1.
“Life expectancy” is the average age at death of the entire live-born population. In the middle of the nineteenth century, life expectancy in North America was 40 years, whereas now it is nearly 80 years. Thus, in those days, people must have been considered old at an age that we now consider the prime of life.
Which of the following, if true, undermines the argument above?
(A) In the middle of the nineteenth century, the population of North America was significantly smaller than it is today. （不相关：多个因素之一）
(B) Most of the gains in life expectancy in the last 150 years have come from reductions in the number of infants who die in their first year of life. （相关度大：确定）
(C) Many of the people who live to an advanced age today do so only because of medical technology that was unknown in the nineteenth century. （不相关：支持）
(D) The proportion of people who die in their seventies is significantly smaller today than is the proportion of people who die in their eighties. （不相关：支持）
(E) More people in the middle of the nineteenth century engaged regularly in vigorous physical activity than do so today. （相关度小：不确定）
5.
A company is considering changing its policy concerning daily working hours. Currently, this company requires all employees to arrive at work at 8 a.m. The proposed policy would permit each employee to decide when to arrive—from as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 11 a.m.
The adoption of this policy would be most likely to decrease employees’ productivity if the employees’ job functions required them to
(A) work without interruption from other employees（不相关：不需要合作，相反）
(B) consult at least once a day with employees from other companies（不相关：不需要经常合作，相反）
(C) submit their work for a supervisor’s eventual approval（不相关：不需要经常合作，相反）
(D) interact frequently with each other throughout the entire workday（相关：经常合作，支持）
(E) undertake projects that take several days to complete（不相关：没提到合作）
10.
Cable-television spokesperson: Subscriptions to cable television are a bargain in comparison to “free” television. Remember that “free” television is not really free. It is consumers, in the end, who pay for the costly advertising that supports “free” television.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the position of the cable-television spokesperson?
(A) Consumers who do not own television sets are less likely to be influenced in their purchasing decisions by television advertising than are consumers who own television sets. （不相关：不看电视者）
(B) Subscriptions to cable television include access to some public-television channels, which do not accept advertising. （不相关：公共电视，支持）
(C) For locations with poor television reception, cable television provides picture quality superior to that provided by free television. （不相关：接收质量）
(D) There is as much advertising on many cable-television channels as there is on “free” television channels. （相关：有线不免费）
(E) Cable-television subscribers can choose which channels they wish to receive. （不相关：接收频道）
15.
A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?
(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting. （不相关：短期变化）
(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans. （不相关：益处）
(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America. （不相关：范围）
(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night, yet they are not generally feared and persecuted. （相关：习性相同，形象不同）
(E) People know more about the behavior of other greatly feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and snakes, than they do about the behavior of bats. （不相关：了解程度，支持）
23.
A drug that is highly effective in treating many types of infection can, at present, be obtained only from the bark of the ibora, a tree that is quite rare in the wild. It takes the bark of 5,000 trees to make one kilogram of the drug. It follows, therefore, that continued production of the drug must inevitably lead to the ibora’s extinction.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) The drug made from ibora bark is dispensed to doctors from a central authority. （不相关：药物分配）
(B) The drug made from ibora bark is expensive to produce. （不相关：制造成本）
(C) The leaves of the ibora are used in a number of medical products. （相关度小：其他灭绝原因）
(D) The ibora can be propagated from cuttings and grown under cultivation. （相关：人工种植）
(E) The ibora generally grows in largely inaccessible places. （不相关：收获难度）
30.
Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather patterns. Because the satellites can be repaired only in orbit, astronauts are needed to repair them. Without repairs, the satellites would eventually malfunction. Therefore, space flights carrying astronauts must continue.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?
(A) Satellites falling from orbit because of malfunctions burn up in the atmosphere. （不相关：故障后果，支持）
(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also make some use of computer projections to identify weather patterns. （不相关：卫星作用，支持）
(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money into social welfare programs. （不相关：其他原因，与推理无关）
(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying astronauts into orbit. （不相关：燃料、设备）
(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit. （相关：新卫星，否定前提）
35.
Last year the rate of inflation was 1.2 percent, but for the current year it has been 4 percent. We can conclude that inflation is on an upward trend and the rate will be still higher next year.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?
(A) The inflation figures were computed on the basis of a representative sample of economic data rather than all of the available data. （不相关：样本代表性）
(B) Last year a dip in oil prices brought inflation temporarily below its recent stable annual level of 4 percent. （相关：有其他原因）
(C) Increases in the pay of some workers are tied to the level of inflation, and at an inflation rate of 4 percent or above, these pay raises constitute a force causing further inflation. （不相关：上涨因素，支持）
(D) The 1.2 percent rate of inflation last year represented a 10-year low. （不相关：时间范围，信息不足）
(E) Government intervention cannot affect the rate of inflation to any significant degree. （不相关：政府干预）
36.
Offshore oil-drilling operations entail an unavoidable risk of an oil spill, but importing oil on tankers presently entails an even greater such risk per barrel of oil. Therefore, if we are to reduce the risk of an oil spill without curtailing our use of oil, we must invest more in offshore operations and import less oil on tankers.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Tankers can easily be redesigned so that their use entails less risk of an oil spill. （相关：改进油轮，否定前提）
(B) Oil spills caused by tankers have generally been more serious than those caused by offshore operations. （不相关：油轮弊端，支持）
(C) The impact of offshore operations on the environment can be controlled by careful management. （不相关：离岸改进，支持）
(D) Offshore operations usually damage the ocean floor, but tankers rarely cause such damage. （不相关：离岸其他弊端）
(E) Importing oil on tankers is currently less expensive than drilling for it offshore. （不相关：油轮成本优势）
40.
In the last decade there has been a significant decrease in coffee consumption. During this same time, there has been increasing publicity about the adverse long-term effects on health of the caffeine in coffee. Therefore, the decrease in coffee consumption must have been caused by consumers’ awareness of the harmful effects of caffeine.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above?
(A) On average, people consume 30 percent less coffee today than they did 10 years ago. （不相关：现象重述）
(B) Heavy coffee drinkers may have mild withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, for a day or so after significantly decreasing their coffee consumption. （不相关：咖啡饮用减少效果，非原因）
(C) Sales of specialty types of coffee have held steady as sales of regular brands have declined. （不相关：部分咖啡消费下降，支持）
(D) The consumption of fruit juices and caffeine-free herbal teas has increased over the past decade. （不相关：其他消费上升，支持）
(E) Coffee prices increased steadily in the past decade because of unusually severe frosts in coffee-growing nations. （相关：有其他因素）
45.
Some anthropologists study modern-day societies of foragers in an effort to learn about our ancient ancestors who were also foragers. A flaw in this strategy is that forager societies are extremely varied. Indeed, any forager society with which anthropologists are familiar has had considerable contact with modern, non-forager societies.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the criticism made above of the anthropologists’ strategy?
(A) All forager societies throughout history have had a number of important features in common that are absent from other types of societies. （相关：延续历史、现代不同）
(B) Most ancient forager societies either dissolved or made a transition to another way of life. （不相关：社会转变）
(C) All anthropologists study one kind or another of modern-day society. （不相关：学者行为）
(D) Many anthropologists who study modern-day forager societies do not draw inferences about ancient societies on the basis of their studies. （不相关：研究现代社会的缺点）
(E) Even those modern-day forager societies that have not had significant contact with modern societies are importantly different from ancient forager societies. （不相关：现代与历史不同，支持）
60.
Red blood cells in which the malarial-fever parasite resides are eliminated from a person’s body after 120 days. Because the parasite cannot travel to a new generation of red blood cells, any fever that develops in a person more than 120 days after that person has moved to a malaria-free region is not due to the malarial parasite.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?
(A) The fever caused by the malarial parasite may resemble the fever caused by flu viruses. （不相关：症状）
(B) The anopheles mosquito, which is the principal insect carrier of the malarial parasite, has been eradicated in many parts of the world. （不相关：其他传播者）
(C) Many malarial symptoms other than the fever, which can be suppressed with antimalarial medication, can reappear within 120 days after the medication is discontinued. （不相关：药物疗效）
(D) In some cases, the parasite that causes malarial fever travels to cells of the spleen, which are less frequently eliminated from a person’s body than are red blood cells. （相关：存在其他载体）
(E) In any region infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes, there are individuals who appear to be immune to malaria. （不相关：免疫力）
63.
When hypnotized subjects are told that they are deaf and are then asked whether they can hear the hypnotist, they reply, “No.” Some theorists try to explain this result by arguing that the selves of hypnotized subjects are dissociated into separate parts, and that the part that is deaf is dissociated from the part that replies.
Which of the following challenges indicates the most serious weakness in the attempted explanation described above?
(A) Why does the part that replies not answer, “Yes”? （相关：回答内容）
(B) Why are the observed facts in need of any special explanation? （不相关：需要解释的理由）
(C) Why do the subjects appear to accept the hypnotist’s suggestion that they are deaf? （不相关：需要解释的内容，可以被解释）
(D) Why do hypnotized subjects all respond the same way in the situation described? （不相关：回答的方式，可以被解释）
(E) Why are the separate parts of the self the same for all subjects? （不相关：分区相同的理由，未提及）
73.
In comparison to the standard typewriter keyboard, the EFCO keyboard, which places the most-used keys nearest the typist’s strongest fingers, allows faster typing and results in less fatigue. Therefore, replacement of standard keyboards with the EFCO keyboard will result in an immediate reduction of typing costs.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn above?
(A) People who use both standard and EFCO keyboards report greater difficulty in the transition from the EFCO keyboard to the standard keyboard than in the transition from the standard keyboard to the EFCO keyboard. （不相关：新旧转换成本高，支持）
(B) EFCO keyboards are no more expensive to manufacture than are standard keyboards and require less frequent repair than do standard keyboards. （不相关：长期维护成本低）
(C) The number of businesses and government agencies that use EFCO keyboards is increasing each year. （不相关：使用率提高，支持）
(D) The more training and experience an employee has had with the standard keyboard, the more costly it is to train that employee to use the EFCO keyboard. （相关：有经验员工培训成本高）
(E) Novice typists can learn to use the EFCO keyboard in about the same amount of time that it takes them to learn to use the standard keyboard. （不相关：新手培训时间相同）
75.
An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is responsible for the poor agricultural production in Country X since its new government came to power. Neighboring Country Y has experienced the same climatic conditions, but while agricultural production has been falling in Country X, it has been rising in Country Y.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X. （不相关：工业生产下降，支持）
(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport. （不相关：出海口）
(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions. （不相关：气候条件相同）
(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y. （相关：有其他原因）
(E) Country X’s new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods. （不相关：政府意图）
81.
When demand for a factory’s products is high, more money is spent at the factory for safety precautions and machinery maintenance than when demand is low. Thus the average number of on-the-job accidents per employee each month should be lower during periods when demand is high than when demand is low and less money is available for safety precautions and machinery maintenance.
Which of the following, if true about a factory when demand for its products is high, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Its employees ask for higher wages than they do at other times. （不相关：工资，与事实抵触）
(B) Its management hires new workers but lacks the time to train them properly. （相关：新员工）
(C) Its employees are less likely to lose their jobs than they are at other times. （不相关：失业减少，人数增加）
(D) Its management sponsors a monthly safety award for each division in the factory. （不相关：安全奖金，支持）
(E) Its old machinery is replaced with modern, automated models. （不相关：设备更新，支持）
83.
Journalist: In physics journals, the number of articles reporting the results of experiments involving particle accelerators was lower last year than it had been in previous years. Several of the particle accelerators at major research institutions were out of service the year before last for repairs, so it is likely that the low number of articles was due to the decline in availability of particle accelerators.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the journalist’s argument?
(A) Every article based on experiments with particle accelerators that was submitted for publication last year actually was published. （不相关：排除其他发表率低，支持）
(B) The average time scientists must wait for access to a particle accelerator has declined over the last several years. （不相关：排除设备等待时间长，支持）
(C) The number of physics journals was the same last year as in previous years. （不相关：排除期刊减少，支持）
(D) Particle accelerators can be used for more than one group of experiments in any given year. （不相关：排除设备利用率低，支持）
(E) Recent changes in the editorial policies of several physics journals have decreased the likelihood that articles concerning particle-accelerator research will be accepted for publication. （相关：存在其他原因）
87.
In the United States, of the people who moved from one state to another when they retired, the percentage who retired to Florida has decreased by three percentage points over the past ten years. Since many local businesses in Florida cater to retirees, these declines are likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses and therefore on the economy of Florida.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given?
(A) People who moved from one state to another when they retired moved a greater distance, on average, last year than such people did ten years ago. （不相关：迁移距离）
(B) People were more likely to retire to North Carolina from another state last year than people were ten years ago. （不相关：其他州）
(C) The number of people who moved from one state to another when they retired has increased significantly over the past ten years. （相关：总数增大）
(D) The number of people who left Florida when they retired to live in another state was greater last year than it was ten years ago. （不相关：迁出人数，不明确）
(E) Florida attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state. （不相关：迁移距离）
88.
Businesses are suffering because of a lack of money available for development loans. To help businesses, the government plans to modify the income-tax structure in order to induce individual taxpayers to put a larger portion of their incomes into retirement savings accounts, because as more money is deposited in such accounts, more money becomes available to borrowers.
Which of the following, if true, raises the most serious doubt regarding the effectiveness of the government’s plan to increase the amount of money available for development loans for businesses?
(A) When levels of personal retirement savings increase, consumer borrowing always increases correspondingly. （相关：存在负面效果）
(B) The increased tax revenue the government would receive as a result of business expansion would not offset the loss in revenue from personal income taxes during the first year of the plan. （不相关：税收差额）
(C) Even with tax incentives, some people will choose not to increase their levels of retirement savings. （不相关：部分影响整体，不明确）
(D) Bankers generally will not continue to lend money to businesses whose prospective earnings are insufficient to meet their loan repayment schedules. （不相关：现有贷款）
(E) The modified tax structure would give all taxpayers, regardless of their incomes, the same tax savings for a given increase in their retirement savings. （不相关：税收调整细节）
90.
A new law gives ownership of patents—documents providing exclusive right to make and sell an invention—to universities, not the government, when those patents result from government-sponsored university research. Administrators at Logos University plan to sell any patents they acquire to corporations in order to fund programs to improve undergraduate teaching.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the viability of the college administrators’ plan described above?
(A) Profit-making corporations interested in developing products based on patents held by universities are likely to try to serve as exclusive sponsors of ongoing university research projects. （不相关：赞助方式）
(B) Corporate sponsors of research in university facilities are entitled to tax credits under new federal tax-code guidelines. （不相关：赞助企业好处）
(C) Research scientists at Logos University have few or no teaching responsibilities and participate little if at all in the undergraduate programs in their field. （不相关：科学家职责）
(D) Government-sponsored research conducted at Logos University for the most part duplicates research already completed by several profit-making corporations. （相关：无人购买）
(E) Logos University is unlikely to attract corporate sponsorship of its scientific research. （不相关：吸引赞助）
96.
Hotco oil burners, designed to be used in asphalt plants, are so efficient that Hotco will sell one to the Clifton Asphalt plant for no payment other than the cost savings between the total amount the asphalt plant actually paid for oil using its former burner during the last two years and the total amount it will pay for oil using the Hotco burner during the next two years. On installation, the plant will make an estimated payment, which will be adjusted after two years to equal the actual cost savings.
Which of the following, if it occurred, would constitute a disadvantage for Hotco of the plan described above?
(A) Another manufacturer’s introduction to the market of a similarly efficient burner （不相关：竞争对手）
(B) The Clifton Asphalt plant’s need for more than one new burner （不相关：更多新设备，支持）
(C) Very poor efficiency in the Clifton Asphalt plant’s old burner （不相关：旧设备效率低，支持）
(D) A decrease in the demand for asphalt （不相关：需求下降）
(E) A steady increase in the price of oil beginning soon after the new burner is installed （相关：成本增加）
104.
Although the discount stores in Goreville’s central shopping district are expected to close within five years as a result of competition from a SpendLess discount department store that just opened, those locations will not stay vacant for long. In the five years since the opening of Colson’s, a nondiscount department store, a new store has opened at the location of every store in the shopping district that closed because it could not compete with Colson’s.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Many customers of Colson’s are expected to do less shopping there than they did before the SpendLess store opened. （不相关：顾客减少，影响不确定）
(B) Increasingly, the stores that have opened in the central shopping district since Colson’s opened have been discount stores. （相关：否定前提）
(C) At present, the central shopping district has as many stores operating in it as it ever had. （不相关：店铺未减少，支持）
(D) Over the course of the next five years, it is expected that Goreville’s population will grow at a faster rate than it has for the past several decades. （不相关：人口增加，支持）
(E) Many stores in the central shopping district sell types of merchandise that are not available at either SpendLess or Colson’s. （不相关：其他店铺）
111.
The difficulty with the proposed high-speed train line is that a used plane can be bought for one-third the price of the train line, and the plane, which is just as fast, can fly anywhere. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and in which consumers choose the freewheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes. Thus a sufficient market for the train will not exist.
Which of the following, if true, most severely weakens the argument presented above?
(A) Cars, buses, and planes require the efforts of drivers and pilots to guide them, whereas the train will be guided mechanically. （不相关：导航方式）
(B) Cars and buses are not nearly as fast as the high-speed train will be. （不相关：对比点错误）
(C) Planes are not a free-wheel system because they can fly only between airports, which are less convenient for consumers than the high-speed train’s stations would be. （相关：指出推理错误）
(D) The high-speed train line cannot use currently underutilized train stations in large cities. （不相关：其他缺点，支持）
(E) For long trips, most people prefer to fly rather than to take ground-level transportation. （不相关：飞机优点，支持）
113.
The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs can be recouped in later sales, the current 20 years of protection provided by patents should be extended in the case of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries new-product development continues despite high development costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the pharmaceutical industry’s argument against the challenge made above?
(A) No industries other than the pharmaceutical industry have asked for an extension of the 20-year limit on patent protection. （不相关：其他工业）
(B) Clinical trials of new drugs, which occur after the patent is granted and before the new drug can be marketed, often now take as long as 10 years to complete. （相关：研发周期长）
(C) There are several industries in which the ratio of research and development costs to revenues is higher than it is in the pharmaceutical industry. （不相关：其他工业成本高，反对）
(D) An existing patent for a drug does not legally prevent pharmaceutical companies from bringing to market alternative drugs, provided they are sufficiently dissimilar to the patented drug. （不相关：专利保护不力，反对）
(E) Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in products—for example, in the computer and electronics industries—for which patent protection is often very ineffective. （不相关：其他工业专利效果）
114.
Guidebook writer: I have visited hotels throughout the country and have noticed that in those built before 1930 the quality of the original carpentry work is generally superior to that in hotels built afterward. Clearly carpenters working on hotels before 1930 typically worked with more skill, care, and effort than carpenters who have worked on hotels built subsequently.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the guidebook writer’s argument?
(A) The quality of original carpentry in hotels is generally far superior to the quality of original carpentry in other structures, such as houses and stores. （不相关：相同时期，其他建筑）
(B) Hotels built since 1930 can generally accommodate more guests than those built before 1930. （不相关：建筑规模不同，不明确）
(C) The materials available to carpenters working before 1930 were not significantly different in quality from the materials available to carpenters working after 1930. （不相关：建筑材料相同）
(D) The better the quality of original carpentry in a building, the less likely that building is to fall into disuse and be demolished. （相关：观察样本代表性）
(E) The average length of apprenticeship for carpenters has declined significantly since 1930. （不相关：工匠学徒期，支持）
115.
Caterpillars of all species produce an identical hormone called “juvenile hormone” that maintains feeding behavior. Only when a caterpillar has grown to the right size for pupation to take place does a special enzyme halt the production of juvenile hormone. This enzyme can be synthesized and will, on being ingested by immature caterpillars, kill them by stopping them from feeding.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the view that it would NOT be advisable to try to eradicate agricultural pests that go through a caterpillar stage by spraying croplands with the enzyme mentioned above?
(A) Most species of caterpillar are subject to some natural predation. （不相关：效果不明确）
(B) Many agricultural pests do not go through a caterpillar stage. （不相关：非目标对象）
(C) Many agriculturally beneficial insects go through a caterpillar stage. （相关：副作用）
(D) Since caterpillars of different species emerge at different times, several sprayings would be necessary. （不相关：实施过程）
(E) Although the enzyme has been synthesized in the laboratory, no large-scale production facilities exist as yet. （不相关：生产过程）
116.
Firms adopting “profit-related-pay” (PRP) contracts pay wages at levels that vary with the firm’s profits. In the metalworking industry last year, firms with PRP contracts in place showed productivity per worker on average 13 percent higher than that of their competitors who used more traditional contracts.
If, on the basis of the evidence above, it is argued that PRP contracts increase worker productivity, which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken that argument?
(A) Results similar to those cited for the metalworking industry have been found in other industries where PRP contracts are used. （不相关：相似结果，支持）
(B) Under PRP contracts costs other than labor costs, such as plant, machinery, and energy, make up an increased proportion of the total cost of each unit of output. （不相关：其他成本比例上升）
(C) Because introducing PRP contracts greatly changes individual workers’ relationships to the firm, negotiating the introduction of PRP contracts is complex and time-consuming. （不相关：实施难度）
(D) Many firms in the metalworking industry have modernized production equipment in the last five years, and most of these introduced PRP contracts at the same time. （相关：存在其他因素）
(E) In firms in the metalworking industry where PRP contracts are in place, the average take-home pay is 15 percent higher than it is in those firms where workers have more traditional contracts. （不相关：工资提高）
117.
Scientists typically do their most creative work before the age of forty. It is commonly thought that this happens because aging by itself brings about a loss of creative capacity. However, studies show that of scientists who produce highly creative work beyond the age of forty, a disproportionately large number entered their field at an older age than is usual. Since by the age of forty the large majority of scientists have been working in their field for at least fifteen years, the studies’ finding strongly suggests that the real reason why scientists over forty rarely produce highly creative work is not that they have aged but rather that scientists over forty have generally spent too long in their field.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
(A) The first is a claim, the accuracy of which is at issue in the argument; the second is a conclusion drawn on the basis of that claim.
(B) The first is an objection that has been raised against a position defended in the argument; the second is that position.
(C) The first is evidence that has been used to support an explanation that the argument challenges; the second is that explanation.
(D) The first is evidence that has been used to support an explanation that the argument challenges; the second is a competing explanation that the argument favors.
(E) The first provides evidence to support an explanation that the argument favors; the second is that explanation.
124.
Museums that house Renaissance oil paintings typically store them in environments that are carefully kept within narrow margins of temperature and humidity to inhibit any deterioration. Laboratory tests have shown that the kind of oil paint used in these paintings actually adjusts to climatic changes quite well. If, as some museum directors believe, paint is the most sensitive substance in these works, then by relaxing the standards for temperature and humidity control, museums can reduce energy costs without risking damage to these paintings. Museums would be rash to relax those standards, however, since results of preliminary tests indicate that gesso, a compound routinely used by Renaissance artists to help paint adhere to the canvas, is unable to withstand significant variations in humidity.
In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
(A) The first is an objection that has been raised against the position taken by the argument; the second is the position taken by the argument.
(B) The first is the position taken by the argument; the second is the position that the argument calls into question.
(C) The first is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument calls into question; the second is a circumstance on which that judgment is, in part, based.
(D) The first is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument calls into question; the second is that position.
(E) The first is a claim that the argument calls into question; the second is the position taken by the argument.
