TEST 5 CRITICAL REASONING 2_LSAT
section vi
time—35 minutes
25 questions
directions: the questions 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. the translator of poetry must realize that word-for-word equivalents do not exist across languages, any more than piano sounds exist in the violin. the violin can, however, play recognizably the same music as the piano, but only if the violinist is guided by the nature and possibilities of the violin as well as by the original composition.
as applied to the act of translating poetry from one language into another, the analogy above can best be understood as saying that
(a) poetry cannot be effectively translated because, unlike music, it is composed of words with specific meanings
(b) some languages are inherently more musical and more suitable to poetic composition than others
(c) the translator should be primarily concerned with reproducing the rhythms and sound patterns of the original, not with transcribing its meaning exactly
(d) the translator must observe the spirit of the original and also the qualities of expression that characterize the language into which the original is translated
(e) poetry is easier to translate if it focuses on philosophical insights or natural descriptions rather than on subjective impressions
2. behind the hope that computers can replace teachers is the idea that the student’s understanding of the subject being taught consists in knowing facts and rules, the job of a teacher being to make the facts and rules explicit and convey them to the student, either by practice drills or by coaching. if that were indeed the way the mind works, the teacher could transfer facts and rules to the computer, which would replace the teacher as drillmaster and coach. but since understanding does not consist merely of knowing facts and rules, but of the grasp of the general concepts underlying them, the hope that the computer will eventually replace the teacher is fundamentally misguided.
which one of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s conclusion that computers will not eventually be able to replace teachers?
(a) computers are as good as teachers at drilling students on facts and rules.
(b) the job of a teacher is to make students understand the general concepts underlying specific facts and rules.
(c) it is possible to program computers so that they can teach the understanding of general concepts that underlie specific facts and rules.
(d) because they are not subject to human error, computers are better than teachers at conveying facts and rules.
(e) it is not possible for students to develop an understanding of the concepts underlying facts and rules through practice drills and coaching.
3. if the city council maintains spending at the same level as this year’s, it can be expected to levy a scales tax of 2 percent next year. thus, if the council levies a higher tax, it will be because the council is increasing its expenditure.
which one of the following exhibits a pattern of reasoning most closely similar to that of the argument above?
(a) if house-building costs are not now rising, builders cannot be expected to increase the prices of houses. thus, if they decrease the prices of houses, it will be because that action will enable them to sell a greater number of houses.
(b) if shops wish to reduce shoplifting, they should employ more store detectives. thus, if shops do not, they will suffer reduced profits because of their loss from stolen goods.
(c) if the companies in the state do not increase their workers’ wages this year, the prices they charge for their goods can be expected to be the same as they were last year. thus, if the companies do increase prices, it will be because they have increased wages.
(d) if airlines wish to make profits this year that are similar to last year’s, they should not increase their prices this year. thus, if they charge more, they should be expected to improve their services.
(e) if newspaper publishers wish to publish good papers, they should employ good journalists. thus, if they employ poor journalists, it will not be surprising if their circulation falls as a result.
4. the mind and the immune system have been shown to be intimately linked, and scientists are consistently finding that doing good deeds benefits
one’s immune system. the bone marrow and spleen, which produce the white blood cells needed to fight infection, are both connected by neural pathways to the brain. recent research has shown that the activity of these white blood cells is stimulated by beneficial chemicals produced by the brain as a result of magnanimous behavior.
the statements above, if true, support the view that
(a)good deeds must be based on unselfish motives
(b)lack of magnanimity is the cause of most serious illnesses
(c)magnanimous behavior can be regulated by the presence or absence of certain chemicals in the brain.
(d)magnanimity is beneficial to one’s own interests
(f) the number of white blood cells will increase radically if behavior is consistently magnanimous
5. the high cost of productions is severely limiting which operas are available to the public. these costs necessitate reliance on large corporate sponsors, who in return demand that only the most famous operas be produced. determining which operas will be produced should rest only with ticket purchasers at the box office, not with large corporate sponsors. if we reduce production budgets so that operas can be supported exclusively by box-office receipts and donations from individuals, then the public will be able to see less famous operas.
which one of the following, if true, would weaken the argument?
(a) a few ticket purchasers go to the opera for the sake of going to the opera, not to see specific operatic productions.
(b) the reduction of opera production budgets would not reduce the desire of large corporate sponsors to support operas.
(c) without the support of large corporate sponsors, opera companies could not afford to produce any but the most famous of operas.
(d) large corporate sponsors will stop supporting opera productions if they are denied control over which operas will be produced.
(e) the combination of individual donations and box-office receipts cannot match the amounts of money obtained through sponsorship by large corporations.
6. when machines are invented and technologies are developed, they alter the range of choices open to us. the clock, for example, made possible the synchronization of human affairs, which resulted in an increase in productivity. at the same time that the clock opened up some avenues, it closed others. it has become harder and harder to live except by the clock, so that now people have no choice in the matter at all.
which one of the following propositions is best illustrated by the example presented in the passage?
(a) new machines and technologies can enslave as well as liberate us.
(b) people should make a concerted effort to free themselves from the clock.
(c) some new machines and technologies bring us improvement to our lives.
(d) the increase in productivity was not worth our dependence on the clock.
(e) most new machines and technologies make our lives synchronized and productive.
7. to become an expert on a musical instrument, a person must practice. if people practice a musical instrument for three hours each day, they will eventually become experts on that instrument. therefore, if a person is an expert on a musical instrument, that person must have practiced for at least three hours each day.
which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning above?
(a) the conclusion fails to take into account that people who practice for three hours every day might not yet have reached a degree of proficiency that everyone would consider expert.
(b) the conclusion fails to take into account that practicing for less than three hours each day may be enough for some people to become experts.
(c) the conclusion fails to take into account that if a person has not practiced for at least three hours a day, the person has not become an expert.
(d) the conclusion fails to take into account that three consecutive hours of daily practice is not recommended by all music teachers.
(e) the conclusion fails to take into account that few people have the spare time necessary to devote three hours daily to practice.
8. on the basis of incontestable proof that car safety seats will greatly reduce the number of serious injuries sustained by children in car accidents, laws have been passed mandating the use of these seats. unexpectedly, it has since been found that a large number of children who are riding in safety seats continue to receive serious injuries that safety seats were specifically designed to avoid, and in the prevention of which they in fact have proven to be effective.
which one of the following, if true, could by itself adequately explain the unexpected finding reported in the passage?
(a) many parents are defying the law by not using safety seats for their children.
(b) children are more likely to make automobile trips now than they were before the introduction of the safety seat.
(c) the high cost of child safety seats has caused many parents to delay purchasing them.
(d) the car safety seat was not designed to prevent all types of injuries, so it is not surprising that some injuries are sustained.
(e) the protection afforded by child safety seats depends on their being used properly, which many parents fail to do.
9. an easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself is the surest of supreme self-confidence. this willingness, often not acquired until late in life, is even more revealing than is good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one.
which one of the following inference is most supported by the statements above?
(a) a person who lacks self-confidence will enjoy neither telling nor hearing funny stories about himself or herself.
(b) people with high self-confidence do not tell funny stories or jokes about others.
(c) highly self-confident people tell funny stories and jokes in order to let their audience know that they are self-confident.
(d) most people would rather tell a funny story or joke than listen to one being told.
(e) telling funny stories or jokes about people in their presence is a way of expressing one’s respect for them.
questions 10-11
nature constantly adjusts the atmospheric carbon level. an increase in the level causes the atmosphere to hold more heat, which causes more water to evaporate from the oceans, which causes increased rain. rain washes some carbon from the air into the oceans, where it eventually becomes part of the seabed. a decrease in atmospheric carbon causes the atmosphere to hold less heat, which causes decreased evaporation from the oceans, which causes less rain, and thus less carbon is washed into the oceans. yet some environmentalists worry that burning fossil fuels may raise atmospheric carbon to a dangerous level. it is true that a sustained increase would threaten human life. but the environmentalists should relax – nature will continually adjust the carbon level.
10. each of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage except:
(a) a decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the amount of carbon that rain washes into the oceans from the air.
(b) an increase in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes increased evaporation of ocean water.
(c) an increase in the level of atmospheric heat causes increased rainfall.
(d) a decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes decreased evaporation of ocean water.
(e) a decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere.
11. which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument in the passage?
(a) plant life cannot survive without atmospheric carbon.
(b) it is not clear that breathing excess carbon in the atmosphere will have a negative effect on human life.
(c) carbon is part of the chemical “blanket” that keeps the earth warm enough to sustain human life.
(d) breathing by animals releases almost 30 times as much carbon as does the burning of fossil fuels.
(e) the natural adjustment process, which occurs over millions of years, allows wide fluctuations in the carbon level in the short term.
12. the more television children watch, the less competent they are in mathematical knowledge. more than a third of children in the united states watch television for more than five hours a day; in south korea the figure is only 7 percent. but whereas less than 15 percent of children in the united states understand advanced measurement and geometric concept, 40 percent of south korea children are competent in these areas. therefore, if untied states children are to de well in mathematics, they must watch less television.
which one of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
(a) children in the united states are less interested in advanced measurement and geometric concepts than are south korea children.
(b) south korea children are more disciplined about doing schoolwork than are children in the united states
(c) children who want to do well in advanced measurement and geometry will watch less than television.
(d) a child’s ability in advanced measurement and geometry increases if he or she watches less than one hour of television a day.
(e) the instruction in advanced measurement and geometric concepts available to children in the united states in not substantially worse than that available to south korea children.
questions 13-14
the only way that bookstores can profitably sell books at below-market prices is to get the books at a discount from publishers. unless b
ookstores generate a high sales volume, however, they cannot get discounts from publishers. to generate such volume, bookstores must either cater to mass tastes or have exclusive access to a large specialized market, such as medical market, or both.
13. which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(a) if a bookstore receives discounts from publishers, it will profitably sell books at below-market prices.
(b) a bookstore that caters to mass tastes or has exclusive access to a large specialized market will have a high sales volume.
(c) a bookstore that profitably sells books at below-market prices gets discounts from publishers.
(d) a bookstore that does not sell books at below-market prices does not get discounts from publishers.
(e) a bookstore that not only caters to mass tastes but also has exclusive access to a large specialized market cannot profitably sell books at below-market prices.
14. if all statements in the passage are true and if it is also true that a bookstore does not cater to mass tastes, which one of the following cannot be true?
(a) the bookstore profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(b) the bookstore does not profitably sell any of its books at below-market prices.
(c) either the bookstore has exclusive access to a large specialized market or else it does not get a discount from any publishers.
(d) the bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market but profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(e) the bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market, nor does it get a discount from any publishers.
15.extinction is the way of nature. scientists estimate that over half of the species that have ever come into existence on this planet were already extinct before humans developed even the most primitive of tools. this constant natural process of species emergence and extinction, however, is ignored by those who wish to trace the blame for more recent extinctions to humanity’s use of technology, with its consequent effects on the environment. these people must be made to understand that the species that have become extinct in modern times would have become extinct by now even if humans had never acquired technology.
which one of the following identifies a reasoning error in the passage?
(a) the author mistakenly assumes that technology has not caused any harm to the environment.
(b) the author ignores the fact that some species that are not yet extinct are in danger of extinction.
(c) the author fails to consider that there are probably species in existence that have not yet been identified and studied by scientists.
(d) the author cites scientists who support the theory that over half of all species that ever existed have become extinct, but fails to mention any scientists who do not support that theory.
(e) the author provides no specific evidence that the species that have become extinct in modern times are the same species that would have become extinct in the absence of human technology.
16. the public is aware of the possibility of biases in the mass media and distrusts the media as too powerful. the body of information against which the public evaluates the plausibility of each new media report comes, however, from what the public has heard of through the mass media.
if the view above is correct, it provides a reason for accepting which one of the following conclusions?
(a) if there is a pervasive bias in the presentation of news by the mass media, it would be hard for the public to discern that bias.
(b) the mass media tailor their reports to confirm to a specific political agenda.
(c) the biases that news media impose on reporting tend not to be conscious distortions but rather part of a sense they share about what is interesting and believable.
(d) news reporters and their public hold largely the same views about what is most important in society, because news reporters come out of that society.
(e) when a news event occurs that contradicts a stereotype formerly incorporated into reporting by the mass media, the public is predisposed to believe reports of the event.
17. in a bureaucracy, all decisions are arrived at by a process that involves many people. there is no one person who has the authority to decide whether a project will process or not. as a consequence, in bureaucracies, risky projects are never undertaken.
the conclusion follows logically from the premises if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) all projects in a bureaucracy require risk.
(b) decisive individuals choose not to work in a bureaucracy.
(c) an individual who has decision-making power will take risks.
(d) the only risky projects undertaken are t
hose for which a single individual has decision-making power.
(e) people sometimes take risks as individuals that they would not take as part of a group.
18. “physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. achieving this goal requires knowledge of how neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. at present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future.
which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?
(a) the conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.
(b) the passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.
(c) the word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”
(d) the argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.
(e) the passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.
19. because a large disparity in pay between the public and private sectors has developed in recent years, many experienced and extremely capable government administrators have quit their posts and taken positions in private-sector management. government will be able to recapture these capable administrators by raising salaries to a level comparable to those of the private sector. in that way, the functioning of public agencies will be improved.
the position taken above presupposes which one of the following?
(a) experience gained from private-sector management will be very valuable in government administration.
(b) the most important factor determining how well government agencies function is the amount of experience the administrators have.
(c) unless government action is taken, the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management will continue to increase.
(d) people who moved from jobs in government administration to private-sector management would choose to change careers again.
(e) if the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management increases, administrators will move to the public sector in large numbers.
20. politician: homelessness is a serious social problem, but further government spending to provide low-income housing is not the cure for homelessness. the most cursory glance at the real-estate section of any major newspaper is enough to show that there is no lack of housing units available to rent. so the frequent claim that people are homeless because of a lack of available housing is wrong.
that homelessness is a serious social problem figures in the argument in which one of the following ways?
(a) it suggests an alternative perspective to the one adopted in the argument.
(b) it sets out a problem the argument is designed to resolve.
(c) it is compatible either with accepting the conclusion or with denying it.
(d) it summarizes a position the argument as a whole is directed toward discrediting.
(e) it is required in order to establish the conclusion.
21. leona: if the average consumption of eggs in the united states were cut in half, an estimated 5,000 lives might be saved each year.
thomas: how can that be? that would mean that if people adopt this single change in diet for ten years, the population ten years from now will be greater by 50,000 people than it otherwise would have been.
which one of the following is a statement that leona could offer thomas to clarify her own claim and to address the point he has made?
(a) it is possible for the population to grow by 5,000 people for every year if the base year chosen for purposes of comparison is one with unusually low population growth.
(b) it is accurate to say that 5,000 lives have been saved as long as 5,000 people who would have died in a given year as a result of not changing their diet, did not do so–even if they died for some other reason.
(c) if egg consumption were reduced by more than half, the estimated number of lives saved each year could be even more than 5,000.
(d) the actual rate of population growth depends not only on the birth rate, but also on changes in life expectancy.
(e) for the average consumption of eggs to be cut by half, many individual consumers would have to cut their own consumption by much more than half.
22. the united states food and drug administration (fda) regulates the in
troduction of new therapeutic agents into the marketplace. consequently, it plays a critical role in improving health care in the united states. while it is those in the academic and government research communities who engage in the long process of initial discovery and clinical testing of new therapeutic agents, it is the fda’s role and responsibility to facilitate the transfer of new discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. only after the transfer can important new therapies help patients.
which one of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
(a) the fda is responsible for ensuring that any therapeutic agent that is marketed is then regulated.
(b) before new therapeutic agents reach the marketplace they do not help patients.
(c) the research community is responsible for the excessively long testing period for new drugs, not the fda.
(d) the fda should work more closely with researchers to ensure that the quality of therapeutic agents is maintained.
(e) if a new medical discovery has been transferred from the laboratory to the marketplace, it will help patients.
23. in a new program, automobile owners in some neighborhoods whose cars are not normally driven between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. can display a special decal in the cars’ windows and authorize police to stop the cars during those hours to check the drivers’ licenses. the theft rate for cars bearing such decals is much lower than had been usual for cars in those neighborhoods.
if it is concluded from the statements above that automobile theft has been reduced by the program, which one of the following would it be most important to answer in evaluating that conclusion?
(a) are owners who are cautious enough to join the program taking other special measures to protect their cars against theft?
(b) in how many neighborhoods is the police program operating?
(c) are cars in neighborhoods that are actively participating in the program sometimes stolen during daylight hours?
(d) will owners who have placed decals on their cars’ windows but who find it necessary to drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. be harassed by police?
(e) are the neighborhoods in which the program has been put into effect a representative cross section of neighborhoods with respect to the types of automobiles owned by residents?
24. it has been claimed that an action is morally good only if it benefits another person and was performed with that intention; whereas an action that harms another person is morally bad either if such harm was intended or if reasonable forethought would have shown that the action was likely to cause harm.
which one of the following judgments most closely confirms to the principle cited above?
(a) pamela wrote a letter attempting to cause trouble between edward and his friends; this action of pamela’s was morally bad, even though the letter, in fact, had an effect directly opposite from the one intended.
(b) in order to secure a promotion, jeffery devoted his own time to resolving a backlog of medical benefits claims; jeffrey’s action was morally good since it alone enabled sara’s claim to be processed in time for her to receive much-needed treatment.
(c) intending to help her elderly neighbor by clearing his walkway after a snowstorm, teresa inadvertently left ice on his steps; because of this exposed ice, her neighbor had a bad fall, thus showing that morally good actions can have bad consequences.
(d) marilees, asked by a homeless man for food, gave the man her own sandwich; however, because the man tried to talk while he was eating the sandwich, it caused him to choke, and thus marilees unintentionally performed a morally bad action.
(e) jonathan agreed to watch his three-year-old niece while she played but, becoming engrossed in conversion, did not see her run into the street where she was hit by a bicycle; even though he intended no harm, jonathan’s action was morally bad.
time—35 minutes
25 questions
directions: the questions 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. the translator of poetry must realize that word-for-word equivalents do not exist across languages, any more than piano sounds exist in the violin. the violin can, however, play recognizably the same music as the piano, but only if the violinist is guided by the nature and possibilities of the violin as well as by the original composition.
as applied to the act of translating poetry from one language into another, the analogy above can best be understood as saying that
(a) poetry cannot be effectively translated because, unlike music, it is composed of words with specific meanings
(b) some languages are inherently more musical and more suitable to poetic composition than others
(c) the translator should be primarily concerned with reproducing the rhythms and sound patterns of the original, not with transcribing its meaning exactly
(d) the translator must observe the spirit of the original and also the qualities of expression that characterize the language into which the original is translated
(e) poetry is easier to translate if it focuses on philosophical insights or natural descriptions rather than on subjective impressions
2. behind the hope that computers can replace teachers is the idea that the student’s understanding of the subject being taught consists in knowing facts and rules, the job of a teacher being to make the facts and rules explicit and convey them to the student, either by practice drills or by coaching. if that were indeed the way the mind works, the teacher could transfer facts and rules to the computer, which would replace the teacher as drillmaster and coach. but since understanding does not consist merely of knowing facts and rules, but of the grasp of the general concepts underlying them, the hope that the computer will eventually replace the teacher is fundamentally misguided.
which one of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the author’s conclusion that computers will not eventually be able to replace teachers?
(a) computers are as good as teachers at drilling students on facts and rules.
(b) the job of a teacher is to make students understand the general concepts underlying specific facts and rules.
(c) it is possible to program computers so that they can teach the understanding of general concepts that underlie specific facts and rules.
(d) because they are not subject to human error, computers are better than teachers at conveying facts and rules.
(e) it is not possible for students to develop an understanding of the concepts underlying facts and rules through practice drills and coaching.
3. if the city council maintains spending at the same level as this year’s, it can be expected to levy a scales tax of 2 percent next year. thus, if the council levies a higher tax, it will be because the council is increasing its expenditure.
which one of the following exhibits a pattern of reasoning most closely similar to that of the argument above?
(a) if house-building costs are not now rising, builders cannot be expected to increase the prices of houses. thus, if they decrease the prices of houses, it will be because that action will enable them to sell a greater number of houses.
(b) if shops wish to reduce shoplifting, they should employ more store detectives. thus, if shops do not, they will suffer reduced profits because of their loss from stolen goods.
(c) if the companies in the state do not increase their workers’ wages this year, the prices they charge for their goods can be expected to be the same as they were last year. thus, if the companies do increase prices, it will be because they have increased wages.
(d) if airlines wish to make profits this year that are similar to last year’s, they should not increase their prices this year. thus, if they charge more, they should be expected to improve their services.
(e) if newspaper publishers wish to publish good papers, they should employ good journalists. thus, if they employ poor journalists, it will not be surprising if their circulation falls as a result.
4. the mind and the immune system have been shown to be intimately linked, and scientists are consistently finding that doing good deeds benefits
one’s immune system. the bone marrow and spleen, which produce the white blood cells needed to fight infection, are both connected by neural pathways to the brain. recent research has shown that the activity of these white blood cells is stimulated by beneficial chemicals produced by the brain as a result of magnanimous behavior.
the statements above, if true, support the view that
(a)good deeds must be based on unselfish motives
(b)lack of magnanimity is the cause of most serious illnesses
(c)magnanimous behavior can be regulated by the presence or absence of certain chemicals in the brain.
(d)magnanimity is beneficial to one’s own interests
(f) the number of white blood cells will increase radically if behavior is consistently magnanimous
5. the high cost of productions is severely limiting which operas are available to the public. these costs necessitate reliance on large corporate sponsors, who in return demand that only the most famous operas be produced. determining which operas will be produced should rest only with ticket purchasers at the box office, not with large corporate sponsors. if we reduce production budgets so that operas can be supported exclusively by box-office receipts and donations from individuals, then the public will be able to see less famous operas.
which one of the following, if true, would weaken the argument?
(a) a few ticket purchasers go to the opera for the sake of going to the opera, not to see specific operatic productions.
(b) the reduction of opera production budgets would not reduce the desire of large corporate sponsors to support operas.
(c) without the support of large corporate sponsors, opera companies could not afford to produce any but the most famous of operas.
(d) large corporate sponsors will stop supporting opera productions if they are denied control over which operas will be produced.
(e) the combination of individual donations and box-office receipts cannot match the amounts of money obtained through sponsorship by large corporations.
6. when machines are invented and technologies are developed, they alter the range of choices open to us. the clock, for example, made possible the synchronization of human affairs, which resulted in an increase in productivity. at the same time that the clock opened up some avenues, it closed others. it has become harder and harder to live except by the clock, so that now people have no choice in the matter at all.
which one of the following propositions is best illustrated by the example presented in the passage?
(a) new machines and technologies can enslave as well as liberate us.
(b) people should make a concerted effort to free themselves from the clock.
(c) some new machines and technologies bring us improvement to our lives.
(d) the increase in productivity was not worth our dependence on the clock.
(e) most new machines and technologies make our lives synchronized and productive.
7. to become an expert on a musical instrument, a person must practice. if people practice a musical instrument for three hours each day, they will eventually become experts on that instrument. therefore, if a person is an expert on a musical instrument, that person must have practiced for at least three hours each day.
which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning above?
(a) the conclusion fails to take into account that people who practice for three hours every day might not yet have reached a degree of proficiency that everyone would consider expert.
(b) the conclusion fails to take into account that practicing for less than three hours each day may be enough for some people to become experts.
(c) the conclusion fails to take into account that if a person has not practiced for at least three hours a day, the person has not become an expert.
(d) the conclusion fails to take into account that three consecutive hours of daily practice is not recommended by all music teachers.
(e) the conclusion fails to take into account that few people have the spare time necessary to devote three hours daily to practice.
8. on the basis of incontestable proof that car safety seats will greatly reduce the number of serious injuries sustained by children in car accidents, laws have been passed mandating the use of these seats. unexpectedly, it has since been found that a large number of children who are riding in safety seats continue to receive serious injuries that safety seats were specifically designed to avoid, and in the prevention of which they in fact have proven to be effective.
which one of the following, if true, could by itself adequately explain the unexpected finding reported in the passage?
(a) many parents are defying the law by not using safety seats for their children.
(b) children are more likely to make automobile trips now than they were before the introduction of the safety seat.
(c) the high cost of child safety seats has caused many parents to delay purchasing them.
(d) the car safety seat was not designed to prevent all types of injuries, so it is not surprising that some injuries are sustained.
(e) the protection afforded by child safety seats depends on their being used properly, which many parents fail to do.
9. an easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself is the surest of supreme self-confidence. this willingness, often not acquired until late in life, is even more revealing than is good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one.
which one of the following inference is most supported by the statements above?
(a) a person who lacks self-confidence will enjoy neither telling nor hearing funny stories about himself or herself.
(b) people with high self-confidence do not tell funny stories or jokes about others.
(c) highly self-confident people tell funny stories and jokes in order to let their audience know that they are self-confident.
(d) most people would rather tell a funny story or joke than listen to one being told.
(e) telling funny stories or jokes about people in their presence is a way of expressing one’s respect for them.
questions 10-11
nature constantly adjusts the atmospheric carbon level. an increase in the level causes the atmosphere to hold more heat, which causes more water to evaporate from the oceans, which causes increased rain. rain washes some carbon from the air into the oceans, where it eventually becomes part of the seabed. a decrease in atmospheric carbon causes the atmosphere to hold less heat, which causes decreased evaporation from the oceans, which causes less rain, and thus less carbon is washed into the oceans. yet some environmentalists worry that burning fossil fuels may raise atmospheric carbon to a dangerous level. it is true that a sustained increase would threaten human life. but the environmentalists should relax – nature will continually adjust the carbon level.
10. each of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage except:
(a) a decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the amount of carbon that rain washes into the oceans from the air.
(b) an increase in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes increased evaporation of ocean water.
(c) an increase in the level of atmospheric heat causes increased rainfall.
(d) a decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere causes decreased evaporation of ocean water.
(e) a decrease in the level of atmospheric heat causes a decrease in the level of carbon in the atmosphere.
11. which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument in the passage?
(a) plant life cannot survive without atmospheric carbon.
(b) it is not clear that breathing excess carbon in the atmosphere will have a negative effect on human life.
(c) carbon is part of the chemical “blanket” that keeps the earth warm enough to sustain human life.
(d) breathing by animals releases almost 30 times as much carbon as does the burning of fossil fuels.
(e) the natural adjustment process, which occurs over millions of years, allows wide fluctuations in the carbon level in the short term.
12. the more television children watch, the less competent they are in mathematical knowledge. more than a third of children in the united states watch television for more than five hours a day; in south korea the figure is only 7 percent. but whereas less than 15 percent of children in the united states understand advanced measurement and geometric concept, 40 percent of south korea children are competent in these areas. therefore, if untied states children are to de well in mathematics, they must watch less television.
which one of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
(a) children in the united states are less interested in advanced measurement and geometric concepts than are south korea children.
(b) south korea children are more disciplined about doing schoolwork than are children in the united states
(c) children who want to do well in advanced measurement and geometry will watch less than television.
(d) a child’s ability in advanced measurement and geometry increases if he or she watches less than one hour of television a day.
(e) the instruction in advanced measurement and geometric concepts available to children in the united states in not substantially worse than that available to south korea children.
questions 13-14
the only way that bookstores can profitably sell books at below-market prices is to get the books at a discount from publishers. unless b
ookstores generate a high sales volume, however, they cannot get discounts from publishers. to generate such volume, bookstores must either cater to mass tastes or have exclusive access to a large specialized market, such as medical market, or both.
13. which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(a) if a bookstore receives discounts from publishers, it will profitably sell books at below-market prices.
(b) a bookstore that caters to mass tastes or has exclusive access to a large specialized market will have a high sales volume.
(c) a bookstore that profitably sells books at below-market prices gets discounts from publishers.
(d) a bookstore that does not sell books at below-market prices does not get discounts from publishers.
(e) a bookstore that not only caters to mass tastes but also has exclusive access to a large specialized market cannot profitably sell books at below-market prices.
14. if all statements in the passage are true and if it is also true that a bookstore does not cater to mass tastes, which one of the following cannot be true?
(a) the bookstore profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(b) the bookstore does not profitably sell any of its books at below-market prices.
(c) either the bookstore has exclusive access to a large specialized market or else it does not get a discount from any publishers.
(d) the bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market but profitably sells some of its books at below-market prices.
(e) the bookstore does not have exclusive access to a large specialized market, nor does it get a discount from any publishers.
15.extinction is the way of nature. scientists estimate that over half of the species that have ever come into existence on this planet were already extinct before humans developed even the most primitive of tools. this constant natural process of species emergence and extinction, however, is ignored by those who wish to trace the blame for more recent extinctions to humanity’s use of technology, with its consequent effects on the environment. these people must be made to understand that the species that have become extinct in modern times would have become extinct by now even if humans had never acquired technology.
which one of the following identifies a reasoning error in the passage?
(a) the author mistakenly assumes that technology has not caused any harm to the environment.
(b) the author ignores the fact that some species that are not yet extinct are in danger of extinction.
(c) the author fails to consider that there are probably species in existence that have not yet been identified and studied by scientists.
(d) the author cites scientists who support the theory that over half of all species that ever existed have become extinct, but fails to mention any scientists who do not support that theory.
(e) the author provides no specific evidence that the species that have become extinct in modern times are the same species that would have become extinct in the absence of human technology.
16. the public is aware of the possibility of biases in the mass media and distrusts the media as too powerful. the body of information against which the public evaluates the plausibility of each new media report comes, however, from what the public has heard of through the mass media.
if the view above is correct, it provides a reason for accepting which one of the following conclusions?
(a) if there is a pervasive bias in the presentation of news by the mass media, it would be hard for the public to discern that bias.
(b) the mass media tailor their reports to confirm to a specific political agenda.
(c) the biases that news media impose on reporting tend not to be conscious distortions but rather part of a sense they share about what is interesting and believable.
(d) news reporters and their public hold largely the same views about what is most important in society, because news reporters come out of that society.
(e) when a news event occurs that contradicts a stereotype formerly incorporated into reporting by the mass media, the public is predisposed to believe reports of the event.
17. in a bureaucracy, all decisions are arrived at by a process that involves many people. there is no one person who has the authority to decide whether a project will process or not. as a consequence, in bureaucracies, risky projects are never undertaken.
the conclusion follows logically from the premises if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) all projects in a bureaucracy require risk.
(b) decisive individuals choose not to work in a bureaucracy.
(c) an individual who has decision-making power will take risks.
(d) the only risky projects undertaken are t
hose for which a single individual has decision-making power.
(e) people sometimes take risks as individuals that they would not take as part of a group.
18. “physicalists” expect that ultimately all mental functions will be explainable in neurobiological terms. achieving this goal requires knowledge of how neurons and their basic functions, a knowledge of how neurons interact, and a delineation of the psychological faculties to be explained. at present, there is a substantial amount of fundamental knowledge about the basic functions of neurons, and the scope and character of such psychological capacities as visual perception and memory are well understood. thus, as the physicalists claim, mental functions are bound to receive explanations in neurobiological terms in the near future.
which one of the following indicates an error in the reasoning in the passage?
(a) the conclusion contradicts the claim of the physicalists.
(b) the passage fails to describe exactly what is currently known about the basic functions of neurons.
(c) the word “neurobiological” is used as though it had the same meaning as the word “mental.”
(d) the argument does not indicate whether it would be useful to explain mental functions in neurobiological terms.
(e) the passage does not indicate that any knowledge has been achieved about how neurons interact.
19. because a large disparity in pay between the public and private sectors has developed in recent years, many experienced and extremely capable government administrators have quit their posts and taken positions in private-sector management. government will be able to recapture these capable administrators by raising salaries to a level comparable to those of the private sector. in that way, the functioning of public agencies will be improved.
the position taken above presupposes which one of the following?
(a) experience gained from private-sector management will be very valuable in government administration.
(b) the most important factor determining how well government agencies function is the amount of experience the administrators have.
(c) unless government action is taken, the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management will continue to increase.
(d) people who moved from jobs in government administration to private-sector management would choose to change careers again.
(e) if the disparity in pay between government administration and private-sector management increases, administrators will move to the public sector in large numbers.
20. politician: homelessness is a serious social problem, but further government spending to provide low-income housing is not the cure for homelessness. the most cursory glance at the real-estate section of any major newspaper is enough to show that there is no lack of housing units available to rent. so the frequent claim that people are homeless because of a lack of available housing is wrong.
that homelessness is a serious social problem figures in the argument in which one of the following ways?
(a) it suggests an alternative perspective to the one adopted in the argument.
(b) it sets out a problem the argument is designed to resolve.
(c) it is compatible either with accepting the conclusion or with denying it.
(d) it summarizes a position the argument as a whole is directed toward discrediting.
(e) it is required in order to establish the conclusion.
21. leona: if the average consumption of eggs in the united states were cut in half, an estimated 5,000 lives might be saved each year.
thomas: how can that be? that would mean that if people adopt this single change in diet for ten years, the population ten years from now will be greater by 50,000 people than it otherwise would have been.
which one of the following is a statement that leona could offer thomas to clarify her own claim and to address the point he has made?
(a) it is possible for the population to grow by 5,000 people for every year if the base year chosen for purposes of comparison is one with unusually low population growth.
(b) it is accurate to say that 5,000 lives have been saved as long as 5,000 people who would have died in a given year as a result of not changing their diet, did not do so–even if they died for some other reason.
(c) if egg consumption were reduced by more than half, the estimated number of lives saved each year could be even more than 5,000.
(d) the actual rate of population growth depends not only on the birth rate, but also on changes in life expectancy.
(e) for the average consumption of eggs to be cut by half, many individual consumers would have to cut their own consumption by much more than half.
22. the united states food and drug administration (fda) regulates the in
troduction of new therapeutic agents into the marketplace. consequently, it plays a critical role in improving health care in the united states. while it is those in the academic and government research communities who engage in the long process of initial discovery and clinical testing of new therapeutic agents, it is the fda’s role and responsibility to facilitate the transfer of new discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. only after the transfer can important new therapies help patients.
which one of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
(a) the fda is responsible for ensuring that any therapeutic agent that is marketed is then regulated.
(b) before new therapeutic agents reach the marketplace they do not help patients.
(c) the research community is responsible for the excessively long testing period for new drugs, not the fda.
(d) the fda should work more closely with researchers to ensure that the quality of therapeutic agents is maintained.
(e) if a new medical discovery has been transferred from the laboratory to the marketplace, it will help patients.
23. in a new program, automobile owners in some neighborhoods whose cars are not normally driven between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. can display a special decal in the cars’ windows and authorize police to stop the cars during those hours to check the drivers’ licenses. the theft rate for cars bearing such decals is much lower than had been usual for cars in those neighborhoods.
if it is concluded from the statements above that automobile theft has been reduced by the program, which one of the following would it be most important to answer in evaluating that conclusion?
(a) are owners who are cautious enough to join the program taking other special measures to protect their cars against theft?
(b) in how many neighborhoods is the police program operating?
(c) are cars in neighborhoods that are actively participating in the program sometimes stolen during daylight hours?
(d) will owners who have placed decals on their cars’ windows but who find it necessary to drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. be harassed by police?
(e) are the neighborhoods in which the program has been put into effect a representative cross section of neighborhoods with respect to the types of automobiles owned by residents?
24. it has been claimed that an action is morally good only if it benefits another person and was performed with that intention; whereas an action that harms another person is morally bad either if such harm was intended or if reasonable forethought would have shown that the action was likely to cause harm.
which one of the following judgments most closely confirms to the principle cited above?
(a) pamela wrote a letter attempting to cause trouble between edward and his friends; this action of pamela’s was morally bad, even though the letter, in fact, had an effect directly opposite from the one intended.
(b) in order to secure a promotion, jeffery devoted his own time to resolving a backlog of medical benefits claims; jeffrey’s action was morally good since it alone enabled sara’s claim to be processed in time for her to receive much-needed treatment.
(c) intending to help her elderly neighbor by clearing his walkway after a snowstorm, teresa inadvertently left ice on his steps; because of this exposed ice, her neighbor had a bad fall, thus showing that morally good actions can have bad consequences.
(d) marilees, asked by a homeless man for food, gave the man her own sandwich; however, because the man tried to talk while he was eating the sandwich, it caused him to choke, and thus marilees unintentionally performed a morally bad action.
(e) jonathan agreed to watch his three-year-old niece while she played but, becoming engrossed in conversion, did not see her run into the street where she was hit by a bicycle; even though he intended no harm, jonathan’s action was morally bad.