imjar

Q21: GWD-13-31
By competing with rodents for seeds, black ants help control rodent populations that pose a public health risk.  However, a very aggressive species of blank ant, the Loma ant, which has recently invaded a certain region, has a venomous sting that is often fatal to humans.  Therefore, the planned introduction into that region of ant flies, which prey on Loma ants, would benefit public health.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A.        Ant flies do not attack black ants other than Loma ants.
B.        Loma ants are less effective than many bird species in competing with rodents for seeds.
C.        Certain other species of black ants are more effective than Loma ants in competing with rodents for seeds.
D.        The sting of Loma ants can also be fatal to rodents.
E.        The use of pesticides to control Loma ants could have harmful effects on the environment.
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Q22:
Denoma, a major consumer-electronics maker, had a sizeable decline in sales revenue for its most recent fiscal year.  This result appears surprising, because electronics retailers report that although their overall sales were considerably lower than in the previous year, their sales revenue from Denoma models actually grew, largely thanks to some innovative and popular models that Denoma introduced.
Which of the following, if true, does most to explain the apparently surprising result?
A.        Because of the need to educate the public about its new models’ capabilities, Denoma’s advertising spending was higher than normal over the period.
B.        For the period at issue, Denoma’s major competitors reported declines in revenue that were, in percentage terms, greater than Denoma’s.
C.        A significant proportion of Denoma’s revenue comes from making components for other consumer-electronics manufacturers.
D.        Unlike some of its major competitors, Denoma has no lines of business outside consumer electronics to provide revenue when retail sales of consumer electronics are weak.
E.        During the period, consumer-electronics retailers sold remaining units of Denoma’s superseded models at prices that were deeply discounted from those models’ original prices.
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Q29:
The Earth’s rivers constantly carry dissolved salts into its oceans.  Clearly, therefore, by taking the resulting increase in salt levels in the oceans over the past hundred years and then determining how many centuries of such increases it would have taken the oceans to reach current salt levels from a hypothetical initial salt-free state, the maximum age of the Earth’s oceans can be accurately estimated.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A.        The quantities of dissolved salts deposited by rivers in the Earth’s oceans have not been unusually large during the past hundred years.
B.        At any given time, all the Earth’s rivers have about the same salt levels.
C.        There are salts that leach into the Earth’s oceans directly from the ocean floor.
D.        There is no method superior to that based on salt levels for estimating the maximum age of the Earth’s oceans.
E.        None of the salts carried into the Earth’s oceans by rivers are used up by biological activity in the oceans.
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Q33:
Several of a certain bank’s top executives have recently been purchasing shares in their own bank.  This activity has occasioned some surprise, since it is widely believed that the bank, carrying a large number of bad loans, is on the brink of collapse.  Since the executives are well placed to know their bank’s true condition, it might seem that their share purchases show that the danger of collapse is exaggerated.  However, the available information about the bank’s condition is from reliable and informed sources, and corporate executives do sometimes buy shares in their own company in a calculated attempt to calm worries about their company’s condition.  On balance, therefore, it is likely that the executives of the bank are following this example.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A.        The first describes the circumstance the explanation of which is the issue that the argument addresses; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.
B.        The first describes the circumstance the explanation of which is the issue the argument addresses; the second states a conclusion that is drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument.
C.        The first provides evidence to defend the position that the argument seeks to establish against opposing positions; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.
D.        The first provides evidence to support the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second states a conclusion that is drawn in order to support the argument’s main conclusion.  
E.        Each provides evidence to support the position that the argument seeks to establish.

imjar

Q38:
Outbreaks of Rift Valley fever occur irregularly in East Africa, several years apart.  When outbreaks do occur, they kill thousands of cattle.  A livestock vaccine against the disease exists but is rarely used.  It is too expensive for farmers to use routinely, and since it is not effective until a month after vaccination, administering it after an outbreak begins helps very little.  Nevertheless, experts predict that use of the vaccine will increase significantly within the next few years.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest justification for the experts’ prediction?
A.        Rift Valley fever is spread by mosquitoes, but each outbreak is so widespread that it is impractical to control it by using insecticides.
B.        When an outbreak of Rift Valley fever occurs, unaffected countries often refuse to import livestock from the countries affected by the outbreak.
C.        It would take less than a month for producers of the vaccine to adjust their production operations to cope with a large increase in demand.
D.        Many cattle farmers in East Africa are nomadic or live in remote villages, and such farmers, who have little access to modern veterinary medicine, are particularly hard hit by outbreaks of Rift Valley fever.
E.        Recently published research has shown that certain identifiable climatic conditions are almost invariably followed, within two to five months, by an outbreak of Rift Valley fever.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q40:
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Researchers recently asked dozens of shoppers, chosen at random coming out of a FoodBasket supermarket, what they had purchased.  The prices of the very same items at the nearest ShopperKing supermarket were totaled and compared with the FoodBasket total.  The ShopperKing totals averaged five percent higher than the FoodBasket totals.  Nevertheless, this result does not necessarily show that shoppers at ShopperKing would save money overall by shopping at FoodBasket instead, since ______.
A.        shoppers who shop regularly at a given supermarket generally choose that store for the low prices offered on the items that they purchase most often
B.        for shoppers with more than 20 items, the ShopperKing totals averaged more than five percent higher than the FoodBasket totals
C.        many shoppers consider factors other than price in choosing the supermarket at which they shop most regularly
D.        there is little variation from month to month in the overall quantity of purchases made at supermarkets by a given shopper
E.        none of the people who conducted the research were employees of the FoodBasket supermarket

imjar

T-3
T-3-Q3.
Scientists have made genetic modifications to cotton to increase its resistance to insect pests. According to farmers’ report, the amount of insecticide needed per acre to control insect pests was only slightly lower for those who tried the modified seed than for those who did not. Therefore, since the modified seed costs more than ordinary seed without producing yields of higher market value, switching to the modified seed would be unlikely to benefit most cotton farmers economically.
Which of the following would it be most useful to know in order to evaluate the argument?
A.        Whether farmers who tried the modified cotton seed had ever tried growing other crops from genetically modified seed.
B.        Whether the insecticides typically used on ordinary cotton tend to be more expensive than insecticides typically used on other crops.
C.        Whether for most farms who grow cotton it is their primary crop
D.        Whether the farmers who have tried the modified speed planted as many acres of cotton, on average, as farmers using the ordinary seed did.
E.        Whether most of the farmers who tried the modified seed did so because they had previously had to use exceptionally large quantities of insecticide.
T-3-Q8.
The number of applications for teaching positions in Newtown’s public schools was 5.7 percent lower in 1993 than in 1985 and 5.9 percent lower in 1994 than in 1985. despite a steadily growing student population and an increasing number of teacher resignations, however, Newtown does not face a shortage in the late 1990’s.
Which of the following, if true, would contribute most to an explanation of the apparent discrepancy above?
A.        Many of Newtown’s public school students do not graduate from high school
B.        New housing developments planned for Newtown are (shared) for occupancy in 1987 and are expected to increase the number of elementary school students in Newtown’s public
C.        The Newtown school board does not contemplate increasing the ratio of students to teachers in the 1990’s.
D.        Teachers’ colleges in and near Newtown produced lower graduates in 1994 than in 1993
E.        In 1993 Newtown’s public schools received 40 percent more applications for teaching positions than there were positions available.
T-3-Q13.
The traditional treatment of strep infections has been a seven-day course of antibiotics, either penicillin or erythromycin. However, since many patients stop taking those drugs within three days, reinfection is common in cases where these drugs are prescribed. A new antibiotic requires only a three-day course of treatment. Therefore, reinfection will probably be less common in cases where the new antibiotic is prescribed than in cases where either penicillin or erythromycin is prescribed.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
A.        Some of people who are allergic to penicillin are likely to be allergic to the new antibiotic.
B.        A course of treatment with the new antibiotic costs about the same as a course of treatment with either penicillin or erythromycin.
C.        The new antibiotic has been shown to be effective in eradicating bacterial infections other than strep.
D.        Some physicians have already begun to prescribe the new antibiotic instead of penicillin or erythromycin for the treatment of some strep infections
E.        Regardless of whether they take a traditional antibiotic or the new one, most patients feel fully recovered after taking the drug for three days.

imjar

T-3-Q16.
In response to mounting public concern, an airplane manufacturers implement a program with well-publicized goal of reducing by half the total yearly amount of hazardous waste generated by its passenger-jet division. When the program began in 1994, the division’s hazardous waste was 90 pounds per production worker, last year it was 40 pounds per production worker. Clearly, therefore, charges that the manufacturer’s program has not met its goal are false.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A.        the amount of nonhazardous waste generated each year by the passenger-jet division has not increased significantly since 1984
B.        at least as many passenger jets were produced by the division last year as had been produced in 1994
C.        since 1994, other divisions in the company have achieved reductions in hazardous waste output that are at least equal to that achieved in the passenger-jet division.
D.        The average number of weekly hours per production worker in the passenger-jet division was not significantly greater last year than it was in 1994.
E.        The number of production workers assigned to the passenger-jet division was not significantly less in 1994 than it was last year.
T-3-Q21.
Driving the steep road to the mountaintop Inca ruins of Machu Picchu is potentially dangerous and hiking there is difficult. Now the Peruvian government is installing a cable car that will make access much easier, and hence results in a large increase in tourisms. However, since the presence of large numbers of tourists tends to accelerate the deterioration of a site, installation of a cable car is certain to result in harm to the ruins.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the argument?
A.        The daily number of tourists that are expected to take the cable car to Machu Picchu is smaller than the original resident
B.        The construction of the cable car terminal at Machu Picchu will require the use of potentially damaging heavy machinery at the site.
C.        Machu Picchu is already one of the most popular tourist sites in Peru
D.        Natural weathering will continue to be a more significant cause of the deterioration of Machu Picchu than tourist traffic
E.        The cable car will replace the tour buses whose large wheels and corrosive exhaust at present do significant damage to the site.
T-3-Q23. GWD-13-32
Macrophages are cells that play a role in the response of the immune system of mice and other mammals to invasive organisms such as bacteria.  Unlike other mice, mice that are genetically incapable of making these particular cells do not show elevated levels of nitrates when infected with bacteria.
The statements above, if true, provide the most support for which of the following conclusions?
A.        Mice that are unable either to make macrophages or to make them in sufficient numbers will protect themselves from bacterial infections in some other way.
B.        Mice that show elevated levels of nitrates can easily fight off most types of bacterial infections.
C.        In mice, macrophages play a role in the production of nitrates or inhibit a process by which nitrates are broken down or otherwise eliminated.
D.        When a healthy mouse becomes infected with an invasive organism, the number of macrophages in the mouse’s body decreases.
E.        Injections of nitrates into mice that lack macrophages will not enhance the ability of these animals’ immune systems to fight off infection.
T-3-Q24.
Each year red-winged blackbirds stop in a certain region of Midland Province on their spring and fall migration. In the fall, they eat a significant portion of the province’s sunflower crop. This year Midland farmers sought permits to set out small amounts of poisoned rice during the blackbirds’ spring stop in order to reduce the fall blackbird population. Some residents voiced concern that the rice could threaten certain species of rare migratory birds. Nevertheless, the wildlife agency approved the permits.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to justify the wildlife agency’s approval of the permits, given the concern voiced by some residents?
A.        In the region where the red-winged blackbirds stop, they are the first birds to be present in the spring.
B.        The poison that farmers want to use does not kill birds but rather make them incapable of producing viable eggs.
C.        Since rice is not raised in midland province, few species of birds native to the province normally eat rice.
D.        Without the permit, any farmers shown to have set out poison for the blackbirds would be heavily fined
E.        The poison that farmers got approval to use has no taste or smell that would make it detectable by birds.

imjar

T-3-Q29.
The emission of sulfur dioxide when high-sulfur coal is burned is restricted by law. New coal-burning plants usually comply with the law by installing expensive equipment to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions. These new plants could save money by installing instead less expensive cleaning equipment that chemically removes most sulfur from coal before combustion.
Which of the following, if known, would be most relevant to evaluating the claim above about how new-coal burning plants could save money?
A.        Whether existing oil-burning plants are required to filter sulfur dioxide from their emissions.
B.        Whether the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in a new plant is less than the expense of installing the cleaning equipment in an older plant.
C.        Whether the process of cleaning the coal is more expensive than the process of filtering the emissions
D.        Whether lawful emissions of sulfur dioxide form coal-burning plants are damaging the environment.
E.        Whether existing plants that use the filtering equipment could replace this equipment with the cleaning equipment and still complete with new plants that install the cleaning equipment.
T-3-Q32.
A theory is either true or false. Galileo’s observations of Jupiter’s satellites showed that the Ptolemaic theory of the motion of celestial bodies is false. Therefore, since the Copernican theory of planetary motion is inconsistent with the Ptolemaic account, Galileo’s observations of Jupiter’s satellites proved the truth of the Copernican theory.
The argument above is open to the objection that it makes the questionable assumption that
A.        Whoever first observed something inconsistent with the truth of the Ptolemaic theory should be credited with having proved that theory false.
B.        There are some possible observations that would be inconsistent with the account given by the Copernican theory but consistent with the account given by the Ptolemaic theory.
C.        The Ptolemaic and Copernican theories, being inconsistent, cannot both be based on exactly the same evidence
D.        Numerous counterexamples were necessary in order to show the Ptolemaic theory to be false
E.        The Ptolemaic and Copernican theories, being inconsistent, cannot both be false.
T-3-Q37.
Because mining and refining nickels is costly, researchers have developed an alternative method for extracting nickels using Streptanthus polygaloides, a plant that absorbs and stores nickel from the soil as it grows. The researchers incinerated a crop of Streptanthus they grow in nickel-rich soil. By chemically extracting nickel form the ash, they produced 100 pounds of nickel per acre of land at a total cost per pound slightly above that of current mining.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conclusion that the use of Streptanthus to extract nickel will be commercially adopted?
A.        The season in which the researchers grew Streptanthus was an unusually favorable one, with the right amount of precipitation to maximize the growth rate of Streptanthus.
B.        Because lowering the concentration of nickel in the soil can make land much better for agriculture in general, a plot in which Streptanthus has been grown and harvested can be sold for substantially more than it cost
C.        More air pollution is generated for each pound of nickel produced by extracting it from Streptanthus than is generated using conventional mining and refining
D.        The land on which the researchers planted Streptanthus was unusually free of the various weeds that can compete with Streptanthus for water, nutrients, and sunlight.
E.        It is extremely rare for soil to contain higher concentrations of nickel than the concentrations present in the researchers’ experimental plot.

imjar

T-4
T-4-Q2
Twenty years ago, Balzania put in place regulations requiring operators of surface mines to pay for the reclamation of mined-out land. Since then, reclamation technology has not improved. Yet, the average reclamation cost for a surface coal mine being reclaimed today is only four dollars per ton of coal that the mine produced, less than half what it cost to reclaim surface mines in the years immediately after the regulations took effect.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the drop in reclamation costs described?
A.        Even after Balzania began requiring surface mine operators to pay reclamation costs, coal mines in Balzania continued to be less expensive to operate than coal mines in almost any other country.
B.        In the twenty years since the regulations took effect, the use of coal as a fuel has declined from the level it was at in the previous twenty years.
C.        Mine operators have generally ceased surface mining in the mountainous areas of Balzania because reclamation costs per ton of coal produced are particularly high for mines in such areas.
D.        Even after Balzania began requiring surface mine operators to pay reclamation costs, surface mines continued to produce coal at a lower total cost than underground mines.
E.        As compared to twenty years ago, a greater percentage of the coal mined in Balzania today comes from surface mines.
T-4-Q13 G-12-Q16:
Certain genetically modified strains of maize produce a natural insecticide that protects against maize-eating insects.  The insecticide occurs throughout the plant, including its pollen.  Maize pollen is dispersed by the wind and often blows onto milkweed plants that grow near maize fields.  Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves.  When, in experiments, these caterpillars were fed milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from modified maize plants, they died.  Therefore, use of the modified maize inadvertently imperils monarch butterflies.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.        Per unit of volume, the natural insecticide produced by the genetically modified maize plants is less toxic to insects than are many commercial insecticides commonly used on maize plants.
B.        Standard weed-control practices that have been used by farmers for decades have largely eliminated milkweed plants from certain areas where monarch-butterfly caterpillars were once common.
C.        The experiments showed that the caterpillars were not harmed by contact with the pollen from the genetically modified plants unless they ingested it.
D.        The maize-eating insects that the natural insecticide protects against do not feed on the pollen of the maize plant.
E.        Airborne maize pollen tends to collect on the middle leaves of milkweed plants and monarch caterpillars feed only on the plant’s tender upper leaves.
T-4-Q14 GWD-13-38
Frobisher, a sixteenth-century English explorer, had soil samples from Canada’s Kodlunarn Island examined for gold content.  Because high gold content was reported, Elizabeth I funded two mining expeditions.  Neither expedition found any gold there.  Modern analysis of the island’s soil indicates a very low gold content.  Thus the methods used to determine the gold content of Frobisher’s samples must have been inaccurate.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
F.        The gold content of the soil on Kodlunarn Island is much lower today than it was in the sixteenth century.
G.        The two mining expeditions funded by Elizabeth I did not mine the same part of Kodlunarn Island.
H.        The methods used to assess gold content of the soil samples provided by Frobisher were different from those generally used in the sixteenth century.
I.        Frobisher did not have soil samples from any other Canadian island examined for gold content.
J.        Gold was not added to the soil samples collected by Frobisher before the samples were examined.

imjar

T-4-Q15
TrueSave is a mail-order company that ships electronic products from its warehouses to customers worldwide. The company’s shipping manager is proposing that customer orders be packed with newer, more expensive packing materials that virtually eliminate damage during shipping. The manager argues that overall costs would essentially remain unaffected, since the extra cost of the new packing materials roughly equals the current cost of replacing products returned by customers because they arrived in damaged condition.
Which of the following would it be most important to ascertain in determining whether implementing the shipping manager’s proposal would have the argued-for effect on costs?
A.        Whether the products shipped by TrueSave are more vulnerable to incurring damage during shipping than are typical electronic products.
B.        Whether electronic products are damaged more frequently in transit than are most other products shipped by mail-order companies
C.        Whether a sizable proportion of returned items are returned because of damage already present when those items were packed for shipping
D.        Whether there are cases in which customers blame themselves for product damage that, though present on arrival of the product, is not discovered until later
E.        Whether TrueSave continually monitors the performance of the shipping companies it uses to ship products to its customers

T-4-Q18 天山-7-17
As a large corporation in small country, Hachnut wants its managers to have international experience, so each year it sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees. Hachnut has found, however, that the attrition rate of graduates from this program is very high, with many of them leaving Hachnut to join competing firms soon after completing the program. Hachnut doe use performance during the program as criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions, but both this function and the goal of providing international experience could be achieved in other ways. Therefore, if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A.        The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second states a judgment that is used in support of a justification for that practice.
B.        The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to explain; the second presents part of the argument’s explanation of that practice.
C.        The first introduces a practice that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second provides grounds for holding that the practice cannot achieve its objective.
D.        The first introduces a policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second provides grounds for holding that the policy is not needed.
E.        The first introduces a consideration supporting a policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second provides evidence for concluding that the policy should be abandoned.

T-4-Q19
Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca’s schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.
In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A.        The first is an objection that has been raised against a certain plan; the second is a prediction that, if accurate, undermines the force of that objection.
B.        The first is a criticism, endorsed by the argument, of a funding plan; the second is a point the argument makes in favor of adopting a alternative plan.
C.        The first is a criticism, endorsed by the argument, of a funding plan; the second is the main reason cited by the argument for its endorsement of the criticism.
D.        The first is a claim that the argument seeks to refute; the second is the main point used by the argument to show that the claim is false.
E.        The first is a claim that the argument accepts with certain reservations; the second presents that claim in a rewarding that is not subject to those reservations.

imjar

T-4-Q20 天山-7-22
The violent crime rate (number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents) in Meadowbrook is 60 percent higher now than it was four years ago. The corresponding increase for Parkdale is only 10 percent. These figures support the conclusion that residents of Meadowbrook are more likely to become victims of violent crime than are residents of Parkdale.
The argument above is flawed because it fails to take into account
A.        Changes in the population density of both Meadowbrook and Parkdale over the past four years.
B.        How the rate of population growth in Meadowbrook over the past four years compares to the corresponding rate for Parkdale
C.        The ratio of violent to nonviolent crimes committed during the past four years in Meadowbrook and Parkdale
D.        The violent crime rates in Meadowbrook and Parkdale four years ago
E.        How Meadowbrooks’ expenditures for crime prevention over the past four years compare to Parkdale’s expenditures.
T-4-Q21
The OLEX Petroleum Company has recently determined that it could cut its refining costs by closing its Grenville refinery and consolidating all refining at its Tasberg refinery. Closing the Grenville refinery, however, would mean the immediate loss of about 1,2000 jobs in the Grenville area. Eventually the lives of more than 10,000 people would be seriously disrupted. Therefore, OLEX’s decision, announced yesterday, to keep Grenville open shows that at OLEX social concerns sometimes outweigh the desire for higher profits.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument given?
A.        The Grenville refinery, although it operates at a higher cost than the Tasberg refinery, has nevertheless been moderately profitable for many years.
B.        Even though OLEX could consolidate all its refining at the Tasberg plant, doing so at the Grenville plant would not be feasible.
C.        The Tasberg refinery is more favorably situated than the Grenville refinery with respect to the major supply routes for raw petroleum.
D.        If the Grenville refinery were ever closed and operations at the Tasberg refinery expanded, job openings at Tasberg would to the extent possible be filled with people formerly employed at Grenville.
E.        Closure of the Grenville refinery would mean compliance, at enormous cost, with demanding local codes regulating the cleanup of abandoned industrial sites.
T-4-Q28
In Berinia, the age at which people could begin to drink alcohol legally used to be 18. In 1990, in an attempt to reduce alcohol consumption and thereby to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths among Berinians under 21, the legal drinking age was raised to 21. Alcohol-related traffic deaths among people under 21 have decreased significantly since 1990. nevertheless, surveys show that people in that age-group drink just as much alcohol as they did before 1990.

Which of the following, if true of Berinia, most help to resolve the apparent discrepancy?
A.        For the population as a whole, annual alcohol consumption is no lower now than it was in 1990
B.        Alcohol consumption away from home, for example in bars and restaurants, is much lower among people under 21 than it was in 1990
C.        The proportion of people under 21 who own a car is higher now than it was in 1990
D.        Alcohol consumption is lower among people under 21 than among adults in most other age-groups.
E.        Alcohol-related traffic deaths among people over 21 have increased slightly since 1990.

imjar

T-4-Q32
Delta products, Inc., has recently switched at least partly from older technologies using fossil fuels to new technologies powered by electricity. The question has been raised whether it can be concluded that for a given level of output, Delta’s operation now causes less fossil fuel to be consumed than it did formerly. The answer, clearly, is yes, since the amount of fossil fuel used to fenerate the electricity needed to power the new technologies is less than the amount needed to power the older technologies, provided that the level of output is held constant.
In the argument given, the two boldface portions play which of the following roles?
A.        The first identifies the content of the conclusion of the argument; the second provides support for that conclusion.
B.        The first provides support for the conclusion of the argument; the second identifies the content of that conclusion.
C.        The first states the position that the argument opposes; the second states the conclusion of the argument.
D.        Each provides evidence that calls the conclusion of the argument into question.
E.        Each provides support for conclusion of the argument.
T-4-Q34
In Kravonia, the average salary for jobs requiring a college degree has always been higher than the average salary for jobs that do not require a degree. Current enrollments in Kravonia’s colleges indicate that over the next four years the percentage of the Kravonian workforce with college degree will increase dramatically. Therefore, the average salary for all workers in Kravonia is likely to increase over the next four years.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A.        Kravonians with more than one college degree earn more, on average, than do Kravonians with only one college degree.
B.        The percentage of Kravonians who attend college in order to earn higher salaries is higher now than it was several years ago.
C.        The higher average salary for jobs requiring a college degree is not due largely to a scarcity among the Kravonian workforce of people with a college degree.
D.        The average salary in Kravonia for jobs that do not require a college degree will not increase over the next four years.
E.        Few members of the Kravonian workforce earned their degrees in other countries.
T-4-Q38
In one state, all cities and most towns have antismoking ordinances, a petition entitled “Petition for Statewide Smoking Restriction” is being circulated to voters by campaign workers who ask only, “Do you want to sign a petition for statewide smoking restriction?” The petition advocates a state law banning smoking in most retail establishments and in government offices that are open to the public.
Which of the following circumstances would make the petition as circulated misleading to voters who understand the proposal as extending the local ordinances statewide?
A.        Health costs associated with smoking cause health insurance premiums to rise for everyone and so affect nonsmokers.
B.        In rural areas of the state, there are relatively few retail establishments and government offices that are open to the public.
C.        The state law would supersede the local antismoking ordinances, which contain stronger bans than the state law does.
D.        There is considerable sentiment among voters in most areas of the state for restriction of smoking.
E.        The state law would not affect existing local ordinances banning smoking in places where the fire authorities have determined that smoking would constitute a fire hazard.

imjar

T-4-Q40 GWD-13-39
Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?
According to promotional material published by the city of Springfield, more tourists stay in hotels in Springfield than stay in the neighboring city of Harristown.  A brochure from the largest hotel in Harristown claims that more tourists stay in that hotel than stay in the Royal Arms Hotel in Springfield.  If both of these sources are accurate, however, the “Report on Tourism” for the region must be in error in stating that ______.
A.        the average length of stay is longer at the largest hotel in Harristown than it is at the Royal Arms Hotel
B.        there is only one hotel in Harristown that is larger than the Royal Arms Hotel
C.        more tourists stay in hotels in Harristown than stay in the Royal Arms Hotel
D.        the Royal Arms Hotel is the largest hotel in Springfield
E.        the Royal Arms Hotel is the only hotel in Springfield
T-9
T-9-Q2.
Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants. If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews. However, since all the processing plants are in urban areas, removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government ‘s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.        Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing plants and plastics
B.        Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants
C.        More people in kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them
D.        Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices
E.        A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in kernland off their land and into the cities

T-9-Q3.
Business Consultant: some corporations shun the use of executive titles because they fear that the use of titles indicating position in the corporation tends to inhibit communication up and down the corporate hierarchy. Since an executive who uses a title is treated with more respect by outsiders, however, use of a title can facilitate an executive’s dealings with external businesses. The obvious compromise is for these executives to use their corporate titles externally but not internally, since even if it is widely known that the corporation’s executives use executive titles outside their organization, this knowledge does not by itself inhibit communication within the corporation.
In the consultant’s reasoning, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
A.        The first presents an obstacle to achieving a certain goal; the second presents a reason for considering that goal to be undesirable.
B.        The first is a consideration that has led to the adoption of a certain strategy; the second presents a reason against adopting that strategy.
C.        The first describes a concern that the consultant dismisses as insignificant; the second is a consideration that serves as the basis for that dismissal.
D.        The first is a belief for which the consultant offers support; the second is part of that support.
E.        The first is a belief against which evidence is offered; the second is part of the evidence offered against that belief.

T-9-Q4.
In the years following an eight-cent increase in the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes, sales of cigarettes fell ten percent. In contrast, in the year prior to the tax increase, sales had fallen one percent. The volume of cigarette sales is therefore strongly related to the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes.
The argument above requires which of the following assumptions?
A.        During the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes did not increase by as much as it had during the year prior to the tax increase.
B.        The one percent fall in cigarette sales in the year prior to tax increases was due to a smaller tax increase.
C.        The pretax price of a pack of cigarettes gradually decreased throughout the year before and the year after the tax increase.
D.        For the year following the tax increase, the pretax price of a pack of cigarettes was not eight or more cents lower than it had been the previous year.
E.        As the after-tax price of a pack of cigarettes rises, the pretax price also rises.