Practice Test #2 Critical Reasoning (68 Questions)

1.	(24021-!-item-!-188;#058&000691)

On Pacific islands, a newly arrived gecko species, the house gecko, is displacing the previously established mourning gecko in urban areas, but populations of the two species are more stable in rural areas far from human settlement.  The house gecko does not attack the mourning gecko, but in areas where insects congregate it prevents the mourning gecko from feeding on them.

Which of the following contributes most to an explanation of the difference between gecko populations in urban and rural areas?

(A) In urban areas, geckos are valued because they eat so many insects.
(B) Geckos defend territories against other members of the same species.
(C) House geckos that arrive on islands are carried there in boats and planes.
(D) In places where there are lighted buildings, insects tend to gather around the light.
(E) Mourning geckos are all females and reproduce asexually, but house geckos reproduce sexually.

2.	(24069-!-item-!-188;#058&000703)

Downtown Villieu was once a flourishing business district, but most Villieu-area businesses are now located only in the suburbs.  The office buildings downtown lack the modern amenities most business operators demand today.  To lure more businesses downtown, Villieu officials plan to have several modern office buildings constructed and to offer reduced local tax rates to any business that leases space in a new downtown building.

Which of the following, if true, most threatens the plan's likelihood of success?

(A) Most of the businesses currently located in downtown Villieu have long-term leases on the space they occupy there.
(B) The existing office buildings in downtown Villieu have, on average, a much higher vacancy rate than do office buildings in Villieu's suburbs.
(C) The local tax rates in Villieu's suburbs are significantly lower than downtown Villieu's proposed rate for businesses that lease space in the new office buildings.
(D) Most of the businesses that currently lease office space in downtown Villieu also lease office space in Villieu's suburbs.
(E) With the new office buildings, downtown Villieu would have a greater amount of modern office space than any other downtown business district in the region.

3.	(24117-!-item-!-188;#058&000708)

Northern Air has dozens of flights daily into and out of Belleville Airport, which is highly congested.  Northern Air depends for its success on economy and quick turnaround and consequently is planning to replace its large planes with Skybuses, whose novel aerodynamic design is extremely fuel efficient.  The Skybus' fuel efficiency results in both lower fuel costs and reduced time spent refueling.

Which of the following, if true, could present the most serious disadvantage for Northern Air in replacing their large planes with Skybuses?

(A) The Skybus would enable Northern Air to schedule direct flights to destinations that currently require stops for refueling.
(B) Aviation fuel is projected to decline in price over the next several years.
(C) The fuel efficiency of the Skybus would enable Northern Air to eliminate refueling at some of its destinations, but several mechanics would lose their jobs.
(D) None of Northern Air's competitors that use Belleville Airport are considering buying Skybuses.
(E) The aerodynamic design of the Skybus causes turbulence behind it when taking off that forces other planes on the runway to delay their takeoffs.

4.	(24257-!-item-!-188;#058&001200)

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A new machine for harvesting corn will allow rows to be planted only fifteen inches apart, instead of the usual thirty inches.  Corn planted this closely will produce lower yields per plant.  Nevertheless, the new machine will allow corn growers to double their profits per acre because __________.

(A) with the closer spacing of the rows, the growing corn plants will quickly form a dense canopy of leaves, which will, by shading the ground, minimize the need for costly weed control and irrigation
(B) with the closer spacing of the rows, corn plants will be forced to grow taller because of increased competition for sunlight from neighboring corn plants
(C) with the larger number of plants growing per acre, more fertilizer will be required
(D) with the spacing between rows cut by half, the number of plants grown per acre will almost double
(E) with the closer spacing of the rows, the acreage on which corn is planted will be utilized much more intensively than it was before, requiring more frequent fallow years in which corn fields are left unplanted

5.	(24305-!-item-!-188;#058&001204)

Microscopic plants called algae grow inside the top layer of sea ice in the Antarctic if enough sunlight reaches that layer of ice and enough seawater, which contains nutrients, reaches that layer after splashing onto the surface.  Even though moderate snow cover reduces the sunlight that filters into the top layer, sea ice with moderate snow cover typically contains even more algae in the top layer than does sea ice with less snow cover.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparent discrepancy?

(A) As the weight of accumulated snow forces ice lower in the water, more seawater splashes onto the surface and seeps through the snow.
(B) Seawater in the Antarctic often contains higher concentrations of nutrients than does seawater in more temperate regions.
(C) As the air temperature around sea ice decreases during the winter, the likelihood decreases that snow will fall and thus add to any existing snow cover.
(D) The nutrients on which algae rely are common in seawater throughout the Antarctic.
(E) More sunlight filters through a layer of ice than through an equally thick layer of snow.

6.	(24353-!-item-!-188;#058&001207)

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

Garnet and RenCo each provide health care for their employees.  Garnet pays for both testing of its employees' cholesterol levels and treatment of high cholesterol.  This policy saves Garnet money, since high cholesterol left untreated for many years leads to conditions that require very expensive treatment.  However, RenCo does not have the same financial incentive to adopt such a policy, because __________.

(A) early treatment of high cholesterol does not entirely eliminate the possibility of a stroke later in life
(B) the mass media regularly feature stories encouraging people to maintain diets that are low in cholesterol
(C) RenCo has significantly more employees than Garnet has
(D) RenCo's employees are unlikely to have higher cholesterol levels than Garnet's employees
(E) the average length of time an employee stays with RenCo is less than it is with Garnet

7.	(24401-!-item-!-188;#058&001291)

United Lumber will use trees from its forests for two products.  The tree trunks will be used for lumber and the branches converted into wood chips to make fiberboard.  The cost of this conversion would be the same whether done at the logging site, where the trees are debranched, or at United's factory.  However, wood chips occupy less than half the volume of the branches from which they are made.

The information given, if accurate, most strongly supports which of the following?

(A) Converting the branches into wood chips at the logging site would require transporting a fully assembled wood-chipping machine to and from the site.
(B) It would be more economical to debranch the trees at the factory where the fiberboard is manufactured.
(C) The debranching of trees and the conversion of the branches into chips are the only stages in the processing of branches that it would be in United's economic advantage to perform at the logging site.
(D) Transportation costs from the logging site to the factory that are determined by volume of cargo would be lower if the conversion into chips is done at the logging site rather than at the factory.
(E) In the wood-processing industry, branches are used only for the production of wood chips for fiberboard.

8.	(24449-!-item-!-188;#058&001338)

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

Utrania was formerly a major petroleum exporter, but in recent decades economic stagnation and restrictive regulations inhibited investment in new oil fields.  In consequence, Utranian oil exports dropped steadily as old fields became depleted.  Utrania's currently improving economic situation, together with less-restrictive regulations, will undoubtedly result in the rapid development of new fields.  However, it would be premature to conclude that the rapid development of new fields will result in higher oil exports, because __________.

(A) the price of oil is expected to remain relatively stable over the next several years
(B) the improvement in the economic situation in Utrania is expected to result in a dramatic increase in the proportion of Utranians who own automobiles
(C) most of the investment in new oil fields in Utrania is expected to come from foreign sources
(D) new technology is available to recover oil from old oil fields formerly regarded as depleted
(E) many of the new oil fields in Utrania are likely to be as productive as those that were developed during the period when Utrania was a major oil exporter

9.	(24497-!-item-!-188;#058&001429)

Beta Corporation claims that it no longer has enough work for the 60 computer data-entry workers that it is laying off.  These workers have heard, however, that the company is buying 100 new computers.  So the workers concluded that the company's real reason for laying them off is to fill their jobs with lower-paid workers.

Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the workers' conclusion?

(A) Most of the workers being laid off know how to enter data on a number of different computer systems.
(B) Orders for almost all of Beta Corporation products have increased over the past year.
(C) A recent memorandum from the president of Beta Corporation requested that all data generated by the company be stored in computerized form.
(D) Beta Corporation's computer data-entry workers are more experienced and hence more highly paid than people doing comparable work in other companies.
(E) Beta Corporation's new computers will allow its current management and sales staff to perform many of the tasks that the data-entry workers were previously doing.

10.	(24867-!-item-!-188;#058&001810)

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

For the past several years, a certain technology has been widely used to transmit data among networked computers.  Recently two data transmission companies, Aptron and Gammatech, have each developed separate systems that allow network data transmission at rates ten times faster than the current technology allows.  Although the systems are similarly priced and are equally easy to use, Aptron's product is likely to dominate the market, because __________.

(A) Gammatech has been in the business of designing data transmission systems for several years more than Aptron has
(B) the number of small businesses that need computer networking systems is likely to double over the next few years
(C) it is much more likely that Gammatech's system will be expandable to meet future needs
(D) unlike many data transmission companies, Aptron and Gammatech develop computers in addition to data transmission systems
(E) it is easier for users of the current data transmission technology to switch to Aptron's product than to Gammatech's

11.	(24915-!-item-!-188;#058&001837)

Radio stations with radio data system (RDS) technology broadcast special program information that only radios with an RDS feature can receive.  Between 1994 and 1996, the number of RDS radio stations in Verdland increased from 250 to 600.  However, since the number of RDS-equipped radios in Verdland was about the same in 1996 as in 1994, the number of Verdlanders receiving the special program information probably did not increase significantly.

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

(A) Few if any of the RDS radio stations that began broadcasting in Verdland after 1994 broadcast to people with RDS-equipped radios living in areas not previously reached by RDS stations.
(B) In 1996 most Verdlanders who lived within the listening area of an RDS station already had a radio equipped to receive RDS.
(C) Equipping a radio station with RDS technology does not decrease the station's listening area.
(D) In 1996 Verdlanders who did not own radios equipped to receive RDS could not receive any programming from the RDS radio stations that began broadcasting in Verdland after 1994.
(E) The RDS radio stations in Verdland in 1996 did not all offer the same type of programming.

12.	(24967-!-item-!-188;#058&001893)

Situation:  For five years the Souper restaurant chain has maintained rapid sales growth in Danport, primarily by opening new restaurants that draw patrons away from other restaurants in their vicinity.

Goal:  Souper wishes to achieve continued rapid sales growth in Danport over the next two years.

Proposal for consideration:  Continue to open new restaurants in Danport during the next two years at the same rate as in the last two years.

In light of the situation, which of the following, if true, most strongly argues that adopting the proposal would be an ineffective way of achieving the goal?

(A) At times at which customers find Souper restaurants too crowded, they often go to other restaurants nearby.
(B) The Souper chain has generally opened new restaurants in locations that are in the vicinity of a large number of other restaurants.
(C) Souper restaurants generally offer a much smaller variety of foods than many of the other restaurants in their vicinity.
(D) Virtually all potential sites for new Souper restaurants in Danport are located in the vicinity of existing Souper restaurants.
(E) Souper restaurants have always offered meals that are somewhat less expensive than meals at restaurants that compete with Souper for patrons.

13.	(25752-!-item-!-188;#058&002668)

An unusually severe winter occurred in Europe after the continent was blanketed by a blue haze resulting from the eruption of the Laki Volcano in the European republic of Iceland in the summer of 1984.  Thus, it is evident that major eruptions cause the atmosphere to become cooler than it would be otherwise.

Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The cooling effect triggered by volcanic eruptions in 1985 was counteracted by an unusual warming of Pacific waters.
(B) There is a strong statistical link between volcanic eruptions and the severity of the rainy season in India.
(C) A few months after El Chichn's large eruption in April 1982, air temperatures throughout the region remained higher than expected, given the long-term weather trends.
(D) The climatic effects of major volcanic eruptions can temporarily mask the general warming trend resulting from an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
(E) Three months after an early springtime eruption in South America during the late 19th century, sea surface temperatures near the coast began to fall.

14.	(25938-!-item-!-188;#058&002908)

Most household appliances use electricity only when in use.  Many microwave ovens, however, have built-in clocks and so use some electricity even when they are not in use.  The clocks each consume about 45 kilowatt-hours per year.  Therefore, households whose microwave oven has no built-in clock use 45 kilowatt-hours per year less, on average, than do comparable households whose microwave oven is otherwise similar but has a built-in clock.

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

(A) Households that do not have a microwave oven use less energy per year, on average, than do households that have a microwave oven.
(B) Microwave ovens with a built-in clock do not generally cost more to buy than microwave ovens without a built-in clock.
(C) All households that have a microwave oven also have either a gas oven or a conventional electric oven.
(D) Households whose microwave oven does not have a built-in clock are no more likely to have a separate electric clock plugged in than households whose microwave oven has one.
(E) There are more households that have a microwave oven with a built-in clock than there are households that have a microwave oven without a built-in clock.

15.	(25986-!-item-!-188;#058&002914)

Some airlines allegedly reduce fares on certain routes to a level at which they lose money, in order to drive competitors off those routes.  However, this method of eliminating competition cannot be profitable in the long run.  Once an airline successfully implements this method, any attempt to recoup the earlier losses by charging high fares on that route for an extended period would only provide competitors with a better opportunity to undercut the airline's fares.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

(A) In some countries it is not illegal for a company to drive away competitors by selling a product below cost.
(B) Airline executives generally believe that a company that once underpriced its fares to drive away competitors is very likely to do so again if new competitors emerge.
(C) As part of promotions designed to attract new customers, airlines sometimes reduce their ticket prices to below an economically sustainable level.
(D) On deciding to stop serving particular routes, most airlines shift resources to other routes rather than reduce the size of their operations.
(E) When airlines dramatically reduce their fares on a particular route, the total number of air passengers on that route increases greatly.

16.	(26678-!-item-!-188;#058&003277)

When an airplane is taken out of service for maintenance, it is often repainted as well, and during the repainting no other maintenance work can be done on the plane.  In order to reduce maintenance time, airline officials are considering using a new nontoxic plastic film instead of paint.  The film takes just as long to apply as paint does, but many other maintenance tasks can be carried out at the same time.

Which of the following, if true, is further evidence that using the film will help the airline officials achieve their goal?

(A) Unlike paint, the film gives a milky tone to certain colors.
(B) At the end of its useful life, the film can be removed much more quickly than paint can.
(C) The film can be applied only by technicians who have received special training.
(D) The metal exteriors of airplanes have to be protected from high temperatures and caustic chemicals such as exhaust gases.
(E) Even at speeds considerably higher than the normal speed of a passenger jet, the film remains securely attached.

17.	(26864-!-item-!-188;#058&003368)

At present the Hollywood Restaurant has only standard-height tables.  However, many customers come to watch the celebrities who frequent the Hollywood, and they would prefer tall tables with stools because such seating would afford a better view of the celebrities.  Moreover, diners seated on stools typically do not stay as long as diners seated at standard-height tables.  Therefore, if the Hollywood replaced some of its seating with high tables and stools, its profits would increase.

The argument is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it gives reason to believe that it is likely that

(A) some celebrities come to the Hollywood to be seen, and so might choose to sit at the tall tables if they were available
(B) the price of meals ordered by celebrities dining at the Hollywood compensates for the longer time, if any, they spend lingering over their meals
(C) a customer of the Hollywood who would choose to sit at a tall table would be an exception to the generalization about lingering
(D) a restaurant's customers who spend less time at their meals typically order less expensive meals than those who remain at their meals longer
(E) with enough tall tables to accommodate all the Hollywood's customers interested in such seating, there would be no view except of other tall tables

18.	(26912-!-item-!-188;#058&003382)

The Calex Telecommunications Company is planning to introduce cellular telephone service into isolated coastal areas of Caladia, a move which will require considerable investment.  However, the only significant economic activity in these areas is small-scale coffee farming, and none of the coffee farmers make enough money to afford the monthly service fees that Calex would have to charge to make a profit.  Nevertheless, Calex contends that making the service available to these farmers will be profitable.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for Calex's contention?

(A) Currently, Caladian coffee farmers are forced to sell their coffee to local buyers at whatever price those buyers choose to pay because the farmers are unable to remain in contact with outside buyers who generally offer higher prices.
(B) In the coastal areas of Caladia where Calex proposes to introduce cellular telephone service, there is currently no fixed-line telephone service because fixed-line companies do not believe that they could recoup their investment.
(C) A cellular telephone company can break even with a considerably smaller number of subscribers than a fixed-line company can, even in areas such as the Caladian coast, where there is no difficult terrain to drive up the costs of installing fixed lines.
(D) Calex bases its monthly fees for cellular telephone service in a given region partly on the cost of installing the necessary equipment to provide the service there.
(E) Calex has for years made a profit on cellular telephone service in Caladia's capital city, which is not far from the coastal region.

19.	(27788-!-item-!-188;#058&003653)

With a record number of new companies starting up in Derderia and with previously established companies adding many jobs, a record number of new jobs were created last year in the Derderian economy.  This year, previously established companies will not be adding as many new jobs overall as such companies added last year.  Therefore, unless a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

(A) Each year, new companies starting up create more new jobs overall than do previously established companies.
(B) Companies established last year will not add a greater number of jobs overall this year than they did last year.
(C) This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
(D) This year, the overall number of jobs created by previously established companies will be less than the overall number of jobs lost at those companies.
(E) The number of jobs created in the Derderian economy last year was substantially larger than the number of jobs lost last year.

20.	(27836-!-item-!-188;#058&003666)

During the past year, Pro-Tect Insurance Company's total payout on car-theft claims has been larger than the company can afford to sustain.  Pro-Tect cannot reduce the number of car-theft policies it carries, so it cannot protect itself against continued large payouts that way.  Therefore, Pro-Tect has decided to offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies whose cars have antitheft devices.  Many policyholders will respond to the discount by installing such devices, since the amount of the discount will within two years typically more than cover the cost of installation.  Thus, because cars with antitheft devices are rarely stolen, Pro-Tect's plan is likely to reduce its annual payouts.

In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first and the second are both evidence offered by the argument as support for its main conclusion.
(B) The first presents a problem a response to which the argument assesses; the second is the judgment reached by that assessment.
(C) The first is the position the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment the argument uses to support that position.
(D) The first is a development that the argument seeks to explain; the second is a prediction the argument makes in support of the explanation it offers.
(E) The first presents a development whose likely outcome is at issue in the argument; the second is a judgment the argument uses in support of its conclusion about that outcome.

21.	(28114-!-item-!-188;#058&003832)

Film Director:  It is true that certain characters and plot twists in my newly released film The Big Heist are strikingly similar to characters and plot twists in Thieves, a movie that came out last year.  Based on these similarities, the film studio that produced Thieves is now accusing me of taking ideas from that film.  The accusation is clearly without merit.  All production work on The Big Heist was actually completed months before Thieves was released.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the director's rejection of the accusation?

(A) Before Thieves began production, its script had been circulating for several years among various film studios, including the studio that produced The Big Heist.
(B) The characters and plot twists that are most similar in the two films have close parallels in many earlier films of the same genre.
(C) The film studio that produced Thieves seldom produces films in this genre.
(D) The director of Thieves worked with the director of The Big Heist on several earlier projects.
(E) The time it took to produce The Big Heist was considerably shorter than the time it took to produce Thieves.

22.	(28162-!-item-!-188;#058&003858)

Herbicides allow cereal crops to be grown very efficiently, with virtually no competition from weeds.  In Britain, partridge populations have been steadily decreasing since herbicide use became widespread.  Some environmentalists claim that these birds, which live in and around cereal crop fields, are being poisoned by the herbicides.  However, tests show no more than trace quantities of herbicides in partridges on herbicide-treated land.  Therefore, something other than herbicide use must be responsible for the population decrease.

Which of the following, if true about Britain, most seriously weakens the argument?

(A) The elimination of certain weeds from cereal crop fields has reduced the population of the small insects that live on those weeds and that form a major part of partridge chicks' diet.
(B) Since partridges are valued as game birds, records of their population are more carefully kept than those for many other birds.
(C) Some of the weeds that are eliminated from cereal crop fields by herbicides are much smaller than the crop plants themselves and would have no negative effect on crop yield if they were allowed to grow.
(D) Birds other than partridges that live in or around cereal crop fields have also been suffering population declines.
(E) The toxins contained in herbicides typically used on cereal crops can be readily identified in the tissues of animals that have ingested them.

23.	(28303-!-item-!-188;#058&003943)

A product that represents a clear technological advance over competing products can generally command a high price. Because technological advances tend to be quickly surpassed and companies want to make large profits while they still can, many companies charge the maximum possible price for such a product.  But large profits on the new product will give competitors a strong incentive to quickly match the new product's capabilities.  Consequently, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new product is to charge less than the greatest possible price.

In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is a consideration that has been raised to argue that a certain strategy is counterproductive; the second presents that strategy.
(B) The first is a consideration raised to support the strategy that the argument recommends; the second presents that strategy.
(C) The first is a consideration raised to explain the appeal of a certain strategy; the second presents that strategy.
(D) The first is an assumption, rejected by the argument, that has been used to justify a course of action; the second presents that course of action.
(E) The first is a consideration that has been used to justify pursuing a goal that the argument rejects; the second presents a course of action that has been adopted in pursuit of that goal.

24.	(28903-!-item-!-188;#058&004064)

Although exposure to asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma, a slow-developing cancer, researchers believe that infection by the SV40 virus is a contributing cause, since in the United States 60 percent of tissue samples from mesotheliomas, but none from healthy tissue, contain SV40.  SV40 is a monkey virus; however, in 1960 some polio vaccine was contaminated with the virus.  Researchers hypothesize that this vaccine was the source of the virus found in mesotheliomas decades later.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the researchers' hypothesis?

(A) SV40 is widely used as a research tool in cancer laboratories.
(B) Changes in the technique of manufacturing the vaccine now prevent contamination with SV40.
(C) Recently discovered samples of the vaccine dating from 1960 still show traces of the virus.
(D) In a small percentage of cases of mesothelioma, there is no history of exposure to asbestos.
(E) In Finland, where the polio vaccine was never contaminated, samples from mesotheliomas do not contain SV40.

25.	(30469-!-item-!-188;#058&005456)

In the past year Harborville has had an unusually high rate of new cases of a certain disease.  An investigation revealed that over the past five years Harborville's public water supply has had a high level of pollutants.  Medical researchers have hypothesized that Harborville's water is responsible for the high rate of new cases of the disease.

Each of the following, if true, provides additional support for the researchers' hypothesis EXCEPT:

(A) Most of the people afflicted with new cases of the disease had regularly drunk larger quantities of Harborville's water than had other Harborville residents.
(B) The same type of pollutants that were found in Harborville's water have independently been linked to occurrences in other towns of high rates of the disease.
(C) Some of the people with newly diagnosed cases of the disease began to develop the disease before Harborville's water became polluted.
(D) The rate of new cases of the disease among residents of Harborville who get their water from private sources is not unusually high.
(E) Towns with geographic and demographic characteristics similar to those of Harborville but without polluted water do not have as high a rate of the disease as does Harborville.

26.	(30517-!-item-!-188;#058&005463)

A new commercial radio station in Greenfield plans to play songs that were popular hits fifteen to twenty-five years ago.  It hopes in this way to attract an audience made up mainly of people between thirty-five and forty-five years old and thereby to have a strong market appeal to advertisers.

Each of the following, if true, strengthens the prospects that the radio station's plan will succeed EXCEPT:

(A) People tend to remain very fond of the music that they heard when they were in their teens and early twenties.
(B) In a number of cities demographically similar to Greenfield, radio stations that play recordings of popular music from fifteen to twenty-five years ago have succeeded commercially.
(C) People in the thirty-five- to forty-five-year-old age group are more likely to listen to the radio for news than for music.
(D) The thirty-five- to forty-five-year-old age group is one in which people tend to have comparatively high levels of income and are involved in making household purchases.
(E) Among the few radio stations in the Greenfield area, there is none that plays music from this particular period for more than a few hours per week.

27.	(30565-!-item-!-188;#058&005567)

Among people who experience migraine headaches, some experience what doctors call "common" migraines, whereas others experience "classical" migraines.  Siblings and spouses of common migraine sufferers are themselves twice as likely as the general population to experience common migraines.  Siblings of classical migraine sufferers are four times more likely than the general population to experience classical migraines, whereas spouses of classical migraine sufferers are no more likely than the general population to experience such headaches.

The information above provides the most support for which of the following hypotheses?

(A) Susceptibility to classical migraines is more dependent on hereditary factors than is susceptibility to common migraines.
(B) Unmarried adults are more likely to suffer from classical migraines than they are to suffer from common migraines.
(C) People who do not experience migraine headaches are unlikely to have spouses who are migraine headache sufferers.
(D) Children of people who suffer from common migraines are not more likely than the general population to experience a common migraine.
(E) Between one-quarter and one-half of the general population suffer from either common or classical migraine headaches.

28.	(30615-!-item-!-188;#058&005660)

Hutonian Government Official:  Federal law requires truck drivers to take a long break after driving for ten hours, but truck drivers frequently do not comply.  Since the public rest areas along our highways cannot accommodate all the drivers needing a break, we plan to build more rest areas to increase the rate of compliance.

Hutonian Business Representative:  But if the parking lots around our businesses are considered, there are more than enough parking places.

Which of the following, if true about Hutonia, would provide a reason for persisting with the government official's plan despite the objection?

(A) Public parking areas are evenly distributed along the highways.
(B) Truck drivers are most likely not to comply with the federal law if the total time required for a trip exceeds ten hours by less than an hour.
(C) In comparison to public rest areas, private parking lots near highways tend to be time-consuming for drivers to reach.
(D) Even when rest areas are available, some truck drivers park in places, such as highway access ramps, where their trucks are likely to cause accidents.
(E) Some public parking areas, particularly those on heavily traveled roads, are substantially larger than others.

29.	(30663-!-item-!-188;#058&005676)

To prevent harbor porpoises from getting tangled in its nets and suffocating, a fishing company installed acoustic alarms on all its boats that fish in waters off Massachusetts.  The sound emitted temporarily disorients the porpoises and frightens them away.  Since the installation of the alarms, the average number of porpoises caught in the company's nets has dropped from eight to one per month.  The alarms, therefore, are saving the lives of harbor porpoises in those waters.

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

(A) The use of acoustic alarms increases the number of commercial fish caught by the fishing company's boats.
(B) When disoriented, harbor porpoises are not significantly more likely to be killed by other boats.
(C) Environmentalists advocate the use of acoustic alarms as a means of protecting the harbor porpoise population.
(D) The alarms were installed at the time of year when harbor porpoises are most plentiful in the Massachusetts waters.
(E) The cost of installing acoustic alarms on fishing boats is less than the cost of repairing nets damaged by harbor porpoises.

30.	(31171-!-item-!-188;#058&006066)

An advertising agency must leave its office building.  To save overhead costs, it is considering setting up a "virtual office" instead of moving to an adjacent office building.  Employees will do their work on computers, as they do now, but will do so at home, sharing their work with colleagues by communicating text and designs to colleagues' computers through telephone lines, receiving typed comments, and then revising the work until it is satisfactory.

Which of the following, if true, indicates a disadvantage of the virtual office plan?

(A) The agency can move its computers and associated equipment into employees' homes without purchasing any new equipment or requiring employees to purchase such equipment.
(B) To reach the current office building and return home, employees spend an average of one and a half hours per day commuting, usually in heavy traffic.
(C) The employees of the advertising agency are accustomed to autonomy in monitoring their own progress and productivity.
(D) Employees would be able to adapt quickly to using computers in a virtual office setting, since employees' current use of computers to produce designs requires a high level of skill.
(E) Expressions and gestures in face-to-face exchanges are an important aid to employees in gauging the viability of new ideas they have proposed.

31.	(31265-!-item-!-188;#058&006121)

The symptoms that United States President Zachary Taylor began showing five days before his death are consistent with arsenic poisoning.  Recent examination of Taylor's bones, however, revealed levels of arsenic comparable to those found in the bones of Taylor's contemporaries.  These levels are much lower than the levels of arsenic that remain in the bones of arsenic poisoning victims who live for more than a day after ingesting a lethal dose of the poison.

Which of the following is most strongly supported by the statements given?

(A) The symptoms that Taylor began showing five days before his death are consistent with poisoning other than arsenic poisoning.
(B) Taylor's death was not the result of any kind of poisoning.
(C) The symptoms that Taylor began showing five days before his death were not caused by a lethal dose of arsenic.
(D) The symptoms that Taylor began showing five days before his death grew more severe each day.
(E) It is unusual for a person who has ingested a lethal dose of arsenic to survive for more than a day.

32.	(31313-!-item-!-188;#058&006235)

Paleontologist: About 2.8 million years ago, many species that lived near the ocean floor suffered substantial population declines.  These declines coincided with the onset of an ice age.  The notion that cold killed those bottom-dwelling creatures outright is misguided, however; temperatures near the ocean floor would have changed very little.  Nevertheless, the cold probably did cause the population declines, though indirectly.  Many bottom-dwellers depended for food on plankton, small organisms that lived close to the surface and sank to the bottom when they died.  Most probably, the plankton suffered a severe population decline as a result of sharply lower temperatures at the surface, depriving many bottom-dwellers of food.

In the paleontologist's reasoning, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first introduces the hypothesis proposed by the paleontologist; the second is a judgment offered in spelling out that hypothesis.
(B) The first introduces the hypothesis proposed by the paleontologist; the second is a position that the paleontologist opposes.
(C) The first is an explanation challenged by the paleontologist; the second is an explanation proposed by the paleontologist.
(D) The first is a judgment advanced in support of a conclusion reached by the paleontologist; the second is that conclusion.
(E) The first is a generalization put forward by the paleontologist; the second presents certain exceptional cases in which that generalization does not hold.

33.	(31499-!-item-!-188;#058&006343)

Over the last five years, demand for hotel rooms in Cenopolis has increased significantly, as has the average price Cenopolis hotels charge for rooms.  These trends are projected to continue for the next several years.  In response to this economic forecast, Centennial Commercial, a real estate developer, is considering a plan to convert several unoccupied office buildings it owns in Cenopolis into hotels in order to maximize its revenues from these properties.

Which of the following would it be most useful for Centennial Commercial to know in evaluating the plan it is considering?

(A) Whether the population of Cenopolis is expected to grow in the next several years
(B) Whether demand for office space in Cenopolis is projected to increase in the near future
(C) Whether the increased demand for hotel rooms, if met, is likely to lead to an increase in the demand for other travel-related services
(D) Whether demand for hotel rooms has also increased in other cities where Centennial owns office buildings
(E) Whether, on average, hotels that have been created by converting office buildings have fewer guest rooms than do hotels that were built as hotels

34.	(31547-!-item-!-188;#058&006362)

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.
(B) Its management hires new workers but lacks the time to train them properly.
(C) Its employees are less likely to lose their jobs than they are at other times.
(D) Its management sponsors a monthly safety award for each division in the factory.
(E) Its old machinery is replaced with modern, automated models.

35.	(31595-!-item-!-188;#058&006404)

It is illegal to advertise prescription medications in Hedland except directly to physicians, either by mail or in medical journals.  A proposed law would allow general advertising of prescription medications.  Opponents object that the general population lacks the specialized knowledge to evaluate such advertisements and might ask their physicians for inappropriate medications.  But since physicians have the final say as to whether to prescribe a medication for a patient, inappropriate prescriptions would not become more common.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the argument?

(A) Whether advertising for prescription medications might alert patients to the existence of effective treatments for minor ailments that they had previously thought to be untreatable
(B) Whether some people might go to a physician for no reason other than to ask for a particular medication they have seen advertised
(C) Whether the proposed law requires prescription-medication advertisements directed to the general public to provide the same information as do advertisements directed to physicians
(D) Whether advertisements for prescription medications are currently an important source of information about newly available medications for physicians
(E) Whether physicians would give in to a patient's demand for a prescription medication chosen by the patient when the one originally prescribed by the physician fails to perform as desired

36.	(31643-!-item-!-188;#058&006431)

Traveler:  Southern Airways has a far worse safety record than Air Dacentaria over the past few years, in terms of both the frequency of accidents and the severity of accidents.  Therefore, although Air Dacentaria is slightly more expensive, I will choose it over Southern Airways for my flight from Pederton to Dacenta, since it is worth paying extra to have a safer flight.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the traveler's argument?

(A) Air Dacentaria's flight from Pederton to Dacenta is nonstop, whereas Southern Airways' flight touches down in Gorinda on the way.
(B) Most Southern Airways flights, but not its flight from Pederton to Dacenta, use Sarmouth airport, which because of its mountainous location is one of the world's most dangerous.
(C) For its flights from Pederton to Dacenta, Southern Airways uses a different model of airplane, with a smaller capacity, than the model Air Dacentaria uses for its flights on the same route.
(D) Only in the last few years has the cost of flying from Pederton to Dacenta been more expensive on Air Dacentaria than on Southern Airways.
(E) Although the frequency of accidents is greater on Southern Airways, on both airlines the proportion of flights that have accidents is very small.

37.	(32151-!-item-!-188;#058&006653)

The use of radar detectors in commercial vehicles was banned because commercial truck and bus drivers were using these devices to drive faster than the posted speed limit without fear of arrest.  Since drivers of noncommercial vehicles also use radar detectors and since speeding decreases safety for any vehicle, use of radar detectors should also be banned in noncommercial vehicles to increase safety.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument above?

(A) The average noncommercial-vehicle driver is involved in less long-distance driving than is the average commercial-vehicle driver.
(B) In many places airplanes or helicopters are used rather than radar to locate vehicles traveling faster than the posted speed limit.
(C) The ban on radar detectors in commercial vehicles has been effective in deterring them from speeding.
(D) Traffic accidents involving a truck or bus generally pose a greater threat of injury or death than do other accidents.
(E) Radar detectors are sometimes set off by devices other than the law enforcement devices that the radar detectors were built to detect.

38.	(32291-!-item-!-188;#058&006866)

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.
(B) Oil spills caused by tankers have generally been more serious than those caused by offshore operations.
(C) The impact of offshore operations on the environment can be controlled by careful management.
(D) Offshore operations usually damage the ocean floor, but tankers rarely cause such damage.
(E) Importing oil on tankers is currently less expensive than drilling for it offshore.

39.	(32799-!-item-!-188;#058&007548)

The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will not help the big American steel mills.  In fact, the quotas will help "mini-mills" flourish in the United States.  Those small domestic mills will take more business from the big American steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel mills in the absence of quotas.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim made in the last sentence above?

(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in determining the type of steel to be used for a particular application.
(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel comparable in quality to the steel produced by the big American mills.
(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced other countries to impose similar quotas on American goods.
(D) Domestic "mini-mills" consistently produce better grades of steel than do the big American mills.
(E) Domestic "mini-mills" produce low-volume, specialized types of steel that are not produced by the big American steel mills.

40.	(32847-!-item-!-188;#058&007552)

A recent report determined that although only three percent of drivers on Maryland highways equipped their vehicles with radar detectors, thirty-three percent of all vehicles ticketed for exceeding the speed limit were equipped with them.  Clearly, drivers who equip their vehicles with radar detectors are more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than are drivers who do not.

The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Drivers who equip their vehicles with radar detectors are less likely to be ticketed for exceeding the speed limit than are drivers who do not.
(B) Drivers who are ticketed for exceeding the speed limit are more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than are drivers who are not ticketed.
(C) The number of vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit was greater than the number of vehicles that were equipped with radar detectors.
(D) Many of the vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit were ticketed more than once in the time period covered by the report.
(E) Drivers on Maryland highways exceeded the speed limit more often than did drivers on other state highways not covered in the report. 

41.	(32895-!-item-!-188;#058&007553)

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.
(B) EFCO keyboards are no more expensive to manufacture than are standard keyboards and require less frequent repair than do standard keyboards.
(C) The number of businesses and government agencies that use EFCO keyboards is increasing each year.
(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.
(E) Novice typists can learn to use the EFCO keyboard in about the same amount of time it takes them to learn to use the standard keyboard.

42.	(32943-!-item-!-188;#058&007554)

Researchers have found that when very overweight people, who tend to have relatively low metabolic rates, lose weight primarily through dieting, their metabolisms generally remain unchanged.  They will thus burn significantly fewer calories at the new weight than do people whose weight is normally at that level.  Such newly thin persons will, therefore, ultimately regain weight until their body size again matches their metabolic rate.

The conclusion of the argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Relatively few very overweight people who have dieted down to a new weight tend to continue to consume substantially fewer calories than do people whose normal weight is at that level.
(B) The metabolisms of people who are usually not overweight are much more able to vary than the metabolisms of people who have been very overweight.
(C) The amount of calories that a person usually burns in a day is determined more by the amount that is consumed that day than by the current weight of the individual.
(D) Researchers have not yet determined whether the metabolic rates of formerly very overweight individuals can be accelerated by means of chemical agents.
(E) Because of the constancy of their metabolic rates, people who are at their usual weight normally have as much difficulty gaining weight as they do losing it. 

43.	(32991-!-item-!-188;#058&007555)

Half of the subjects in an experiment--the experimental group--consumed large quantities of a popular artificial sweetener.  Afterward, this group showed lower cognitive abilities than did the other half of the subjects--the control group--who did not consume the sweetener.  The detrimental effects were attributed to an amino acid that is one of the sweetener's principal constituents.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the conclusion that some ingredient of the sweetener was responsible for the experimental results?

(A) Most consumers of the sweetener do not consume as much of it as the experimental group members did.
(B) The amino acid referred to in the conclusion is a component of all proteins, some of which must be consumed for adequate nutrition.
(C) The quantity of the sweetener consumed by individuals in the experimental group is considered safe by federal food regulators.
(D) The two groups of subjects were evenly matched with regard to cognitive abilities prior to the experiment.
(E) A second experiment in which subjects consumed large quantities of the sweetener lacked a control group of subjects who were not given the sweetener.

44.	(33039-!-item-!-188;#058&007556)

Half of the subjects in an experiment--the experimental group--consumed large quantities of a popular artificial sweetener.  Afterward, this group showed lower cognitive abilities than did the other half of the subjects--the control group--who did not consume the sweetener.  The detrimental effects were attributed to an amino acid that is one of the sweetener's principal constituents.

Which of the following, if true, would best help explain how the sweetener might produce the observed effect?

(A) The government's analysis of the artificial sweetener determined that it was sold in relatively pure form.
(B) A high level of the amino acid in the blood inhibits the synthesis of a substance required for normal brain functioning.
(C) Because the sweetener is used primarily as a food additive, adverse reactions to it are rarely noticed by consumers.
(D) The amino acid that is a constituent of the sweetener is also sold separately as a dietary supplement.
(E) Subjects in the experiment did not know whether they were consuming the sweetener or a second, harmless substance.

45.	(33087-!-item-!-188;#058&007558)

The recent decline in the value of the dollar was triggered by a prediction of slower economic growth in the coming year.  But that prediction would not have adversely affected the dollar had it not been for the government's huge budget deficit, which must therefore be decreased to prevent future currency declines.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion about how to prevent future currency declines?

(A) The government has made little attempt to reduce the budget deficit.
(B) The budget deficit has not caused a slowdown in economic growth.
(C) The value of the dollar declined several times in the year prior to the recent prediction of slower economic growth.
(D) Before there was a large budget deficit, predictions of slower economic growth frequently caused declines in the dollar's value.
(E) When there is a large budget deficit, other events in addition to predictions of slower economic growth sometimes trigger declines in currency value.

46.	(33135-!-item-!-188;#058&007559)

Neither a rising standard of living nor balanced trade, by itself, establishes a country's ability to compete in the international marketplace.  Both are required simultaneously since standards of living can rise because of growing trade deficits and trade can be balanced by means of a decline in a country's standard of living.

If the facts stated in the passage above are true, a proper test of a country's ability to be competitive is its ability to

(A) balance its trade while its standard of living rises
(B) balance its trade while its standard of living falls
(C) increase trade deficits while its standard of living rises
(D) decrease trade deficits while its standard of living falls
(E) keep its standard of living constant while trade deficits rise

47.	(33183-!-item-!-188;#058&007560)

Traditionally, decision-making by managers that is reasoned step-by-step has been considered preferable to intuitive decision-making.  However, a recent study found that top managers used intuition significantly more than did most middle- or lower-level managers.  This confirms the alternative view that intuition is actually more effective than careful, methodical reasoning.

The conclusion above is based on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Methodical, step-by-step reasoning is inappropriate for making many real-life management decisions.
(B) Top managers have the ability to use either intuitive reasoning or methodical, step-by-step reasoning in making decisions.
(C) The decisions made by middle- and lower-level managers can be made as easily by using methodical reasoning as by using intuitive reasoning.
(D) Top managers use intuitive reasoning in making the majority of their decisions.
(E) Top managers are more effective at decision-making than middle- or lower-level managers.

48.	(33231-!-item-!-188;#058&007563)

Certain messenger molecules fight damage to the lungs from noxious air by telling the muscle cells encircling the lungs' airways to contract.  This partially seals off the lungs.  An asthma attack occurs when the messenger molecules are activated unnecessarily, in response to harmless things like pollen or household dust.

Which of the following, if true, points to the most serious flaw of a plan to develop a medication that would prevent asthma attacks by blocking receipt of any messages sent by the messenger molecules referred to above?

(A) Researchers do not yet know how the body produces the messenger molecules that trigger asthma attacks.
(B) Researchers do not yet know what makes one person's messenger molecules more easily activated than another's.
(C) Such a medication would not become available for several years, because of long lead times in both development and manufacture.
(D) Such a medication would be unable to distinguish between messages triggered by pollen and household dust and messages triggered by noxious air.
(E) Such a medication would be a preventative only and would be unable to alleviate an asthma attack once it had started.

49.	(33279-!-item-!-188;#058&007564)

Start-up companies financed by venture capitalists have a much lower failure rate than companies financed by other means.  Source of financing, therefore, must be a more important causative factor in the success of a start-up company than are such factors as the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur, the quality of strategic planning, or the management structure of the company.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) Venture capitalists tend to be more responsive than other sources of financing to changes in a start-up company's financial needs.
(B) The strategic planning of a start-up company is a less important factor in the long-term success of the company than are the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur.
(C) More than half of all new companies fail within five years.
(D) The management structures of start-up companies are generally less formal than the management structures of ongoing businesses.
(E) Venture capitalists base their decisions to fund start-up companies on such factors as the characteristics of the entrepreneur and quality of strategic planning of the company.

50.	(33327-!-item-!-188;#058&007566)

When people evade income taxes by not declaring taxable income, a vicious cycle results.  Tax evasion forces lawmakers to raise income tax rates, which causes the tax burden on nonevading taxpayers to become heavier.  This, in turn, encourages even more taxpayers to evade income taxes by hiding taxable income.

The vicious cycle described above could not result unless which of the following were true?

(A) An increase in tax rates tends to function as an incentive for taxpayers to try to increase their pretax incomes.
(B) Some methods for detecting tax evaders, and thus recovering some tax revenue lost through evasion, bring in more than they cost, but their success rate varies from year to year.
(C) When lawmakers establish income tax rates in order to generate a certain level of revenue, they do not allow adequately for revenue that will be lost through evasion.
(D) No one who routinely hides some taxable income can be induced by a lowering of tax rates to stop hiding such income unless fines for evaders are raised at the same time.
(E) Taxpayers do not differ from each other with respect to the rate of taxation that will cause them to evade taxes.

51.	(33375-!-item-!-188;#058&007573)

Because postage rates are rising, Home Decorator magazine plans to maximize its profits by reducing by one half the number of issues it publishes each year.  The quality of articles, the number of articles published per year, and the subscription price will not change.  Market research shows that neither subscribers nor advertisers will be lost if the magazine's plan is instituted.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest evidence that the magazine's profits are likely to decline if the plan is instituted?

(A) With the new postage rates, a typical issue under the proposed plan would cost about one-third more to mail than a typical current issue would.
(B) The majority of the magazine's subscribers are less concerned about a possible reduction in the quantity of the magazine's articles than about a possible loss of the current high quality of its articles.
(C) Many of the magazine's long-time subscribers would continue their subscriptions even if the subscription price were increased.
(D) Most of the advertisers that purchase advertising space in the magazine will continue to spend the same amount on advertising per issue as they have in the past.
(E) Production costs for the magazine are expected to remain stable.

52.	(33423-!-item-!-188;#058&007574)

When three Everett-owned Lightning-built airplanes crashed in the same month, the Everett company ordered three new Lightning-built airplanes as replacements.  This decision surprised many in the airline industry because, ordinarily when a product is involved in accidents, users become reluctant to buy that product.

Which of the following, if true, provides the best indication that the Everett company's decision was logically well supported?

(A) Although during the previous year only one Lightning-built airplane crashed, competing manufacturers had a perfect safety record.
(B) The Lightning-built airplanes crashed due to pilot error, but because of the excellent quality of the planes there were many survivors.
(C) The Federal Aviation Association issued new guidelines for airlines in order to standardize safety requirements governing preflight inspections.
(D) Consumer advocates pressured two major airlines into purchasing safer airplanes so that the public would be safer while flying.
(E) Many Lightning Airplane Company employees had to be replaced because they found jobs with the competition.

53.	(33471-!-item-!-188;#058&007576)

Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year.  Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last year.
(B) The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.
(C) The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.
(D) Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.
(E) The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

54.	(33519-!-item-!-188;#058&007577)

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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(E) Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in products--example, in the computer and electronics industries--which patent protection is often very ineffective.

55.	(33567-!-item-!-188;#058&007582)

The cotton farms of Country Q became so productive that the market could not absorb all that they produced.  Consequently, cotton prices fell.  The government tried to boost cotton prices by offering farmers who took 25 percent of their cotton acreage out of production direct support payments up to a specified maximum per farm.

The government's program, if successful, will not be a net burden on the budget.  Which of the following, if true, is the best basis for an explanation of how this could be so?

(A) Depressed cotton prices meant operating losses for cotton farms, and the government lost revenue from taxes on farm profits.
(B) Cotton production in several countries other than Q declined slightly the year that the support-payment program went into effect in Q.
(C) The first year that the support-payment program was in effect, cotton acreage in Q was 5% below its level in the base year for the program.
(D) The specified maximum per farm meant that for very large cotton farms the support payments were less per acre for those acres that were withdrawn from production than they were for smaller farms.
(E) Farmers who wished to qualify for support payments could not use the cotton acreage that was withdrawn from production to grow any other crop. 

56.	(33615-!-item-!-188;#058&007586)

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.
(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also make some use of computer projections to identify weather patterns.
(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money into social welfare programs.
(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying astronauts into orbit.
(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit.

57.	(33663-!-item-!-188;#058&007587)

Since the deregulation of airlines, delays at the nation's increasingly busy airports have increased by 25 percent.  To combat this problem, more of the takeoff and landing slots at the busiest airports must be allocated to commercial airlines.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the effectiveness of the solution proposed above?

(A) The major causes of delays at the nation's busiest airports are bad weather and overtaxed air traffic control equipment.
(B) Since airline deregulation began, the number of airplanes in operation has increased by 25 percent.
(C) Over 60 percent of the takeoff and landing slots at the nation's busiest airports are reserved for commercial airlines.
(D) After a small midwestern airport doubled its allocation of takeoff and landing slots, the number of delays that were reported decreased by 50 percent.
(E) Since deregulation the average length of delay at the nation's busiest airports has doubled.

58.	(33711-!-item-!-188;#058&007588)

The proposal to hire ten new police officers in Middletown is quite foolish.  There is sufficient funding to pay the salaries of the new officers, but not the salaries of additional court and prison employees to process the increased caseload of arrests and convictions that new officers usually generate.

Which of the following, if true, will most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn above?

(A) Studies have shown that an increase in a city's police force does not necessarily reduce crime.
(B) When one major city increased its police force by 19 percent last year, there were 40 percent more arrests and 13 percent more convictions.
(C) If funding for the new police officers' salaries is approved, support for other city services will have to be reduced during the next fiscal year.
(D) In most United States cities, not all arrests result in convictions, and not all convictions result in prison terms.
(E) Middletown's ratio of police officers to citizens has reached a level at which an increase in the number of officers will have a deterrent effect on crime.

59.	(33759-!-item-!-188;#058&007597)

Bank depositors in the United States are all financially protected against bank failure because the government insures all individuals' bank deposits.  An economist argues that this insurance is partly responsible for the high rate of bank failures, since it removes from depositors any financial incentive to find out whether the bank that holds their money is secure against failure.  If depositors were more selective, then banks would need to be secure in order to compete for depositors' money.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the economist's argument?

(A) Before the government started to insure depositors against bank failure, there was a lower rate of bank failure than there is now.
(B) When the government did not insure deposits, frequent bank failures occurred as a result of depositors' fears of losing money in bank failures.
(C) Surveys show that a significant proportion of depositors are aware that their deposits are insured by the government.
(D) There is an upper limit on the amount of an individual's deposit that the government will insure, but very few individuals' deposits exceed this limit.
(E) The security of a bank against failure depends on the percentage of its assets that are loaned out and also on how much risk its loans involve.

60.	(33807-!-item-!-188;#058&007599)

Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits.  If they did, countries with the largest budget deficits would also have the largest trade deficits.  In fact, when deficit figures are adjusted so that different countries are reliably comparable to each other, there is no such correlation.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following can properly be inferred on the basis of them?

(A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to restrict foreign trade.
(B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one country with those of another are impossible.
(C) Reducing a country's national budget deficit will not necessarily result in a lowering of any trade deficit that country may have.
(D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest in terms of population, the smallest countries generally have the smallest budget and trade deficits.
(E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have similarly large national budget deficits.

61.	(33855-!-item-!-188;#058&007603)

The more frequently employees take time to exercise during working hours each week, the fewer sick days they take.  Even employees who exercise only once a week during working hours take less sick time than those who do not exercise.  Therefore, if companies started fitness programs, the absentee rate in those companies would decrease significantly.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) Employees who exercise during working hours occasionally fall asleep for short periods of time after they exercise.
(B) Employees who are frequently absent are the least likely to cooperate with or to join a corporate fitness program.
(C) Employees who exercise only once a week in their company's fitness program usually also exercise after work.
(D) Employees who exercise in their company's fitness program use their working time no more productively than those who do not exercise.
(E) Employees who exercise during working hours take slightly longer lunch breaks than employees who do not exercise.

62.	(33903-!-item-!-188;#058&007604)

Recently a court ruled that current law allows companies to reject a job applicant if working in the job would entail a 90 percent chance that the applicant would suffer a heart attack.  The presiding judge justified the ruling, saying that it protected both employees and employers.

The use of this court ruling as part of the law could not be effective in regulating employment practices if which of the following were true?

(A) The best interests of employers often conflict with the interests of employees.
(B) No legally accepted methods exist for calculating the risk of a job applicant's having a heart attack as a result of being employed in any particular occupation.
(C) Some jobs might involve health risks other than the risk of heart attack.
(D) Employees who have a 90 percent chance of suffering a heart attack may be unaware that their risk is so great.
(E) The number of people applying for jobs at a company might decline if the company, by screening applicants for risk of heart attack, seemed to suggest that the job entailed high risk of heart attack.

63.	(33951-!-item-!-188;#058&007609)

Guitar strings often go "dead"--become less responsive and bright in tone--after a few weeks of intense use.  A researcher whose son is a classical guitarist hypothesized that dirt and oil, rather than changes in the material properties of the string, were responsible.

Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help to evaluate the researcher's hypothesis?

(A) Determining if a metal alloy is used to make the strings used by classical guitarists
(B) Determining whether classical guitarists make their strings go dead faster than do folk guitarists
(C) Determining whether identical lengths of string, of the same gauge, go dead at different rates when strung on various brands of guitars
(D) Determining whether a dead string and a new string produce different qualities of sound
(E) Determining whether smearing various substances on new guitar strings causes them to go dead

64.	(33999-!-item-!-188;#058&007610)

To protect certain fledgling industries, the government of country Z banned imports of the types of products those industries were starting to make.  As a direct result, the cost of those products to the buyers, several export-dependent industries in Z, went up, sharply limiting the ability of those industries to compete effectively in their export markets.

Which of the following can be most properly inferred from the passage about the products whose importation was banned?

(A) Those products had been cheaper to import than they were to make within country Z's fledgling industries.
(B) Those products were the ones that country Z was hoping to export in its turn, once the fledgling industries matured.
(C) Those products used to be imported from just those countries to which country Z's exports went.
(D) Those products had become more and more expensive to import, which resulted in a foreign trade deficit just before the ban.
(E) Those products used to be imported in very small quantities, but they were essential to country Z's economy.

65.	(34047-!-item-!-188;#058&007611)

Treatment for hypertension forestalls certain medical expenses by preventing strokes and heart disease.  Yet any money so saved amounts to only one-fourth of the expenditures required to treat the hypertensive population.  Therefore, there is no economic justification for preventive treatment for hypertension.

Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the conclusion above?

(A) The many fatal strokes and heart attacks resulting from untreated hypertension cause insignificant medical expenditures but large economic losses of other sorts.
(B) The cost, per patient, of preventive treatment for hypertension would remain constant even if such treatment were instituted on a large scale.
(C) In matters of health care, economic considerations should ideally not be dominant.
(D) Effective prevention presupposes early diagnosis, and programs to ensure early diagnosis are costly.
(E) The net savings in medical resources achieved by some preventive health measures are smaller than the net losses attributable to certain other measures of this kind.

66.	(34095-!-item-!-188;#058&007612)

The sustained massive use of pesticides in farming has two effects that are especially pernicious.  First, it often kills off the pests' natural enemies in the area.  Second, it often unintentionally gives rise to insecticide-resistant pests, since those insects that survive a particular insecticide will be the ones most resistant to it, and they are the ones left to breed.

From the passage above, it can be properly inferred that the effectiveness of the sustained massive use of pesticides can be extended by doing which of the following, assuming that each is a realistic possibility?

(A) Using only chemically stable insecticides
(B) Periodically switching the type of insecticide used
(C) Gradually increasing the quantities of pesticides used
(D) Leaving a few fields fallow every year
(E) Breeding higher-yielding varieties of crop plants

67.	(34143-!-item-!-188;#058&007613)

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest renaissance among United States firms, even though projects undertaken by two or more corporations under a collaborative agreement are less profitable than projects undertaken by a single corporation.  The advantage of transnational cooperation is that such joint international projects may allow United States firms to win foreign contracts that they would not otherwise be able to win.

Which of the following is information provided by the passage?

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a single corporation to handle.
(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading to high-quality performance.
(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms.
(D) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations are not profitable enough to be worth undertaking.
(E) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations benefit only those who commission the projects.

68.	(34191-!-item-!-188;#058&007616)

Leaders of a miners' union on strike against Coalco are contemplating additional measures to pressure the company to accept the union's contract proposal.  The union leaders are considering as their principal new tactic a consumer boycott against Gasco gas stations, which are owned by Energy Incorporated, the same corporation that owns Coalco.

The answer to which of the following questions is LEAST directly revelant to the union leaders' consideration of whether attempting a boycott of Gasco will lead to acceptance of their contract proposal?

(A) Would revenue losses by Gasco seriously affect Energy Incorporated?
(B) Can current Gasco customers easily obtain gasoline elsewhere?
(C) Have other miners' unions won contracts similar to the one proposed by this union?
(D) Have other unions that have employed a similar tactic achieved their goals with it?
(E) Do other corporations that own coal companies also own gas stations?

Practice Test #2 Critical Reasoning Keys

 1. D   24021-!-item-!-188;#058&000691
 2. C   24069-!-item-!-188;#058&000703
 3. E   24117-!-item-!-188;#058&000708
 4. A   24257-!-item-!-188;#058&001200
 5. A   24305-!-item-!-188;#058&001204

 6. E   24353-!-item-!-188;#058&001207
 7. D   24401-!-item-!-188;#058&001291
 8. B   24449-!-item-!-188;#058&001338
 9. E   24497-!-item-!-188;#058&001429
10. E   24867-!-item-!-188;#058&001810

11. A   24915-!-item-!-188;#058&001837
12. D   24967-!-item-!-188;#058&001893
13. C   25752-!-item-!-188;#058&002668
14. D   25938-!-item-!-188;#058&002908
15. B   25986-!-item-!-188;#058&002914

16. B   26678-!-item-!-188;#058&003277
17. C   26864-!-item-!-188;#058&003368
18. A   26912-!-item-!-188;#058&003382
19. C   27788-!-item-!-188;#058&003653
20. B   27836-!-item-!-188;#058&003666

21. B   28114-!-item-!-188;#058&003832
22. A   28162-!-item-!-188;#058&003858
23. C   28303-!-item-!-188;#058&003943
24. E   28903-!-item-!-188;#058&004064
25. C   30469-!-item-!-188;#058&005456

26. C   30517-!-item-!-188;#058&005463
27. A   30565-!-item-!-188;#058&005567
28. C   30615-!-item-!-188;#058&005660
29. B   30663-!-item-!-188;#058&005676
30. E   31171-!-item-!-188;#058&006066

31. C   31265-!-item-!-188;#058&006121
32. A   31313-!-item-!-188;#058&006235
33. B   31499-!-item-!-188;#058&006343
34. B   31547-!-item-!-188;#058&006362
35. E   31595-!-item-!-188;#058&006404

36. B   31643-!-item-!-188;#058&006431
37. C   32151-!-item-!-188;#058&006653
38. A   32291-!-item-!-188;#058&006866
39. E   32799-!-item-!-188;#058&007548
40. B   32847-!-item-!-188;#058&007552

41. D   32895-!-item-!-188;#058&007553
42. A   32943-!-item-!-188;#058&007554
43. D   32991-!-item-!-188;#058&007555
44. B   33039-!-item-!-188;#058&007556
45. D   33087-!-item-!-188;#058&007558

46. A   33135-!-item-!-188;#058&007559
47. E   33183-!-item-!-188;#058&007560
48. D   33231-!-item-!-188;#058&007563
49. E   33279-!-item-!-188;#058&007564
50. C   33327-!-item-!-188;#058&007566

51. D   33375-!-item-!-188;#058&007573
52. B   33423-!-item-!-188;#058&007574
53. A   33471-!-item-!-188;#058&007576
54. B   33519-!-item-!-188;#058&007577
55. A   33567-!-item-!-188;#058&007582

56. E   33615-!-item-!-188;#058&007586
57. A   33663-!-item-!-188;#058&007587
58. E   33711-!-item-!-188;#058&007588
59. B   33759-!-item-!-188;#058&007597
60. C   33807-!-item-!-188;#058&007599

61. B   33855-!-item-!-188;#058&007603
62. B   33903-!-item-!-188;#058&007604
63. E   33951-!-item-!-188;#058&007609
64. A   33999-!-item-!-188;#058&007610
65. A   34047-!-item-!-188;#058&007611

66. B   34095-!-item-!-188;#058&007612
67. C   34143-!-item-!-188;#058&007613
68. E   34191-!-item-!-188;#058&007616