TEST14 CRITICAL REASONING 2_LSAT
section iv
time-35 minutes
24 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 questions. 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. james: in my own house, i do what i want. in banning smoking on passenger airlines during domestic flights, the government has ignored the airlines' right to set smoking policies on their own property
eileen: you house is for your own use. because a passenger airline offers a service to the public, the passengers' health must come first
the basic step in eileen's method of attacking james' argument is to
(a) draw a distinction
(b) offer a definition
(c) establish an analogy
(d) derive a contradiction from it
(e) question its motivation
2. the company that produces xyz, a computer spreadsheet program, estimates that millions of illegally reproduced copies of xyz are being used. if legally purchased, this number of copies would have generated millions of dollars in sales for the company, yet despite a company-wide effort to boost sales, the company has not taken available legal measures to prosecute those who have copied the program illegally
which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why the company has not taken available legal measures?
(a) xyz is very difficult to copy illegally, because a sophisticated anticopying mechanism in the program must first be disabled
(b) the legal measures that the company that produces xyz could take against those who have copied its product became available several years before xyz came on the market
(c) many people who purchase a software program like xyz are willing to purchase that program only after they have already used it
(d) the number of illegally reproduced copies of xyz currently in use exceeds the number of legally reproduced copies currently in use
(e) the company that produces abc, the spreadsheet program that is xyz's main rival in the marketplace, is well known for taking legal action against people who have copied abc illegally
questions 3 ?4
kim: some people claim that the battery-powered electric car represents a potential solution to the problem of air pollution. but they forget that it takes electricity to recharge batteries and that most of our electricity is generated by burning polluting fossil fuels. increasing the number of electric cars on the road would require building more generating facilities since current facilities are operating at maximum capacity. so even if all of the gasoline-powered cars on the roads today were replaced by electric cars, it would at best be an exchange of one source of fossil-fuel pollution for another
3. the main point made in kim's argument is that
(a) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will require building more generating facilities
(b) a significant reduction in air pollution cannot be achieved unless people drive less
(c) all forms of automobile transportation are equally harmful to the environment in terms of the air pollution they produce
(d) battery-powered electric cars are not a viable solution to the air-pollution problem
(e) gasoline-powered cars will probably remain a common means of transportation for the foreseeable future
4. which one of the following is an assumption on which kim's argument depends?
(a) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will lead to a net increase in the total number of cars on the road
(b) gasoline-powered cars are currently not the most significant source of fossil-fuel pollution
(c) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars is justified only if electric cars produce less air pollution
(d) while it is being operated, a battery-powered electric car does not cause any significant air pollution
(e) at least some of the generating facilities built to meet the demand for electricity for battery-powered electric cars would be of a type that burns fossil fuel
5. planetary bodies differ from one another in their composition, but most of those in the solar system have solid surfaces. unless the core of such a planetary body generates enough heat to cause volcanic action, the surface of the body will not be renewed for millions of years. any planetary body with a solid surface whose surface is not renewed f
or millions of years becomes heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters, just like the earth's moon. some old planetary bodies in the solar system, such as europa, a very cold moon belonging to jupiter, have solid icy surfaces with very few meteorite craters.
if the claims above are true, which one of the following must, on the basis of them, be true?
(a) the earth's moon does not have an icy surface
(b) if a planetary body does not have a heavily pockmarked surface, its core does not generate enough heat to cause volcanic action
(c) some planetary bodies whose cores generate enough heat to cause volcanic action do not have solid icy surfaces
(d) some of jupiter's moons are heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters
(e) some very cold planetary bodies have cores that generate enough heat to cause volcanic action
6. patient: pharmacists maintain that doctors should not be permitted to sell the medicine that they prescribe because doctors would then be tempted to prescribe unnecessary medicines in order to earn extra income. but pharmacists have a financial interest in having a monopoly on the sale of prescription medicines, so their objection to the sale of medicines by doctors cannot be taken seriously
the patient's argument proceeds by
(a) pointing out an unstated assumption on which the pharmacists?argument relies and then refuting it
(b) attempting to discredit a position by questioning the motives of the proponents of that position
(c) undermining the pharmacists' conclusion by demonstrating that one of the statements used to support the conclusion is false
(d) rejecting a questionable position on the grounds that the general public does not support that position
(e) asserting that pharmacists lack the appropriate knowledge to have informed opinions on the subject under discussion
7. murray: you claim senator brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists. you are wrong to make this criticism. that it is motivated by personal dislike is shown by the fact that you deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse senator brandon of doing.
jan: you are right that i dislike senator brandon, but just because i have not criticized the same failing in others doesn't' mean you can excuse the senator's offense.
if murray and jane are both sincere in what they say, then it can properly be concluded that they agree that
(a) senator brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists
(b) it is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists
(c) jane's criticism of senator brandon is motivated only by personal dislike
(d) senator brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists
(e) one or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists
questions 8 --9
oscar: emerging information technologies will soon make speed of information processing the single most important factor in the creation of individual, corporate, and national wealth. consequently, the division of the world into northern countries ?in general rich ?and southern countries ?in general poor ?will soon be obsolete. instead, there simply will be fast countries and slow countries, and thus a country's economic well-being will not be a function of its geographical position but just a matter of its relative success in incorporating those new technologies
sylvia: but the poor countries of the south lack the economic resources to acquire those technologies and will therefore remain poor. the technologies will thus only widen the existing economic gap between north and south.
8. sylvia's reasoning depends on the assumption that
(a) the prosperity of the rich countries of the north depends, at least in part,, on the natural resources of the poor countries of the south
(b) the emergence of new information technologies will not result in a significant net increase in the total amount of global wealth
(c) there are technologies other than information technologies whose development could help narrow the existing economic gap between north and south
(d) at least some of the rich countries of the north will be effective in incorporating new information technologies into their economies
(e) the speed at which information processing take place will continue to increase indefinitely
9. the reasoning that oscar uses in supporting his prediction is vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it
(a) overlooks the possibility that the ability of countries to acquire new technologies at some time in the future will depend on factors other than those countries' present economic status
(b) fails to establish that the division of the world into rich countries and poor countries is the single most important problem that will confront the world economy in the future
(c) ignores the po
ssibility that, in determining a country's future wealth, the country's incorporation of information-processing technologies might be outweighed by a combination of other factors
(d) provides no reason to believe that faster information processing will have only beneficial effects on countries that successfully incorporate new information technologies into their economies
(e) makes no distinction between those of the world's rich countries that are the wealthiest and those that are less wealthy
10. at the beginning of each month, companies report to the federal government their net loss or gain in jobs over the past month. these reports are then consolidated by the government and reported as the total gain or loss for the past month. despite accurate reporting by companies and correct tallying by the government, the number of jobs lost was significantly underestimated in the recent recession.
which one of the following, if true, contributes most to a resolution of the apparent discrepancy described?
(a) more jobs are lost in a recession than in a period of growth
(b) the expenses of collecting and reporting employment data have steadily increased
(c) many people who lose their jobs start up their own businesses
(d) in the recent recession a large number of failing companies abruptly ceased all operations
(e) the recent recession contributed to the growing preponderance of service jobs over manufacturing jobs
questions 11 ?12
beverage company representative: the plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together pose a threat to wild animals, which often become entangled in the discarded rings and suffocate as a result. following our lead, all beverage companies will soon use only those ring consisting of a new plastic that disintegrates after only three days' exposure to sunlight. once we all complete the switchover from the old to the new plastic rings, therefore, the threat of suffocation that plastic rings pose to wild animals will be eliminated.
11. the argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?
(a) none of the new plastic rings can disintegrate after only two days' exposure to sunlight
(b) the switchover to the new plastic rings can be completed without causing significant financial hardship to the beverage companies
(c) wild animals will not become entangled in the new plastic rings before the rings have had sufficient exposure to sunlight to disintegrate
(d) use of the old plastic rings poses no substantial threat to wild animals other than that of suffocation
(e) any wild animal that becomes entangled in the old plastic rings will suffocate as a result
12. which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the representative's argument?
(a) the switchover to the new plastic rings will take at least two more years to complete
(b) after the beverage companies have switched over to the new plastic rings, a substantial number of the old plastic rings will persist in most aquatic and woodland environments
(c) the new plastic rings are slightly less expensive than the old rings
(d) the new plastic rings rarely disintegrate during shipping of beverage six-packs because most trucks that transport canned beverages protect their cargo from sunlight
(e) the new plastic rings disintegrate into substances that are harmful to aquatic animals when ingested in substantial quantities by them
13. alcohol consumption has been clearly linked to high blood pressure, which increases the likelihood of developing heart disease. yet in a study of the effects of alcohol consumption., the incidence of heart disease was lower among participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day than it was among participants identifies as nondrinkers.
which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above?
(a) because many people who do not drink alcohol are conscious of their health habits, they are likely to engage in regular exercise and to eat nutritionally well-balanced meals
(b) many of the participants identifies as nondrinkers were people who had been heavy drinkers but had stopped drinking alcohol prior to participating in the study
(c) some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day said that they occasionally drank large quantities of alcohol
(d) some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day had high blood pressure
(e) the two groups of participants were similar to each other with respect to the participants' age, sex, geographical origin, and economic background
14. some of the world's most beautiful cats are persian cats. however, it must be acknowledged that all persian cats are pompous, and pompous cats are invariably irrita
ting.
if the statements above are true, each of the following must also be true on the basis of them except:
(a) some of the world's most beautiful cats are irritating
(b) some irritating cats are among the world's most beautiful cats
(c) any cat that is not irritating is not a persian cat
(d) some pompous cats are among the world's most beautiful cats
(e) some irritating and beautiful cats are not persian cats
15. at flordyce university any student who wants to participate in a certain archaeological dig is eligible to do so but only if the student has taken at least one archaeology course and has shown an interest in the field. many students who have shown an interest in archaeology never take even one archaeology course. therefore, many students who want to participate in the dig will be ineligible to do so.
the flawed reasoning of which one of the following arguments is most similar to that of the argument above?
(a) theoretically, any jar is worth saving regardless of its size, but only if it has a lid. therefore, since some jars are sure not to have lids, there are certain sizes of jar that are actually not worth saving
(b) for a horse that is well schooled to be ideal for beginning riders that horse must also be surefooted and gentle. many horses that are surefooted are not gentle. therefore many well-schooled horses are not ideal for beginning riders
(c) if an author's first novel has a romantic setting and a suspenseful plot, it will become a best-seller. since many authors' first novels have neither, not many first novels become best-sellers
(d) any automobile that is more than a few years old is eventually sure to need repairs if it is not regularly maintained. many automobiles are more than a few years old, but still do not need repairs. therefore, many automobiles are regularly maintained
(e) an expensive new building will prove to be a good investment only if it is aesthetically pleasing or provides lots of office space. however, since many expensive new buildings are not aesthetically pleasing, few expensive new buildings will prove to be good investments
16. from the observation that each member of a group could possess a characteristic, it is fallacious to conclude immediately that it is possible for all the group's members to possess the characteristic. an example in which the fallacy is obvious: arguing that because each of the players entering a tennis tournament has a possibility of winning it, there is therefore a possibility that all will win the tournament.
which one of the following commits the fallacy described above?
(a) you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time
(b) each of the candidates for mayor appears at first glance to possess the necessary qualifications. it would therefore be a mistake to rule out any of them without more careful examination
(c) each of the many nominees could be appointed to any one of the three openings on the committee. therefore it is possible for all of the nominees to be appointed to the openings on the committee
(d) if a fair coin is tossed five times, then on each toss the chance of heads being the result is half. therefore the chance of heads being the result on all five tosses is also half
(e) it is estimated that ten million planets capable of supporting life exist in our galaxy. thus to rule out the possibility of life on worlds other than earth, ten million planetary explorations would be needed
17. recent research shows that hesitation, shifting posture, and failure to maintain eye contact are not reliable indicators in discriminating between those who are lying and those who are telling the truth. the research indicates that behavior that cannot be controlled is a much better clue, at least when the lie is important to the liar. such behavior includes the dilation of eye pupils, which indicates emotional arousal, and small movements of facial muscles, which indicate distress, fear or anger.
which one of the following provides the strongest reason for exercising caution when relying on the "better" clues mentioned above in order to discover whether someone is lying?
(a) a person who is lying might be aware that he or she is being closely observed for indications of lying
(b) someone who is telling the truth might nevertheless have a past history of lying
(c) a practiced liar might have achieved great control over body posture and eye contact
(d) a person telling the truth might be affected emotionally by being suspected of lying or by some other aspect of the situation
(e) someone who is lying might exhibit hesitation and shifting posture as well as dilated pupils
questions 18 ?19
orthodox medicine is ineffective at
both ends of the spectrum of ailments. at the more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains and allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, life-threatening diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. people turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. one of the reasons alternative medicines is free of such side effects is that it does not have any effects at all.
18. if the statements above are true, which one of the following can be properly inferred from them?
(a) practitioners of alternative medicine are acting in bad faith
(b) there are some medical conditions for which no orthodox or alternative treatment is effective
(c) there are some trivial illnesses that can be treated effectively by the methods of alternative medicine
(d) there are no effective medical treatments that are free from unacceptable side effects
(e) orthodox medicine will eventually produce a solution for the diseases that are currently incurable
19. the charge made above against alternative medicine is most seriously weakened if it is true that
(a) predictions based on orthodox medicine have sometimes failed, as when a patient has recovered despite the judgment of doctors that an illness is fatal
(b) alternative medicine relies on concepts of the body and of the nature of healing that differ from those on which orthodox medicine is based
(c) alternative medicine provides hope to those for whom orthodox medicine offers no cure
(d) a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and promote healing
(e) many treatments used for a time by orthodox medicine have later been found to be totally ineffective
20. humans began to spread across north american around 12,000 years ago, as the climate became warmer. during the same period the large mammals that were once abundant in north america, such as the mastodon, the woolly mammoth, and the saber-toothed tiger, became extinct. thus, contrary to the myth that humans formerly lived in harmony with the rest of nature, it is clear that even 12,000 years ago human activity was causing the extinction of animal species.
the argument is most vulnerable o the criticism that
(a) it adopts without question a view of the world in which humans are seen as not included in nature
(b) in calling the idea that humans once lived in harmony with nature a myth the argument presupposes what it attempts to prove
(c) for early inhabitants of north america the destruction of mastodons, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers might have had very different significance than the extinction of mammal species does for modern humans
(d) there might have been many other species of animals, besides mastodon, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers, that became extinct as the result of the spread of humans across north american
(e) the evidence it cites is consistent with the alternative hypothesis that the large mammals' extinction was a direct result of the same change in climate that allowed humans to spread across north american
21. the town of greenfield recently instituted a substantial supplementary tax on all households, whereby each household is taxed in proportion to the volume of the trash that it puts out for trash collectors to pick up, as measured by the number of standard-sized garbage bags put out. in order to reduce the volume of the trash on which their tax bill is based, greenfield households can deliver their recyclable trash to a conveniently located local commercial recycling center, where such trash is accepted free of charge
the supplementary tax provides some financial incentive to greenfield households to do each of the following except
(a) sort out recyclable trash thoroughly from their other trash
(b) dump nonrecyclable trash illegally at parks and roadsides
(c) compress and nest items of nonrecyclable trash before putting them out for pickup
(d) deliver recyclable materials to the recycling center instead of passing them on to neighbors who want to reuse them
(e) buy products without packaging or with recyclable rather than nonrecyclable packaging
22. in a survey of consumers in an eastern european nation, respondents were asked two questions about each of 400 famous western brands: whether or not they recognized the brand name and whether or not they thought the products bearing that name were of high quality. the results of the survey were a rating and corresponding rank order for each brand based on recognition, and a second rating-plus-ranking based on approval. the brands ranked in the top 27 for recognition were t
hose actually available in that nation. the approval rankings of these 27 brands often differed sharply from their recognition rankings. by contrast, most of the other brands had ratings, and thus rankings, that were essentially the same for recognition as for approval
which one of the following, if each is a principle about consumer surveys, is violated by the survey described?
(a) never ask all respondents a question if it cannot reasonably be answered by respondents who make a particular response to another question in the same survey
(b) never ask a question that is likely to generate a large variety of responses that are difficult to group into a manageable number of categories
(c) never ask all respondents a question that respondents cannot answer without giving up their anonymity
(d) it is better to ask the same question about ten different products than to ask ten different questions about a single product
(e) it is best to ask questions that a respondent can answer without fear of having gotten the answer wrong
23. a certain species of bird has two basic varieties, crested and noncrested. the bird, which generally live in flocks that contain only crested or only noncrested birds, tend to select mates of the same variety as themselves. however, if a bird that is raised, in a flock in which all other members are crested is later moved to a mixed flock, then that bird ?whether crested or noncrested ?is likely to select a crested mate. this fact indicates that the birds' preference for crested or noncrested mates is learned rather than genetically determined.
which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the argument?
(a) birds of other species also tend to show preferences for mates that have one or another specific physical feature
(b) in general there are few behavioral differences between the crested and noncrested birds of the species
(c) both the crested and noncrested birds of the species tend to select mates that are similar to themselves in size and age
(d) if a crested bird of the species is raised in captivity apart from other birds and is later moved to a mixed flock, that bird is likely to select a crested mate
(e) if a bird of the species is raised in a flock that contains both crested and noncrested birds, that bird shows no preference for one variety or the other in its selection of a mate
24. plant species differ in that renewed growth in spring can be triggered by day length or by temperature or else by a combination of both. day length is the same, year after year, for any given date. therefore, any plant species that starts to grow again on widely different dates in different years resumes growth at least in part in response to temperature.
which one of the following arguments is most similar in its pattern of reasoning to the argument above?
(a) in xandia, medical assistant trainees must either complete a formal training course or work for one year under the close supervision of a physician. since few physicians are willing to act as supervisors, it must be true that most medical assistant trainees in xandia take the training course
(b) in the crawford area, easterly winds mean rain will come and westerly winds mean dry weather will come; winds from other directions do not occur. therefore, since it is currently raining in crawford, there must be an easterly wind blowing there now
(c) some landfills charge garbage companies by volume only, some charge by weight only, and all others use a formula sensitive to both volume and weight. so if at a particular landfill the charges for two particular loads of equal volume dumped on the same day are different, weight must determine, or help determine, charges at that landfill
(d) depending on volume of business, either one or two or three store detectives are needed for adequate protection against shoplifting. therefore, if on any particular day store management has decided that three detectives will be needed, it must be because business that day is expected to be heavy
(e) a call is more likely to be heard if it is loud rather than soft, if it is high-pitched rather than low-pitched, and especially if it is both loud and high-pitched. therefore, anyone whose call goes unheard in spite of being at maximum loudness should try to raise the pitch of the call
time-35 minutes
24 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 questions. 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. james: in my own house, i do what i want. in banning smoking on passenger airlines during domestic flights, the government has ignored the airlines' right to set smoking policies on their own property
eileen: you house is for your own use. because a passenger airline offers a service to the public, the passengers' health must come first
the basic step in eileen's method of attacking james' argument is to
(a) draw a distinction
(b) offer a definition
(c) establish an analogy
(d) derive a contradiction from it
(e) question its motivation
2. the company that produces xyz, a computer spreadsheet program, estimates that millions of illegally reproduced copies of xyz are being used. if legally purchased, this number of copies would have generated millions of dollars in sales for the company, yet despite a company-wide effort to boost sales, the company has not taken available legal measures to prosecute those who have copied the program illegally
which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why the company has not taken available legal measures?
(a) xyz is very difficult to copy illegally, because a sophisticated anticopying mechanism in the program must first be disabled
(b) the legal measures that the company that produces xyz could take against those who have copied its product became available several years before xyz came on the market
(c) many people who purchase a software program like xyz are willing to purchase that program only after they have already used it
(d) the number of illegally reproduced copies of xyz currently in use exceeds the number of legally reproduced copies currently in use
(e) the company that produces abc, the spreadsheet program that is xyz's main rival in the marketplace, is well known for taking legal action against people who have copied abc illegally
questions 3 ?4
kim: some people claim that the battery-powered electric car represents a potential solution to the problem of air pollution. but they forget that it takes electricity to recharge batteries and that most of our electricity is generated by burning polluting fossil fuels. increasing the number of electric cars on the road would require building more generating facilities since current facilities are operating at maximum capacity. so even if all of the gasoline-powered cars on the roads today were replaced by electric cars, it would at best be an exchange of one source of fossil-fuel pollution for another
3. the main point made in kim's argument is that
(a) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will require building more generating facilities
(b) a significant reduction in air pollution cannot be achieved unless people drive less
(c) all forms of automobile transportation are equally harmful to the environment in terms of the air pollution they produce
(d) battery-powered electric cars are not a viable solution to the air-pollution problem
(e) gasoline-powered cars will probably remain a common means of transportation for the foreseeable future
4. which one of the following is an assumption on which kim's argument depends?
(a) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars will lead to a net increase in the total number of cars on the road
(b) gasoline-powered cars are currently not the most significant source of fossil-fuel pollution
(c) replacing gasoline-powered cars with battery-powered electric cars is justified only if electric cars produce less air pollution
(d) while it is being operated, a battery-powered electric car does not cause any significant air pollution
(e) at least some of the generating facilities built to meet the demand for electricity for battery-powered electric cars would be of a type that burns fossil fuel
5. planetary bodies differ from one another in their composition, but most of those in the solar system have solid surfaces. unless the core of such a planetary body generates enough heat to cause volcanic action, the surface of the body will not be renewed for millions of years. any planetary body with a solid surface whose surface is not renewed f
or millions of years becomes heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters, just like the earth's moon. some old planetary bodies in the solar system, such as europa, a very cold moon belonging to jupiter, have solid icy surfaces with very few meteorite craters.
if the claims above are true, which one of the following must, on the basis of them, be true?
(a) the earth's moon does not have an icy surface
(b) if a planetary body does not have a heavily pockmarked surface, its core does not generate enough heat to cause volcanic action
(c) some planetary bodies whose cores generate enough heat to cause volcanic action do not have solid icy surfaces
(d) some of jupiter's moons are heavily pockmarked by meteorite craters
(e) some very cold planetary bodies have cores that generate enough heat to cause volcanic action
6. patient: pharmacists maintain that doctors should not be permitted to sell the medicine that they prescribe because doctors would then be tempted to prescribe unnecessary medicines in order to earn extra income. but pharmacists have a financial interest in having a monopoly on the sale of prescription medicines, so their objection to the sale of medicines by doctors cannot be taken seriously
the patient's argument proceeds by
(a) pointing out an unstated assumption on which the pharmacists?argument relies and then refuting it
(b) attempting to discredit a position by questioning the motives of the proponents of that position
(c) undermining the pharmacists' conclusion by demonstrating that one of the statements used to support the conclusion is false
(d) rejecting a questionable position on the grounds that the general public does not support that position
(e) asserting that pharmacists lack the appropriate knowledge to have informed opinions on the subject under discussion
7. murray: you claim senator brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists. you are wrong to make this criticism. that it is motivated by personal dislike is shown by the fact that you deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse senator brandon of doing.
jan: you are right that i dislike senator brandon, but just because i have not criticized the same failing in others doesn't' mean you can excuse the senator's offense.
if murray and jane are both sincere in what they say, then it can properly be concluded that they agree that
(a) senator brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists
(b) it is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists
(c) jane's criticism of senator brandon is motivated only by personal dislike
(d) senator brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists
(e) one or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists
questions 8 --9
oscar: emerging information technologies will soon make speed of information processing the single most important factor in the creation of individual, corporate, and national wealth. consequently, the division of the world into northern countries ?in general rich ?and southern countries ?in general poor ?will soon be obsolete. instead, there simply will be fast countries and slow countries, and thus a country's economic well-being will not be a function of its geographical position but just a matter of its relative success in incorporating those new technologies
sylvia: but the poor countries of the south lack the economic resources to acquire those technologies and will therefore remain poor. the technologies will thus only widen the existing economic gap between north and south.
8. sylvia's reasoning depends on the assumption that
(a) the prosperity of the rich countries of the north depends, at least in part,, on the natural resources of the poor countries of the south
(b) the emergence of new information technologies will not result in a significant net increase in the total amount of global wealth
(c) there are technologies other than information technologies whose development could help narrow the existing economic gap between north and south
(d) at least some of the rich countries of the north will be effective in incorporating new information technologies into their economies
(e) the speed at which information processing take place will continue to increase indefinitely
9. the reasoning that oscar uses in supporting his prediction is vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it
(a) overlooks the possibility that the ability of countries to acquire new technologies at some time in the future will depend on factors other than those countries' present economic status
(b) fails to establish that the division of the world into rich countries and poor countries is the single most important problem that will confront the world economy in the future
(c) ignores the po
ssibility that, in determining a country's future wealth, the country's incorporation of information-processing technologies might be outweighed by a combination of other factors
(d) provides no reason to believe that faster information processing will have only beneficial effects on countries that successfully incorporate new information technologies into their economies
(e) makes no distinction between those of the world's rich countries that are the wealthiest and those that are less wealthy
10. at the beginning of each month, companies report to the federal government their net loss or gain in jobs over the past month. these reports are then consolidated by the government and reported as the total gain or loss for the past month. despite accurate reporting by companies and correct tallying by the government, the number of jobs lost was significantly underestimated in the recent recession.
which one of the following, if true, contributes most to a resolution of the apparent discrepancy described?
(a) more jobs are lost in a recession than in a period of growth
(b) the expenses of collecting and reporting employment data have steadily increased
(c) many people who lose their jobs start up their own businesses
(d) in the recent recession a large number of failing companies abruptly ceased all operations
(e) the recent recession contributed to the growing preponderance of service jobs over manufacturing jobs
questions 11 ?12
beverage company representative: the plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together pose a threat to wild animals, which often become entangled in the discarded rings and suffocate as a result. following our lead, all beverage companies will soon use only those ring consisting of a new plastic that disintegrates after only three days' exposure to sunlight. once we all complete the switchover from the old to the new plastic rings, therefore, the threat of suffocation that plastic rings pose to wild animals will be eliminated.
11. the argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?
(a) none of the new plastic rings can disintegrate after only two days' exposure to sunlight
(b) the switchover to the new plastic rings can be completed without causing significant financial hardship to the beverage companies
(c) wild animals will not become entangled in the new plastic rings before the rings have had sufficient exposure to sunlight to disintegrate
(d) use of the old plastic rings poses no substantial threat to wild animals other than that of suffocation
(e) any wild animal that becomes entangled in the old plastic rings will suffocate as a result
12. which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the representative's argument?
(a) the switchover to the new plastic rings will take at least two more years to complete
(b) after the beverage companies have switched over to the new plastic rings, a substantial number of the old plastic rings will persist in most aquatic and woodland environments
(c) the new plastic rings are slightly less expensive than the old rings
(d) the new plastic rings rarely disintegrate during shipping of beverage six-packs because most trucks that transport canned beverages protect their cargo from sunlight
(e) the new plastic rings disintegrate into substances that are harmful to aquatic animals when ingested in substantial quantities by them
13. alcohol consumption has been clearly linked to high blood pressure, which increases the likelihood of developing heart disease. yet in a study of the effects of alcohol consumption., the incidence of heart disease was lower among participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day than it was among participants identifies as nondrinkers.
which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above?
(a) because many people who do not drink alcohol are conscious of their health habits, they are likely to engage in regular exercise and to eat nutritionally well-balanced meals
(b) many of the participants identifies as nondrinkers were people who had been heavy drinkers but had stopped drinking alcohol prior to participating in the study
(c) some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day said that they occasionally drank large quantities of alcohol
(d) some of the participants who drank moderate quantities of alcohol every day had high blood pressure
(e) the two groups of participants were similar to each other with respect to the participants' age, sex, geographical origin, and economic background
14. some of the world's most beautiful cats are persian cats. however, it must be acknowledged that all persian cats are pompous, and pompous cats are invariably irrita
ting.
if the statements above are true, each of the following must also be true on the basis of them except:
(a) some of the world's most beautiful cats are irritating
(b) some irritating cats are among the world's most beautiful cats
(c) any cat that is not irritating is not a persian cat
(d) some pompous cats are among the world's most beautiful cats
(e) some irritating and beautiful cats are not persian cats
15. at flordyce university any student who wants to participate in a certain archaeological dig is eligible to do so but only if the student has taken at least one archaeology course and has shown an interest in the field. many students who have shown an interest in archaeology never take even one archaeology course. therefore, many students who want to participate in the dig will be ineligible to do so.
the flawed reasoning of which one of the following arguments is most similar to that of the argument above?
(a) theoretically, any jar is worth saving regardless of its size, but only if it has a lid. therefore, since some jars are sure not to have lids, there are certain sizes of jar that are actually not worth saving
(b) for a horse that is well schooled to be ideal for beginning riders that horse must also be surefooted and gentle. many horses that are surefooted are not gentle. therefore many well-schooled horses are not ideal for beginning riders
(c) if an author's first novel has a romantic setting and a suspenseful plot, it will become a best-seller. since many authors' first novels have neither, not many first novels become best-sellers
(d) any automobile that is more than a few years old is eventually sure to need repairs if it is not regularly maintained. many automobiles are more than a few years old, but still do not need repairs. therefore, many automobiles are regularly maintained
(e) an expensive new building will prove to be a good investment only if it is aesthetically pleasing or provides lots of office space. however, since many expensive new buildings are not aesthetically pleasing, few expensive new buildings will prove to be good investments
16. from the observation that each member of a group could possess a characteristic, it is fallacious to conclude immediately that it is possible for all the group's members to possess the characteristic. an example in which the fallacy is obvious: arguing that because each of the players entering a tennis tournament has a possibility of winning it, there is therefore a possibility that all will win the tournament.
which one of the following commits the fallacy described above?
(a) you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time
(b) each of the candidates for mayor appears at first glance to possess the necessary qualifications. it would therefore be a mistake to rule out any of them without more careful examination
(c) each of the many nominees could be appointed to any one of the three openings on the committee. therefore it is possible for all of the nominees to be appointed to the openings on the committee
(d) if a fair coin is tossed five times, then on each toss the chance of heads being the result is half. therefore the chance of heads being the result on all five tosses is also half
(e) it is estimated that ten million planets capable of supporting life exist in our galaxy. thus to rule out the possibility of life on worlds other than earth, ten million planetary explorations would be needed
17. recent research shows that hesitation, shifting posture, and failure to maintain eye contact are not reliable indicators in discriminating between those who are lying and those who are telling the truth. the research indicates that behavior that cannot be controlled is a much better clue, at least when the lie is important to the liar. such behavior includes the dilation of eye pupils, which indicates emotional arousal, and small movements of facial muscles, which indicate distress, fear or anger.
which one of the following provides the strongest reason for exercising caution when relying on the "better" clues mentioned above in order to discover whether someone is lying?
(a) a person who is lying might be aware that he or she is being closely observed for indications of lying
(b) someone who is telling the truth might nevertheless have a past history of lying
(c) a practiced liar might have achieved great control over body posture and eye contact
(d) a person telling the truth might be affected emotionally by being suspected of lying or by some other aspect of the situation
(e) someone who is lying might exhibit hesitation and shifting posture as well as dilated pupils
questions 18 ?19
orthodox medicine is ineffective at
both ends of the spectrum of ailments. at the more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains and allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, life-threatening diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. people turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. one of the reasons alternative medicines is free of such side effects is that it does not have any effects at all.
18. if the statements above are true, which one of the following can be properly inferred from them?
(a) practitioners of alternative medicine are acting in bad faith
(b) there are some medical conditions for which no orthodox or alternative treatment is effective
(c) there are some trivial illnesses that can be treated effectively by the methods of alternative medicine
(d) there are no effective medical treatments that are free from unacceptable side effects
(e) orthodox medicine will eventually produce a solution for the diseases that are currently incurable
19. the charge made above against alternative medicine is most seriously weakened if it is true that
(a) predictions based on orthodox medicine have sometimes failed, as when a patient has recovered despite the judgment of doctors that an illness is fatal
(b) alternative medicine relies on concepts of the body and of the nature of healing that differ from those on which orthodox medicine is based
(c) alternative medicine provides hope to those for whom orthodox medicine offers no cure
(d) a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and promote healing
(e) many treatments used for a time by orthodox medicine have later been found to be totally ineffective
20. humans began to spread across north american around 12,000 years ago, as the climate became warmer. during the same period the large mammals that were once abundant in north america, such as the mastodon, the woolly mammoth, and the saber-toothed tiger, became extinct. thus, contrary to the myth that humans formerly lived in harmony with the rest of nature, it is clear that even 12,000 years ago human activity was causing the extinction of animal species.
the argument is most vulnerable o the criticism that
(a) it adopts without question a view of the world in which humans are seen as not included in nature
(b) in calling the idea that humans once lived in harmony with nature a myth the argument presupposes what it attempts to prove
(c) for early inhabitants of north america the destruction of mastodons, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers might have had very different significance than the extinction of mammal species does for modern humans
(d) there might have been many other species of animals, besides mastodon, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers, that became extinct as the result of the spread of humans across north american
(e) the evidence it cites is consistent with the alternative hypothesis that the large mammals' extinction was a direct result of the same change in climate that allowed humans to spread across north american
21. the town of greenfield recently instituted a substantial supplementary tax on all households, whereby each household is taxed in proportion to the volume of the trash that it puts out for trash collectors to pick up, as measured by the number of standard-sized garbage bags put out. in order to reduce the volume of the trash on which their tax bill is based, greenfield households can deliver their recyclable trash to a conveniently located local commercial recycling center, where such trash is accepted free of charge
the supplementary tax provides some financial incentive to greenfield households to do each of the following except
(a) sort out recyclable trash thoroughly from their other trash
(b) dump nonrecyclable trash illegally at parks and roadsides
(c) compress and nest items of nonrecyclable trash before putting them out for pickup
(d) deliver recyclable materials to the recycling center instead of passing them on to neighbors who want to reuse them
(e) buy products without packaging or with recyclable rather than nonrecyclable packaging
22. in a survey of consumers in an eastern european nation, respondents were asked two questions about each of 400 famous western brands: whether or not they recognized the brand name and whether or not they thought the products bearing that name were of high quality. the results of the survey were a rating and corresponding rank order for each brand based on recognition, and a second rating-plus-ranking based on approval. the brands ranked in the top 27 for recognition were t
hose actually available in that nation. the approval rankings of these 27 brands often differed sharply from their recognition rankings. by contrast, most of the other brands had ratings, and thus rankings, that were essentially the same for recognition as for approval
which one of the following, if each is a principle about consumer surveys, is violated by the survey described?
(a) never ask all respondents a question if it cannot reasonably be answered by respondents who make a particular response to another question in the same survey
(b) never ask a question that is likely to generate a large variety of responses that are difficult to group into a manageable number of categories
(c) never ask all respondents a question that respondents cannot answer without giving up their anonymity
(d) it is better to ask the same question about ten different products than to ask ten different questions about a single product
(e) it is best to ask questions that a respondent can answer without fear of having gotten the answer wrong
23. a certain species of bird has two basic varieties, crested and noncrested. the bird, which generally live in flocks that contain only crested or only noncrested birds, tend to select mates of the same variety as themselves. however, if a bird that is raised, in a flock in which all other members are crested is later moved to a mixed flock, then that bird ?whether crested or noncrested ?is likely to select a crested mate. this fact indicates that the birds' preference for crested or noncrested mates is learned rather than genetically determined.
which one of the following, if true, provides the most support for the argument?
(a) birds of other species also tend to show preferences for mates that have one or another specific physical feature
(b) in general there are few behavioral differences between the crested and noncrested birds of the species
(c) both the crested and noncrested birds of the species tend to select mates that are similar to themselves in size and age
(d) if a crested bird of the species is raised in captivity apart from other birds and is later moved to a mixed flock, that bird is likely to select a crested mate
(e) if a bird of the species is raised in a flock that contains both crested and noncrested birds, that bird shows no preference for one variety or the other in its selection of a mate
24. plant species differ in that renewed growth in spring can be triggered by day length or by temperature or else by a combination of both. day length is the same, year after year, for any given date. therefore, any plant species that starts to grow again on widely different dates in different years resumes growth at least in part in response to temperature.
which one of the following arguments is most similar in its pattern of reasoning to the argument above?
(a) in xandia, medical assistant trainees must either complete a formal training course or work for one year under the close supervision of a physician. since few physicians are willing to act as supervisors, it must be true that most medical assistant trainees in xandia take the training course
(b) in the crawford area, easterly winds mean rain will come and westerly winds mean dry weather will come; winds from other directions do not occur. therefore, since it is currently raining in crawford, there must be an easterly wind blowing there now
(c) some landfills charge garbage companies by volume only, some charge by weight only, and all others use a formula sensitive to both volume and weight. so if at a particular landfill the charges for two particular loads of equal volume dumped on the same day are different, weight must determine, or help determine, charges at that landfill
(d) depending on volume of business, either one or two or three store detectives are needed for adequate protection against shoplifting. therefore, if on any particular day store management has decided that three detectives will be needed, it must be because business that day is expected to be heavy
(e) a call is more likely to be heard if it is loud rather than soft, if it is high-pitched rather than low-pitched, and especially if it is both loud and high-pitched. therefore, anyone whose call goes unheard in spite of being at maximum loudness should try to raise the pitch of the call