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Oscar: I have been accused of plagiarizing the work of Ethel Myers in my recent article. But that accusation is unwarranted. Although I admit I used passages from Myers' book without attribution, Myers gave me permission in private correspondence to do so. Millie: Myers cannot give you permission to plagiarize. Plagiarism is wrong, not only because it violates authors' rights to their own words, but also because it misleads readers: it is fundamentally a type of lie. A lie is no less a lie if another person agrees to the deception. | 199410_1-LR1_4_5 | [
"A writer has no right to quote passages from another published source if the author of that other source has not granted the writer permission to do so.",
"The writer of an article must cite the source of all passages that were not written by that writer if those passages are more than a few sentences long.",
"Plagiarism is never justified, but writers are justified in occasionally quoting without attribution the work of other writers if the work quoted has not been published.",
"An author is entitled to quote freely without attribution the work of a writer if that writer relinquishes his or her exclusive right to the material.",
"Authors are entitled to quote without attribution passages that they themselves have written and published in other books or articles."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following principles, if established, would justify Oscar's judgment? |
Oscar: I have been accused of plagiarizing the work of Ethel Myers in my recent article. But that accusation is unwarranted. Although I admit I used passages from Myers' book without attribution, Myers gave me permission in private correspondence to do so. Millie: Myers cannot give you permission to plagiarize. Plagiarism is wrong, not only because it violates authors' rights to their own words, but also because it misleads readers: it is fundamentally a type of lie. A lie is no less a lie if another person agrees to the deception. | 199410_1-LR1_4_6 | [
"analyzing plagiarism in a way that undermines Oscar's position",
"invoking evidence to show that Oscar did quote Myers' work without attribution",
"challenging Oscar's ability to prove that he had received Myers' permission to quote Myers' work without attribution",
"citing a theory of rights that prohibits plagiarism and suggesting that Oscar is committed to that theory",
"showing that Oscar's admission demonstrates his lack of credibility"
]
| 0 | Millie uses which one of the following argumentative strategies in contesting Oscar's position? |
Soil scientists studying the role of compost in horticulture have found that, while compost is useful for building soil structure, it does not supply large enough quantities of the nutrients essential for plant growth to make it a replacement for fertilizer. Many home gardeners, however, have found they can grow healthy and highly productive plants in soil that lacked essential nutrients by enriching the soil with nothing but compost. | 199410_1-LR1_5_7 | [
"The findings of soil scientists who are employed by fertilizer manufacturers do not differ widely from those of scientists employed by the government or by universities.",
"Compost used in research projects is usually made from leaves and grass clippings only, whereas compost used in home gardens is generally made from a wide variety of ingredients.",
"Most plants grown in home gardens and in scientists' test plots need a favorable soil structure, as well as essential nutrients, in order to thrive.",
"The soil in test plots, before it is adjusted in the course of experiments, tends to contain about the same quantities of plant nutrients as does soil in home gardens to which no compost or fertilizer has been added.",
"Some of the varieties of plants grown by home gardeners require greater quantities of nutrients in order to be healthy than do the varieties of plants generally grown by the soil scientists in test plots."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the discrepant findings of the soil scientists and the home gardeners? |
At Happywell, Inc., last year the average annual salary for dieticians was $50,000, while the average annual salary for physical therapists was $42,000. The average annual salary for all Happywell employees last year was $40,000. | 199410_1-LR1_6_8 | [
"There were more physical therapists than dieticians at Happywell last year.",
"There was no dietician at Happywell last year who earned less than the average for a physical therapist.",
"At least one Happywell employee earned less than the average for a physical therapist last year.",
"At least one physical therapist earned less than the lowest-paid Happywell dietician last year.",
"At least one dietician earned more than the highest-paid Happywell physical therapist last year."
]
| 2 | If the information above is correct, which one of the following conclusions can properly be drawn on the basis of it? |
Since multinational grain companies operate so as to maximize profits, they cannot be relied on to initiate economic changes that would reform the world's food-distribution system. Although it is true that the actions of multinational companies sometimes do result in such economic change, this result is incidental, arising not from the desire for reform but from the desire to maximize profits. The maximization of profits normally depends on a stable economic environment, one that discourages change. | 199410_1-LR1_7_9 | [
"the maximization of profits depends on a stable economic environment",
"when economic change accompanies business activity, that change is initiated by concern for the profit motive",
"multinational grain companies operate so as to maximize profits",
"the world's current food-distribution system is not in need of reform",
"multinational grain companies cannot be relied on to initiate reform of the world's food-distribution system"
]
| 4 | The main point of the argument is that |
Stage performances are judged to be realistic to the degree that actors reproduce on stage the behaviors generally associated by audiences with the emotional states of the characters portrayed. Traditional actors imitate those behaviors, whereas Method actors, through recollection of personal experience, actually experience the same emotions that their characters are meant to be experiencing. Audiences will therefore judge the performances of Method actors to be more realistic than the performances of traditional actors. | 199410_1-LR1_8_10 | [
"Performances based on an actor's own experience of emotional states are more likely to affect an audience's emotions than are performances based on imitations of the behaviors generally associated with those emotional states.",
"The behavior that results when a Method actor feels a certain emotion will conform to the behavior that is generally associated by audiences with that emotion.",
"Realism is an essential criterion for evaluating the performances of both traditional actors and Method actors.",
"Traditional actors do not aim to produce performances that are realistic representations of a character's emotional states.",
"In order to portray a character, a Method actor need not have had experiences identical to those of the character portrayed."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
The demand for used cars has risen dramatically in Germany in recent years. Most of this demand is generated by former East Germans who cannot yet afford new cars and for whom cars were generally unavailable prior to unification. This demand has outstripped supply and thus has exerted an upward pressure on the prices of used cars. Consequently, an increasing number of former West Germans, in order to take advantage of the improved market, will be selling the cars they have owned for several years. Hence, the German new-car market will most likely improve soon as well. | 199410_1-LR1_9_11 | [
"The demand for old cars in former West Germany is greater than the demand for new cars in former East Germany.",
"In most European countries, the sale of a used car is subject to less tax than is the sale of a new car.",
"Most Germans own very few cars in the course of their lives.",
"Most former West Germans purchase new cars once they sell their used cars.",
"Many former East Germans prefer to buy cars imported from North America because they are generally larger than European cars."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following, if true, would most help to support the conclusion about the German new-car market? |
In 1980 health officials began to publicize the adverse effects of prolonged exposure to the sun, and since then the number of people who sunbathe for extended periods of time has decreased considerably each year. Nevertheless, in 1982 there was a dramatic rise in newly reported cases of melanoma, a form of skin cancer found mostly in people who have had prolonged exposure to the sun. | 199410_1-LR1_10_12 | [
"Before 1980 a considerable number of the people who developed melanoma as a result of prolonged exposure to the sun were over forty years of age.",
"Before 1980, when most people had not yet begun to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun, sunbathing was widely thought to be healthful.",
"In 1982 scientists reported that the body's need for exposure to sunlight in order to produce vitamin D, which helps prevent the growth of skin cancers, is less than was previously thought.",
"In 1982 medical researchers perfected a diagnostic technique that allowed them to detect the presence of melanoma much earlier than had previously been possible.",
"Since 1980, those people who have continued to sunbathe for extended periods of time have used sunblocks that effectively screen out the ultraviolet rays that help cause melanoma."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following, if true, helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above? |
The tiny country of Minlandia does not produce its own television programming. Instead, the citizens of Minlandia, who generally are fluent not only in their native Minlandian, but also in Boltese, watch Boltese-language television programs from neighboring Bolta. Surveys show that the Minlandians spend on average more hours per week reading for pleasure and fewer hours per week watching television than people anywhere else in the world. A prominent psychologist accounts for the survey results by explaining that people generally prefer to be entertained in their native language even if they are perfectly fluent in other languages. | 199410_1-LR1_11_13 | [
"Some Minlandians derive no pleasure from watching television in a language other than their native Minlandian.",
"The study of Boltese is required of Minlandian children as part of their schooling.",
"The proportion of bilingual residents to total population is greater in Minlandia than anywhere else in the world.",
"At least some of what the Minlandians read for pleasure is in the Minlandian language.",
"When Minlandians watch Boltese television programs, they tend to ignore the fact that they are hearing a foreign language spoken."
]
| 3 | The explanation offered by the psychologist accounts for the Minlandians' behavior only if which one of the following is assumed? |
Morris High School has introduced a policy designed to improve the working conditions of its new teachers. As a result of this policy, only one-quarter of all part-time teachers now quit during their first year. However, a third of all full-time teachers now quit during their first year. Thus, more full-time than part-time teachers at Morris now quit during their first year. | 199410_1-LR1_12_14 | [
"before the new policy was instituted, more part-time than full-time teachers at Morris High School used to quit during their first year",
"before the new policy was instituted, the same number of full-time teachers as part-time teachers at Morris High School used to quit during their first year",
"Morris High School employs more new full-time teachers than new part-time teachers",
"Morris High School employs more new part-time teachers than new full-time teachers",
"Morris High School employs the same number of new part-time as new full-time teachers"
]
| 3 | The argument's reasoning is questionable because the argument fails to rule out the possibility that |
Salmonella is a food-borne microorganism that can cause intestinal illness. The illness is sometimes fatal, especially if not identified quickly and treated. Conventional Salmonella tests on food samples are slow and can miss unusual strains of the microorganism. A new test identifies the presence or absence of Salmonella by the one piece of genetic material common to all strains. Clearly, public health officials would be well advised to replace the previous Salmonella tests with the new test. | 199410_1-LR1_13_15 | [
"The level of skill required for laboratory technicians to perform the new test is higher than that required to perform previous tests for Salmonella.",
"The new test returns results very soon after food samples are submitted for testing.",
"A proposed new treatment for Salmonella poisoning would take effect faster than the old treatment.",
"Salmonella poisoning is becoming less frequent in the general population.",
"Some remedies for Salmonella poisoning also cure intestinal disorders caused by other microorganisms."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument? |
Salmonella is a food-borne microorganism that can cause intestinal illness. The illness is sometimes fatal, especially if not identified quickly and treated. Conventional Salmonella tests on food samples are slow and can miss unusual strains of the microorganism. A new test identifies the presence or absence of Salmonella by the one piece of genetic material common to all strains. Clearly, public health officials would be well advised to replace the previous Salmonella tests with the new test. | 199410_1-LR1_13_16 | [
"The new test identifies genetic material from Salmonella organisms only and not from similar bacteria.",
"The new test detects the presence of Salmonella at levels that are too low to pose a health risk to people.",
"Salmonella is only one of a variety of food-borne microorganisms that can cause intestinal illness.",
"The new test has been made possible only recently by dramatic advances in biological science.",
"Symptoms of Salmonella poisoning are often mistaken for those of other common intestinal illnesses."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most substantially weakens the argument? |
On average, city bus drivers who are using the new computerized fare-collection system have a much better on-time record than do drivers using the old fare-collection system. Millicent Smith has the best on-time record of any bus driver in the city. Therefore, she must be using the computerized fare-collection system. | 199410_1-LR1_14_17 | [
"All the city's solid-waste collection vehicles acquired after 1988 have a larger capacity than any of those acquired before 1988. This vehicle has the largest capacity of any the city owns, so it must have been acquired after 1988.",
"The soccer players on the blue team are generally taller than the players on the gold team. Since Henri is a member of the blue team, he is undoubtedly taller than most of the members of the gold team.",
"This tomato is the largest of this year's crop. Since the tomatoes in the experimental plot are on average larger than those grown in the regular plots, this tomato must have been grown in the experimental plot.",
"Last week's snowstorm in Toronto was probably an average storm for the area. It was certainly heavier than any snowstorm known to have occurred in Miami, but any average snowstorm in Toronto leaves more snow than ever falls in Miami.",
"Lawn mowers powered by electricity generally require less maintenance than do lawn mowers powered by gasoline. This lawn mower is powered by gasoline, so it will probably require a lot of maintenance."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following contains flawed reasoning most similar to that contained in the argument above? |
Frieda: Lightning causes fires and damages electronic equipment. Since lightning rods can prevent any major damage, every building should have one. Erik: Your recommendation is pointless. It is true that lightning occasionally causes fires, but faulty wiring and overloaded circuits cause far more fires and damage to equipment than lightning does. | 199410_1-LR1_15_18 | [
"does not show that the benefits that would follow from Frieda's recommendation would be offset by any disadvantages",
"does not offer any additional way of lessening the risk associated with lightning",
"appeals to Frieda's emotions rather than to her reason",
"introduces an irrelevant comparison between overloaded circuits and faulty wiring",
"confuses the notion of preventing damage with that of causing inconvenience"
]
| 0 | Erik's response fails to establish that Frieda's recommendation should not be acted on because his response |
The use of automobile safety seats by children aged 4 and under has nearly doubled in the past 8 years. It is clear that this increase has prevented child fatalities that otherwise would have occurred, because although the number of children aged 4 and under who were killed while riding in cars involved in accidents rose 10 percent over the past 8 years, the total number of serious automobile accidents rose by 20 percent during that period. | 199410_1-LR1_16_19 | [
"Some of the automobile safety seats purchased for children under 4 continue to be used after the child reaches the age of 5.",
"The proportion of serious automobile accidents involving child passengers has remained constant over the past 8 years.",
"Children are taking more trips in cars today than they were 8 years ago, but the average total time they spend in cars has remained constant.",
"The sharpest increase in the use of automobile safety seats over the past 8 years has been for children over the age of 2.",
"The number of fatalities among adults involved in automobile accidents rose by 10 percent over the past 8 years."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument? |
The new perfume Aurora smells worse to Joan than any comparably priced perfume, and none of her friends likes the smell of Aurora as much as the smell of other perfumes. However, she and her friends must have a defect in their sense of smell, since Professor Jameson prefers the smell of Aurora to that of any other perfume and she is one of the world's foremost experts on the physiology of smell. | 199410_1-LR1_17_20 | [
"calls into question the truthfulness of the opponent rather than addressing the point at issue",
"ignores the well-known fact that someone can prefer one thing to another without liking either very much",
"fails to establish that there is widespread agreement among the experts in the field",
"makes an illegitimate appeal to the authority of an expert",
"misrepresents the position against which it is directed"
]
| 3 | The reasoning is flawed because it |
The new perfume Aurora smells worse to Joan than any comparably priced perfume, and none of her friends likes the smell of Aurora as much as the smell of other perfumes. However, she and her friends must have a defect in their sense of smell, since Professor Jameson prefers the smell of Aurora to that of any other perfume and she is one of the world's foremost experts on the physiology of smell. | 199410_1-LR1_17_21 | [
"none of Joan's friends is an expert on the physiology of smell",
"Joan prefers all other perfumes to Aurora",
"Professor Jameson is not one of Joan's friends",
"none of Joan's friends likes Aurora perfume",
"Joan and her friends all like the same kinds of perfumes"
]
| 2 | From the information presented in support of the conclusion, it can be properly inferred that |
At the end of the year, Wilson's Department Store awards free merchandise to its top salespeople. When presented with the fact that the number of salespeople receiving these awards has declined markedly over the past fifteen years, the newly appointed president of the company responded, "In that case, since our award criterion at present is membership in the top third of our sales force, we can also say that the number of salespeople passed over for these awards has similarly declined." | 199410_1-LR1_18_22 | [
"Policies at Wilson's with regard to hiring salespeople have not become more lax over the past fifteen years.",
"The number of salespeople at Wilson's has increased over the past fifteen years.",
"The criterion used by Wilson's for selecting its award recipients has remained the same for the past fifteen years.",
"The average total sales figures for Wilson's salespeople have been declining for fifteen years.",
"Wilson's calculates its salespeople's sales figures in the same way as it did fifteen years ago."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following is an assumption that would allow the company president's conclusion to be properly drawn? |
The capture of a wild animal is justified only as a last resort to save that animal's life. But many wild animals are captured not because their lives are in any danger but so that they can be bred in captivity. Hence, many animals that have been captured should not have been captured. | 199410_1-LR1_19_23 | [
"Punishing a child is justified if it is the only way to reform poor behavior. But punishment is never the only way to reform poor behavior. Hence, punishing a child is never justified.",
"Parents who never punish a child are not justified in complaining if the child regularly behaves in ways that disturb them. But many parents who prefer not to punish their children complain regularly about their children's behavior. Hence, many parents who complain about their children have no right to complain.",
"Punishing a young child is justified only if it is done out of concern for the child's future welfare. But many young children are punished not in order to promote their welfare but to minimize sibling rivalry. Hence, many children who are punished should not have been punished.",
"A teacher is entitled to punish a child only if the child's parents have explicitly given the teacher the permission to do so. But many parents never give their child's teacher the right to punish their child. Hence, many teachers should not punish their pupils.",
"Society has no right to punish children for deeds that would be crimes if the children were adults. But society does have the right to protect itself from children who are known threats. Hence, confinement of such children does not constitute punishment."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following arguments is most similar in its pattern of reasoning to the argument above? |
Until recently it was thought that ink used before the sixteenth century did not contain titanium. However, a new type of analysis detected titanium in the ink of the famous Bible printed by Johannes Gutenberg and in that of another fifteenth-century Bible known as B-36, though not in the ink of any of numerous other fifteenth-century books analyzed. This finding is of great significance, since it not only strongly supports the hypothesis that B-36 was printed by Gutenberg but also shows that the presence of titanium in the ink of the purportedly fifteenth-century Vinland Map can no longer be regarded as a reason for doubting the map's authenticity. | 199410_1-LR1_20_24 | [
"the results of the analysis are interpreted as indicating that the use of titanium as an ingredient in fifteenth-century ink both was, and was not, extremely restricted",
"if the technology that makes it possible to detect titanium in printing ink has only recently become available, it is unlikely that printers or artists in the fifteenth century would know whether their ink contained titanium or not",
"it is unreasonable to suppose that determination of the date and location of a document's printing or drawing can be made solely on the basis of the presence or absence of a single element in the ink used in the document",
"both the B-36 Bible and the Vinland Map are objects that can be appreciated on their own merits whether or not the precise date of their creation or the identity of the person who made them is known",
"the discovery of titanium in the ink of the Vinland Map must have occurred before titanium was discovered in the ink of the Gutenberg Bible and the B-36 Bible"
]
| 0 | The reasoning in the passage is vulnerable to criticism on the ground that |
All actors are exuberant people and all exuberant people are extroverts, but nevertheless it is true that some shy people are actors. | 199410_1-LR1_21_25 | [
"Some shy people are extroverts.",
"Some shy extroverts are not actors.",
"Some exuberant people who are actors are shy.",
"All people who are not extroverts are not actors.",
"Some extroverts are shy."
]
| 1 | If the statements above are true, each of the following must also be true EXCEPT: |
Science Academy study: It has been demonstrated that with natural methods, some well-managed farms are able to reduce the amounts of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide and also of antibiotics they use without necessarily decreasing yields; in some cases yields can be increased. Critics: Not so. The farms the academy selected to study were the ones that seemed most likely to be successful in using natural methods. What about the farmers who have tried such methods and failed? | 199410_1-LR1_22_26 | [
"Success and failure in farming are rarely due only to luck, because farming is the management of chance occurrences.",
"The critics show that the result of the study would have been different if twice as many farms had been studied.",
"The critics assume without justification that the failures were not due to soil quality.",
"The critics demonstrate that natural methods are not suitable for the majority of farmers.",
"The issue is only to show that something is possible, so it is not relevant whether the instances studied were representative."
]
| 4 | Which one of the following is the most adequate evaluation of the logical force of the critics' response? |
Most regular coffee is made from arabica coffee beans because the great majority of consumers prefer its generally richer flavor to that of coffee made from robusta beans. Coffee drinkers who switch to decaffeinated coffee, however, overwhelmingly prefer coffee made from robusta beans, which are unlike arabica beans in that their flavor is not as greatly affected by decaffeination. Depending on the type of bean involved, decaffeination reduces or removes various substances, most of which are flavor-neutral but one of which contributes to the richness of the coffee's flavor. | 199410_4-LR2_1_1 | [
"The annual world crop of arabica beans is not large enough to satisfy completely the world demand for regular coffee.",
"Arabica beans contain more caffeine per unit of weight than do robusta beans.",
"Coffee drinkers who drink decaffeinated coffee almost exclusively are the ones who prefer regular coffee made from robusta beans to regular coffee made from arabica beans.",
"Decaffeination of arabica beans extracts more of the substance that enhances a coffee's flavor than does decaffeination of robusta beans.",
"There are coffee drinkers who switch from drinking regular coffee made from arabica beans to drinking decaffeinated coffee made from arabica beans because coffee made from arabica beans is less costly."
]
| 3 | The statements above provide the most support for which one of the following conclusions? |
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful. | 199410_4-LR2_2_2 | [
"The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.",
"Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.",
"Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.",
"There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.",
"Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees."
]
| 4 | The guidance counselors' reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates? |
Insectivorous plants, which unlike other plants have the ability to trap and digest insects, can thrive in soils that are too poor in minerals to support noninsectivorous plants. Yet the mineral requirements of insectivorous plants are not noticeably different from the mineral requirements of noninsectivorous plants. | 199410_4-LR2_3_3 | [
"The insects that insectivorous plants trap and digest are especially abundant where the soil is poor in minerals.",
"Insectivorous plants thrive only in soils that are too poor in minerals to support noninsectivorous plants.",
"The types of minerals required by noninsectivorous plants are more likely than are the types of minerals required by insectivorous plants to be found in soils poor in minerals.",
"The number of different environments in which insectivorous plants thrive is greater than the number of different environments in which noninsectivorous plants thrive.",
"Insectivorous plants can get some of the minerals they require from the insects they trap and digest."
]
| 4 | The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following hypotheses? |
The region's water authority is responding to the current drought by restricting residential water use. Yet reservoir levels are now at the same height they were during the drought ten years ago when no restrictions were put into effect and none proved necessary. Therefore, imposing restrictions now is clearly premature. | 199410_4-LR2_4_4 | [
"There are now more water storage reservoirs in the region than there were ten years ago.",
"The population of the region is approximately three times greater than it was ten years ago.",
"The region currently has more sources outside the drought-stricken area from which to draw water than it did ten years ago.",
"The water-consuming home appliances and fixtures sold today are designed to use water more efficiently than those sold ten years ago.",
"The price of water for residential use is significantly higher in the region than it is in regions that are not drought-stricken."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls the conclusion above into question? |
Montgomery, a biologist who is also well read in archaeology, has recently written a book on the origin and purpose of ancient monumental architecture. This book has received much positive attention in the popular press but has been severely criticized by many professional archaeologists for being too extreme. Montgomery's views do not deserve a negative appraisal, however, since those views are no more extreme than the views of some professional archaeologists. | 199410_4-LR2_5_5 | [
"It fails to establish that professional archaeologists' views that are at least as extreme as Montgomery's views do not deserve negative appraisal for that reason.",
"It assumes without warrant that many professional archaeologists consider biologists unqualified to discuss ancient architecture.",
"It overlooks the possibility that many professional archaeologists are unfamiliar with Montgomery's views.",
"It provides no independent evidence to show that the majority of professional archaeologists do not support Montgomery's views.",
"It attempts to support its position by calling into question the motives of anyone who supports an opposing position."
]
| 0 | The argument is most vulnerable to which one of the following criticisms? |
Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by prolonged fatigue, muscular pain, and neurological problems. It is not known whether these symptoms are all caused by a single virus or whether each symptom is the result of a separate viral infection. A newly synthesized drug has been tested on those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. Although the specific antiviral effects of this drug are unknown, it has lessened the severity of all of the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. Thus there is evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is, in fact, caused by one virus. | 199410_4-LR2_6_6 | [
"All those who suffer from prolonged fatigue also suffer from neurological problems.",
"It is more likely that the new drug counteracts one virus than that it counteracts several viruses.",
"The symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are dissimilar to those of any other syndrome.",
"Most syndromes that are characterized by related symptoms are each caused by a single viral infection.",
"An antiviral medication that eliminates the most severe symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome thereby cures chronic fatigue syndrome."
]
| 1 | The argument assumes which one of the following? |
DataCom, a company that filed many patents last year, was financially more successful last year than were its competitors, none of which filed many patents. It is therefore likely that DataCom owed its greater financial success to the fact that it filed many patents last year. | 199410_4-LR2_7_7 | [
"presupposes what it sets out to demonstrate about the relationship between the financial success of DataCom's competitors and the number of patents they filed",
"confuses a company's financial success with its technological innovativeness",
"fails to establish whether any one of DataCom's competitors was financially more successful last year than was any other",
"gives no reason to exclude the possibility that other differences between DataCom and its competitors accounted for its comparative financial success",
"applies a generalization to an exceptional case"
]
| 3 | The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it |
A history book written hundreds of years ago contains several inconsistencies. Some scholars argue that because the book contains inconsistencies, the author must have been getting information from more than one source. | 199410_4-LR2_8_8 | [
"authors generally try to reconcile discrepancies between sources",
"the inconsistencies would be apparent to the average reader of the history book at the present time",
"the history book's author used no source that contained inconsistencies repeated in the history book",
"the author of the history book was aware of the kinds of inconsistencies that can arise when multiple sources are consulted",
"the author of the history book was familiar with all of the available source material that was relevant to the history book"
]
| 2 | The conclusion cited does not follow unless |
Some games, such as chess and soccer, are competitive and played according to rules, but others, such as children's games of make believe, are neither. Therefore, being competitive and involving rules are not essential to being a game. | 199410_4-LR2_9_9 | [
"Both the gourmet and the glutton enjoy eating. However, one can be a glutton, but not a gourmet, without having an educated palate. Therefore, having an educated palate is essential to being a gourmet, but enjoying food is not.",
"All North American bears eat meat. Some taxonomists, however, have theorized that the giant panda, which eats only bamboo shoots, is a kind of bear. Either these taxonomists are wrong or eating meat is not essential to being a bear.",
"It is true that dogs occasionally eat vegetation, but if dogs were not carnivorous they would be shaped quite differently from the way they are. Therefore, being carnivorous is essential to being a dog.",
"Most automobiles, and nearly all of those produced today, are gasoline-fueled and four-wheeled, but others, such as some experimental electric cars, are neither. Therefore, being gasoline-fueled and having four wheels are not essential to being an automobile.",
"Montréal's most vaunted characteristics, such as its cosmopolitanism and its vitality, are all to be found in many other cities. Therefore, cosmopolitanism and vitality are not essential properties of Montréal."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following is most similar in its logical features to the argument above? |
Household indebtedness, which some theorists regard as causing recession, was high preceding the recent recession, but so was the value of assets owned by households. Admittedly, if most of the assets were owned by quite affluent households, and most of the debt was owed by low-income households, high household debt levels could have been the cause of the recession despite high asset values: low-income households might have decreased spending in order to pay off debts while the quite affluent ones might simply have failed to increase spending. But, in fact, quite affluent people must have owed most of the household debt, since money is not lent to those without assets. Therefore, the real cause must lie elsewhere. | 199410_4-LR2_10_10 | [
"High levels of household debt did not cause the recent recession.",
"Low-income households succeeded in paying off their debts despite the recent recession.",
"Affluent people probably increased their spending levels during the recent recession.",
"High levels of household debt have little impact on the economy.",
"When people borrowed money prior to the recent recession, they did not use it to purchase assets."
]
| 0 | The argument is structured to lead to which one of the following conclusions? |
Household indebtedness, which some theorists regard as causing recession, was high preceding the recent recession, but so was the value of assets owned by households. Admittedly, if most of the assets were owned by quite affluent households, and most of the debt was owed by low-income households, high household debt levels could have been the cause of the recession despite high asset values: low-income households might have decreased spending in order to pay off debts while the quite affluent ones might simply have failed to increase spending. But, in fact, quite affluent people must have owed most of the household debt, since money is not lent to those without assets. Therefore, the real cause must lie elsewhere. | 199410_4-LR2_10_11 | [
"Prior to the recent recession, middle-income households owed enough debt that they had begun to decrease spending.",
"The total value of the economy's household debt is exceeded by the total value of assets held by households.",
"Low-income households somewhat decreased their spending during the recent recession.",
"During a recession the affluent usually borrow money only in order to purchase assets.",
"Household debt is the category of debt least likely to affect the economy."
]
| 0 | Which one of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the argument? |
Fossil-fuel emissions, considered a key factor in the phenomenon known as global warming, contain two gases, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, that have opposite effects on atmospheric temperatures. Carbon dioxide traps heat, tending to warm the atmosphere, whereas sulfur dioxide turns into sulfate aerosols that reflect sunlight back toward space, thereby tending to cool the atmosphere. Given that the heat-trapping effect is stronger than the cooling effect, cutting fossil-fuel emissions might be expected to slow the rise in global temperatures. Yet, surprisingly, if fossil-fuel emissions were cut today, global warming would actually be enhanced for more than three decades before the temperature rise began to slow. | 199410_4-LR2_11_12 | [
"Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for many decades, while the sulfate aerosols fall out within days.",
"Sulfur pollution is not spread evenly around the globe but is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, where there is a relatively high concentration of industry.",
"While it has long been understood that sulfur dioxide is a harmful pollutant, it has been understood only recently that carbon dioxide might also be a harmful pollutant.",
"Carbon dioxide is produced not only by automobiles but also by power plants that burn fossil fuels.",
"Because fossil-fuel emissions contain sulfur dioxide, they contribute not only to global warming but also to acid rain."
]
| 0 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the claim made in the last sentence above? |
Police published a "wanted" poster for a criminal fugitive in a medical journal, because the fugitive was known to have a certain acute noninfectious skin problem that would eventually require a visit to a doctor. The poster asked for information about the whereabouts of the fugitive. A physician's responding to the poster's request for information would not violate medical ethics, since physicians are already subject to requirements to report gunshot wounds to police and certain infectious diseases to health authorities. These exceptions to confidentiality are clearly ethical. | 199410_4-LR2_12_13 | [
"Since a physician acts both as a professional person and as a citizen, it is not ethical for a physician to conceal information about patients from duly constituted law enforcement agencies that have proper jurisdiction.",
"Since a patient comes to a physician with the expectation that the patient's visit and medical condition will remain confidential, it is not ethical for a physician to share this information with anyone except personnel within the physician's office.",
"Since the primary concern of medicine is individual and public health, it is not ethical for a physician, except in the case of gunshot wounds, to reduce patients' willingness to come for treatment by a policy of disclosing their identities to law-enforcement agencies.",
"Except as required by the medical treatment of the patient, physicians cannot ethically disclose to others information about a patient's identity or medical condition without the patient's consent.",
"Except to other medical personnel working to preserve or restore the health of a patient or of other persons, physicians cannot ethically disclose information about the identity of patients or their medical condition."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following principles, while remaining compatible with the requirements cited above, supports the view that a physician's responding to the request would violate medical ethics? |
Ingrid: Rock music has produced no songs as durable as the songs of the 1940s, which continue to be recorded by numerous performers. Jerome: True, rock songs are usually recorded only once. If the original recording continues to be popular, however, that fact can indicate durability, and the best rock songs will prove to be durable. | 199410_4-LR2_13_14 | [
"intentionally misinterpreting the claim",
"showing that the claim necessarily leads to a contradiction",
"undermining the truth of the evidence that Ingrid presents",
"suggesting an alternative standard for judging the point at issue",
"claiming that Ingrid's knowledge of the period under discussion is incomplete"
]
| 3 | Jerome responds to Ingrid's claim by |
Health insurance insulates patients from the expense of medical care, giving doctors almost complete discretion in deciding the course of most medical treatments. Moreover, with doctors being paid for each procedure performed, they have an incentive to overtreat patients. It is thus clear that medical procedures administered by doctors are frequently prescribed only because these procedures lead to financial rewards. | 199410_4-LR2_14_15 | [
"assigning responsibility for a certain result to someone whose involvement in the events leading to that result was purely coincidental",
"inferring the performance of certain actions on no basis other than the existence of both incentive and opportunity for performing those actions",
"presenting as capricious and idiosyncratic decisions that are based on the rigorous application of well-defined principles",
"depicting choices as having been made arbitrarily by dismissing without argument reasons that have been given for these choices",
"assuming that the irrelevance of a consideration for one participant in a decision makes that consideration irrelevant for each participant in the decision"
]
| 1 | The argument uses which one of the following questionable techniques? |
Chlorofluorocarbons are the best possible solvents to have in car engines for cleaning the electronic sensors in modern automobile ignition systems. These solvents have contributed significantly to automakers' ability to meet legally mandated emission standards. Now automakers will have to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbons at the same time that emission standards are becoming more stringent. | 199410_4-LR2_15_16 | [
"As emission standards become more stringent, automakers will increasingly cooperate with each other in the area of emission control.",
"Car engines will be radically redesigned so as to do away with the need for cleaning the electronic ignition sensors.",
"There will be a marked shift toward smaller, lighter cars that will have less powerful engines but will use their fuel more efficiently.",
"The solvents developed to replace chlorofluorocarbons in car engines will be only marginally less effective than the chlorofluorocarbons themselves.",
"Something other than the cleansers for electronic ignition sensors will make a relatively greater contribution to meeting emission standards than at present."
]
| 4 | If under the circumstances described above cars continue to meet emission standards, which one of the following is the most strongly supported inference? |
Two alternative drugs are available to prevent blood clots from developing after a heart attack. According to two major studies, drug Y does this no more effectively than the more expensive drug Z, but drug Z is either no more or only slightly more effective than drug Y. Drug Z's manufacturer, which has engaged in questionable marketing practices such as offering stock options to doctors who participate in clinical trials of drug Z, does not contest the results of the studies but claims that they do not reveal drug Z's advantages. However, since drug Z does not clearly treat the problem more effectively than drug Y, there is no established medical reason for doctors to use drug Z rather than drug Y on their heart-attack victims. | 199410_4-LR2_16_17 | [
"does not consider drugs or treatments other than drug Y and drug Z that may be used to prevent blood clotting in heart-attack patients",
"neglects to compare the marketing practices of drug Y's manufacturer with those of drug Z's manufacturer",
"fails to recognize that there may be medical criteria relevant to the choice between the two drugs other than their effectiveness as a treatment",
"assumes without proof that the two drugs are similar in their effectiveness as treatments because they are similar in their chemical composition",
"confuses economic reasons for selecting a treatment with medical reasons"
]
| 2 | A major flaw in the argument is that the argument |
Two alternative drugs are available to prevent blood clots from developing after a heart attack. According to two major studies, drug Y does this no more effectively than the more expensive drug Z, but drug Z is either no more or only slightly more effective than drug Y. Drug Z's manufacturer, which has engaged in questionable marketing practices such as offering stock options to doctors who participate in clinical trials of drug Z, does not contest the results of the studies but claims that they do not reveal drug Z's advantages. However, since drug Z does not clearly treat the problem more effectively than drug Y, there is no established medical reason for doctors to use drug Z rather than drug Y on their heart-attack victims. | 199410_4-LR2_16_18 | [
"Only patients to whom the cost of an expensive treatment will not be a financial hardship should receive that treatment rather than a less expensive alternative one.",
"Doctors who are willing to assist in research on the relative effectiveness of drugs by participating in clinical trials deserve fair remuneration for that participation.",
"The decision to use a particular drug when treating a patient should not be influenced by the marketing practices employed by the company manufacturing that drug.",
"A drug company's criticism of studies of its product that do not report favorably on that product is unavoidably biased and therefore invalid.",
"Where alternative treatments exist and there is a chance that one is more effective than the other, the possibly more effective one should be employed, regardless of cost."
]
| 4 | Which one of the following principles, if established, would most help to justify a doctor's decision to use drug Z rather than drug Y when treating a patient? |
Jane: According to an article in this newsmagazine, children's hand-eye coordination suffers when they spend a great amount of time watching television. Therefore, we must restrict the amount of time Jacqueline and Mildred are allowed to watch television. Alan: Rubbish! The article says that only children under three are affected in that way. Jacqueline is ten and Mildred is eight. Therefore, we need not restrict their television viewing. | 199410_4-LR2_17_19 | [
"It relies on the same source that Jane cited in support of her conclusion.",
"It confuses undermining an argument in support of a given conclusion with showing that the conclusion itself is false.",
"It does not address the main point of Jane's argument and focuses instead on a side issue.",
"It makes an irrelevant appeal to an authority.",
"It fails to distinguish the consequences of a certain practice from the causes of the practice."
]
| 1 | Alan's argument against Jane's conclusion makes which one of the following errors in reasoning? |
A new gardening rake with an S-shaped handle reduces compression stress on the spine during the pull stroke to about one-fifth of what it is with a straight-handled rake. During the push stroke, however, compression stress is five times more with the new rake than with a straight-handled rake. Neither the push stroke nor the pull stroke with a straight-handled rake produces enough compression stress to cause injury, but compression stress during the push stroke with the new rake is above the danger level. Therefore, straight-handled rakes are better than the new rakes for minimizing risk of spinal injury. | 199410_4-LR2_18_20 | [
"Compression stress resulting from pushing is the only cause of injuries to the spine that occur as a result of raking.",
"Raking is a frequent cause of spinal injury among gardeners.",
"The redesign of a tool rarely results in a net gain of efficiency, since gains tend to be counterbalanced by losses.",
"A garden rake can never be used in such a way that all the strokes with that rake are push strokes.",
"It is not possible to design a garden rake with a handle that is other than straight or S-shaped."
]
| 0 | The conclusion above is properly drawn from the premises given if which one of the following is true? |
Some people fear that global warming will cause the large ice formations in the polar seas to melt, thereby warming the waters of those seas and threatening the plankton that is crucial to the marine food chain. Some scientists contend that it is unlikely that the melting process has begun, since water temperatures in the polar seas are the same today as they were a century ago. | 199410_4-LR2_19_21 | [
"Much of the marine plant life that flourishes in the polar seas will die in the event that the water temperatures rise above their present levels.",
"The overall effect of the melting process will be an increase in global sea levels.",
"The mean air temperature above both land and water in the polar regions has not varied significantly over the past 100 years.",
"The temperature of water that contains melting ice tends to remain constant until all of the ice in the ice-and-water mixture has melted.",
"The mean temperature of ocean waters near the equator has remained constant over the past 100 years."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the scientists' contention? |
A long-term health study that followed a group of people who were age 35 in 1950 found that those whose weight increased by approximately half a kilogram or one pound per year after the age of 35 tended, on the whole, to live longer than those who maintained the weight they had at age 35. This finding seems at variance with other studies that have associated weight gain with a host of health problems that tend to lower life expectancy. | 199410_4-LR2_20_22 | [
"As people age, muscle and bone tissue tends to make up a smaller and smaller proportion of total body weight.",
"Individuals who reduce their cholesterol levels by losing weight can thereby also reduce their risk of dying from heart attacks or strokes.",
"Smokers, who tend to be leaner than nonsmokers, tend to have shorter life spans than nonsmokers.",
"The normal deterioration of the human immune system with age can be slowed down by a reduction in the number of calories consumed.",
"Diets that tend to lead to weight gain often contain not only excess fat but also unhealthful concentrations of sugar and sodium."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparently conflicting findings? |
Insurance industry statistics demonstrate that cars with alarms or other antitheft devices are more likely to be stolen or broken into than cars without such devices or alarms. Therefore antitheft devices do not protect cars against thieves. | 199410_4-LR2_21_23 | [
"Since surveys reveal that communities with flourishing public libraries have, on average, better-educated citizens, it follows that good schools are typically found in communities with public libraries.",
"Most public libraries are obviously intended to serve the interests of the casual reader, because most public libraries contain large collections of fiction and relatively small reference collections.",
"Studies reveal that people who are regular users of libraries purchase more books per year than do people who do not use libraries regularly. Hence using libraries regularly does not reduce the number of books that library patrons purchase.",
"Since youngsters who read voraciously are more likely to have defective vision than youngsters who do not read very much, it follows that children who do not like to read usually have perfect vision.",
"Societies that support free public libraries are more likely to support free public universities than are societies without free public libraries. Hence a society that wishes to establish a free public university should first establish a free public library."
]
| 2 | The pattern of flawed reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following? |
The problem that environmental economics aims to remedy is the following: people making economic decisions cannot readily compare environmental factors, such as clean air and the survival of endangered species, with other costs and benefits. As environmental economists recognize, solving this problem requires assigning monetary values to environmental factors. But monetary values result from people comparing costs and benefits in order to arrive at economic decisions. Thus, environmental economics is stymied by what motivates it. | 199410_4-LR2_22_24 | [
"strongly, on the assumption that monetary values for environmental factors cannot be assigned unless people make economic decisions about these factors",
"strongly, unless economic decision-making has not yet had any effect on the things categorized as environmental factors",
"at best weakly, because the passage fails to establish that economic decision-makers do not by and large take adequate account of environmental factors",
"at best weakly, because the argument assumes that pollution and other effects on environmental factors rarely result from economic decision-making",
"not at all, since the argument is circular, taking that conclusion as one of its premises"
]
| 0 | If the considerations advanced in its support are true, the passage's conclusion is supported |
Paperback books wear out more quickly than hardcover books do, but paperback books cost much less. Therefore, users of public libraries would be better served if public libraries bought only paperback books, since by so doing these libraries could increase the number of new book titles added to their collections without increasing their budgets. | 199412_2-LR1_1_1 | [
"If a public library's overall budget is cut, the budget for new acquisitions is usually cut back more than is that for day-to-day operations.",
"Paperback books can very inexpensively have their covers reinforced in order to make them last longer.",
"Many paperback books are never published in hardcover.",
"Library users as a group depend on their public library for access to a wide variety of up-to-date reference books that are published in hardcover only.",
"People are more likely to buy for themselves a copy of a book they had previously borrowed from the public library if that book is available in paperback."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? |
Garbage in this neighborhood probably will not be collected until Thursday this week. Garbage is usually collected here on Wednesdays, and the garbage collectors in this city are extremely reliable. However, Monday was a public holiday, and after a public holiday that falls on a Monday, garbage throughout the city is supposed to be collected one day later than usual. | 199412_2-LR1_2_2 | [
"treating several pieces of irrelevant evidence as though they provide support for the conclusion",
"indirectly establishing that one thing is likely to occur by directly ruling out all of the alternative possibilities",
"providing information that allows application of a general rule to a specific case",
"generalizing about all actions of a certain kind on the basis of a description of one such action",
"treating something that is probable as though it were inevitable"
]
| 2 | The argument proceeds by |
When compact discs first entered the market, they were priced significantly higher than vinyl records. Manufacturers attributed the difference in price to the difference in production costs, saying that compact disc production was expensive because the technology was new and unfamiliar. As the technology became more efficient, the price of the discs did indeed come down. But vinyl records, whose production technology has long been established, then went up in price to approach that of compact discs. | 199412_2-LR1_3_3 | [
"Consumers were so enthusiastic about the improved sound quality offered by compact disc technology that they were willing to pay a higher price to obtain it.",
"Some consumers who continued to buy vinyl records instead of compact discs did so because they were unwilling to pay a higher price for compact discs.",
"As consumers bought compact discs instead of vinyl records, the number of vinyl records produced decreased, making their production less cost-efficient.",
"Compact disc player technology continued to change and develop even after compact discs first entered the market.",
"When compact discs first entered the market, many consumers continued to buy vinyl records rather than buying the equipment necessary to play compact discs."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following most helps to explain why the price of vinyl records went up? |
Conservationists have established land reserves to preserve the last remaining habitat for certain species whose survival depends on the existence of such habitat. A grove of trees in Mexico that provide habitat for North American monarch butterflies in winter is a typical example of such a land reserve. If global warming occurs as predicted, however, the temperature bands within which various types of vegetation can grow will shift into regions that are currently cooler. | 199412_2-LR1_4_4 | [
"If global warming occurs as predicted, the conservation land reserves will cease to serve their purpose.",
"Monarch butterflies will succeed in adapting to climatic change by shortening their migration.",
"If global warming occurs, it will melt polar ice and so will cause the sea level to rise so high that many coastal plants and animals will become extinct.",
"The natural world has adapted many times in the past to drastic global warming and cooling.",
"If global warming occurs rapidly, species of plants and animals now protected in conservation land reserves will move to inhabit areas that are currently used for agriculture."
]
| 0 | If the statements above are true, they provide the most support for which one of the following? |
Financial success does not guarantee happiness. This claim is not mere proverbial wisdom but a fact verified by statistics. In a recently concluded survey, only one-third of the respondents who claimed to have achieved financial success reported that they were happy. | 199412_2-LR1_5_5 | [
"The respondents who reported financial success were, for the most part, financially successful.",
"Financial success was once thought to be necessary for happiness but is no longer considered a prerequisite for happiness.",
"Many of the respondents who claimed not to have achieved financial success reported that they were happy five years ago.",
"Many of the respondents who failed to report financial success were in fact financially successful.",
"Most of the respondents who reported they were unhappy were in fact happy."
]
| 0 | Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conclusion drawn from the survey results? |
The distance that animals travel each day and the size of the groups in which they live are highly correlated with their diets. And diet itself depends in large part on the sizes and shapes of animals' teeth and faces. | 199412_2-LR1_6_6 | [
"Animals that eat meat travel in relatively small groups and across relatively small ranges compared to animals that eat plants.",
"Animals that have varied diets can be expected to be larger and more robust than animals that eat only one or two kinds of food.",
"When individual herd animals lose their teeth through age or injury, those animals are likely to travel at the rear of their herd.",
"Information about the size and shape of an animal's face is all that is needed to identify the species to which that animal belongs.",
"Information about the size and shape of an extinct animal's teeth and face can establish whether that animal is likely to have been a herd animal."
]
| 4 | The statements above provide the most support for which one of the following? |
It is not correct that the people of the United States, relative to comparable countries, are the most lightly taxed. True, the United States has the lowest tax, as percent of gross domestic product, of the Western industrialized countries, but tax rates alone do not tell the whole story. People in the United States pay out of pocket for many goods and services provided from tax revenues elsewhere. Consider universal health care, which is an entitlement supported by tax revenues in every other Western industrialized country. United States government health-care expenditures are equivalent to about 5 percent of the gross domestic product, but private health-care expenditures represent another 7 percent. This 7 percent, then, amounts to a tax. | 199412_2-LR1_7_7 | [
"It bases a comparison on percentages rather than on absolute numbers.",
"It unreasonably extends the application of a key term.",
"It uses negatively charged language instead of attempting to give a reason.",
"It generalizes from only a few instances.",
"It sets up a dichotomy between alternatives that are not exclusive."
]
| 1 | The argument concerning whether the people of the United States are the most lightly taxed is most vulnerable to which one of the following criticisms? |
Various mid-fourteenth-century European writers show an interest in games, but no writer of this period mentions the playing of cards. Nor do any of the mid-fourteenth-century statutes that proscribe or limit the play of games mention cards, though they do mention dice, chess, and other games. It is therefore likely that, contrary to what is sometimes claimed, at that time playing cards was not yet common in Europe. | 199412_2-LR1_8_8 | [
"Neither today's newspapers nor this evening's television news mentioned a huge fire that was rumored to have happened in the port last night. Therefore, there probably was no such fire.",
"This evening's television news reported that the cruise ship was only damaged in the fire last night, whereas the newspaper reported that it was destroyed. The television news is based on more recent information, so probably the ship was not destroyed.",
"Among the buildings that are near the port is the newspaper's printing plant. Early editions of this morning's paper were very late. Therefore, the fire at the port probably affected areas beyond the port itself.",
"The newspaper does not explicitly say that the port reopened after the fire, but in its listing of newly arrived ships it mentions some arrival times after the fire. Therefore, the port was probably not closed for long.",
"The newspaper is generally more reliable than the television news, and the newspaper reported that the damage from last night's fire in the port was not severe. Therefore, the damage probably was not severe."
]
| 0 | The pattern of reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to that in the argument above? |
In a mature tourist market such as Bellaria there are only two ways hotel owners can increase profits: by building more rooms or by improving what is already there. Rigid land-use laws in Bellaria rule out construction of new hotels or, indeed, any expansion of hotel capacity. It follows that hotel owners cannot increase their profits in Bellaria since Bellarian hotels ____. | 199412_2-LR1_9_9 | [
"are already operating at an occupancy rate approaching 100 percent year-round",
"could not have been sited any more attractively than they are even in the absence of land-use laws",
"have to contend with upward pressures on the cost of labor which stem from an incipient shortage of trained personnel",
"already provide a level of luxury that is at the limits of what even wealthy patrons are prepared to pay for",
"have shifted from serving mainly Bellarian tourists to serving foreign tourists traveling in organized tour groups"
]
| 3 | Which one of the following logically completes the argument? |
Every political philosopher of the early twentieth century who was either a socialist or a communist was influenced by Rosa Luxemburg. No one who was influenced by Rosa Luxemburg advocated a totalitarian state. | 199412_2-LR1_10_10 | [
"No early-twentieth-century socialist political philosopher advocated a totalitarian state.",
"Every early-twentieth-century political philosopher who did not advocate a totalitarian state was influenced by Rosa Luxemburg.",
"Rosa Luxemburg was the only person to influence every early-twentieth-century political philosopher who was either socialist or communist.",
"Every early-twentieth-century political philosopher who was influenced by Rosa Luxemburg and was not a socialist was a communist.",
"Every early-twentieth-century political philosopher who did not advocate a totalitarian state was either socialist or communist."
]
| 0 | If the statements above are true, which one of the following must on the basis of them also be true? |
Harris: Currently, hybrid animals are not protected by international endangered-species regulations. But new techniques in genetic research suggest that the red wolf, long thought to be an independent species, is a hybrid of the coyote and the gray wolf. Hence, since the red wolf clearly deserves protection, these regulations should be changed to admit the protection of hybrids. Vogel: Yet hybrids do not need protection. Since a breeding population that arises through hybridization descends from independent species, if any such population were to die out, it could easily be revived by interbreeding members of the species from which the hybrid is descended. | 199412_2-LR1_11_11 | [
"whether the red wolf descends from the gray wolf and the coyote",
"whether there are some species that are currently considered endangered that are not in fact in any danger",
"whether the packs of red wolves that currently exist are in danger of dying out",
"whether there are some hybrids that ought to be protected by endangered-species regulations",
"whether new techniques in genetic research should be used to determine which groups of animals constitute species and which constitute hybrids"
]
| 3 | Which one of the following is a point at issue between Harris and Vogel? |
Harris: Currently, hybrid animals are not protected by international endangered-species regulations. But new techniques in genetic research suggest that the red wolf, long thought to be an independent species, is a hybrid of the coyote and the gray wolf. Hence, since the red wolf clearly deserves protection, these regulations should be changed to admit the protection of hybrids. Vogel: Yet hybrids do not need protection. Since a breeding population that arises through hybridization descends from independent species, if any such population were to die out, it could easily be revived by interbreeding members of the species from which the hybrid is descended. | 199412_2-LR1_11_12 | [
"The techniques currently being used to determine whether a population of animals is a hybrid of other species have proven to be reliable.",
"The international regulations that protect endangered species and subspecies are being enforced successfully.",
"The gray wolf has been successfully bred in captivity.",
"All hybrids are the descendants of species that are currently extant.",
"The coyote and the red wolf are not related genetically."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which Vogel's argument relies? |
From an analysis of broken pottery and statuary, archaeologists have estimated that an ancient settlement in southwestern Arabia was established around 1000 B.C. However, new evidence suggests that the settlement is considerably older: tests show that a piece of building timber recently uncovered at the site is substantially older than the pottery and statuary. | 199412_2-LR1_12_13 | [
"The building timber bore marks suggesting that it had been salvaged from an earlier settlement.",
"The pieces of pottery and fragments of statues that were analyzed come from several parts of the site.",
"The tests used to determine the age of the pottery and statuary had been devised more recently than those used to determine the age of the building timber.",
"The site has yielded many more samples of pottery and statuary than of building timber.",
"The type of pottery found at the site is similar to a type of pottery associated with civilizations that existed before 1000 B.C."
]
| 0 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the conclusion drawn from the new evidence? |
The book To Save the Earth is so persuasive that no one who reads it can fail to heed its environmentalist message. Members of the Earth Association have given away 2,000 copies in the last month. Thus the Earth Association can justly claim credit for at least 2,000 people in one month converted to the environmentalist cause. | 199412_2-LR1_13_14 | [
"No other environmental organization gave away copies of To Save the Earth during the month in which the Earth Association gave away its 2,000 copies.",
"The people to whom the Earth Association gave copies of To Save the Earth would not have been willing to pay to receive it from the Earth Association.",
"The copies of To Save the Earth given away by members of the Earth Association were printed on recycled paper.",
"None of those who received To Save the Earth from a member of the Earth Association were already committed to the environmentalist cause when they received this book.",
"Every recipient of To Save the Earth will embrace the environmental program advocated by the Earth Association."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
Smokers of pipes or cigars run a distinctly lower risk to their health than do cigarette smokers. However, whereas cigarette smokers who quit smoking altogether sharply reduce their risk of smoking related health problems, those who give up cigarettes and take up pipes or cigars remain in as much danger as before. | 199412_2-LR1_14_15 | [
"Smokers of pipes or cigars who quit smoking thereby reduce their risk of smoking-related health problems.",
"Cigarette smokers who quit smoking for a time and who then resume cigarette smoking do not necessarily reduce their risk of smoking-related health problems.",
"The kinds of illnesses that smokers run an increased risk of contracting develop no earlier in cigarette smokers than they do in smokers of pipes or cigars.",
"At any given period in their lives, virtually all smokers smoke either cigarettes exclusively or cigars exclusively or pipes exclusively, rather than alternating freely among various ways of smoking.",
"People who switch from cigarette smoking to smoking pipes or cigars inhale smoke in a way that those who have never smoked cigarettes do not."
]
| 4 | Which one of the following, if true, offers the best prospects for an explanation of why the two changes in smoking habits do not both result in reduced health risks? |
Production manager: The building materials that we produce meet industry safety codes but pose some safety risk. Since we have recently developed the technology to make a safer version of our product, we should stop producing our current product and sell only the safer version in order to protect public safety. Sales manager: If we stop selling our current product, we will have no money to develop and promote the safer product. We need to continue to sell the less-safe product in order to be in a position to market the safer product successfully. | 199412_2-LR1_15_16 | [
"Companies should be required to develop safer products if such development can be funded from sales of existing products.",
"That a product does not meet industry safety codes should be taken as sufficient indication that the product poses some safety risks.",
"Companies should not sell a product that poses safety risks if they are technologically capable of producing a safer version of that product.",
"Product safety codes should be reviewed whenever an industry replaces one version of a product with a technologically more advanced version of that product.",
"In order to make building materials safer, companies should continually research new technologies whether or not they are required to do so in order to comply with safety codes."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following principles, if established, most helps to justify the production manager's conclusion? |
Production manager: The building materials that we produce meet industry safety codes but pose some safety risk. Since we have recently developed the technology to make a safer version of our product, we should stop producing our current product and sell only the safer version in order to protect public safety. Sales manager: If we stop selling our current product, we will have no money to develop and promote the safer product. We need to continue to sell the less-safe product in order to be in a position to market the safer product successfully. | 199412_2-LR1_15_17 | [
"pointing out that one part of the production manager's proposal would have consequences that would prevent successful execution of another part",
"challenging the production manager's authority to dictate company policy",
"questioning the product manager's assumption that a product is necessarily safe just because it is safer than another product",
"proposing a change in the standards by which product safety is judged",
"presenting evidence to show that the production manager has overestimated the potential impact of the new technology"
]
| 0 | The sales manager counters the production manager's argument by |
Each year, an official estimate of the stock of cod in the Grand Banks is announced. This estimate is obtained by averaging two separate estimates of how many cod are available, one based on the number of cod caught by research vessels during a once-yearly sampling of the area and the other on the average number of tons of cod caught by various commercial vessels per unit of fishing effort expended there in the past year—a unit of fishing effort being one kilometer of net set out in the water for one hour. In previous decades, the two estimates usually agreed closely. However, for the last decade the estimate based on commercial tonnage has been increasing markedly, by about the same amount as the sampling-based estimate has been decreasing. | 199412_2-LR1_16_18 | [
"Last year's official estimate was probably not much different from the official estimate ten years ago.",
"The number of commercial vessels fishing for cod in the Grand Banks has increased substantially over the past decade.",
"The sampling-based estimate is more accurate than the estimate based on commercial tonnage in that the data on which it relies is less likely to be inaccurate.",
"The once-yearly sampling by research vessels should be used as the sole basis for arriving at the official estimate of the stock of cod.",
"Twenty years ago, the overall stock of cod in the Grand Banks was officially estimated to be much larger than it is estimated to be today."
]
| 0 | If the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following is most strongly supported by them? |
Each year, an official estimate of the stock of cod in the Grand Banks is announced. This estimate is obtained by averaging two separate estimates of how many cod are available, one based on the number of cod caught by research vessels during a once-yearly sampling of the area and the other on the average number of tons of cod caught by various commercial vessels per unit of fishing effort expended there in the past year—a unit of fishing effort being one kilometer of net set out in the water for one hour. In previous decades, the two estimates usually agreed closely. However, for the last decade the estimate based on commercial tonnage has been increasing markedly, by about the same amount as the sampling-based estimate has been decreasing. | 199412_2-LR1_16_19 | [
"Fishing vessels often exceed their fishing quotas for cod and therefore often underreport the number of tons of cod that they catch.",
"More survey vessels are now involved in the yearly sampling effort than were involved 10 years ago.",
"Improvements in technology over the last 10 years have allowed commercial fishing vessels to locate and catch large schools of cod more easily.",
"Survey vessels count only those cod caught during a 30-day survey period, whereas commercial fishing vessels report all cod caught during the course of a year.",
"Because of past overfishing of cod, fewer fishing vessels now catch the maximum tonnage of cod each vessel is allowed by law to catch."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to account for the growing discrepancy between the estimate based on commercial tonnage and the research-based estimate? |
Pretzels can cause cavities. Interestingly, the longer that a pretzel remains in contact with the teeth when it is being eaten, the greater the likelihood that a cavity will result. What is true of pretzels in this regard is also true of caramels. Therefore, since caramels dissolve more quickly in the mouth than pretzels do, eating a caramel is less likely to result in a cavity than eating a pretzel is. | 199412_2-LR1_17_20 | [
"treats a correlation that holds within individual categories as thereby holding across categories as well",
"relies on the ambiguous use of a key term",
"makes a general claim based on particular examples that do not adequately represent the respective classes that they are each intended to represent",
"mistakes the cause of a particular phenomenon for the effect of that phenomenon",
"is based on premises that cannot all be true"
]
| 0 | The reasoning in the argument is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument |
Mark: Plastic-foam cups, which contain environmentally harmful chlorofluorocarbons, should no longer be used; paper cups are preferable. Styrene, a carcinogenic by-product, is generated in foam production, and foam cups, once used, persist indefinitely in the environment. Tina: You overlook the environmental effects of paper cups. A study done 5 years ago showed that making paper for their production burned more petroleum than was used for foam cups and used 12 times as much steam, 36 times as much electricity, and twice as much cooling water. Because paper cups weigh more, their transportation takes more energy. Paper mills produce water pollution, and when the cups decay they produce methane, a gas that contributes to harmful global warming. So they are a worse choice. | 199412_2-LR1_18_21 | [
"The use of energy for chain saws that cut down trees and for trucks that haul logs is part of the environmental cost of manufacturing paper.",
"Foam cups are somewhat more acceptable to consumers than paper cups because of their better insulating qualities.",
"The production and transportation of petroleum occasions serious environmental pollution, but the energy that runs paper mills now comes from burning waste wood rather than petroleum.",
"The amount of styrene escaping into the environment or remaining in foam cups after their manufacture is negligible.",
"Acre for acre, tree farms for the production of wood for paper have fewer beneficial effects on the environment than do natural forests that remain uncut."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following, if true, could Mark cite to counter evidence offered by Tina? |
Mark: Plastic-foam cups, which contain environmentally harmful chlorofluorocarbons, should no longer be used; paper cups are preferable. Styrene, a carcinogenic by-product, is generated in foam production, and foam cups, once used, persist indefinitely in the environment. Tina: You overlook the environmental effects of paper cups. A study done 5 years ago showed that making paper for their production burned more petroleum than was used for foam cups and used 12 times as much steam, 36 times as much electricity, and twice as much cooling water. Because paper cups weigh more, their transportation takes more energy. Paper mills produce water pollution, and when the cups decay they produce methane, a gas that contributes to harmful global warming. So they are a worse choice. | 199412_2-LR1_18_22 | [
"how soon each of the kinds of harm cited by Mark and Tina would be likely to be at its maximum level",
"whether members of some societies use, on average, more disposable goods than do members of other societies",
"whether it is necessary to seek a third alternative that has none of the negative consequences cited with respect to the two products",
"how much of the chains of causation involved in the production, marketing, and disposal of the products should be considered in analyzing their environmental impact",
"whether paper and foam cups, in their most popular sizes, hold the same quantities of liquid"
]
| 3 | To decide the issue between Mark and Tina, it would first be most important to decide |
When people experience throbbing in their teeth or gums, they have serious dental problems, and if a dental problem is serious, it will be a problem either of tooth decay or of gum disease. Therefore, since throbbing in the teeth or gums is a sign of serious dental problems, and neither Sabina's teeth nor her gums are throbbing, Sabina can be suffering from neither tooth decay nor gum disease. | 199412_2-LR1_19_23 | [
"People who drink a lot of coffee are said to have jittery nerves. Therefore, medical students who drink a lot of coffee should not become neonatologists or surgeons since neither neonatology nor surgery should be practiced by people with jittery nerves.",
"A legally practicing psychiatrist must have both a medical degree and psychiatric training. Thus, since Emmett has not undergone psychiatric training, if he is practicing as a psychiatrist, he is not doing so legally.",
"Someone with severe nasal congestion has a sinus infection or else is suffering from an allergy. Therefore, if Barton does not have a sinus infection, Barton probably does not have severe nasal congestion.",
"If a person is interested in either physics or chemistry, then that person would be wise to consider a career in medicine. Yolanda, however, is interested in neither physics nor chemistry, so it would not be wise for her to consider a career in medicine.",
"Someone who is neither an ophthalmologist nor an optometrist lacks specialized training for diagnosing defects of the eye. Therefore, Kim must have been trained in ophthalmology or optometry, given that she accurately diagnosed John's eye defect."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following contains an error of reasoning most similar to that made in the argument above? |
A certain airport security scanner designed to detect explosives in luggage will alert the scanner's operator whenever the piece of luggage passing under the scanner contains an explosive. The scanner will erroneously alert the operator for only one percent of the pieces of luggage that contain no explosives. Thus in ninety-nine out of a hundred alerts explosives will actually be present. | 199412_2-LR1_20_24 | [
"ignores the possibility of the scanner's failing to signal an alert when the luggage does contain an explosive",
"draws a general conclusion about reliability on the basis of a sample that is likely to be biased",
"ignores the possibility of human error on the part of the scanner's operator once the scanner has alerted him or her",
"fails to acknowledge the possibility that the scanner will not be equally sensitive to all kinds of explosives",
"substitutes one group for a different group in the statement of a percentage"
]
| 4 | The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument |
Unless negotiations begin soon, the cease-fire will be violated by one of the two sides to the dispute. Negotiations will be held only if other countries have pressured the two sides to negotiate; an agreement will emerge only if other countries continue such pressure throughout the negotiations. But no negotiations will be held until international troops enforcing the cease-fire have demonstrated their ability to counter any aggression from either side, thus suppressing a major incentive for the two sides to resume fighting. | 199412_2-LR1_21_25 | [
"The cease-fire has not been violated by either of the two sides.",
"International troops enforcing the cease-fire have demonstrated that they can counter aggression from either of the two sides.",
"A major incentive for the two sides to resume hostilities has been suppressed.",
"Other countries have exerted pressure on the two sides to the dispute.",
"The negotiations' reaching an agreement depends in part on the actions of other countries."
]
| 0 | If the statements above are true, and if negotiations between the two sides do begin soon, at the time those negotiations begin each of the following must also be true EXCEPT: |
If Blankenship Enterprises has to switch suppliers in the middle of a large production run, the company will not show a profit for the year. Therefore, if Blankenship Enterprises in fact turns out to show no profit for the year, it will also turn out to be true that the company had to switch suppliers during a large production run. | 199412_2-LR1_22_26 | [
"The argument is a circular argument made up of an opening claim followed by a conclusion that merely paraphrases that claim.",
"The argument fails to establish that a condition under which a phenomenon is said to occur is the only condition under which that phenomenon occurs.",
"The argument involves an equivocation, in that the word \"profit\" is allowed to shift its meaning during the course of the argument.",
"The argument erroneously uses an exceptional, isolated case to support a universal conclusion.",
"The argument explains one event as being caused by another event, even though both events must actually have been caused by some third, unidentified event."
]
| 1 | The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds? |
James:In my own house, I do what I want. In banning smoking on passenger airlines during domestic flights, the government has ignored the airlines' right to set smoking policies on their own property. Eileen:Your house is for your own use. Because a passenger airline offers a service to the public, the passengers' health must come first. | 199412_4-LR2_1_1 | [
"draw a distinction",
"offer a definition",
"establish an analogy",
"derive a contradiction from it",
"question its motivation"
]
| 0 | The basic step in Eileen's method of attacking James' argument is to |
The company that produces XYZ, a computer spreadsheet program, estimates that millions of illegally reproduced copies of XYZ are being used. If legally purchased, this number of copies would have generated millions of dollars in sales for the company, yet despite a company-wide effort to boost sales, the company has not taken available legal measures to prosecute those who have copied the program illegally. | 199412_4-LR2_2_2 | [
"XYZ is very difficult to copy illegally, because a sophisticated anticopying mechanism in the program must first be disabled.",
"The legal measures that the company that produces XYZ could take against those who have copied its product became available several years before XYZ came on the market.",
"Many people who purchase a software program like XYZ are willing to purchase that program only after they have already used it.",
"The number of illegally reproduced copies of XYZ currently in use exceeds the number of legally reproduced copies currently in use.",
"The company that produces ABC, the spreadsheet program that is XYZ's main rival in the marketplace, is well known for taking legal action against people who have copied ABC illegally."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why the company has not taken available legal measures? |
Kim:Some people claim that the battery-powered electric car represents a potential solution to the problem of air pollution. But they forget that it takes electricity to recharge batteries and that most of our electricity is generated by burning polluting fossil fuels. Increasing the number of electric cars on the road would require building more generating facilities since current facilities are operating at maximum capacity. So even if all of the gasoline-powered cars on the roads today were replaced by electric cars, it would at best be an exchange of one source of fossil-fuel pollution for another. | 199412_4-LR2_3_3 | [
"replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will require building more generating facilities",
"a significant reduction in air pollution cannot be achieved unless people drive less",
"all forms of automobile transportation are equally harmful to the environment in terms of the air pollution they produce",
"battery-powered electric cars are not a viable solution to the air-pollution problem",
"gasoline-powered cars will probably remain a common means of transportation for the foreseeable future"
]
| 3 | The main point made in Kim's argument is that |
Kim:Some people claim that the battery-powered electric car represents a potential solution to the problem of air pollution. But they forget that it takes electricity to recharge batteries and that most of our electricity is generated by burning polluting fossil fuels. Increasing the number of electric cars on the road would require building more generating facilities since current facilities are operating at maximum capacity. So even if all of the gasoline-powered cars on the roads today were replaced by electric cars, it would at best be an exchange of one source of fossil-fuel pollution for another. | 199412_4-LR2_3_4 | [
"Replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will not lead to a net increase in the total number of cars on the road.",
"Gasoline-powered cars are currently not the most significant source of fossil-fuel pollution.",
"Replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars is justified only if electric cars produce less air pollution.",
"While it is being operated, a battery-powered electric car does not cause any significant air pollution",
"At least some of the generating facilities built to meet the demand for electricity for battery-powered electric cars would be of a type that burns fossil fuel."
]
| 4 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which Kim's argument depends? |
Planetary bodies differ from one another in their composition, but most of those in the Solar System have solid surfaces. Unless the core of such a planetary body generates enough heat to cause volcanic action, the surface of the body will not be renewed for millions of years. Any planetary body with a solid surface whose surface is not renewed for millions of years becomes heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters, just like the Earth's Moon. Some old planetary bodies in the Solar System, such as Europa, a very cold moon belonging to Jupiter, have solid icy surfaces with very few meteorite craters. | 199412_4-LR2_4_5 | [
"The Earth's Moon does not have an icy surface.",
"If a planetary body does not have a heavily pockmarked surface, its core does not generate enough heat to cause volcanic action.",
"Some planetary bodies whose cores generate enough heat to cause volcanic action do not have solid icy surfaces.",
"Some of Jupiter's moons are heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters.",
"Some very cold planetary bodies have cores that generate enough heat to cause volcanic action."
]
| 4 | If the claims above are true, which one of the following must, on the basis of them, be true? |
Patient: Pharmacists maintain that doctors should not be permitted to sell the medicine that they prescribe because doctors would then be tempted to prescribe unnecessary medicines in order to earn extra income. But pharmacists have a financial interest in having a monopoly on the sale of prescription medicines, so their objection to the sale of medicines by doctors cannot be taken seriously. | 199412_4-LR2_5_6 | [
"pointing out an unstated assumption on which the pharmacists' argument relies and then refuting it",
"attempting to discredit a position by questioning the motives of the proponents of that position",
"undermining the pharmacists' conclusion by demonstrating that one of the statements used to support the conclusion is false",
"rejecting a questionable position on the grounds that the general public does not support that position",
"asserting that pharmacists lack the appropriate knowledge to have informed opinions on the subject under discussion"
]
| 1 | The patient's argument proceeds by |
Murray: You claim Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists. You are wrong to make this criticism. That it is motivated by personal dislike is shown by the fact that you deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse Senator Brandon of doing. Jane: You are right that I dislike Senator Brandon, but just because I have not criticized the same failing in others doesn't mean you can excuse the senator's offense. | 199412_4-LR2_6_7 | [
"Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists",
"it is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists",
"Jane's criticism of Senator Brandon is motivated only by personal dislike",
"Senator Brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists",
"one or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists"
]
| 4 | If Murray and Jane are both sincere in what they say, then it can properly be concluded that they agree that |
Oscar:Emerging information technologies will soon make speed of information processing the single most important factor in the creation of individual, corporate, and national wealth. Consequently, the division of the world into northern countries—in general rich—and southern countries—in general poor—will soon be obsolete. Instead, there simply will be fast countries and slow countries, and thus a country's economic well-being will not be a function of its geographical position but just a matter of its relative success in incorporating those new technologies. Sylvia:But the poor countries of the south lack the economic resources to acquire those technologies and will therefore remain poor. The technologies will thus only widen the existing economic gap between north and south. | 199412_4-LR2_7_8 | [
"the prosperity of the rich countries of the north depends, at least in part, on the natural resources of the poor countries of the south",
"the emergence of new information technologies will not result in a significant net increase in the total amount of global wealth",
"there are technologies other than information technologies whose development could help narrow the existing economic gap between north and south",
"at least some of the rich countries of the north will be effective in incorporating new information technologies into their economies",
"the speed at which information processing takes place will continue to increase indefinitely"
]
| 3 | Sylvia's reasoning depends on the assumption that |
Oscar:Emerging information technologies will soon make speed of information processing the single most important factor in the creation of individual, corporate, and national wealth. Consequently, the division of the world into northern countries—in general rich—and southern countries—in general poor—will soon be obsolete. Instead, there simply will be fast countries and slow countries, and thus a country's economic well-being will not be a function of its geographical position but just a matter of its relative success in incorporating those new technologies. Sylvia:But the poor countries of the south lack the economic resources to acquire those technologies and will therefore remain poor. The technologies will thus only widen the existing economic gap between north and south. | 199412_4-LR2_7_9 | [
"overlooks the possibility that the ability of countries to acquire new technologies at some time in the future will depend on factors other than those countries' present economic status",
"fails to establish that the division of the world into rich countries and poor countries is the single most important problem that will confront the world economy in the future",
"ignores the possibility that, in determining a country's future wealth, the country's incorporation of information-processing technologies might be outweighed by a combination of other factors",
"provides no reason to believe that faster information processing will have only beneficial effects on countries that successfully incorporate new information technologies into their economies",
"makes no distinction between those of the world's rich countries that are the wealthiest and those that are less wealthy"
]
| 2 | The reasoning that Oscar uses in supporting his prediction is vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it |
At the beginning of each month, companies report to the federal government their net loss or gain in jobs over the past month. These reports are then consolidated by the government and reported as the total gain or loss for the past month.Despite accurate reporting by companies and correct tallying by the government, the number of jobs lost was significantly underestimated in the recent recession. | 199412_4-LR2_8_10 | [
"More jobs are lost in a recession than in a period of growth.",
"The expenses of collecting and reporting employment data have steadily increased.",
"More people who lose their jobs start up their own businesses.",
"In the recent recession a large number of failing companies abruptly ceased all operations.",
"The recent recession contributed to the growing preponderance of service jobs over manufacturing jobs."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to a resolution of the apparent discrepancy described? |
Beverage company representative: The plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together pose a threat to wild animals, which often become entangled in the discarded rings and suffocate as a result. Following our lead, all beverage companies will soon use only those rings consisting of a new plastic that disintegrates after only three days' exposure to sunlight. Once we all complete the switchover from the old to the new plastic rings, therefore, the threat of suffocation that plastic rings pose to wild animals will be eliminated. | 199412_4-LR2_9_11 | [
"None of the new plastic rings can disintegrate after only two days' exposure to sunlight.",
"The switchover to the new plastic rings can be completed without causing significant financial hardship to the beverage companies.",
"Wild animals will not become entangled in the new plastic rings before the rings have had sufficient exposure to sunlight to disintegrate.",
"Use of the old plastic rings poses no substantial threat to wild animals other than that of suffocation.",
"Any wild animal that becomes entangled in the old plastic rings will suffocate as a result."
]
| 2 | The argument depends on which one of the following assumptions? |
Beverage company representative: The plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together pose a threat to wild animals, which often become entangled in the discarded rings and suffocate as a result. Following our lead, all beverage companies will soon use only those rings consisting of a new plastic that disintegrates after only three days' exposure to sunlight. Once we all complete the switchover from the old to the new plastic rings, therefore, the threat of suffocation that plastic rings pose to wild animals will be eliminated. | 199412_4-LR2_9_12 | [
"The switchover to the new plastic rings will take at least two more years to complete.",
"After the beverage companies have switched over to the new plastic rings, a substantial number of the old plastic rings will persist in most aquatic and woodland environments.",
"The new plastic rings are slightly less expensive than the old rings.",
"The new plastic rings rarely disintegrate during shipping of beverage six-packs because most trucks that transport canned beverages protect their cargo from sunlight.",
"The new plastic rings disintegrate into substances that are harmful to aquatic animals when ingested in substantial quantities by them."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the representative's argument? |
Alcohol consumption has been clearly linked to high blood pressure, which increases the likelihood of developing heart disease. Yet in a study of the effects of alcohol consumption, the incidence of heart disease was lower among participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day than it was among participants identified as nondrinkers. | 199412_4-LR2_10_13 | [
"Because many people who do not drink alcohol are conscious of their health habits, they are likely to engage in regular exercise and to eat nutritionally well-balanced meals.",
"Many of the participants identified as nondrinkers were people who had been heavy drinkers but had stopped drinking alcohol prior to participating in the study.",
"Some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day said that they occasionally drank large quantities of alcohol.",
"Some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day had high blood pressure.",
"The two groups of participants were similar to each other with respect to the participants' age, sex, geographical origin, and economic background."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above? |
Some of the world's most beautiful cats are Persian cats. However, it must be acknowledged that all Persian cats are pompous, and pompous cats are invariably irritating. | 199412_4-LR2_11_14 | [
"Some of the world's most beautiful cats are irritating.",
"Some irritating cats are among the world's most beautiful cats.",
"Any cat that is not irritating is not a Persian cat.",
"Some pompous cats are among the world's most beautiful cats.",
"Some irritating and beautiful cats are not Persian cats."
]
| 4 | If the statements above are true, each of the following must also be true on the basis of them EXCEPT: |
At Flordyce University any student who wants to participate in a certain archaeological dig is eligible to do so but only if the student has taken at least one archaeology course and has shown an interest in the field. Many students who have shown an interest in archaeology never take even one archaeology course. Therefore, many students who want to participate in the dig will be ineligible to do so. | 199412_4-LR2_12_15 | [
"Theoretically, any jar is worth saving regardless of its size, but only if it has a lid. Therefore, since some jars are sure not to have lids, there are certain sizes of jar that are actually not worth saving.",
"For a horse that is well schooled to be ideal for beginning riders that horse must also be surefooted and gentle. Many horses that are surefooted are not gentle. Therefore many well-schooled horses are not ideal for beginning riders.",
"If an author's first novel has a romantic setting and a suspenseful plot, it will become a best-seller. Since many authors' first novels have neither, not many first novels become best-sellers.",
"Any automobile that is more than a few years old is eventually sure to need repairs if it is not regularly maintained. Many automobiles are more than a few years old, but still do not need repairs. Therefore, many automobiles are regularly maintained.",
"An expensive new building will prove to be a good investment only if it is aesthetically pleasing or provides lots of office space. However, since many expensive new buildings are not aesthetically pleasing, few expensive new buildings will prove to be good investments."
]
| 1 | The flawed reasoning of which one of the following arguments is most similar to that of the argument above? |
From the observation that each member of a group could possess a characteristic, it is fallacious to conclude immediately that it is possible for all the group's members to possess the characteristic. An example in which the fallacy is obvious: arguing that because each of the players entering a tennis tournament has a possibility of winning it, there is therefore a possibility that all will win the tournament. | 199412_4-LR2_13_16 | [
"You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.",
"Each of the candidates for mayor appears at first glance to possess the necessary qualifications. It would therefore be a mistake to rule out any of them without more careful examination.",
"Each of the many nominees could be appointed to any one of the three openings on the committee. Therefore it is possible for all of the nominees to be appointed to the openings on the committee.",
"If a fair coin is tossed five times, then on each toss the chance of heads being the result is half. Therefore the chance of heads being the result on all five tosses is also half.",
"It is estimated that ten million planets capable of supporting life exist in our galaxy. Thus to rule out the possibility of life on worlds other than Earth, ten million planetary explorations would be needed."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following commits the fallacy described above? |
Recent research shows that hesitation, shifting posture, and failure to maintain eye contact are not reliable indicators in discriminating between those who are lying and those who are telling the truth. The research indicates that behavior that cannot be controlled is a much better clue, at least when the lie is important to the liar. Such behavior includes the dilation of eye pupils, which indicates emotional arousal, and small movements of facial muscles, which indicate distress, fear, or anger. | 199412_4-LR2_14_17 | [
"A person who is lying might be aware that he or she is being closely observed for indications of lying.",
"Someone who is telling the truth might nevertheless have a past history of lying.",
"A practiced liar might have achieved great control over body posture and eye contact.",
"A person telling the truth might be affected emotionally by being suspected of lying or by some other aspect of the situation.",
"Someone who is lying might exhibit hesitation and shifting posture as well as dilated pupils."
]
| 3 | Which one of the following provides the strongest reason for exercising caution when relying on the "better" clues mentioned above in order to discover whether someone is lying? |
Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailments. At the more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains, and allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, life-threatening diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. People turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. One of the reasons alternative medicine is free of such side effects is that it does not have any effects at all. | 199412_4-LR2_15_18 | [
"Practitioners of alternative medicine are acting in bad faith.",
"There are some medical conditions for which no orthodox or alternative treatment is effective.",
"There are some trivial illnesses that can be treated effectively by the methods of alternative medicine.",
"There are no effective medical treatments that are free from unacceptable side effects.",
"Orthodox medicine will eventually produce a solution for the diseases that are currently incurable."
]
| 1 | If the statements above are true, which one of the following can be properly inferred from them? |
Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailments. At the more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains, and allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, life-threatening diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. People turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. One of the reasons alternative medicine is free of such side effects is that it does not have any effects at all. | 199412_4-LR2_15_19 | [
"predictions based on orthodox medicine have sometimes failed, as when a patient has recovered despite the judgment of doctors that an illness is fatal",
"alternative medicine relies on concepts of the body and of the nature of healing that differ from those on which orthodox medicine is based",
"alternative medicine provides hope to those for whom orthodox medicine offers no cure",
"a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and promote healing",
"many treatments used for a time by orthodox medicine have later been found to be totally ineffective"
]
| 3 | The charge made above against alternative medicine is most seriously weakened if it is true that |
Humans began to spread across North America around 12,000 years ago, as the climate became warmer. During the same period the large mammals that were once abundant in North America, such as the mastodon, the woolly mammoth, and the saber-toothed tiger, became extinct. Thus, contrary to the myth that humans formerly lived in harmony with the rest of nature, it is clear that even 12,000 years ago human activity was causing the extinction of animal species. | 199412_4-LR2_16_20 | [
"it adopts without question a view of the world in which humans are seen as not included in nature",
"in calling the idea that humans once lived in harmony with nature a myth the argument presupposes what it attempts to prove",
"for early inhabitants of North America the destruction of mastodons, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers might have had very different significance than the extinction of mammal species does for modern humans",
"there might have been many other species of animals, besides mastodons, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers, that became extinct as the result of the spread of humans across North America",
"the evidence it cites is consistent with the alternative hypothesis that the large mammals' extinction was a direct result of the same change in climate that allowed humans to spread across North America"
]
| 4 | The argument is most vulnerable to the criticism that |
The town of Greenfield recently instituted a substantial supplementary tax on all households, whereby each household is taxed in proportion to the volume of the trash that it puts out for trash collectors to pick up, as measured by the number of standard-sized garbage bags put out. In order to reduce the volume of the trash on which their tax bill is based, Greenfield households can deliver their recyclable trash to a conveniently located local commercial recycling center, where such trash is accepted free of charge. | 199412_4-LR2_17_21 | [
"sort out recyclable trash thoroughly from their other trash",
"dump nonrecyclable trash illegally at parks and roadsides",
"compress and nest items of nonrecyclable trash before putting them out for pickup",
"deliver recyclable materials to the recycling center instead of passing them on to neighbors who want to reuse them",
"buy products without packaging or with recyclable rather than nonrecyclable packaging"
]
| 3 | The supplementary tax provides some financial incentive to Greenfield households to do each of the following EXCEPT |
In a survey of consumers in an Eastern European nation, respondents were asked two questions about each of 400 famous Western brands: whether or not they recognized the brand name and whether or not they thought the products bearing that name were of high quality. The results of the survey were a rating and corresponding rank order for each brand based on recognition, and a second rating-plus-ranking based on approval. The brands ranked in the top 27 for recognition were those actually available in that nation. The approval ratings of these 27 brands often differed sharply from their recognition ratings. By contrast, most of the other brands had ratings, and thus rankings, that were essentially the same for recognition as for approval. | 199412_4-LR2_18_22 | [
"Never ask all respondents a question if it cannot reasonably be answered by respondents who make a particular response to another question in the same survey.",
"Never ask a question that is likely to generate a large variety of responses that are difficult to group into a manageable number of categories.",
"Never ask all respondents a question that respondents cannot answer without giving up their anonymity.",
"It is better to ask the same question about ten different products than to ask ten different questions about a single product.",
"It is best to ask questions that a respondent can answer without fear of having gotten the answer wrong."
]
| 0 | Which one of the following, if each is a principle about consumer surveys, is violated by the survey described ? |
A certain species of bird has two basic varieties crested and noncrested. The birds, which generally live in flocks that contain only crested or only noncrested birds, tend to select mates of the same variety as themselves. However, if a bird that is raising a flock in which all other members are crested is later moved to a mixed flock, then that bird— whether crested or noncrested—is likely to select a crested mate. This fact indicates that the birds' preference for crested or noncrested mates is learned rather than genetically determined. | 199412_4-LR2_19_23 | [
"Birds of other species also tend to show preferences for mates that have one or another specific physical feature.",
"In general there are few behavioral differences between the crested and noncrested birds of the species.",
"Both the crested and noncrested birds of the species tend to select mates that are similar to themselves in size and age.",
"If a crested bird of the species is raised in captivity apart from other birds and is later moved to a mixed flock, that bird is likely to select a crested mate.",
"If a bird of the species is raised in a flock that contains both crested and noncrested birds, that bird shows no preference for one variety or the other in its selection of a mate."
]
| 4 | Which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the argument? |
Plant species differ in that renewed growth in spring can be triggered by day length or by temperature or else by a combination of both. Day length is the same, year after year, for any given date. Therefore, any plant species that starts to grow again on widely different dates in different years resumes growth at least in part in response to temperature. | 199412_4-LR2_20_24 | [
"In Xandia, medical assistant trainees must either complete a formal training course or work for one year under the close supervision of a physician. Since few physicians are willing to act as supervisors, it must be true that most medical assistant trainees in Xandia take the training course.",
"In the Crawford area, easterly winds mean rain will come and westerly winds mean dry weather will come; winds from other directions do not occur. Therefore, since it is currently raining in Crawford, there must be an easterly wind blowing there now.",
"Some landfills charge garbage companies by volume only, some charge by weight only, and all others use a formula sensitive to both volume and weight. So if at a particular landfill the charges for two particular loads of equal volume dumped on the same day are different, weight must determine, or help determine, charges at that landfill.",
"Depending on volume of business, either one or two or three store detectives are needed for adequate protection against shoplifting. Therefore, if on any particular day store management has decided that three detectives will be needed, it must be because business that day is expected to be heavy.",
"A call is more likely to be heard if it is loud rather than soft, if it is high-pitched rather than low-pitched, and especially if it is both loud and high-pitched. Therefore, anyone whose call goes unheard in spite of being at maximum loudness should try to raise the pitch of the call."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following arguments is most similar in its pattern of reasoning to the argument above? |
Rainfall in the drought-plagued metropolitan area was heavier than usual for the month of June. Nevertheless, by the first of July the city's water shortage was more severe than ever, and officials proposed drastic restrictions on the use of water. | 199502_2-LR1_1_1 | [
"Moderate restrictions on the industrial use of water had gone into effect in the metropolitan area several months earlier.",
"Because of the heavier rainfall, people watered their lawns much less in June than they usually do in the metropolitan area during that month.",
"People in the metropolitan area who had voluntarily reduced their use of water in earlier months when officials voiced alarm used greater than normal amounts of water when rainfall seemed plentiful in June.",
"During the drought most residents of the metropolitan area had been informed about water conservation methods that would help them to reduce their water consumption significantly with a minimal reduction in their standard of living.",
"The per capita rate of the use of water in the metropolitan area was slightly lower in June than in each of the three previous months and significantly lower than in June of the previous year."
]
| 2 | Which one of the following, if true, helps to explain why the city's water shortage was not alleviated by the first of July? |
Manager: I have circulated a posting for the position of Social Scientific Researcher. Applicants must have either an earned doctorate and a track record of published research, or else five years' work experience. The relevant fields for these requirements are sociology, psychology, and education. | 199502_2-LR1_2_2 | [
"Joanne Bernstein has worked for the department of education as coordinator of research for the past eleven years. She also served for six years as director of the Save the Children Fund, for which she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the liberal arts college where she earned her bachelor's degree.",
"Alvin Johnson is a doctoral candidate at a local university and is currently working on a dissertation. Prior to undertaking doctoral studies, he worked as a psychology researcher for seven years.",
"Edward St. John has worked as a business consultant for the past ten years, during which time he has published six novels. He holds an earned doctorate from one of the nation's foremost business schools.",
"Michael Roberts has published two highly regarded books on the problems of urban public schools and has a master's degree in special education. He taught special education classes for two years and then for four years served as a research associate with the Mayor's Task Force on Education.",
"Alicia Arias holds an earned doctorate in sociology from a prestigious university and has published one book and fifteen research articles in sociology."
]
| 2 | Which one of the applicants, as described below, does NOT meet the manager's requirements? |
Deer mice normally do not travel far from their nests, and deer mice that are moved more than half a kilometer from their nests generally never find their way back. Yet in one case, when researchers camped near a deer mouse nest and observed a young deer mouse for several weeks before moving it to an area over two kilometers away, the deer mouse found its way back to its nest near their camp in less than two days. | 199502_2-LR1_3_3 | [
"The area to which the deer mouse was moved was dryer and more rocky than the area in which its nest was located.",
"The researchers released the deer mouse in a flat area across which their campfire smoke drifted.",
"There were very few deer mice in the area to which the deer mouse was moved.",
"The researchers had moved the deer mouse in a small dark box, keeping the mouse calm before it was released.",
"Animals that prey on deer mice were common in the area to which the deer mouse was moved."
]
| 1 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain how the deer mouse might have found its way back to its nest? |
The government's proposed 8 percent cut in all subsidies to arts groups will be difficult for those groups to absorb. As can be seen, however, from their response to last year's cut, it will not put them out of existence. Last year there was also an 8 percent cut, and though private fund-raising was very difficult for the arts groups in the current recessionary economy, they did survive. | 199502_2-LR1_4_4 | [
"relies without warrant on the probability that the economy will improve",
"does not raise the issue of whether there should be any government subsidies to arts groups at all",
"equates the mere survival of the arts groups with their flourishing",
"does not take into account that the dollar amount of the proposed cut is lower than the dollar amount of last year's cut",
"overlooks the possibility that the cumulative effect of the cuts will be more than the arts groups can withstand"
]
| 4 | The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument |
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