TEST25 CRITICAL REASONING 2_LSAT
section iv
time?5 minutes
26 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. advertisement: among popular automobiles. sturdimades stand apart. around the world, hundreds of longtime sturdimade owners have signed up for sturdimade' s long distance" club, members of which must have a sturdimade they have driven for a total of at least 100,000 miles or 160,000 kilometers. some members boast of having driven their sturdimades for a total of 300,000 miles (480,000 kilometers). clearly, if you buy a sturdimade you can rely on being able to drive it for a very long distance.
construed as an argument, the advertisement's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?
(a) it draws a general conclusion from cases selected only on the basis of having a characteristic that favors that conclusion.
(b) its conclusion merely restates the evidence given to support it.
(c) it fails to clarify in which of two possible ways an ambiguous term is being used in the premises.
(d) the evidence given to support the conclusion actually undermines that conclusion.
(e) it treats popular opinion as if it constituted conclusive evidence for a claim.
2. faced with a financial crisis. upland university's board of trustees reduced the budget for the university's computer center from last year's $4 million to $1.5 million for the coming year. however, the center cannot operate on less than $2.5 million. since the board cannot divert funds from other programs to the computer center, there is no way that the center can be kept operating for the coming year.
the conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) the computer center did not use all of the $4 million that was budgeted to it last year.
(b) the budgets of other programs at the university were also reduced.
(c) the computer center has no source of funds other than those budgeted to it for the coming year by the university抯 board of trustees.
(d) no funds from any program at the university can be diverted to other programs.
(e) the board of trustees at the university value other programs at the university more highly than they do the computer center.
questions 3?
muriel: i admire favilla's novels, but she does not deserve to be considered a great writer. the point is that, no matter how distinctive her style may be, her subject matter is simply not varied enough.
john: i think you are wrong to use that criterion. a great writer does not need any diversity in subject matter; however, a great writer must at least have the ability to explore a particular theme deeply.
3. which one of the following is a point at issue between muriel and john?
(a) whether favilla has treated a wide variety of subjects in her novels
(b) whether favilla should be considered a great writer because her style is distinctive
(c) whether treating a variety of subjects should be prerequisite for someone to be considered a great writer
(d) whether the number of novels that a novelist has written should be a factor in judging whether that novelist is great
(e) whether there are many novelists who are considered to be great but do not deserve to be so considered
4. john's statements commit him to which one of the following position?
(a) even if the subject matter in favilla's writings is not particularly varied, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.
(b) even if favilla cannot explore any particular theme deeply in her writings, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.
(c) if favilla has explored some particular theme exceptionally deeply in her writings, she deserves to be considered a great writer.
(d) if the subject matter in favilla's writings were exceptionally varied, she would not deserve to be considered a great writer.
(e) if favilla's writings show no evidence of a distinctive style, she does not deserve to be considered a great writer.
5. astronaut: any moon, by definition, orbits some planet in a solar system. so, the moons in solar system s4 all orbits the planet alpha.
the astronaut's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
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(a) there is only one moon in s4.
(b) every moon in s4 orbits the same planet.
(c) alpha is the only planet in s4.
(d) every planet in s4 is orbited by more than one moon.
(e) there is at least one moon that orbits alpha.
6. a worker for a power company trims the branches of trees that overhang power lines as a prevention against damage to the lines anticipated because of the impending stormy season. the worker reasons that there will be no need for her to trim the overhanging branches of a certain tree because the owners of the tree have indicated that they might cut it down anyway.
which one of the following decisions is based on flawed reasoning that is most similar to the worker's flawed reasoning?
(a) a well inspector has a limited amount of time to inspect the wells of a town. the inspector reasons that the wells of a town. the inspector reasons that the wells should be inspected in the order of most used to least used, because there might not be enough time to inspect them all.
(b) all sewage and incoming water pipes in a house must be replaced. the plumber reasons that the cheaper polyvinyl chloride pipes should be used for sewage rather than copper pipes, since the money saved might be used to replace worn fixtures.
(c) a mechanic must replace the worn brakes on a company's vans that are used each weekday. the mechanic reasons that since one of the vans is tentatively scheduled to be junked, he will not have to replace its brakes.
(d) a candidate decides to campaign in the areas of the city where the most new votes are concentrated. the candidate reasons that campaigning on other areas is unnecessary because in those areas the candidate's message is actually liable to alienate voters.
(e) none of the children in a certain kindergarten class will take responsibility for the crayon drawing on the classroom wall. the teacher reasons that it is best to keep all the kindergarten children in during recess in order to be certain to punish the one who did the drawing on the wall.
7. currently, the city of grimchester is liable for any injury incurred because of a city sidewalk in need of repair or maintenance. however, grimchester's sidewalks are so extensive that it is impossible to hire enough employees to locate and eliminate every potential danger in its sidewalks. governments should be liable for injuries incurred on public property only if they knew about the danger beforehand and negligently failed to eliminate it.
which one of the following describes an injury for which the city of grimchester is now liable, but should not be according to the principle cited above?
(a) a person is injured after tripping on a badly uneven city sidewalk, and the city administration had been repeatedly informed of the need to repair the sidewalk for several years.
(b) a person is injured after tripping over a shopping bag that someone had left lying in the middle of the sidewalk.
(c) a person is injured after stepping in a large hole in a city sidewalk, and the city administration had first learned of the need to repair that sidewalk minutes before.
(d) a person who is heavily intoxicated is injured after falling on a perfectly even city sidewalk with no visible defects.
(e) a person riding a bicycle on a city sidewalk is injured after swerving to avoid a pedestrian who had walked in front of the bicycle without looking.
8. early in the development of a new product line, the critical resource is talent. new marketing ventures require a degree of managerial skill disproportionate to their short-term revenue prospects. usually, however, talented managers are assigned only to established high-revenue product lines and, as a result, most new marketing ventures fail. contrary to current practice, the best managers in a company should be assigned to development projects.
which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the author's argument?
(a) on average, new ventures under the direction of managers at executive level survive no longer than those managed by lower-ranking managers.
(b) for most established companies, the development of new product lines is a relatively small part of the company's total expenditure.
(c) the more talented a manager is, the less likely he or she is to be interested in undertaking the development of a new product line.
(d) the current revenue and profitability of an established product line can be maintained even if the company's best managers are assigned elsewhere.
(e) early short-term revenue prospects of a new product line are usually a good predictor of how successful a product line will ultimately be.
9. television news coverage gives viewers a sense of direct involvement with current events but does not provide the depth of coverage needed for the significance of those eve
nts to be appreciated. newspaper, on the other hand, provide depth of coverage but no sense of direct involvement. unfortunately, a full understanding of current events requires both an appreciation of their significance and a sense of direct involvement with them. therefore, since few people seek out news sources other than newspapers and television, few people ever full understand current events.
the reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument.
(a) treats two things, neither one of which can plausibly be seen as excluding the others, as though they were mutually exclusive
(b) ignores the possibility that people read newspapers or watch television for reasons other than gaining a full understanding of current events.
(c) makes crucial use of the term "depth of coverage" without defining it
(d) fails to consider the possible disadvantages of having a sense of direct involvement with tragic or violent events
(e) mistakenly reasons that just because something has the capacity to perform a given function it actually does so
10. critic: some writers have questioned stalin's sanity during his last years. they typically characterized his vindictiveness and secrecy as "paranoia" and "morbid suspiciousness". the latter almost a standard term applied by the soviet writers under glasnost t explain this extraordinary man's misdeeds. but stalin's cruelty and deviousness are not more apparent during those years than in earlier periods of his rule. "morbid suspiciousness" has to be a characteristic of tyrants. without it they would not remain long in power.
which one of the following most accurately expresses a point of disagreement between the critic and the writers?
(a) whether stalin should be held guilty of the cruel deeds attributed to him
(b) whether stalin's cruel misdeeds provide evidence of morbid suspiciousness.
(c) whether it is stalin's state of paranoia or rather his cruelty that gives the stronger reason for doubting his sanity
(d) whether tyranny tends to lead to cruelty
(e) whether it was stalin's psychological state or rather his political condition that was the primary cause of his cruel misdeeds
11. even though apes are the only nonhuman creatures able to learn human language, no ape has ever used its human language skills to ask such philosophical questions as, "how am i different from all creatures? " therefore, philosophical thought is unique to humans.
the conclusion in the passage above relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(a) human language is unique to humans.
(b) apes are incapable of thinking in human language.
(c) philosophical thought can be expressed only in human language.
(d) speaking in human language is easier than thinking in human language.
(e) it is more difficult to learn human language than to express philosophical questions.
12. most adults in country x consume an increasing amount of fat as they grow older. however, for nearly all adults in country x, the percentage of fat in a person's diet stays the same throughout adult life.
the statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions about adults in country x?
(a) they generally consume more fat than do people of the same age in other countries.
(b) they generally eat more when they are older than they did earlier in their adulthood.
(c) they generally have diets that contain a lower percentage of fat than do the diets of children in country x.
(d) they tend to eat more varied kinds of food as they become older.
(e) they tend to lose weight as they become older.
13. politician: the bill that makes using car phones while driving illegal should be adopted. my support of this bill is motivated by a concern for public safety. using a car phone seriously distracts the driver, which in turn poses a threat to safe driving. people would be deterred from using their car phones while driving if it were illegal to do so.
the argument's main conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) the more attention one pays to driving, the safer a driver one is.
(b) the only way to reduce the threat to public safety posed by car phones is through legislation.
(c) some distractions interfere with one's ability to safely operate an automobile.
(d) any proposed law that would reduce a threat to public safety should be adopted.
(e) car phone use by passengers does not distract the driver of the car.
14. when soil is plowed in the spring, pigweed seeds that have been buried in the soil all winter are churned up to the surface and redeposited just under the surface. the brief exposure of the seeds to sunlight stimulates receptors. which have become highly sensitive to sunlight during the month
s the seeds were buried in the soil, and the stimulated receptors trigger germination. without the prolonged darkness, followed by exposure to sunlight, the seeds do not germinate.
the statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following statements about a field that will be plowed in the spring and in which pigweed seeds have been buried in the soil all winter?
(a) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed only at night than if it is plowed during the day.
(b) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is not plowed at all than if it is plowed only at night.
(c) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed just before sunrise than if it is plowed just after sunset.
(d) the pigweed seeds that are churned up to the surface of the soil during the plowing will not germinate unless they are redeposited under the surface of the soil.
(e) all of the pigweed seeds that are already on the surface of the soil before the field is plowed will germinate.
15. in 1992, there were over 250 rescues of mountain climbers, costing the government almost 3 million dollars. more than 25 people died in climbing mishaps that year. many new climbers enter the sport each year. members of a task force have proposed a bonding arrangement requiring all climbers to post a large sum of money to be forfeited to the government in case of calamity.
each of the following principles, if valid, supports the task force members' proposal except:
(a) taxpayers should not subsidize a freely chosen hobby and athletic endeavor of individuals.
(b) the government is obliged to take measures to deter people from risking their lives.
(c) for physically risky sports the government should issue permits only to people who have had at least minimal training in the sport.
(d) citizens who use publicly subsidized rescue services should be required to pay more toward the cost of these services than citizens who do not.
(e) people who engage in physically risky behavior that is not essential to anyone's welfare should be held responsible for the cost of treating any resulting injuries.
16. the familiar slogan "survival of the fittest" is popularly used to express the claim, often mistakenly attributed to evolutionary biologists, that the fittest are most likely to survive. however, biologists use the term "fittest " to mean "most likely to survive are the most likely to survive. while this claim is clearly true, it is a tautology and so is neither informative nor of scientific interest.
the argument above depends on assuming which one of the following?
(a) all claims that are of scientific interest are informative.
(b) only claims that are true are of scientific interest.
(c) popular slogans are seldom informative or of scientific interest.
(d) informative scientific claims cannot use terms in the way they are popularly used.
(e) the truth of a purported scientific claim is not sufficient for it to be of scientific interest.
17. council member: the preservation of individual property rights is of the utmost importance to the city council. yet, in this city, property owners are restricted to little more than cutting grass and weeding. anything more extensive, such as remodeling, is prohibited by our zoning laws.
which one of the following provides a resolution to the apparent inconsistency described by the council member?
(a) property owners are sometimes allowed exemptions from restrictive zoning laws.
(b) it is in the best interest of property owners to maintain current laws in order to prevent an increase in their property taxes.
(c) the city council places less importance on property rights than do property owners.
(d) an individual's property rights be infringed upon by other people altering their own property.
(e) zoning laws ensure that property rights are not overly extensive.
18. coach: our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents' failures. but this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. on the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.
the coach's argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it.
(a) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play
(b) misinterprets the critics' claim that the team is unprofessional
(c) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level
(d) shifts the blame for the team's behavior to professional players
(e) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few.
19. speaker: contemporary business firms need to
recognize that avoiding social responsibility leads to the gradual erosion of power this is davis and blomstrom's iron law of responsibility: "in the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it" "the law's application to human institutions certainly stands confirmed by history. though the "long run" may require decades or even centuries in some instances, society ultimately acts to reduce power when society thinks it is not being used responsibly. therefore, a business that wishes to retain its power as long as it can must act responsibly.
which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the speaker's argument?
(a) government institutions are as subject to the iron law of responsibility as business institutions.
(b) public relations programs can cause society to consider an institution socially responsible even when it is not.
(c) the power of some institutions erodes more slowly than the power of others, whether they are socially responsible or not.
(d) since no institution is eternal, every business will eventually fail.
(e) some businesses that have used power in socially responsible ways have lost it.
20. it would be wrong to conclude that a person has a streptococcus infection if there is no other evidence than the fact that streptococcus bacilli are present in the person抯 throat; after all, infection does not occur unless the host is physically run down.
the reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to the reasoning in the argument above?
(a) when a person experiences blurred vision, it does not follow that a physical defect in the person's eyes is the cause, since blurring of a person's vision also can be induced by certain drugs.
(b) even if a healthy lavender plant receives six or more hours of direct sunlight each day, one cannot predict on that basis alone that the plant will bloom, because lavender requires both six or more hours of sunlight per day and slightly alkaline soil to bloom.
(c) when a bee colony fails to survive the winter, it would be wrong to conclude that low temperatures were the causes. bees have very good defense mechanisms against extreme cold, which are designed to ensure survival of the colony, though not of individual bees.
(d) a female holly plant nearby to provide pollen. but it does not follow that two or more male hollis in the vicinity will cause a female plant to bear more berries than it would with only a single male holly nearby.
(e) a person cannot be presumed to be hypertensive on the basis of a high reading for blood pressure that is exceptional for that person, since only people with chronically high blood pressure are properly called hypertensive.
21. terry: some actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences. but an action is good only if it has favorable consequences. so, some actions considered to be bad by our society are actually good.
pat: i agree with your conclusion, but not with the reasons you give for it. some good actions actually do not have favorable consequences. but no actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences, so your conclusion, that some actions our society considers bad are actually good still holds.
which one of the following correctly describes both an error in terry's reasoning and an error in pat's reasoning?
(a) presupposing that if a certain property distinguishes one type of action from another type of action, then that property is one of many properties distinguishing the two types of action
(b) presupposing that if most actions of a certain type share a certain property, then all actions of that type share that property
(c) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by actions of a certain type in a given society, then that property is shared by actions of that type in every society
(d) presupposing that if an action's having a certain property is necessary for its being a certain type of action, then having that property is sufficient for being that type of action
(e) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by two types of action, then that property is the only property distinguishing the two types of action from actions of other types.
22. dinosaur expert: some paleontologists have claimed that birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs called dromeosaurs. they appeal to the fossil record, which indicates that dromeosaurs have characteristics more similar to birds than do most dinosaurs. but there is a fatal flaw in their argument; the earliest bird fossils that have been discovered date back tens of millions of years farther than the oldest known dromeosaur fossils. thus the paleontologists'claim is false.
the expert's argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
(a) h
aving similar characteristics is not a sign that types of animals are evolutionarily related.
(b) dromeosaurs and birds could have common ancestors.
(c) knowledge of dromeosaur fossils and the earliest bird fossils is complete.
(d) known fossils indicate the relative dates of origin of birds and dromeosaurs.
(e) dromeosaurs are dissimilar to birds in many significant ways.
questions 23-24.
party spokesperson: the opposition party's proposal to stimulate economic activity in the province by refunding $600 million in provincial taxes to taxpayers, who could be expected to spend the money, envisions an illusory benefit. since the province's budget is required to be in balance, either new taxes would be needed to make up the shortfall, in which case the purpose of the refund would be defeated, or else workers for the province would be defeated, or else workers for the province would be dismissed. so either the province's taxpayers or its workers, who are also residents of the province, will have the $600 million to spend, but there can be no resulting net increase in spending to stimulate the province's economy.
23. the spokesperson proceeds by
(a) reinterpreting a term that is central to an opposing argument
(b) arguing that a predicted advantage would be offset by an accompanying disadvantage
(c) casting doubt on the motives of opponents
(d) drawing a distinction between different kinds of economic activity
(e) seeking to show that the assumption that taxpayers would spend money that might be refunded to them is dubious
24. the conclusion about whether there would be a resulting net increase in spending would not follow if the
(a) taxpayers of the province would spend outside the province at least $300 million of any $600 million refunded to them
(b) taxpayers of the province would receive any refund in partial payments during the year rather than in a lump sum
(c) province could assess new taxes in a way that would avoid angering taxpayers
(d) province could instead of refunding the money, stimulate its economy by redirecting its spending to use the $600 million for construction projects creating jobs around the province
(e) province could keep its workers and use them more effectively with a resulting savings of $600 million in its out-of-province expenditures
25. essayist: every contract negotiator has been lied to by someone or other, and whoever lies to anyone is practicing deception. but, of course, anyone who has been lied to has also lied to someone or other.
if the essayist's statements are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(a) every contract negotiator has practiced deception.
(b) not everyone who practices deception is lying to someone.
(c) not everyone who lies to someone is practicing deception
(d) whoever lies to a contract negotiator has been lied to by a contract negotiator.
(e) whoever lies to anyone is lied to by someone.
26. a member of the british parliament is reputed to have said, "the first purpose of good social reform is to increase the sum total of human happiness. so, any reform which makes somebody happy is achieving its purpose. since the reform i propose would make my constituents happy, it is a good social reform.?/p>
which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument attributed to the member of parliament?
(a) different things make different people happy.
(b) the proposed reform would make a few people happy, but would not increase the happiness of most other people.
(c) the proposed reform would affect only the member of parliament's constituents and would make them happy.
(d) increasing some people's happiness might not increase the sum total of human happiness if others are made unhappy.
(e) good social reforms usually have widespread support.
time?5 minutes
26 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. advertisement: among popular automobiles. sturdimades stand apart. around the world, hundreds of longtime sturdimade owners have signed up for sturdimade' s long distance" club, members of which must have a sturdimade they have driven for a total of at least 100,000 miles or 160,000 kilometers. some members boast of having driven their sturdimades for a total of 300,000 miles (480,000 kilometers). clearly, if you buy a sturdimade you can rely on being able to drive it for a very long distance.
construed as an argument, the advertisement's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?
(a) it draws a general conclusion from cases selected only on the basis of having a characteristic that favors that conclusion.
(b) its conclusion merely restates the evidence given to support it.
(c) it fails to clarify in which of two possible ways an ambiguous term is being used in the premises.
(d) the evidence given to support the conclusion actually undermines that conclusion.
(e) it treats popular opinion as if it constituted conclusive evidence for a claim.
2. faced with a financial crisis. upland university's board of trustees reduced the budget for the university's computer center from last year's $4 million to $1.5 million for the coming year. however, the center cannot operate on less than $2.5 million. since the board cannot divert funds from other programs to the computer center, there is no way that the center can be kept operating for the coming year.
the conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) the computer center did not use all of the $4 million that was budgeted to it last year.
(b) the budgets of other programs at the university were also reduced.
(c) the computer center has no source of funds other than those budgeted to it for the coming year by the university抯 board of trustees.
(d) no funds from any program at the university can be diverted to other programs.
(e) the board of trustees at the university value other programs at the university more highly than they do the computer center.
questions 3?
muriel: i admire favilla's novels, but she does not deserve to be considered a great writer. the point is that, no matter how distinctive her style may be, her subject matter is simply not varied enough.
john: i think you are wrong to use that criterion. a great writer does not need any diversity in subject matter; however, a great writer must at least have the ability to explore a particular theme deeply.
3. which one of the following is a point at issue between muriel and john?
(a) whether favilla has treated a wide variety of subjects in her novels
(b) whether favilla should be considered a great writer because her style is distinctive
(c) whether treating a variety of subjects should be prerequisite for someone to be considered a great writer
(d) whether the number of novels that a novelist has written should be a factor in judging whether that novelist is great
(e) whether there are many novelists who are considered to be great but do not deserve to be so considered
4. john's statements commit him to which one of the following position?
(a) even if the subject matter in favilla's writings is not particularly varied, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.
(b) even if favilla cannot explore any particular theme deeply in her writings, she should not thereby be excluded from being considered a great writer.
(c) if favilla has explored some particular theme exceptionally deeply in her writings, she deserves to be considered a great writer.
(d) if the subject matter in favilla's writings were exceptionally varied, she would not deserve to be considered a great writer.
(e) if favilla's writings show no evidence of a distinctive style, she does not deserve to be considered a great writer.
5. astronaut: any moon, by definition, orbits some planet in a solar system. so, the moons in solar system s4 all orbits the planet alpha.
the astronaut's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
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(a) there is only one moon in s4.
(b) every moon in s4 orbits the same planet.
(c) alpha is the only planet in s4.
(d) every planet in s4 is orbited by more than one moon.
(e) there is at least one moon that orbits alpha.
6. a worker for a power company trims the branches of trees that overhang power lines as a prevention against damage to the lines anticipated because of the impending stormy season. the worker reasons that there will be no need for her to trim the overhanging branches of a certain tree because the owners of the tree have indicated that they might cut it down anyway.
which one of the following decisions is based on flawed reasoning that is most similar to the worker's flawed reasoning?
(a) a well inspector has a limited amount of time to inspect the wells of a town. the inspector reasons that the wells of a town. the inspector reasons that the wells should be inspected in the order of most used to least used, because there might not be enough time to inspect them all.
(b) all sewage and incoming water pipes in a house must be replaced. the plumber reasons that the cheaper polyvinyl chloride pipes should be used for sewage rather than copper pipes, since the money saved might be used to replace worn fixtures.
(c) a mechanic must replace the worn brakes on a company's vans that are used each weekday. the mechanic reasons that since one of the vans is tentatively scheduled to be junked, he will not have to replace its brakes.
(d) a candidate decides to campaign in the areas of the city where the most new votes are concentrated. the candidate reasons that campaigning on other areas is unnecessary because in those areas the candidate's message is actually liable to alienate voters.
(e) none of the children in a certain kindergarten class will take responsibility for the crayon drawing on the classroom wall. the teacher reasons that it is best to keep all the kindergarten children in during recess in order to be certain to punish the one who did the drawing on the wall.
7. currently, the city of grimchester is liable for any injury incurred because of a city sidewalk in need of repair or maintenance. however, grimchester's sidewalks are so extensive that it is impossible to hire enough employees to locate and eliminate every potential danger in its sidewalks. governments should be liable for injuries incurred on public property only if they knew about the danger beforehand and negligently failed to eliminate it.
which one of the following describes an injury for which the city of grimchester is now liable, but should not be according to the principle cited above?
(a) a person is injured after tripping on a badly uneven city sidewalk, and the city administration had been repeatedly informed of the need to repair the sidewalk for several years.
(b) a person is injured after tripping over a shopping bag that someone had left lying in the middle of the sidewalk.
(c) a person is injured after stepping in a large hole in a city sidewalk, and the city administration had first learned of the need to repair that sidewalk minutes before.
(d) a person who is heavily intoxicated is injured after falling on a perfectly even city sidewalk with no visible defects.
(e) a person riding a bicycle on a city sidewalk is injured after swerving to avoid a pedestrian who had walked in front of the bicycle without looking.
8. early in the development of a new product line, the critical resource is talent. new marketing ventures require a degree of managerial skill disproportionate to their short-term revenue prospects. usually, however, talented managers are assigned only to established high-revenue product lines and, as a result, most new marketing ventures fail. contrary to current practice, the best managers in a company should be assigned to development projects.
which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the author's argument?
(a) on average, new ventures under the direction of managers at executive level survive no longer than those managed by lower-ranking managers.
(b) for most established companies, the development of new product lines is a relatively small part of the company's total expenditure.
(c) the more talented a manager is, the less likely he or she is to be interested in undertaking the development of a new product line.
(d) the current revenue and profitability of an established product line can be maintained even if the company's best managers are assigned elsewhere.
(e) early short-term revenue prospects of a new product line are usually a good predictor of how successful a product line will ultimately be.
9. television news coverage gives viewers a sense of direct involvement with current events but does not provide the depth of coverage needed for the significance of those eve
nts to be appreciated. newspaper, on the other hand, provide depth of coverage but no sense of direct involvement. unfortunately, a full understanding of current events requires both an appreciation of their significance and a sense of direct involvement with them. therefore, since few people seek out news sources other than newspapers and television, few people ever full understand current events.
the reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument.
(a) treats two things, neither one of which can plausibly be seen as excluding the others, as though they were mutually exclusive
(b) ignores the possibility that people read newspapers or watch television for reasons other than gaining a full understanding of current events.
(c) makes crucial use of the term "depth of coverage" without defining it
(d) fails to consider the possible disadvantages of having a sense of direct involvement with tragic or violent events
(e) mistakenly reasons that just because something has the capacity to perform a given function it actually does so
10. critic: some writers have questioned stalin's sanity during his last years. they typically characterized his vindictiveness and secrecy as "paranoia" and "morbid suspiciousness". the latter almost a standard term applied by the soviet writers under glasnost t explain this extraordinary man's misdeeds. but stalin's cruelty and deviousness are not more apparent during those years than in earlier periods of his rule. "morbid suspiciousness" has to be a characteristic of tyrants. without it they would not remain long in power.
which one of the following most accurately expresses a point of disagreement between the critic and the writers?
(a) whether stalin should be held guilty of the cruel deeds attributed to him
(b) whether stalin's cruel misdeeds provide evidence of morbid suspiciousness.
(c) whether it is stalin's state of paranoia or rather his cruelty that gives the stronger reason for doubting his sanity
(d) whether tyranny tends to lead to cruelty
(e) whether it was stalin's psychological state or rather his political condition that was the primary cause of his cruel misdeeds
11. even though apes are the only nonhuman creatures able to learn human language, no ape has ever used its human language skills to ask such philosophical questions as, "how am i different from all creatures? " therefore, philosophical thought is unique to humans.
the conclusion in the passage above relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(a) human language is unique to humans.
(b) apes are incapable of thinking in human language.
(c) philosophical thought can be expressed only in human language.
(d) speaking in human language is easier than thinking in human language.
(e) it is more difficult to learn human language than to express philosophical questions.
12. most adults in country x consume an increasing amount of fat as they grow older. however, for nearly all adults in country x, the percentage of fat in a person's diet stays the same throughout adult life.
the statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions about adults in country x?
(a) they generally consume more fat than do people of the same age in other countries.
(b) they generally eat more when they are older than they did earlier in their adulthood.
(c) they generally have diets that contain a lower percentage of fat than do the diets of children in country x.
(d) they tend to eat more varied kinds of food as they become older.
(e) they tend to lose weight as they become older.
13. politician: the bill that makes using car phones while driving illegal should be adopted. my support of this bill is motivated by a concern for public safety. using a car phone seriously distracts the driver, which in turn poses a threat to safe driving. people would be deterred from using their car phones while driving if it were illegal to do so.
the argument's main conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(a) the more attention one pays to driving, the safer a driver one is.
(b) the only way to reduce the threat to public safety posed by car phones is through legislation.
(c) some distractions interfere with one's ability to safely operate an automobile.
(d) any proposed law that would reduce a threat to public safety should be adopted.
(e) car phone use by passengers does not distract the driver of the car.
14. when soil is plowed in the spring, pigweed seeds that have been buried in the soil all winter are churned up to the surface and redeposited just under the surface. the brief exposure of the seeds to sunlight stimulates receptors. which have become highly sensitive to sunlight during the month
s the seeds were buried in the soil, and the stimulated receptors trigger germination. without the prolonged darkness, followed by exposure to sunlight, the seeds do not germinate.
the statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following statements about a field that will be plowed in the spring and in which pigweed seeds have been buried in the soil all winter?
(a) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed only at night than if it is plowed during the day.
(b) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is not plowed at all than if it is plowed only at night.
(c) fewer pigweed plants will grow in the field if it is plowed just before sunrise than if it is plowed just after sunset.
(d) the pigweed seeds that are churned up to the surface of the soil during the plowing will not germinate unless they are redeposited under the surface of the soil.
(e) all of the pigweed seeds that are already on the surface of the soil before the field is plowed will germinate.
15. in 1992, there were over 250 rescues of mountain climbers, costing the government almost 3 million dollars. more than 25 people died in climbing mishaps that year. many new climbers enter the sport each year. members of a task force have proposed a bonding arrangement requiring all climbers to post a large sum of money to be forfeited to the government in case of calamity.
each of the following principles, if valid, supports the task force members' proposal except:
(a) taxpayers should not subsidize a freely chosen hobby and athletic endeavor of individuals.
(b) the government is obliged to take measures to deter people from risking their lives.
(c) for physically risky sports the government should issue permits only to people who have had at least minimal training in the sport.
(d) citizens who use publicly subsidized rescue services should be required to pay more toward the cost of these services than citizens who do not.
(e) people who engage in physically risky behavior that is not essential to anyone's welfare should be held responsible for the cost of treating any resulting injuries.
16. the familiar slogan "survival of the fittest" is popularly used to express the claim, often mistakenly attributed to evolutionary biologists, that the fittest are most likely to survive. however, biologists use the term "fittest " to mean "most likely to survive are the most likely to survive. while this claim is clearly true, it is a tautology and so is neither informative nor of scientific interest.
the argument above depends on assuming which one of the following?
(a) all claims that are of scientific interest are informative.
(b) only claims that are true are of scientific interest.
(c) popular slogans are seldom informative or of scientific interest.
(d) informative scientific claims cannot use terms in the way they are popularly used.
(e) the truth of a purported scientific claim is not sufficient for it to be of scientific interest.
17. council member: the preservation of individual property rights is of the utmost importance to the city council. yet, in this city, property owners are restricted to little more than cutting grass and weeding. anything more extensive, such as remodeling, is prohibited by our zoning laws.
which one of the following provides a resolution to the apparent inconsistency described by the council member?
(a) property owners are sometimes allowed exemptions from restrictive zoning laws.
(b) it is in the best interest of property owners to maintain current laws in order to prevent an increase in their property taxes.
(c) the city council places less importance on property rights than do property owners.
(d) an individual's property rights be infringed upon by other people altering their own property.
(e) zoning laws ensure that property rights are not overly extensive.
18. coach: our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents' failures. but this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. on the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.
the coach's argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it.
(a) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play
(b) misinterprets the critics' claim that the team is unprofessional
(c) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level
(d) shifts the blame for the team's behavior to professional players
(e) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few.
19. speaker: contemporary business firms need to
recognize that avoiding social responsibility leads to the gradual erosion of power this is davis and blomstrom's iron law of responsibility: "in the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it" "the law's application to human institutions certainly stands confirmed by history. though the "long run" may require decades or even centuries in some instances, society ultimately acts to reduce power when society thinks it is not being used responsibly. therefore, a business that wishes to retain its power as long as it can must act responsibly.
which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the speaker's argument?
(a) government institutions are as subject to the iron law of responsibility as business institutions.
(b) public relations programs can cause society to consider an institution socially responsible even when it is not.
(c) the power of some institutions erodes more slowly than the power of others, whether they are socially responsible or not.
(d) since no institution is eternal, every business will eventually fail.
(e) some businesses that have used power in socially responsible ways have lost it.
20. it would be wrong to conclude that a person has a streptococcus infection if there is no other evidence than the fact that streptococcus bacilli are present in the person抯 throat; after all, infection does not occur unless the host is physically run down.
the reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to the reasoning in the argument above?
(a) when a person experiences blurred vision, it does not follow that a physical defect in the person's eyes is the cause, since blurring of a person's vision also can be induced by certain drugs.
(b) even if a healthy lavender plant receives six or more hours of direct sunlight each day, one cannot predict on that basis alone that the plant will bloom, because lavender requires both six or more hours of sunlight per day and slightly alkaline soil to bloom.
(c) when a bee colony fails to survive the winter, it would be wrong to conclude that low temperatures were the causes. bees have very good defense mechanisms against extreme cold, which are designed to ensure survival of the colony, though not of individual bees.
(d) a female holly plant nearby to provide pollen. but it does not follow that two or more male hollis in the vicinity will cause a female plant to bear more berries than it would with only a single male holly nearby.
(e) a person cannot be presumed to be hypertensive on the basis of a high reading for blood pressure that is exceptional for that person, since only people with chronically high blood pressure are properly called hypertensive.
21. terry: some actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences. but an action is good only if it has favorable consequences. so, some actions considered to be bad by our society are actually good.
pat: i agree with your conclusion, but not with the reasons you give for it. some good actions actually do not have favorable consequences. but no actions considered to be bad by our society have favorable consequences, so your conclusion, that some actions our society considers bad are actually good still holds.
which one of the following correctly describes both an error in terry's reasoning and an error in pat's reasoning?
(a) presupposing that if a certain property distinguishes one type of action from another type of action, then that property is one of many properties distinguishing the two types of action
(b) presupposing that if most actions of a certain type share a certain property, then all actions of that type share that property
(c) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by actions of a certain type in a given society, then that property is shared by actions of that type in every society
(d) presupposing that if an action's having a certain property is necessary for its being a certain type of action, then having that property is sufficient for being that type of action
(e) presupposing that if a certain property is shared by two types of action, then that property is the only property distinguishing the two types of action from actions of other types.
22. dinosaur expert: some paleontologists have claimed that birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs called dromeosaurs. they appeal to the fossil record, which indicates that dromeosaurs have characteristics more similar to birds than do most dinosaurs. but there is a fatal flaw in their argument; the earliest bird fossils that have been discovered date back tens of millions of years farther than the oldest known dromeosaur fossils. thus the paleontologists'claim is false.
the expert's argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
(a) h
aving similar characteristics is not a sign that types of animals are evolutionarily related.
(b) dromeosaurs and birds could have common ancestors.
(c) knowledge of dromeosaur fossils and the earliest bird fossils is complete.
(d) known fossils indicate the relative dates of origin of birds and dromeosaurs.
(e) dromeosaurs are dissimilar to birds in many significant ways.
questions 23-24.
party spokesperson: the opposition party's proposal to stimulate economic activity in the province by refunding $600 million in provincial taxes to taxpayers, who could be expected to spend the money, envisions an illusory benefit. since the province's budget is required to be in balance, either new taxes would be needed to make up the shortfall, in which case the purpose of the refund would be defeated, or else workers for the province would be defeated, or else workers for the province would be dismissed. so either the province's taxpayers or its workers, who are also residents of the province, will have the $600 million to spend, but there can be no resulting net increase in spending to stimulate the province's economy.
23. the spokesperson proceeds by
(a) reinterpreting a term that is central to an opposing argument
(b) arguing that a predicted advantage would be offset by an accompanying disadvantage
(c) casting doubt on the motives of opponents
(d) drawing a distinction between different kinds of economic activity
(e) seeking to show that the assumption that taxpayers would spend money that might be refunded to them is dubious
24. the conclusion about whether there would be a resulting net increase in spending would not follow if the
(a) taxpayers of the province would spend outside the province at least $300 million of any $600 million refunded to them
(b) taxpayers of the province would receive any refund in partial payments during the year rather than in a lump sum
(c) province could assess new taxes in a way that would avoid angering taxpayers
(d) province could instead of refunding the money, stimulate its economy by redirecting its spending to use the $600 million for construction projects creating jobs around the province
(e) province could keep its workers and use them more effectively with a resulting savings of $600 million in its out-of-province expenditures
25. essayist: every contract negotiator has been lied to by someone or other, and whoever lies to anyone is practicing deception. but, of course, anyone who has been lied to has also lied to someone or other.
if the essayist's statements are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(a) every contract negotiator has practiced deception.
(b) not everyone who practices deception is lying to someone.
(c) not everyone who lies to someone is practicing deception
(d) whoever lies to a contract negotiator has been lied to by a contract negotiator.
(e) whoever lies to anyone is lied to by someone.
26. a member of the british parliament is reputed to have said, "the first purpose of good social reform is to increase the sum total of human happiness. so, any reform which makes somebody happy is achieving its purpose. since the reform i propose would make my constituents happy, it is a good social reform.?/p>
which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument attributed to the member of parliament?
(a) different things make different people happy.
(b) the proposed reform would make a few people happy, but would not increase the happiness of most other people.
(c) the proposed reform would affect only the member of parliament's constituents and would make them happy.
(d) increasing some people's happiness might not increase the sum total of human happiness if others are made unhappy.
(e) good social reforms usually have widespread support.