section iii
time—35 minutes
25 questions
directions: the equestions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. for some questions more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. however, you are to choose the best answer that is the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. you should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. after you have chosen the best answer blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.
1. if a country s manufacturing capacity is fully utilized, three can be no industrial growth without new capital investment. any reduction in interest rates produces new capital investment
which one of the following can be properly concluded from the statements above?
(a) interest rates might in exceptional cases be reduced without there being any subsequent investment of new capital.
(b) a reduction in interest rates might cause a precondition for industrial growth to be met.
(c) if a country s manufacturing capacity is underutilized, interest rates should be held sonstant.
(d) new capital investment that takes place while interest rates are rising cannot lead to industrial growth.
(e) manufacturing capacity newly created by capital investment needs to be fully utilized if it is to lead to industrial growth.
2. a certain type of insect trap uses a scented lure to attract rose beetles into a plastic bag from which it is difficult for them to escape. if several of these traps are installed in a backyard garden, the number of rose beetles in the garden will be greatly reduced. if only one trap is installed, however, the number of rose beetles in the garden will actually increase
which one of the following, if true most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?
(a) the scent of a single trap s lure usually cannot be detected throughout a backyard garden by rose beetles
(b) several traps are better able to catch a large number of rose beetles than is one trap alone, since any rose beetles that evade one trap are likely to encounter another trap if there are several traps in the garden.
(c) when there are several traps in a garden, they each capture fewer rose beetles than any single trap would if it were the only trap in the garden
(d) the presence of any traps in a backyard garden will attract more rose beetles than one trap can catch, but several traps will not attract significantly more rose beetles to a garden than one trap will.
(e) when there is only one trap in the garden, the plastic bag quickly becomes filled to capacity, allowing some rose beeties to escape
3. the current move to patent computer programs is a move in the wrong direction and should be stopped. the patent system was originally designed solely to protect small-time inventors from exploitation. not to give large corporations control over a methodology. any computer program is merely the implementation of a methodology.
which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(a) computer programs should be developed not only be large corporations but by small-time inventors as well.
(b) implementing a methodology always requires less creative effort than does true invention
(c) the issue of whether or not to patent computer programs presents the patent system with problems that have never before arisen
(d) large corporations should not hold patents for implementations of methodologies
(e) small-time inventors who support the move to patent computer programs act contrary to their own best interests
questions 4-5
walter: for the economically privileged in a society to tolerate an injustice perpetrated against one of society s disadvantaged is not just morally wrong but also shortsighted: a system that inflicts an injustice on a disadvantaged person today can equally well inflict that same injustice on a well-to-do person tomorrow
larissa: in our society the wealthy as well as the well-educated can protect themselves against all sorts of injustices suffered by the less well-off allowing such injustices to persist is bad policy not because it places everyone at equal risk of injustice but because it is a potent source of social unrest.
4. larissa responds to walter by doing which one of the following?
(a) giving reason to doubt the truth of walter s conclusion
(b) drawing implausible consequences from walter s assumptions
(c) questioning walter s authority to address matters of social policy
(d) providing an alternative reason for accepting the truth of walter s conclusion
(e) charging walter with stopping short of recognizing the full implications of his position
5. walter and larissa are logically committed by what they say to disagreeing about which one of the following?
(a) whether the poor and the rich are part of the same social fabric
(b) whether the most successful members of a society are that society s least tolerant people
(c) whether the disadvantaged members of society suffer from injustice
(d) whether those who have the most advantages in a society are morally obligated to correct that society s injustices
(e) whether the economically privileged members of a society are less exposed to certain sorts of injustices than are the economically disadvantaged
6. three major laundry detergent manufacturers have concentrated their powdered detergents by reducing the proportion of inactive ingredients in the detergent formulas. the concentrated detergents will be sold in smaller packages. in explaining the change, the manufacturers cited the desire to reduce cardboard packaging and other production costs. market analysts predict that the decision of three manufacturers, who control 80 percent of the laundry detergent market will eventually bring about the virtual disappearance of old-style bulky detergents
which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the prediction made by the market analysts?
(a) most smaller manufacturers of laundry detergents will consider it too expensive to retool factories for the production of the smaller detergent packages.
(b) many consumers will be skeptical initially that the recommended small amount of concentrated detergent will clean laundry as effectively as the larger amount of the old-style detergent did
(c) some analysts believe that consumers will have to pay a greater cost per load of laundry to use the new concentrated detergent than they did to use the old-style detergent
(d) major supermarkets have announced that they will not charge the detergent manufacturers less to display their detergents even though the detergents will take up less shelf space
(e) comsumers are increasingly being persuaded by environmental concerns to buy concentrated detergents when available in order to reduce cardboard waste
questions 7-8
political advocate: campaigns for elective office should be subsidized with public funds. one reason is that this would allow politicians to devote less time to fund-raising thus giving campaigning incumbents more time to serve the public. asecond reason is that such subsidies would make it possible to set caps on individual campaign contributions. thereby reducing the likelihood that elected officials will be working for the benefit not of the publie but of individual large contilbutors
gitle: this argument is problematie the more the caps constrain contributions the more time candidates have to spend finding more small contributors
7. the critie objects that the advocate s argument is flawed because
(a) any resourceful large contributor can circumvent caps on individual contributions by sending in smaller amounts under various names
(b) one of the projected results cited in support of the proposal made is entailed by the other and therefore does not constitute mdependent support of the proposal
(c) of the two projected results cited in support of the proposal made one works against the other
(d) it overlooks the possibility that lareg contributors will stop contributing if they cannot contribute at will
(e) it overlooks the possibility that incumbents with a few extremely generous contributors will be hit harder by caps than incumbents with many moderately genetous contributors.
8. which one of the following prickples if established provides a basis for the advocate s argument
(a) if complete reliance on private funding of some activity keeps the public from enjoying a benefit that could be provided if public funds were used such public funds should be provided
(b) if election campaigns are to be fended from public funds terms of office for elected officials should be lengthened.
(c) if in an election campaign large contributions flow primarily to one candidate public funds should be used to support the campaigns of that candiate s rivals
(d) if public funding of some activity produces a benefit to the public but also inevitably a special benefit for specific individuals, the activity should not be fully funded publicly but in part by the individuals deriving the special benefit.
(e) if a person would not have run for office in the absence of public campaign subsidies this person should not be eligible for any such subsidies.
9. novice bird-watcher 1 don t know much about animal track s but i do know that birds typically have four toes and most birds have three toes pointing forward and one toe pointing backward since this track was made by an animal with four toes of which three point forward and one points backward we can conclude it was made by some kind of bird
the argument is flawed because it
(a) relies on the vagueness of the term "track"
(b) does not define birds as animals with for toes
(c) fails to identify what kind of bird might have made the track
(d) does not establish that only a bird could have made the track
(e) depends on evidence about an individual bird rather than about birds in general
10. psychologists have claimed that many people are more susceptible to psychological problems in the winter than in the summer, the psychologists call this condition seasonal affective disorder their claim is based on the results of surveys in which people were asked to recall how they felt at various times in the past however, it is not clear that people are able to report accurately on their past psychological states therefore these survey results do not justify the psychologists claim that there is any such condition as seasonal affective disorder
the author criticizes the psychologists claim by
(a) offering an alternative explanation of the variation in the occurrence of psychological problems across seasons
(b) questioning whether any seasonal variation in the occurrence of psychological problems could properly be labeled a disorder
(c) questioning the representativeness of the poplation sample surveyed by the psychologists
(d) questioning an assumption chat the author attributes to the psychologists
(e) demonstrating that fewer people actually suffer from seasonal affective disorder than psychologists had previously thought
11. unless the residents of glan hills band together, the proposal to rezone that city will be approved. if it is the city will be able to build the water and sewer systems that developers need in order to construct apartment houses there. these buildings would attract new residents. and the increased population would probably result in overerowded schools and would certainly result in roads so congested that new roads would be built. neither new roads nor additional schools could be built without substantial tax increases for the residents of glen hills, utimately this growth might even destroy the rural atmosphere that makes glen hills so attractive
which one of the following can be properly concluded from the passage?
(a) if the citizens of glen hills band together. developers will not build apartment houses
(b) if developers build apartment houses in glen hills, there will be substantial tax increases for the residents of glen hills
(c) if the rezoning proposal does not pass the rural atmosphere in glen hills will not be lost
(d) if developers do not build apartment houses in glen hills, the taxes of the residents of glen hills will not increase substantially
(e) if developers do not build apartment houses in glen hills. the schools of glen hills will not be overerowded and roads will not be congested
12. one year ago a local government initiated an antismoking advertising campaign in local newspapers which it financed by imposing a tax on cigarettes of 20 cents per pack one year later the number of people in the locality who smoke cigarettes had declined by 3 percent clearly what was said in the advertisements had an effect although a small one on the number of people in the locality who smoke cigarettes
which one of the folloiwng, if true, most helps to strengthen argument?
(a) residents of the locality have not increased their use of other tobacco products such as snuff and chewing tobacco since the campaign went into effect
(b) a substantial number of cigarette smokers in the locality who did not quit smoking during the campaign now smoke less than they did before it began
(c) admissions to the local hospital for chronic respiratory ailments were down by 15 percent one year after the campaign began
(d) merchants in the locality responded to the local tax by reducing the price at which they sold cigarettes by 20 cents per pack
(e) smokers in the locality had incomes that on average were 25 percent lower than those of nonsmokers
13. no projects that involve historical restorations were granted building permits this month. since some of the current projects of the firm of stein and sapin are historical restorations,at least some of stein and sapin s projects were not granted building permits this month.
the pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?
(a) none of the doctors working at city hospital were trained abroad so. although some hospitals require doctors trained abroad to pass an extra qualifying exam, until now, at least, this has not been an issue for city hospital
(b) none of the news reports from the economic summit meeting have been encouraging since some other recent economic reports have showed positive trends, however at least some of the economic news is encouraging at this time.
(c) none of the new members of the orchestra have completed their paperwork since only those people who have completed their paperwork can be paid this week at least some of the new members of the orchestra are likely to be paid late
(d) several films directed by hannah barker were released this season, but none of the films released this season were enthusiastically reviewed therefore at least some of hannah barker s films have on received enthusiastic reviews
(e) some of the city s most beautiful parks are not larger than few acres and some of the parks only a few acres in size are among the city s oldest therefore, some of city s most beautiful parks are also its oldest parks
14. many artists claim that art crities find it is easier to write about art that they dislike than to write about art that they like. whether or not this hypothesis is correct, most art criticism is devoted to art works that fail to satisfy the critic. hence it follows that most art criticism is devoted to works other than the greatest works of art.
the conclusion above is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) no art critie enjoys writing about art works that he or she dislikes intensely
(b) all art crities find it difficult to discover art works that truly satisfy them
(c) a work of art that receives extensive critical attention can thereby become more widely known than it otherwise would have been
(d) the greatest works of art are never recognized as such until long after the time of their creation
(e) the greatest works of art are works that inevitably satisfy all crities.
15. babies who can hear and have hearing parents who expose them to speech begin to babble at a certain age as a precursor to speaking. in the same way, deaf babies with deaf parents who communicate with them and with each other by signing begin to babble in signs at the same age. that is, they make repetitive hand gestures that constitute, within the language systme of signs, the analogue of repeated syllables in speech.
the information above, if accurate, can best be used as evidence against which one of the following hypotheses?
(a) names of persons or things are the simplest words in a language, since babies use them before using the names of actions or processes
(b) the development of language competency in babies depends primarily on the physical maturation of the vocal tract a process that requires speech-oriented vocal activity
(c) in the absence of adults who communicate with each other in their presence, babies develop idiosyncratic languages
(d) in babbling babies are unaware that the sound or gesture combinations they use can be employed in a purposive way.
(e) the making of hand gestures by hearing babies who have hearing parents should be interpreted as a part of their developing language.
16. each of the elements of girelli s recently completed design for a university library is copied from a different one of several historic libraries. the design includes various features from classical greek, islamic, mogul, and romanesque structures. since no one element in the design is original, it follows that the design of the library cannot be considered original.
which one of the following is a reasoning error made in the argument?
(a) assuming that because something is true of each of the parts of a whole it is true of the whole itself.
(b) generalizing illegitimately from a few instances of a certain kind to all instances of that kind.
(c) concluding that an unknown instance of a phenomenon must have all the properties of the known instances
(d) presupposing that alternatives that can be true separately cannot be true together
(e) deriving a factual conclusion from evidence derived from reports of aesthetic preferences.
questions 17-18
although tales of wonder and the fantastic are integral to all world literatures, only recently has the fantasy genre had a commercial resurgence in north america. during the last 20 years, sales of fantasy-fiction books written for adults have gone from 1 to 10 percent of total adult-fiction sales. at the same time, the number of total adult-fiction sales. at the same time, the number of favorable reviews of fantasy books has increased markedly. some booksellers say that the increased sales of fantasy books written for adults can be traced to the increased favorable attention given the genre by book reviewers
17. which one of the following, if true undermines the booksellers explanation of the growth in sales of fantasy-fiction books for adults?
(a) publishers often select a manuscript on the basis of whether they think that the published book will receive favorable reviews by book reviewers
(b) few readers of fantasy fiction read book reviews and even fewer select books to purchase on the basis of those reviews
(c) most booksellers are aware of what major book reviewers have written about recently published books.
(d) although the increase in the percentage of fantasy books sold has been substantial, publishers estimate that sales could increase even further.
(e) many of the book reviews of new fantasy-fiction novels also mention great fantasy novels of the past
18. which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the booksellers explanation of the growth in sales of fantasy-fiction books for adults?
(a) many experts report that on average the reading level of book buyers has declined over the past 20 years
(b) because life during the past 20 years has become complex and difficult, many readers have come to prefer the happy endings that fantasy fiction often provides
(c) some fantasy publishers take advantage of the popularity of certain books by commissioning similar books.
(d) because few readers of mystery novels were buying fantasy fiction 10 years ago the major publishers of fantasy fiction created an advertising campaign directed specifically at those readers.
(e) after fantasy fiction began to be favorably reviewed by respected crities 20 years ago, book buyers began to regard fantasy books as suitable reading for adults.
19. of all the houses in the city s historic district, the house that once belonged to the tyler family is the most famous by far since the historic district is the most famous district in the city. the tyler house must be the city s most famous house.
the flawed reasoning in the argument above most closely parallels the flawed reasoning in which one of the following?
(a) of all the peaks in the coastal mountain range, mount williams is the tallest. since the tallest peaks in the entire region are in the coastal mountain range, mount williams must be the region s tallest peak
(b) tobacco smoking is the behavior most likely to cause lung cancer in people. since more tobacco is smoked in greene county than anywhere else in the world, there must be more lung cancer in greene county than anywhere else in the world
(c) susan coleman is the oldest of the three children in her family since the three coleman children are each older than any of the other children who live in their building. susan coleman must be the oldest child now living in the building
(d) of all the fish stores in the harbors area. miller s fish market has the most exotic selection of fish since there are many more fish stores in the harbor area than anywhere else in the city. miller s fish market must have the most exotic selection of fish in the city.
(e) of all the flowers grown in the university s botanical garden, the oakland roses are the most beautiful. since the university s botanical garden is the most beautiful garden in the regio, the oakland roses grown in the garden must be the most beautiful flowers grown in the entire region
20. morton: in order to succeed in today s society one must have a college degree. skepties have objected that there are many people who never completed any education beyond high school but who are nevertheless quite successful. this success is only apparent, however, because without a college degree a person does not have enough education to be truly successful
morten s argument is flawed because it
(a) assumes what it sets out to conclude
(b) mistakes a correlation for a cause
(c) draws a highly general conclusion from evidence about individual cases
(d) fails to consider the status of alleged counterexamples
(e) bases its conclusion on the supposition that most people believe in that conclusion
21. even the earliest known species of land animats, known from fossils dating from the late silurian period 400 million years age show highly evolved adaptations to life on land. since neither aquatic nor amphibious animals exhibit these adaptations, early species of land animals must have evolved very rapidly after leaving an aquatic environment.
which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(a) known fossils of early land animals include fossils of animals that lived relatively soon after the first emergence of land animals
(b) fossils from the late silurian period represent only a small number of the animal species that were alive at that time
(c) no plants were established on land before the late silurian period.
(d) no present-day species of aquatic animal is descended from a species of animal that once lived on land
(e) all anmals alive in the late silurian period lived either exclusively on land or exclusively in the water.
22. on saturday melvin suggested that jerome take the following week off from work and accompany him on a trip to the mountains. jerome refused claiming that he could not afford the cost of the trip added to the wages he would forfeit by taking off withoud notice. it is clear, however, that cost cannot be the real reason for jerome s unwillingness to go with melvin to the mountains since he makes the same excuse every time melvin asks him to take an unscheduled vacation regardless of where melvin proposes to go
the reasoning is most vulnerable to which one of the following criticisms?
(a) it attmepts to forestall an attack on melvin s behavior by focusing attention on the behavior of jerome.
(b) it fails to establish that melvin could no more afford to take an unscheduled vacation trip to the mountains than could jerome
(c) it overlooks the possibility that jerome, unlike melvin prefers vacations that have been planned far in advance
(d) it assumes that if jerome s professed reason is not his only reason then it cannot be a real reason for jerome at all
(e) it does not examine the possibility that jerome s behavior is adequately explained by the reason the gives for it.
23. arnold: i was recently denied a seat on an airline flight for which i had a confirmed reservation. because the airline had overbooked the flight. since i was forced to fly on the next available flight, which did not depart until two hours later, i missed an important business meeting. even though the flight on which i had a reservation was canceled at the last minute due to bad weather, the airline should still pay me compensation for denying me a seat on the flight.
jamie : the airline is not morally obligated to pay you any compensation. even if you had not been denied a seat on the earlier flight, you would have missed your business meeting anyway
a principle that, if established, justifies jamie s response to arnold is that an airline is morally obligated to compensate a passenger who has been denied a seat on a flight for which the passenger has confirmed reservations
(a) if the only reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight is that the airling overbooked the original flight
(b) only if there is a reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight other than the original flight s being canceled due to bad weather
(c) only if the passenger would not have been forced to take a later flight had the airling not overbooked the original flight.
(d) even if the only reason the passenger is forced to take a later flight were that the original flight is canceled due to bad weather
(e) even if the passenger would still have been forced to take a later flight had the airline not overbooked the original flight
24. ditrama is a federatin made up of three autonomus regions. korva. mitro, and guadar, under the federal revenue-sharing plan, each region receives a share of federa revenues equal to the share of the total population of ditrama residing in that region as shown by a yearly populatin survey last year the percentage of federal revenues korva received for its share deereased somewhat even though the population surve on which the revenue-sharing was based showed that korva s population had increased
if the statements above are true, which one of the following must also have been shown by the population survey on which last year s revenue-sharing in dirama was based?
(a) of the three regions korva had the smallest number of residents
(b) the population of korva grew by a smaller percentage than it did in previous years
(c) the populations of mitro and guadar each increased by a percentage that exceeded the percentage by which the population of korva mcreased.
(d) of the three regions. korva s numerical inerease in population was the smallest
(e) korva s population grew by a smaller percentage than did the population of at least one of the other two autonomous regions.
25. by examining fossilized beetles a research team has produced the most detailed description yet of temperatures in britain over the past 22,000 years fossils of species that still exist were selected and dated. whey individuals of several species found in the same place were found to date to the same period the known temperature tolerances of the existing beetle species were found to date to the same period the known temperature tolerances of the existing beetle species were used to determin the maximum summer temperature that could have existed at that place and period
the procedure of the researchers assumes which one of the following?
(a) beetles can tolerate warm weather better than cold weather
(b) fossils of different species found in the same place belonged to different periods
(c) the process of dating is more accurate for beetles than for other organisms
(d) the highest actuai summer temperature at a place and period equaled the average of the highest temperatures that could have been tolerated by each of the beetle species found there and dated to that period
(e) the temperature tolerances of the beetle species did not change significantly during the 22,000-year period