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TEST 6
30 Minutes 20 Questions
1. Rural households have more purchasing power than do urban or suburban households at the same income level, since some of the income urban and suburban households use for food and shelter can be used by rural households for other needs.
Which of the following inferences is best supported by the statement made above?
(A) The average rural household includes more people than does the average urban or suburban household.
(B) Rural households have lower food and housing costs than do either urban or suburban households.
(C) Suburban households generally have more purchasing power than do either rural or urban households.
(D) The median income of urban and suburban households is generally higher than that of rural households.（B）
(E) All three types of households spend more of their income on food and housing than on all other purchases combined.
2. In 1985 state border colleges in Texas lost the enrollment of more than half, on average, of the Mexican nationals they had previously served each year. Teaching faculties have alleged that this extreme drop resulted from a rise in tuition for international and out-of-state students from $40 to $120 per credit hour.
Which of the following, if feasible, offers the best prospects for alleviating the problem of the drop in enrollment of Mexican nationals as the teaching faculties assessed it?
(A) Providing grants-in-aid to Mexican nationals to study in Mexican universities
(B) Allowing Mexican nationals to study in Texas border colleges and to pay in-state tuition rates, which are the same as the previous international rate
(C) Reemphasizing the goals and mission of the Texas state border colleges as serving both in-state students and Mexican nationals
(D) Increasing the financial resources of Texas colleges by raising the tuition for in-state students attending state institutions（B）
(E) Offering career counseling for those Mexican nationals who graduate from state border colleges and intend to return to Mexico
3. Affirmative action is good business. So asserted the National Association of Manufacturers while urging retention of an executive order requiring some federal contractors to set numerical goals for hiring minorities and women. “Diversity in work force participation has produced new ideas in management, product development, and marketing,” the association claimed.
The association’s argument as it is presented in the passage above would be most strengthened if which of the following were true?
(A) The percentage of minority and women workers in business has increased more slowly than many minority and women’s groups would prefer.
(B) Those businesses with the highest percentages of minority and women workers are those that have been the most innovative and profitable.
(C) Disposable income has been rising as fast among minorities and women as among the population as a whole.
(D) The biggest growth in sales in the manufacturing sector has come in industries that market the most innovative products.（B）
(E) Recent improvements in management practices have allowed many manufacturers to experience enormous gains in worker productivity.
Questions 4-5 refer to the following.
If the airspace around centrally located airports were restricted to commercial airliners and only those private planes equipped with radar, most of the private-plane traffic would be forced to use outlying airfields. Such a reduction in the amount of private-plane traffic would reduce the risk of midair collision around the centrally located airports.
4. The conclusion drawn in the first sentence depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Outlying airfields would be as convenient as centrally located airports for most pilots of private planes.
(B) Most outlying airfields are not equipped to handle commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Most private planes that use centrally located airports are not equipped with radar.
(D) Commercial airliners are at greater risk of becoming involved in midair collisions than are private planes.（C）
(E) A reduction in the risk of midair collision would eventually lead to increases in commercial-airline traffic.
5. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the second sentence?
(A) Commercial airliners are already required by law to be equipped with extremely sophisticated radar systems.
(B) Centrally located airports are experiencing over-crowded airspace primarily because of sharp increases in commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Many pilots of private planes would rather buy radar equipment than be excluded from centrally located airports.
(D) The number of midair collisions that occur near centrally located airports has decreased in recent years.（E）
(E) Private planes not equipped with radar systems cause a disproportionately large number of midair collisions around centrally located airports.
6. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Established companies concentrate on defending what they already have. Consequently, they tend not to be innovative themselves and tend to underestimate the effects of the innovations of others. The clearest example of this defensive strategy is the fact that______
(A) ballpoint pens and soft-tip markers have eliminated the traditional market for fountain pens, clearing the way for the marketing of fountain pens as luxury or prestige items
(B) a highly successful automobile was introduced by the same company that had earlier introduced a model that had been a dismal failure
(C) a once-successful manufacturer of slide rules reacted to the introduction of electronic calculators by trying to make better slide rules
(D) one of the first models of modern accounting machines, designed for use in the banking industry, was purchased by a public library as well as by banks（C）
(E) the inventor of a commonly used anesthetic did not intend the product to be used by dentists, who currently account for almost the entire market for that drug
7. Most archaeologists have held that people first reached the Americas less than 20,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge into North America. But recent discoveries of human shelters in South America dating from 32,000 years ago have led researchers to speculate that people arrived in South America first, after voyaging across the Pacific, and then spread northward.
Which of the following, if it were discovered, would be pertinent evidence against the speculation above?
(A) A rock shelter near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contains evidence of use by human beings 19,000 years ago.
(B) Some North American sites of human habitation predate any sites found in South America.
(C) The climate is warmer at the 32,000-year-old south American site than at the oldest known North American site.
(D) The site in South America that was occupied 32,000 years ago was continuously occupied until 6,000 years ago.（B）
(E) The last Ice Age, between 11,500 and 20,000 years ago, considerably lowered worldwide sea levels.
8. In Asia, where palm trees are non-native, the trees’ flowers have traditionally been pollinated by hand, which has kept palm fruit productivity unnaturally low. When weevils known to be efficient pollinators of palm flowers were introduced into Asia in 1980, palm fruit productivity increased—by up to fifty percent in some areas—but then decreased sharply in 1984.
Which of the following statements, if true, would best explain the 1984 decrease in productivity?
(A) Prices for palm fruit fell between 1980 and 1984 following the rise in production and a concurrent fall in demand.
(B) Imported trees are often more productive than native trees because the imported ones have left behind their pests and diseases in their native lands.
(C) Rapid increases in productivity tend to deplete trees of nutrients needed for the development of the fruit-producing female flowers.
(D) The weevil population in Asia remained at approximately the same level between 1980 and 1984.（C）
(E) Prior to 1980 another species of insect pollinated the Asian palm trees, but not as efficiently as the species of weevil that was introduced in 1980.
9. Since the mayor’s publicity campaign for Greenville’s bus service began six months ago, morning automobile traffic into the midtown area of the city has decreased seven percent. During the same period, there has been an equivalent rise in the number of persons riding buses into the midtown area. Obviously, the mayor’s publicity campaign has convinced many people to leave their cars at home and ride the bus to work.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Fares for all bus routes in Greenville have risen an average of five percent during the past six months.
(B) The mayor of Greenville rides the bus to City Hall in the city’s midtown area.
(C) Road reconstruction has greatly reduced the number of lanes available to commuters in major streets leading to the midtown area during the past six months.
(D) The number of buses entering the midtown area of Greenville during the morning hours is exactly the same now as it was one year ago.（C）
(E) Surveys show that longtime bus riders are no more satisfied with the Greenville bus service than they were before the mayor’s publicity campaign began.
10. In the aftermath of a worldwide stock-market crash, Country T claimed that the severity of the stock-market crash it experienced resulted from the accelerated process of denationalization many of its industries underwent shortly before the crash.
Which of the following, if it could be carried out, would be most useful in an evaluation of Country T’s assessment of the causes of the severity of its stock-market crash?
(A) Calculating the average loss experienced by individual traders in Country T during the crash
(B) Using economic theory to predict the most likely date of the next crash in Country T
(C) Comparing the total number of shares sold during the worst days of the crash in Country T to the total number of shares sold in Country T just prior to the crash
(D) Comparing the severity of the crash in Country T to the severity of the crash in countries otherwise economically similar to Country T that have not experienced recent denationalization（D）
(E) Comparing the long-term effects of the crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T to the immediate, more severe short-term effects of the crash on the purchasing power of the currency of Country T
11. With the emergence of biotechnology companies, it was feared that they would impose silence about proprietary results on their in-house researchers and their academic consultants. This constraint, in turn, would slow the development of biological science and engineering.
Which of the following, if true, would tend to weaken most seriously the prediction of scientific secrecy described above?
(A) Biotechnological research funded by industry has reached some conclusions that are of major scientific importance.
(B) When the results of scientific research are kept secret, independent researchers are unable to build on those results.
(C) Since the research priorities of biotechnology companies are not the same as those of academic institutions, the financial support of research by such companies distorts the research agenda.
(D) To enhance the companies’ standing in the scientific community, the biotechnology companies encourage employees to publish their results, especially results that are important.（D）
(E) Biotechnology companies devote some of their research resources to problems that are of fundamental scientific importance and that are not expected to produce immediate practical applications.
12. Some people have questioned the judge’s objectivity in cases of sex discrimination against women. But the record shows that in sixty percent of such cases, the judge has decided in favor of the women. This record demonstrates that the judge has not discriminated against women in cases of sex discrimination against women.
The argument above is flawed in that it ignores the possibility that
(A) a large number of the judge’s cases arose out of allegations of sex discrimination against women
(B) many judges find it difficult to be objective in cases of sex discrimination against women
(C) the judge is biased against women defendants or plaintiffs in cases that do not involve sex discrimination
(D) the majority of the cases of sex discrimination against women that have reached the judge’s court have been appealed from a lower court（E）
(E) the evidence shows that the women should have won in more than sixty percent of the judge’s cases involving sex discrimination against women
13. The tobacco industry is still profitable and projections are that it will remain so. In the United States this year, the total amount of tobacco sold by tobacco-farmers has increased, even though the number of adults who smoke has decreased.
Each of the following, if true, could explain the simultaneous increase in tobacco sales and decrease in the number of adults who smoke EXCEPT:
(A) During this year, the number of women who have begun to smoke is greater than the number of men who have quit smoking.
(B) The number of teen-age children who have begun to smoke this year is greater than the number of adults who have quit smoking during the same period.
(C) During this year, the number of nonsmokers who have begun to use chewing tobacco or snuff is greater than the number of people who have quit smoking.
(D) The people who have continued to smoke consume more tobacco per person than they did in the past.（A）
(E) More of the cigarettes made in the United States this year were exported to other countries than was the case last year.
14. Kale has more nutritional value than spinach. But since collard greens have more nutritional value than lettuce, it follows that kale has more nutritional value than lettuce.
Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an additional premise, makes the argument above logically correct EXCEPT:
(A) Collard greens have more nutritional value than kale.
(B) Spinach has more nutritional value than lettuce.
(C) Spinach has more nutritional value than collard greens.
(D) Spinach and collard greens have the same nutritional value.（A）
(E) Kale and collard greens have the same nutritional value.
15. On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population, many colleges now anticipate increasingly smaller freshman classes each year. Surprised by a 40 percent increase in qualified applicants over the previous year, however, administrators at Nice College now plan to hire more faculty for courses taken by all freshmen.
Which of the following statements about Nice College’s current qualified applicants, if true, would strongly suggest that the administrators’ plan is flawed?
(A) A substantially higher percentage than usual plan to study for advanced degrees after graduation from college.
(B) According to their applications, their level of participation in extracurricular activities and varsity sports is unusually high.
(C) According to their applications, none of them lives in a foreign country.
(D) A substantially lower percentage than usual rate Nice College as their first choice among the colleges to which they are applying.（D）
(E) A substantially lower percentage than usual list mathematics as their intended major.
Questions 16-17 are based on the following.
A researcher discovered that people who have low levels of immune-system activity tend to score much lower on tests of mental health than do people with normal or high immune-system activity. The researcher concluded from this experiment that the immune system protects against mental illness as well as against physical disease.
16. The researcher’s conclusion depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) High immune-system activity protects against mental illness better than normal immune-system activity does.
(B) Mental illness is similar to physical disease in its effects on body system.
(C) People with high immune-system activity cannot develop mental illness.
(D) Mental illness does not cause people’s immune-system activity to decrease.（D）
(E) Psychological treatment of mental illness is not as effective as is medical treatment.
17. The researcher’s conclusion would be most seriously weakened if it were true that
(A) there was a one-year delay between the completion of a pilot study for the experiment and the initiation of the experiment itself
(B) people’s levels of immune-system activity are not affected by their use of medications
(C) a few people with high immune-system activity had scores on the test of mental health that were similar to the scores of people who had normal immune-system activity
(D) people who have low immune-system activity tend to contract more viral infections than do people with normal or high immune-system activity（E）
(E) high levels of stress first cause mental illness and then cause decreased immune-system activity in normal individuals
18. The value of a product is determined by the ratio of its quality to its price. The higher the value of a product, the better will be its competitive position. Therefore, either increasing the quality or lowering the price of a given product will increase the likelihood that consumer will select that product rather than a competing one.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn above?
(A) It is possible to increase both the quality and the price of a product without changing its competitive position.
(B) For certain segments of the population of consumers, higher-priced brands of some product lines are preferred to the lower-priced brands.
(C) Competing products often try to appeal to different segments of the population of consumers.
(D) The competitive position of a product can be affected by such factors as advertising and brand loyalty.（E）
(E) Consumers’ perceptions of the quality of a product are based on the actual quality of the product.
19. In January there was a large drop in the number of new houses sold, because interest rates for mortgages were falling and many consumers were waiting to see how low the rates would go. This large sales drop was accompanied by a sharp rise in the average price of new houses sold.
Which of the following, if true, best explains the sharp rise in the average price of new houses?
(A) Sales of higher-priced houses were unaffected by the sales drop because their purchasers have fewer constraints limiting the total amount they pay.
(B) Labor agreements of builders with construction unions are not due to expire until the next January.
(C) The prices of new houses have been rising slowly over the past three years because there is an increasing shortage of housing.
(D) There was a greater amount of moderate-priced housing available for resale by owners during January than in the preceding three months.（A）
(E) Interest rates for home mortgages are expected to rise sharply later in the year if predictions of increased business activity in general prove to be accurate.
20. Seven countries signed a treaty binding each of them to perform specified actions on a certain fixed date, with the actions of each conditional on simultaneous action taken by the other countries. Each country was also to notify the six other countries when it had completed its action.
The simultaneous-action provision of the treaty leaves open the possibility that
(A) the compliance date was subject to postponement, according to the terms of the treaty
(B) one of the countries might not be required to make any changes or take any steps in order to comply with the treaty, whereas all the other countries are so required
(C) each country might have a well-founded excuse, based on the provision, for its own lack of compliance
(D) the treaty specified that the signal for one of the countries to initiate action was notification by the other countries that they had completed action（C）
(E) there was ambiguity with respect to the date after which all actions contemplated in the treaty are to be complete
TEST 6
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1. B |
2. B |
3. B |
4. C |
5. E |
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6. C |
7. B |
8. C |
9. C |
10. D |
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11. D |
12. E |
13. A |
14. A |
15. D |
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16. D |
17. E |
18. E |
19. A |
20. C |
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