in many significant ways.

Questions 23-24

Party spokesperson: The opposition party’s proposal to stimulate economic activity in the province by refunding $600 million in provincial taxes to taxpayers, who could be expected to spend the money, envisions an illusory benefit. Since the province’s budget is required to be in balance, either new taxes would be needed to make up the shortfall, in which case the purpose of the refund would be defeated, or else workers for the province would be dismissed. So either the province’s taxpayers or its workers, who are also residents of the province, will have the $600 million to spend, but there can be no resulting net increase in spending to stimulate the province’s economy.

23.   The spokesperson proceeds by

(A) reinterpreting a term that is central to an opposing argument

(B) arguing that a predicted advantage would be offset by an accompanying disadvantage

(C) casting doubt on the motives of opponents

(D) drawing a distinction between different kinds of economic activity（B）

(E) seeking to show that the assumption that taxpayers would spend money that might be refunded to them is dubious

24.   The conclusion about whether there would be a resulting net increase in spending would not follow if the

(A) taxpayers of the province would spend outside the province at least $300 million of any $600 million refunded to them

(B) taxpayers of the province would receive any refund in partial payments during the year rather than in a lump sum

(C) province could assess new taxes in a way that would avoid angering taxpayers

(D) province could instead of refunding the money, stimulate its economy by redirecting its spending to use the $600 million for construction projects creating jobs around the province（E）

(E) province could keep its workers and use them more effectively with a resulting savings of $600 million in its out-of-province expenditures

25.   Essayist: Every contract negotiator has been lied to by someone or other, and whoever lies to anyone is practicing deception. But, of course, anyone who has been lied to has also lied to someone or other.

If the essayist’s statements are true, which one of the following must also be true?

(A) Every contract negotiator has practiced deception.

(B) Not everyone who practices deception is lying to someone.

(C) Not everyone who lies to someone is practicing deception.

(D) Whoever lies to a contract negotiator has been lied to by a contract negotiator.（A）

(E) Whoever lies to anyone is lied to by someone.

26.   A member of the British Parliament is reputed to have said, “The first purpose of good social reform is to increase the sum total of human happiness. So, any reform which makes somebody happy is achieving its purpose. Since the reform I propose would make my constituents happy, it is a good social reform.”

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument attributed to the member of Parliament?

(A) Different things make different people happy.

(B) The proposed reform would make a few people happy, but would not increase the happiness of most other people.

(C) The proposed reform would affect only the member of Parliament’s constituents and would make them happy.

(D) Increasing some people’s happiness might not increase the sum total of human happiness if others are made unhappy.（D）

(E) Good social reforms usually have widespread support.

TEST 25

SECTION II

1.        C	2.        B	3.        D	4.        D	5.        A
6.        E	7.        E	8.        A	9.        C	10.    B
11.    E	12.    B	13.    C	14.    D	15.    D
16.    E	17.    D	18.    B	19.    A	20.    E
21.    D	22.    D	23.    E	24.    C	25.    B

SECTION IV

1.        A	2.        C	3.        C	4.        A	5.        C
6.        C	7.        C	8.        D	9.        A	10.    E
11.    C	12.    B	13.    D	14.    A	15.    C
16.    E	17.    D	18.    B	19.    B	20.    B
21.    D	22.    D	23.    B	24.    E	25.    A
26.    D	27.	28.	29.	30.

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