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[
"Nobody would own homes.",
"College attendance would probably decline.",
"People would be happier.",
"Society will collapse."
] | Sociologist: Marriage is one of the most important societal institutions. Marital relationship provides numerous structural benefits for married couples and their offspring. Studies consistently show that children born out of wedlock are less likely to attend college and more likely to work low-paying jobs. Additionally, married people are more likely to be homeowners and save for retirement. Ttherefore, if marriage rates decline, __. | 1 | train_200 | Which one of the following most logically completes the sociologist's argument? |
[
"Action movies that involve complicated and dangerous special-effects scenes are enormously expensive to produce. Hence, since traditional dramatic or comedic films contain no such scenes, it is probable that they are relatively inexpensive to produce.",
"Art that portrays people as happy and contented has a tranquilizing effect on the viewer, an effect that is appealing to those who are tense or anxious. Thus, people who dislike such art are neither tense nor anxious.",
"People who enjoy participating in activities such as fishing or hiking may nevertheless enjoy watching such spectator sports as boxing or football. Thus, one cannot infer from someone's participating in vigorous contact sports that he or she is not also fond of less violent forms of recreation.",
"All self-employed businesspeople have salaries that fluctuate with the fortunes of the general economy, but government bureaucrats are not self-employed. Ttherefore, not everyone with an income that fluctuates with the fortunes of the general economy is a government bureaucrat."
] | Books that present a utopian future in which the inequities and sufferings of the present are replaced by more harmonious and rational social arrangements will always find enthusiastic buyers. Since gloomy books predicting that even more terrifying times await us are clearly not of this genre, they are unlikely to be very popular. | 0 | train_201 | The questionable pattern of reasoning in which one of the following arguments is most similar to that in the argument above? |
[
"Acetylsalicylic acid reduces the production of immune cells in the brain.",
"Immune reactions by microglia occur in certain diseases of the brain other than Alzheimer's.",
"The inability of Alzheimer's patients to eliminate the protein BA from the brain is due to a deficiency in the brain's immune system.",
"The protein BA directly interferes with the cognitive functions of the brain."
] | Science writer: The deterioration of cognitive faculties associated with Alzheimer' s disease is evidently caused by the activities of microglia -- the brain' s own immune cells. For one thing, this deterioration can be slowed by some anti-inflammatory drugs, such as acetylsalicylic acid. Furthermore, patients with Alzheimer' s are unable to eliminate the protein BA from the brain, where it accumulates and forms deposits. The microglia attack these protein deposits by releasing poisons that destroy surrounding healthy brain cells, thereby impairing the brain' s cognitive functions. | 0 | train_202 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to support the science writer's argument? |
[
"It bases a sweeping claim on the evidence provided by an instance that is not clearly relevant.",
"It presents evidence in value-laden terms that presuppose the conclusion for which that evidence is offered.",
"It fails to offer any grounds for the attack it makes on the character of the person.",
"It wrongly assumes that because someone is a competent judge of one kind of thing, that person will be a competent judge of a very different kind of thing."
] | Sarah, who is an excellent mechanic, said that in her opinion the used car John is considering is in good mechanical condition. However, it is clear that Sarah cannot be trusted to give an honest opinion, since when Emmett asked her opinion of his new haircut she lied and said she thought it looked good. Ttherefore, it is very likely that Sarah also lied in giving her opinion of the mechanical condition of that car. | 0 | train_203 | The argument is flawed by virtue of having committed which one of the following errors of reasoning? |
[
"When levels of personal retirement savings increase, consumer borrowing always increases correspondingly.",
"Bankers generally will not continue to lend money to businesses whose prospective earnings are insufficient to meet their loan repayment schedules.",
"Even with tax incentives, some people will choose not to increase their levels of retirement savings.",
"The modified tax structure would give all taxpayers, regardless of their incomes, the same tax savings for a given increase in their retirement savings."
] | Businesses are suffering because of a lack of money available for development loans. To help businesses, the government plans to modify the income-tax structure in order to induce individual taxpayers to put a larger portion of their incomes into retirement savings accounts, because as more money is deposited in such accounts, more money becomes available to borrowers. | 0 | train_204 | Which of the following, if true, raises the most serious doubt regarding the effectiveness of the government's plan to increase the amount of money available for development loans for businesses? |
[
"People read as much as they used to, but most of the works they now read are not novels.",
"Contemporary fiction is unpopular because it is meaningless, depressing, and of poor overall quality.",
"A large number of high-quality newspapers, magazines, professional journals, and nonfiction books are currently published.",
"The view expressed by the columnist was formed without considering all of the pertinent evidence."
] | Tallulah: The columnist attributes the decline of interest in novels to consumerism, technology, and the laziness of people who prefer watching television to reading a novel. However, in reaching this conclusion, the columnist has overlooked important evidence. It is surely relevant that contemporary fiction is frequently of poor quality -- indeed, much of it is meaningless and depressing -- whereas many good newspapers, magazines, professional journals, and books of other types are currently available. | 3 | train_205 | Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of Tallulah's argument? |
[
"Bill had exactly two weeks of vacation left unused at the end of last year.",
"Bill did not have any vacation time left and the end of his first year.",
"Bill will never have eight weeks of vacation time.",
"Bill has used one week of vacation time each year for the past two year."
] | This spring, Bill, who has worked for the City of Hortonville for just over three years, plans to spend the entire three weeks of paid vacation to which he is entitled this year with his family. Anyone who has worked for the City of Hortonville from between one and four years is entitled to two weeks paid vacation each year but can apply up to half of any vacation time that remains unused at the end of the year to the next year' s vacation, as long as the unused vacation time is not more than eight weeks. | 0 | train_206 | If the statements above are all true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them? |
[
"People would use new medical information even if it were not first published in peer-reviewed journals.",
"New medical information that is first published in peer-reviewed journals does not usually receive public attention.",
"The peer-review process could be speeded up enough to produce a significant improvement in public health.",
"Reviewers for many medical journals are not themselves medical researchers."
] | Public health will improve more quickly in the wake of new medical discoveries if medical researchers abandon their practice of waiting until their findings are published in peer-reviewed journals before informing the press of important research results. This is because the public release of new medical information allows people to use that information in order to improve their health, but the peer-review process is unavoidably very slow. | 0 | train_207 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
[
"The nuclear power plant's spent fuel rods were not damaged.",
"Spent fuel rods do not contain heavy isotopes in significant quantities.",
"The researchers found some radioactive material from spent fuel rods as well as some material that was ejected into the atmosphere directly from the plant's core.",
"The radioactive material detected by the researchers was carried into the atmosphere by the steam that was released from the plant."
] | After a nuclear power plant accident, researchers found radioactive isotopes of iodine, tellurium, and cesium-but no heavy isotopes-in the atmosphere downwind. This material came either from spent fuel rods or from the plant' s core. Spent fuel rods never contain significant quantities of tellurium isotopes. Radioactive material ejected into the atmosphere directly from the core would include heavy isotopes. After the accident, steam, which may have been in contact with the core, was released from the plant. The core contains iodine, tellurium, and cesium isotopes, which are easily dissolved by steam. | 3 | train_208 | Of the following statements, which one is most strongly supported by the information above? |
[
"There are more adolescent car thieves now than there were five years ago, and the sentences given to young criminals tend to be far more lenient than those given to adult criminals.",
"An upsurge in home burglaries over the last five years has required police departments to divert limited resources to investigation of these cases.",
"Although there are fewer car thieves now than there were five years ago, the proportion of thieves who tend to abandon cars before their owners notice that they have been stolen has also decreased.",
"Car alarms are more common than they were five years ago, but their propensity to be triggered in the absence of any criminal activity has resulted in people generally ignoring them when they are triggered."
] | The number of automobile thefts has declined steadily during the past five years, and it is more likely now than it was five years ago that someone who steals a car will be convicted of the crime. | 2 | train_209 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the facts cited above? |
[
"concluding that since an expected consequence of a supposed development did not occur, that development itself did not take place",
"concluding that since the evidence concerning a supposed change is ambiguous, it is most likely that no change is actually taking place",
"arguing that since two alternative developments exhaust all the plausible possibilities, one of those developments occurred and the other did not",
"arguing that since people's economic behavior is guided by economic self-interest, only misinformation or error will cause people to engage in economic behavior that harms them economically"
] | The widespread staff reductions in a certain region' s economy are said to be causing people who still have their jobs to cut back on new purchases as though they, too, had become economically distressed. Clearly, however, actual spending by such people is undiminished, because there has been no unusual increase in the amount of money held by those people in savings account. | 0 | train_210 | The argument in the passage proceeds by doing which one of the following? |
[
"people who do not exercise when they are young will gain few benefits from beginning to exercise at a later age",
"appropriate exercise can prevent the physical changes associated with aging",
"if the physical changes of aging are to be slowed, it is more practical to rely on exercise than on drugs",
"people who do not exercise are likely to need drugs to sustain their health"
] | Lack of exercise produces the same or similar bodily effects as aging. In fact, the physical changes that accompany aging can often be slowed down by appropriate exercise. No drug, however, holds any promise for slowing down the changes associated with aging. Ttherefore, __. | 2 | train_211 | Which one of the following provides a logical completion to the passage above? |
[
"the ratio of violent to nonviolent crimes committed during the past four years in Meadowbrook and Parkdale",
"changes in the population density of both Parkdale and Meadowbrook over the past four years",
"how Meadowbrook's expenditures for crime prevention over the past four years compare to Parkdale's expenditures",
"the violent crime rates in Meadowbrook and Parkdale four years ago"
] | The violent crime rate (number of violent crimes per 1, 000 residents) in Meadowbrook is 60 percent higher now than it was four years ago. The corresponding increase for Parkdale is only 10 percent. These figures support the conclusion that residents of Meadowbrook are more likely to become victims of violent crime than are residents of Parkdale. | 3 | train_212 | The argument above is flawed because it fails to take into account |
[
"relies solely on the testimony of experts",
"presumes that a need to stimulate economic growth is the only possible reason to lower interest rates now",
"takes what is merely one way of stimulating economic growth to be the only way of stimulating economic growth",
"confuses economic growth with what stimulates it"
] | Economist: Many of my colleagues are arguing that interest rates should be further lowered in order to stimulate economic growth. However, no such stimulation is needed: the economy is already growing at a sustainable rate. So, currently there is no reason to lower interest rates further. | 1 | train_213 | The reasoning in the economist's argument is questionable in that the argument |
[
"He could not properly infer from the fact that some listeners did not like the movie review segment that some others did.",
"He did not wait until he received at least 50 letters with unfavorable comments about the movie review segment before making his decision.",
"He failed to take into account the relation existing between the movie review segment and the news.",
"He failed to recognize that people are more likely to write letters of criticism than of praise."
] | Every week, the programming office at an FM radio station reviewed unsolicited letters from listeners who were expressing comments on the station' s programs. One week, the station received 50 letters with favorable comments about the station' s news reporting and music selection and 10 letters with unfavorable comments on the station' s new movie review segment of the evening program. Faced with this information, the programming director assumed that if some listeners did not like the movie review segment, then there must be other listeners who did like it. Ttherefore, he decided to continue the movie review segment of the evening program. | 0 | train_214 | Which one of the following identifies a problem with the programming director's decision process? |
[
"Franks would be assigned the task if Franks had the assertiveness the task requires.",
"Larson has the assertiveness the task requires.",
"The task cannot be assigned to anyone who has any kind of scheduling conflict.",
"The task cannot be assigned to anyone other than a supervisor in the shipping department."
] | A reason Larson cannot do the assignment is that she has an unavoidable scheduling conflict. On the other hand, a reason Franks cannot do the assignment is that he does not quite have the assertiveness the task requires. So, the task must be assigned to Parker, the only supervisor in the shipping department other than Larson and Franks. | 3 | train_215 | The argument depends on assuming which one of the following? |
[
"Someone who claims that safety was an important factor in a buying decision does not necessarily mean that safety was the most important factor.",
"Advertisements and promotional materials sometimes provide incomplete vehicle safety information.",
"Most consumers are aware that advertisements and promotional materials are not objective sources of vehicle safety information.",
"Anyone to whom safety is an important factor in purchasing a car will consult an objective source of vehicle safety information before buying."
] | Ninety percent of recent car buyers say safety was an important factor in their purchase. Yet of these car buyers, only half consulted objective sources of vehicle safety information before making their purchase; the others relied on advertisements and promotional materials. Thus, these other buyers were mistaken in saying that safety was important to them. | 3 | train_216 | The argument's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed? |
[
"showing that a recommended course of action would have disastrous consequences",
"demonstrating that an analogy explicitly used to establish a certain conclusion is faulty",
"calling into question the authority on the basis of which a claim is made",
"appealing to an analogy in order to indicate the futility of a course of action"
] | Economist: A country' s trade deficit may indicate weakness in its economy, but it does not in itself weaken that economy. So restricting imports to reduce a trade deficit would be like sticking a thermometer into a glass of cold water in the hope of bringing down a patient' s feverish temperature. | 3 | train_217 | The economist's argument employs which one of the following techniques? |
[
"Whenever two classes of organisms share the same environment, members of one class will differ from members of the other class in several external body features.",
"An organism does not necessarily belong to a class simply because the organism has one or more external body features similar to those of members of that class.",
"The members of a single class of organisms that inhabit the same environment must be identical in all their external body features.",
"The members of a single class of organisms must exhibit one or more similar external body features that differentiate that class from all other classes of organisms."
] | The similarity between ichthyosaurs and fish is an example of convergence, a process by which different classes of organisms adapt to the same environment by independently developing one or more similar external body features. Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles and thus do not belong to the same class of organisms as fish. However, ichthyosaurs adapted to their marine environment by converging on external body features similar to those of fish. Most strikingly, ichthyosaurs, like fish, had fins. | 1 | train_218 | If the statements above are true, which one of the following is an inference that can be properly drawn on the basis of them? |
[
"The home environment of dogs would not be regulated by breed-specific legislation.",
"Irresponsible dog owners are capable of producing dogs with bad dispositions regardless of generations of careful breeding.",
"The vicious-dog laws that are currently in effect do not address the effects of human behavior in raising and training dogs.",
"The public would not be effectively protected from violent dogs by breed-specific legislation."
] | Citizen: The primary factor determining a dog' s disposition is not its breed, but its home environment. A bad owner can undo generations of careful breeding. Legislation focusing on specific breeds of dogs would not address the effects of human behavior in raising and training animals. As a result, such breed-specific legislation could never effectively protect the public from vicious dogs. Moreover, in my view, the current laws are perfectly adequate. | 3 | train_219 | Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn by the citizen? |
[
"Helium-4 gas rapidly breaks down, forming ordinary helium gas after a few hours.",
"When fusion is achieved, it normally produces several by-products, including tritium and gamma rays.",
"Nuclear fusion reactions are characterized by the release of large amounts of heat.",
"The amount of helium-4 found in the chamber's air did not exceed the amount of helium-4 that is found in ordinary air."
] | Nuclear fusion is a process whereby the nuclei of atoms are joined, or "fused, " and in which energy is released. One of the by-products of fusion is helium-4 gas. A recent fusion experiment was conducted using "heavy" water contained in a sealed flask. The flask was, in turn, contained in an air-filled chamber designed to eliminate extraneous vibration. After the experiment, a measurable amount of helium-4 gas was found in the air of the chamber. The experimenters cited this evidence in support of their conclusion that fusion had been achieved. | 3 | train_220 | Which one of the following, if true, would cast doubt on the experimenters' conclusion? |
[
"What percentage the first two years maintenance costs of each model is of their respective advertising budgets.",
"How the advertising budgets over the last five years for the TJ-700 and the Beta Turbomax compare to the budgets over the same period for comparable models of other manufacturers.",
"Whether buyers of the TJ-700 and the Beta Turbomax reported being familiar with the ads of these cars.",
"Whether buyer of cars of other manufacturers in the last five years are familiar with the ads for the TJ-700 and the Beta Turbomax."
] | The TJ-700 and the Beta Turbomax are two models of cars of different manufacturers. These two models have almost identical specifications and features, and they sell for almost the same price. Both were introduced on the market five years ago, and each year, the respective manufacturers spend about the same amount in advertising. In the past five year, the total number of TJ-700' s sold is about 80% greater than the total number of Beta Turbomax' s sold. Clearly, the advertising firm that created TJ-700 ads created much more effective ads than the firm that created Beta Turbomax ads. | 2 | train_221 | In evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to know which of the following? |
[
"mandatory sentences will deter most people who might otherwise commit violent crimes",
"the best way to reduce violent crime is to address the root causes of violence",
"people who commit violent crimes carefully consider how they will be punished for their crimes",
"severe penalties reduce the incidence of tax evasion"
] | Huang: Most people who commit violent crimes do not carefully consider whether or how they will be punished for these crimes. And those who don' t commit violent crimes have no inclination to do so. Rather than impose harsh mandatory sentences, we should attend to the root causes of violence to reduce the rate of violent crime. Suarez: Would you say the same about nonviolent crimes, such as tax evasion? Surely mandatory penalties are a useful deterrent in these cases. At any rate, I am confident that mandatory sentences prevent most people who would otherwise physically harm others from doing so. | 0 | train_222 | The dialogue between Huang and Suarez most strongly supports the claim that they disagree about whether |
[
"the recipes of the chocolate candies date from the 19th century, while the non-chocolate candies were all developed more recently.",
"a large proportion of XO's customers are those who initially bought XO's chocolate candies and eventually went on to buy other candies made by XO.",
"XO has recently removed its two lowest-selling chocolate candies from their product line and replaced them with different types of chocolate candies.",
"the chocolate candies are distributed differently than the non-chocolate candies, as chocolates are more popular on the coasts."
] | An analysis of the XO Candy Corporation divided its products into two categories: chocolate-based candies and non-chocolate-based candies. The analysis shows that, unlike the non-chocolate candies, few chocolate candies sold enough units to be profitable. Nevertheless, stopping production of the unprofitable chocolate candies will not necessarily make the entire company more profitable, because__ . | 1 | train_223 | Which of the following most logically completes the passage? |
[
"Most of the work-related injuries that occurred before 1955 were the result of worker carelessness.",
"The number of work-related injuries occurring within industries not considered high-risk has increased annually since 1955.",
"Because of technological innovation, most workplaces in the high-risk industries do not require as much unprotected interaction between workers and heavy machinery as they did in 1955.",
"Workplace safety conditions in all industries have improved steadily since 1955."
] | In 1955, legislation in a certain country gave the government increased control over industrial workplace safety conditions. Among the high-risk industries in that country, the likelihood that a worker will suffer a serious injury has decreased since 1955. The legislation, ttherefore, has increased overall worker safety within high-risk industries. | 2 | train_224 | Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above? |
[
"Some of the predators of the monarch butterfly also prey on viceroys.",
"The viceroy butterfly is toxic to most predators.",
"Some predators do not have a toxic reaction to insects that feed on milkweed plants.",
"Toxicity to predators is the principal means of protection for only a few butterfly species."
] | The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly feeds on milkweed plants, whose toxins make the adult monarch poisonous to many predators. The viceroy butterfly, whose caterpillars do not feed on milkweed plants, is very similar in appearance to the monarch. Ttherefore, it can be concluded that the viceroy is so seldom preyed on because of its visual resemblance to the monarch. | 1 | train_225 | Which one of the following, if it were discovered to be true, would most seriously undermine the argument? |
[
"Both Grey's book and Jordan's book were written for the same audience.",
"According to most scholars, Grey was generally a more inventive writer than Jordan and developed many original metaphors.",
"Jordan used the same metaphor in a work that she wrote in 1894 and published in 1895.",
"A text that was probably known to both Jordan and Grey was published in 1860 and also contained the same unusual metaphor."
] | In his book, published in 1892, Grey used the same metaphor that Jordan used in her book, which was published in 1885. The metaphor is so unusual that there is little chance that two different people independently created it. Ttherefore, it is highly likely that Grey read Jordan' s book. | 3 | train_226 | Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument? |
[
"It takes for granted that no piece of legislation can ever satisfy all competing interest groups.",
"It concludes that a condition is necessary for a certain result merely from the claim that the condition leads to that result.",
"It draws a conclusion that is merely a disguised restatement of one of its premises.",
"It bases a conclusion about a particular case on a general principle that concerns a different kind of case."
] | If a piece of legislation is the result of negotiation and compromise between competing interest groups, it will not satisfy any of those groups. So, we can see that the recently enacted trade agreement represents a series of compromises among the various interest groups that are concerned with it, because all of those groups are clearly unhappy with it. | 1 | train_227 | Which one of the following most accurately describes a logical flaw in the argument? |
[
"The decisions made by middle-and lower-level managers can be made as easily by using methodical reasoning as by using intuitive reasoning.",
"Top managers are more effective at decision making than middle-or lower-level managers.",
"Methodical, step-by-step reasoning is inappropriate for making many real-life management decisions.",
"Top managers have the ability to use either Intuitive reasoning or methodical, step-by-step reasoning in making decisions."
] | Traditionally, decision making by managers that is reasoned step-by-step has been considered preferable to intuitive decision making. However, a recent study found that top managers used intuition significantly more than did most middle-or lower-level managers. This confirms the alternative view that intuition is actually more effective than careful, methodical reasoning. | 1 | train_228 | The conclusion above is based on which of the following assumptions? |
[
"None of the lower-ranking attorneys work on their cases with law firm X's prestigious attorneys.",
"Law firm X has a policy of giving the cases that will be most difficult to win to the prestigious attorneys.",
"All of the cases taken by law firm X deal with patent infringement or intellectual property.",
"Normally, it takes at least seven years for a new attorney at law firm X to be considered a prestigious attorney."
] | The most prestigious attorneys in law firm X are the ones who have shown the greatest ability to win cases. However, every year for the past five years, the average number of cases won by the most prestigious attorneys in law firm X has not been greater than the average cases won by the lower ranking attorneys. | 1 | train_229 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy? |
[
"Boreal owls range over larger areas in regions where food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse than they do in regions where such food is abundant.",
"The boreal owl requires less food, relative to its weight, than is required by members of other owl species.",
"Some boreal owls range over an area eight times larger than the area over which any other owl of similar size ranges.",
"After their young hatch, boreal owls must hunt more often than before in order to feed both themselves and their newly hatched young."
] | Boreal owls range over a much larger area than do other owls of similar size. The reason for this behavior is probably that the small mammals on which owls feed are especially scarce in the forests where boreal owls live, and the relative scarcity of prey requires the owls to range more extensively to find sufficient food. | 0 | train_230 | Which of the following, if true, most helps to confirm the explanation above? |
[
"Significantly reducing the number of building starts would not, on balance, result in revenue loss to the city.",
"Imposing real estate development fees is the best way for the city to exploit the available sources of revenue.",
"The mayor's family has a strong financial interest in preventing the passage of legislation that would impose real estate development fees.",
"In blocking council members' attempts to impose real estate development fees, the mayor is sacrificing the city's interests to personal interests."
] | City council member: Despite the city' s desperate need to exploit any available source of revenue, the mayor has repeatedly blocked council members' attempts to pass legislation imposing real estate development fees. It is clear that in doing so the mayor is sacrificing the city' s interests to personal interests. The mayor cites figures to show that, in the current market, fees of the size proposed would significantly reduce the number of building starts and thus, on balance, result in a revenue loss to the city. But the important point is that the mayor' s family is heavily involved in real estate development and thus has a strong financial interest in the matter. | 3 | train_231 | Which one of the following most accurately and completely expresses the main conclusion of the city council member's argument? |
[
"a sound argument in support of a given conclusion is a better argument than any unsound argument for that same conclusion",
"a word can be defined without taking into account its social and political connotations",
"it would be a good policy to avoid using words that are likely to lead people either to misunderstand the claims being made or to reason badly about those claims",
"a factor that affects neither the truth of an argument's premises nor the logical relation between its premises and its conclusion can cause an argument to be a bad one"
] | Sabina: The words used in expressing facts affect neither the facts nor the conclusions those facts will support. Moreover, if the words are clearly defined and consistently used, the actual words chosen make no difference to an argument' s soundness. Thus, how an argument is expressed can have no bearing on whether it is a good argument. Emile: Badly chosen words can make even the soundest argument a poor one. After all, many words have social and political connotations that influence people' s response to claims expressed in those words, regardless of how carefully and explicitly those words are defined. Since whether people will acknowledge a fact is affected by how the fact is expressed, the conclusions they actually draw are also affected. | 3 | train_232 | The point at issue between Emile and Sabina is whether |
[
"recognize that varying economic conditions result in the average workweek changing in length",
"recognize that two different methods of investigation can yield identical results",
"distinguish between a study produced for the purposes of the operation of government and a study produced as part of university research",
"distinguish between a method of investigation and the purpose of an investigation"
] | A university study reported that between 1975 and 1983 the length of the average workweek in a certain country increased significantly. A governmental study, on the other hand, shows a significant decline in the length of the average workweek for the same period. Examination of the studies shows, however, that they used different methods of investigation; thus there is no need to look further for an explanation of the difference in the studies' results. | 1 | train_233 | The argument's reasoning is flawed because the argument fails to |
[
"No professors are eighteen-year-olds.",
"All brilliant people are either professors, legal voters, or under eighteen.",
"Some brilliant people are neither professors nor legal voters.",
"Some legal voters are not professors."
] | Not surprisingly, there are no professors under the age of eighteen. And, as well known, no one under eighteen can vote legally. Finally, some brilliant people are professors, some are legal voters, and some are under eighteen. | 2 | train_234 | If the statements above are true, then on the basis of them which one of the following must also be true? |
[
"The ancient narratives persist largely because they speak to basic themes and features of the human condition.",
"Because no single person is the author of a folktale, folktales must reflect the values of a culture rather than those of an individual.",
"Folktales are often oral traditions that persist from times when few people left written materials.",
"The manner in which a culture adapts its narratives reveals information about the values of that culture."
] | Sociologists study folktales because they provide a means of understanding the distinctive values of a culture. However, the folktales in almost all cultures are adaptations of the same ancient narratives to the local milieu. | 3 | train_235 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above? |
[
"Patrons who are under financial pressure from their credit-card obligations tend to tip less when presented with a restaurant bill on a tray with a credit-card logo than when the tray has no logo.",
"The effect noted in the studies is not limited to patrons who have credit cards.",
"In virtually all of the cases in the studies, the patrons who paid bills in cash did not possess credit cards.",
"In general, restaurant patrons who pay their bills in cash leave larger tips than do those who pay by credit card."
] | Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by customers who pay their bill in cash tend to be larger when the bill is presented on a tray that bears a credit card logo. Consumer psychologists hypothesize that simply seeing a credit-card logo makes many creditcard holders willing to spend more because it reminds them that their spending power exceeds the cash they have immediately available. | 0 | train_236 | Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the psychologists' interpretation of the studies? |
[
"attempts to be more precise than its subject matter properly allows",
"ignores the problem of mistakenly punishing the innocent",
"mistakenly allows the key term \"punishment\" to shift in meaning",
"mistakes being sufficient to justify punishment for being required to justify it"
] | Magazine article: Punishment for crimes is justified if it actually deters people from committing them. But a great deal of carefully assembled and analyzed empirical data show clearly that punishment is not a deterrent. So punishment is never justified. | 3 | train_237 | The reasoning in the magazine article's argument is flawed because the argument |
[
"The two mining expeditions funded by Elizabeth I did not mine the same part of Kodlunarn Island.",
"Frobisher did not have soil samples from any other Canadian island examined for gold content.",
"Gold was not added to the soil samples collected by Frobisher before the samples were examined.",
"The gold content of the soil on Kodlunarn Island is much lower today than it was in the sixteenth century."
] | Frobisher, a sixteenth-century English explorer, had soil samples from Canada' s Kodlunarn Island examined for gold content. Because high gold content was reported, Elizabeth I funded two mining expeditions. Neither expedition found any gold there. Modern analysis of the island' s soil indicates a very low gold content. Thus the methods used to determine the gold content of Frobisher' s samples must have been inaccurate. | 2 | train_238 | Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
[
"Scientists are far from being able to link any specific genes to specific inclinations.",
"Many people, including identical twins, undergo radical changes in their lifestyles at some point in their lives.",
"While some studies of identical twins separated at birth reveal a high percentage of similar personality traits, they also show a few differences.",
"Identical twins who grow up together tend to develop different beliefs, tastes, and careers in order to differentiate themselves from each other."
] | Psychologist: Identical twins are virtually the same genetically. Moreover, according to some studies, identical twins separated at birth and brought up in vastly different environments show a strong tendency to report similar ethical beliefs, dress in the same way, and have similar careers. Thus, many of our inclinations must be genetic in origin, and not subject to environmental influences. | 3 | train_239 | Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the psychologist's argument? |
[
"maintaining that converting the old airport land into biking and hiking trails would be entirely unproductive use of that land",
"asserting that it may not be possible to convert the old airport land into adequate biking and hiking results",
"recommending that the proposal for converting the old airport land into biking and hiking trails should be promptly dismissed",
"favoring the development of parks other than biking and hiking trails"
] | John: There have been complaints about the lack of parks in our city. Some people favor turning the old airport land into biking and hiking trails, but there may be more productive ways of using that land. Pablo: But the old airport land is ideal for biking and hiking trails. Our citizens have gone too long with an inadequate number of parks; we should not dismiss this proposal for biking and hiking trails without further consideration. | 2 | train_240 | Pablo's criticism suggests that he interpreted John to be |
[
"making a distinction between two different types of objects in order to conclude that one has more inherent value than the other",
"contending that an action is inappropriate by presenting an argument that a corresponding action in an analogous case is inappropriate",
"reaching a conclusion about the way something should be done in one field on the basis of comparisons with corresponding practices in other fields",
"pointing to similarities between two practices as a basis for concluding that criticisms of one practice can rightly be applied to the other"
] | The top prize in architecture, the Pritzker Prize, is awarded for individual achievement, like Nobel Prizes for science. But architects are judged by their buildings, and buildings are the result of teamwork. As achievements, buildings are not like scientific discoveries, but like movies, which compete for awards for best picture. Thus, it would be better if the top prize in architecture were awarded to the best building rather than the best architect. | 2 | train_241 | The argument proceeds by |
[
"fails to distinguish between prevention of a problem and successful containment of the adverse effects that the problem might cause",
"treats a partial solution to the stated problem as though it were a complete solution",
"proposes a solution to the stated problem that does not actually solve the problem but merely makes someone else responsible for solving the problem",
"claims that a certain action would be a change for the better without explicitly considering what negative consequences the action might have"
] | Many people change their wills on their own every few years, in response to significant changes in their personal or financial circumstances. This practice can create a problem for the executor when these people are careless and do not date their wills: the executor will then often know neither which one of several undated wills is the most recent, nor whether the will drawn up last has ever been found. Ttherefore, people should not only date their wills but also state in any new will which will it supersedes, for then there would not be a problem to begin with. | 1 | train_242 | The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument |
[
"There still are fewer women than men who are physicians, so a patient might not have the opportunity to choose a woman as a physician.",
"Women as patients are now beginning to take a more active role in managing their care and making sure that they understand the medical alternatives.",
"Those who are best able to provide answers to the question are patients, rather than physicians.",
"Physicians are in general unwilling to describe the treatment style of other physicians."
] | Announcement for a television program: Are female physicians more sensitive than male physicians to the needs of women patients? To get the answer, we' ll ask physicians of both sexes this question. Tune in tomorrow. | 2 | train_243 | Which one of the following, if true, identifies a flaw in the plan for the program? |
[
"On residential streets without speed humps, many vehicles travel at speeds more than 25 percent above the posted speed limit.",
"Bicyclists generally prefer that speed humps be constructed so as to leave a space on the side of the road where bicycles can travel without going over the humps",
"Because of their high weight, emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances must slow almost to a stop at speed humps.",
"The residential speed limit in Ardane is higher than that of the nearby towns where speed humps were installed."
] | Enforcement of local speed limits through police monitoring has proven unsuccessful in the town of Ardane. In many nearby towns, speed humps (raised areas of pavement placed across residential streets, about 300 feet apart) have reduced traffic speeds on residential streets by 20 to 25 percent. In order to reduce traffic speed and thereby enhance safety residential neighborhoods, Ardane' s transportation commission plans to install multiple speed humps in those neighborhoods. | 2 | train_244 | Which of the following, if true, identifies a potentially serious drawback to the plan for installing speed humps in Ardane? |
[
"When there are several traps in a garden, they each capture fewer rose beetles than any single trap would if it were the only trap in the garden.",
"The scent of a single trap's lure usually cannot be detected throughout a backyard garden by rose beetles.",
"The presence of any traps in a backyard garden will attract more rose beetles than one trap can catch, but several traps will not attract significantly more rose beetles to a garden than one trap will.",
"When there is only one trap in the garden, the plastic bag quickly becomes filled to capacity, allowing some rose beetles to escape."
] | A certain type of insect trap uses a scented lure to attract rose beetles into a plastic bag from which it is difficult for them to escape. If several of these traps are installed in a backyard garden, the number of rose beetles in the garden will be greatly reduced. If only one trap is installed, however, the number of rose beetles in the garden will actually increase. | 2 | train_245 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy? |
[
"Often people go hungry because they live in remote barren areas where there is no efficient distribution for emergency food relief.",
"Hunger often results from natural disasters like typhoons or hurricanes, which sweep away everything in their path.",
"Both herds and crops are susceptible to devastating viral and other diseases.",
"The amount of land needed to produce enough meat to feed one person for a week can grow enough grain to feed more than ten people for a week."
] | Even if many more people in the world excluded meat from their diet, world hunger would not thereby be significantly reduced. | 3 | train_246 | Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the claim above? |
[
"Other cars in the same class as the Country Classic offer an antilock braking system that uses a method other than TrackAid to prevent rear wheels from spinning on slippery surfaces.",
"All of the cars that are in the same class as the Country Classic offer some kind of antilock braking system.",
"Without an antilock braking system, the wheels of the Country Classic and other cars in its class are more likely to lock up during hard braking than they are to spin on slippery surfaces.",
"The Country Classic is more expensive than any other car in its class."
] | Advertisement: The Country Classic is the only kind of car in its class that offers an antilock braking system that includes TrackAid. An antilock braking system keeps your wheels from locking up during hard braking, and TrackAid keeps your rear wheels from spinning on slippery surfaces. So if you are a safety-conscious person in the market for a car in this class, the Country Classic is the only car for you. | 0 | train_247 | The advertisement is misleading if which one of the following is true? |
[
"inflammation is a serious health threat",
"the council based its decision on the threat of inflammation or on the threat of blemishes",
"the council gave an adequate reason for its decision to recall Derma-35",
"Derma-35 should remain on the market"
] | Cox: The consumer council did not provide sufficient justification for its action when it required that Derma-35 be recalled from the market. Crockett: I disagree. Derma-35 in fact causes inflammation, but in citing only the side effect of blemishes as the justification for its decision, the council rightly acknowledged that blemishes are a legitimate health concern. | 2 | train_248 | Cox and Crockett disagree over whether |
[
"The bonus points cannot be used by the creditcard customers in the purchase of brand name merchandise that is not available for purchase in retail stones.",
"The credit-card company does not require its customers to accumulate a large number of bonus points before becoming eligible to order merchandise at prices lower than the manufacturers' suggested retail price.",
"The amount credit-card customers pay for shipping the merchandise ordered by mail does not increase the amount customers spend to an amount greater than they would spend if they purchased the same merchandise in retail stores.",
"The merchandise available to the company's credit-card customers using the bonus points is frequently sold in retail stores at prices that are higher than the manufacturers' suggested retail prices."
] | A certain credit-card company awards its customers bonus points for using its credit card. Customers can use accumulated points in the purchase of brand name merchandise by mail at prices lower than the manufacturers' suggested retail prices. At any given time, ttherefore, customers who purchase merchandise using the bonus points spend less than they would spend if they purchased the same merchandise in retail stores. | 2 | train_249 | Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
[
"The delivery of letters is the primary activity of the postal service.",
"Postal workers are representative of service workers in general.",
"The quality of services rendered can appropriately be ignored in computing productivity.",
"The number of letters delivered is relevant to measuring the productivity of postal workers."
] | Correctly measuring the productivity of service workers is complex. Consider, for example, postal workers: they are often said to be more productive if more letters are delivered per postal worker. But is this really true? What if more letters are lost or delayed per worker at the same time that more are delivered? | 2 | train_250 | The objection implied above to the productivity measure described is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements? |
[
"the company's most popular soft drink in Bolivia might be different from the company's most popular soft drink in the Czech Republic.",
"known risks can be assessed, but unknown risks cannot.",
"coffee is more popular than most soft drinks in both Bolivia and in the Czech Republic",
"the Czech currency is much stronger than the Boliviano, the national currency of Bolivia."
] | Soft Drinks Manufacturer: Despite attractive offers, our company has rejected any plans to expand our market into the Czech Republic at this time. We simply have no data on how well received our products would be in the Czech Republic. Industry Analyst: Your position is inconsistent. Last year, you expanded into Bolivia, even after taste tests had definitely found that approximately 40% of the Bolivian population did not care for any of your products. Ttherefore, concerns about how well received your product will be cannot be motivating this position. | 1 | train_251 | The industry analyst's argument is flawed because it fails to consider that: |
[
"The medieval manuscripts most susceptible to deterioration are those most frequently consulted by researchers.",
"All of the medieval manuscripts widely acknowledged to be of cultural significance are manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process.",
"All of the medieval manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process are frequently consulted by researchers.",
"Some of the medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect are frequently consulted by researchers."
] | Library preservationist: Due to the continual physical deterioration of the medieval manuscripts in our library' s collection, we have decided to restore most of our medieval manuscripts that are of widely acknowledged cultural significance, though this means that some medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect will be restored. However, only manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process will be restored, and manuscripts that are not frequently consulted by researchers will not be restored. | 3 | train_252 | If all of the library preservationist's statements are true, which one of the following must be true of the medieval manuscripts in the library's collection? |
[
"No motifs appear in the Sepphoris mosaics that do not also appear in the mosaics of some other Roman city.",
"There was not a common repertory of mosaic designs with which artisans who lived in various parts of the Roman Empire were familiar.",
"All of the animal figures in the Sepphoris mosaics are readily identifiable as representations of known species.",
"There is no single region to which all the species depicted in the Sepphoris mosaics are native."
] | Excavations of the Roman city of Sepphoris have uncovered numerous detailed mosaics depicting several readily identifiable animal species: a hare, a partridge, and various Mediterranean fish. Oddly, most of the species represented did not live in the Sepphoris region when these mosaics were created. Since identical motifs appear in mosaics found in other Roman cities, however, the mosaics of Sepphoris were very likely created by traveling artisans from some other part of the Roman Empire. | 1 | train_253 | Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? |
[
"takes for granted that the comparable series possess popular appeal",
"draws a conclusion about the popularity of a series based on a comparison with other, dissimilar events",
"takes for granted that income from sales of memorabilia is the sole indicator of popular appeal",
"attacks the critics on the basis of emotional considerations rather than factual ones"
] | Concert promoter: Some critics claim that our concert series lacks popular appeal. But our income from the sales of t-shirts and other memorabilia at the concerts is equal to or greater than that for similar sales at comparable series. So those critics are mistaken. | 0 | train_254 | The concert promoter's argument is flawed in that it |
[
"Most examinees with inconclusive polygraph test results are in fact untruthful.",
"An inconclusive polygraph test result is sometimes unfairly held against the examinee.",
"A polygraph test indicating that an examinee is untruthful can sometimes be mistaken.",
"Some employers have refused to consider the results of polygraph tests when evaluating job applicants."
] | When a polygraph test is judged inconclusive, this is no reflection on the examinee. Rather, such a judgment means that the test has failed to show whether the examinee was truthful or untruthful. Nevertheless, employers will sometimes refuse to hire a job applicant because of an inconclusive polygraph test result. | 1 | train_255 | Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above? |
[
"There is not some other improvement that makes more economic sense for the grocery store than does investing in a new shelving system.",
"New shelving is required in order for the grocery store to have a floor plan that is efficient and appealing.",
"The grocery store can afford to purchase the new shelving that is being proposed.",
"Cost-effective shelving is an integral part of an efficient grocery store."
] | Having an efficient, appealing store layout makes good economic sense. So, the grocery store needs to purchase new shelving systems, since the grocery store should always do what makes the best economic sense. | 0 | train_256 | The conclusion drawn above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed? |
[
"Employees will abruptly increase their amount of exercise as a result of the new health program.",
"The new health program will force employees of all levels of health to exercise regularly.",
"The new health program constitutes a sudden change in the company's policy.",
"All employees, no matter what their physical condition, will participate in the new health program."
] | Physician: In itself, exercise does not cause heart attacks; rather, a sudden increase in an exercise regimen can be a cause. When people of any physical condition suddenly increase their amount of exercise, they also increase their risk of heart attack. As a result, there will be an increased risk of heart attack among employees of this company due to the new health program. | 0 | train_257 | The conclusion drawn by the physician follows logically if which one of the following is assumed? |
[
"The number of large bodies of water whose temperatures exceed 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters is greater today than it ever was.",
"The ferocity of tropical storms does not depend on the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.",
"There are likely to be more tropical storms if the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere continues to increase.",
"Any increase in the temperatures of the Earth's oceans would cause the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase as well."
] | The chances that tropical storms will develop in a given area increase whenever the temperature of a large body of water in that area exceeds 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters. If the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth' s atmosphere continues to increase, the temperatures of all of the Earth' s waters will rise, with the result that the number of large bodies of water whose temperatures exceed 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of about 60 meters will eventually be greater than it is today. | 2 | train_258 | The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions? |
[
"Compression stress resulting from pushing is the only cause of injuries to the spine that occur as a result of raking.",
"A garden rake can never be used in such a way that all the strokes with that rake are push strokes.",
"It is not possible to design a garden rake with a handle that is other than straight or S-shaped.",
"Raking is a frequent cause of spinal injury among gardeners."
] | A new gardening rake with an S-shaped handle reduces compression stress on the spine during the pull stroke to about one-fifth of what it is with a straight-handled rake. During the push stroke, however, compression stress is five times more with the new rake than with a straight-handled rake. Neither the push stroke nor the pull stroke with a straight-handled rake produces enough compression stress to cause injury, but compression stress during the push stroke with the new rake is above the danger level. Ttherefore, straight-handled rakes are better than the new rakes for minimizing risk of spinal injury. | 0 | train_259 | The conclusion above is properly drawn from the premises given if which one of the following is true? |
[
"If a dearth of props accounted for the recurrent objects in Vermeer's paintings, we would not see expensive props in any of them.",
"The props that recur in Vermeer's paintings were always available to him.",
"The satin jacket and wooden chairs that recur in the paintings were owned by Vermeer's sister.",
"The several recurrent items that appeared in Vermeer's paintings had special sentimental importance for him."
] | In the paintings by seventeenth-century Dutch artist Vermeer, we find several recurrent items: a satin jacket, a certain Turkish carpet, and wooden chairs with lion' s head finials. These reappearing objects might seem to evince a dearth of props. Yet we know that many of the props Vermeer used were expensive. Thus, while we might speculate about exactly why Vermeer worked with a small number of familiar objects, it was clearly not for lack of props that the recurrent items were used. | 0 | train_260 | The conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed? |
[
"Certain types of thermometers that are commonly used to measure outdoor temperatures can be extremely accurate in moderate temperature ranges but much less accurate in warmer or colder temperature ranges.",
"The climate and soil conditions that favor the growth of rhododendrons are also favorable to the growth of crocuses.",
"Neither rhododendrons nor crocuses bloom for more than a few weeks each year, and the blossoms of rhododendrons growing in any area do not appear until at least several weeks after crocuses growing in that area have ceased to bloom.",
"Air temperature surrounding rhododendrons, which can grow 12 feet tall, is likely to differ from air temperature surrounding crocuses, which are normally only a few inches high, by more than 2 degree C, even if the two plants are growing side by side."
] | Some plants have extremely sensitive biological thermometers. For example, the leaves of rhododendrons curl when the temperature of the air around them is below 0 degree C (Celsius). Similarly, mature crocus blossoms open in temperatures above 2 degree C. So someone who simultaneously observed rhododendrons with uncurled leaves, crocuses with mature but unopened blossoms, and a thermometer showing 1 degree C could determine that the thermometer' s reading was accurate to within plus or minus 1 degree C. | 3 | train_261 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the reasoning above? |
[
"Livestock producers who currently use corn to feed their livestock have the option of switching to other kinds of feed.",
"The price of corn affects the retail price of a variety of other food products more than it affects the price of meat.",
"The rising cost of feed is leading some livestock producers to leave the business, thereby reducing the future supply of meat.",
"Worldwide demand for grains other than corn has also increased."
] | Escalating worldwide demand for corn is expected to cause the market price of corn to rise sharply and remain high. Although corn is extensively used as feed for livestock, livestock feed accounts for only a small fraction of the retail price of meat. Ttherefore, the increase in corn prices is very unlikely to produce any comparable long-term increase in the retail price of meat. | 2 | train_262 | Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? |
[
"It is a claim that is later proven in the argument.",
"It is the conclusion of the argument.",
"It provides a roadmap for the passage.",
"It is an assumption upon which the argument is built."
] | A public research facility should not patent its inventions. Such facilities, because they are supported by public funds, should encourage the free flow of ideas. A public research facility that retains the right to patent an invention has a motive to suppress the free flow of ideas in order to profit from the patent. Retaining the right to patent inventions is contrary to the public research facility' s obligation to do work intended for the benefit of the public. | 1 | train_263 | The claim that a public research facility should not patent its inventions plays what role in the argument? |
[
"The more a juror knows about a particular scientific or technical issue involved in a trial, the more likely it is that the juror will be prejudiced in favor of one of the litigating parties before the trial begins.",
"Expert witnesses in specialized fields often command fees that are so high that many people involved in litigation cannot afford their services.",
"The more complicated the issue being litigated, the less likely it is that a juror without specialized knowledge of the field involved will be able to comprehend the testimony being given.",
"Appointing an impartial arbitrator is not a fair means of settling disputes involving scientific or technical issues, because arbitrators tend to favor settlements in which both parties compromise on the issues."
] | People who have specialized knowledge about a scientific or technical issue are systematically excluded from juries for trials where that issue is relevant. Thus, trial by jury is not a fair means of settling disputes involving such issues. | 0 | train_264 | Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? |
[
"whether the subsidiary jobs police officers perform enable them to perform their primary job effectively",
"whether the primary job of police officers is keeping the peace",
"whether police officers can effectively gain the trust of citizens",
"whether police officers need to win the trust of law-abiding citizens in order to keep the peace effectively"
] | Bunty: The primary job of police officers is keeping the peace. Since their subsidiary jobs, such as controlling traffic, hinder their performance of the primary one, people other than police officers should be hired to perform the subsidiary jobs. Naina: To perform their primary job well, police officers must have the trust of citizens. They gain that trust by performing their subsidiary jobs, which are the only functions most citizens see them fulfill. | 0 | train_265 | Bunty and Naina disagree with each other about |
[
"Jay is incorrect in stating that patients who receive preventive medical care are long-lived.",
"Productive members of society are more likely than others to suffer preventable illnesses.",
"Those who receive preventive care are not more likely to need urgent care than are those who do not receive preventive care.",
"The economic contributions of those who receive preventive medical care may outweigh the economic losses caused by preventive care."
] | Jay: Of course there are many good reasons to support the expansion of preventive medical care, but arguments claiming that it will lead to greater societal economic gains are misguided. Some of the greatest societal expenses arise from frequent urgent-care needs for people who have attained a long life due to preventive care. Sunil: Your argument fails because you neglect economic gains outside the health care system: society suffers an economic loss when any of its productive members suffer preventable illnesses. | 3 | train_266 | Sunil's response to Jay makes which of the following assumptions? |
[
"does not explain the procedures used to measure the abilities of two very different populations",
"takes a factor that might contribute to an explanation of the observed difference as a sufficient explanation for that difference",
"sets an arbitrary cutoff point of six months for the age below which infants are able to distinguish acoustically similar speech sounds",
"assumes that what is true of a group of people taken collectively is also true of any individual within that group"
] | Infants younger than six months who have normal hearing can readily distinguish between acoustically similar sounds that are used as part of any language -- not only those used in the language spoken by the people who raise them. Young adults can readily distinguish between such sounds only in languages that they regularly use. It is known that the physiological capacity to hear begins to deteriorate after infancy. So the observed difference in the abilities of infants and young adults to distinguish between acoustically similar speech sounds must be the result of the physiological deterioration of hearing. | 1 | train_267 | The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument |
[
"criticizing a view on the grounds that the view is based on evidence that is in principle impossible to disconfirm",
"attempting to cast doubt on a conclusion by claiming that the statistical sample on which the conclusion is based is too small to be dependable",
"attempting to refute an argument by showing that, contrary to what has been claimed, the truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion",
"questioning a conclusion based on the results of a vote, on the grounds that people with certain views are more likely to vote"
] | Gamba: Munoz claims that the Southwest Hopeville Neighbors Association overwhelmingly opposes the new water system, citing this as evidence of citywide opposition. The association did pass a resolution opposing the new water system, but only 25 of 350 members voted, with 10 in favor of the system. Furthermore, the 15 opposing votes represent far less than 1 percent of Hopeville' s population. One should not assume that so few votes represent the view of the majority of Hopeville' s residents. | 1 | train_268 | Of the following, which one most accurately describes Gamba's strategy of argumentation? |
[
"If Johnson is to win the local election, then neither Horan nor Jacobs can enter the race. Since neither of them plans to run, Johnson will win the race.",
"In order to have a chance to meet its objectives, the army needs good weather as a precondition for retaining its mobility. The weather is good today, so the army will meet its objectives.",
"If Wayne is to get a ride home from the library, either Yvette or Marty must be there. Yvette is not at the library, so Marty must be there.",
"To stay informed about current events, one must read a major newspaper or watch national TV news every day. So Julie, who is informed about current events and reads a major newspaper every day, does not watch TV news."
] | If one is to participate in the regional band, one must practice very hard or be very talented. Ttherefore, Lily, who is first trombonist in the regional band and is very talented, does not practice hard. | 3 | train_269 | The flawed reasoning in which one of the following arguments most closely resembles the flawed reasoning in the argument above? |
[
"The pain relief produced by the placebo effect justifies the deception involved in administering a placebo.",
"Medical treatment that relies on the placebo effect alone is ethically indefensible.",
"The motivation for administering a placebo can be relevant to the ethical justification for doing so.",
"A patient's psychological satisfaction is not a consideration in administering medical treatment."
] | Ethicist: Studies have documented the capacity of placebos to reduce pain in patients who believe that they are receiving beneficial drugs. Some doctors say that they administer placebos because medically effective treatment reinforced by the placebo effect sometimes helps patients recover faster than good treatment alone. But administering placebos is nonetheless ethically questionable, for even if a placebo benefits a patient, a doctor might, for example, have prescribed it just to give the patient satisfaction that something was being done. | 2 | train_270 | The ethicist's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions? |
[
"People who exercise vigorously tend to sleep well. Ttherefore, people who exercise vigorously tend to be healthy.",
"Many people who later become successful entrepreneurs played competitive sports in college. Ttherefore, playing competitive sports must enhance a person's entrepreneurial ability.",
"Cars drive faster on long city blocks than on short city blocks. Long blocks are thus more dangerous for pedestrians than short blocks.",
"The blossoms of the chicory plant close up in full sun. Ttherefore, the chicory plant's blossoms must open up in the dark."
] | The formation of hurricanes that threaten the United States mainland is triggered by high atmospheric winds off the western coast of Africa. When abundant rain falls in sub-Saharan Africa, hurricanes afterward hit the United States mainland with particular frequency. Ttherefore, the abundant rains must somehow promote the ability of the winds to form hurricanes. | 1 | train_271 | Which one of the following arguments contains a flaw that is most similar to one in the argument above? |
[
"will both decrease the level of cholesterol in his or her blood and gain weight",
"might at first have an increased level of cholesterol in his or her blood",
"will not lose weight any faster than will a person whose diet is high in calories",
"will not decrease the size of his or her fat cells"
] | Many people limit the intake of calories and cholesterol in their diet in order to lose weight and reduce the level of cholesterol in their blood. When a person loses weight, the fat cells in that person' s body decrease in size but not in number. As they decrease in size, fat cells spill the cholesterol they contain into the bloodstream. Ttherefore, a person who goes on a low-calorie, low cholesterol diet __ . | 1 | train_272 | Which one of the following most logically completes the argument? |
[
"During the past year other tourist attractions have opened up in the area.",
"While the cost of passes is unchanged since last year, hotel and meal prices have risen.",
"The local board of tourism reports that the average length of stay for tourists remained unchanged over the past year.",
"Those possessing passes made more frequent trips to the attraction last year than in previous years."
] | In a town containing a tourist attraction, hotel and restaurant revenues each increased more rapidly over the past year than did revenue from the sale of passes to the attraction, which are valid for a full year. This led those in charge of the attraction to hypothesize that visitors were illicitly selling or sharing the passes. | 2 | train_273 | Each of the following, if true, helps to undermine the hypothesis of those in charge of the tourist attraction EXCEPT: |
[
"In order for farmers to avoid electric shock while working in the fields, the current could be turned off at such times without diminishing the intended effects.",
"Because a planting machine would need to avoid coming into contact with the electrodes, new parts for planting machines would need to be designed.",
"It cannot be taken for granted that the use of electricity is always beneficial.",
"Since weeds are plants, electricity would affect weeds in the same way as it would affect crop plants."
] | According to a prediction of the not-so-distant future published in 1940, electricity would revolutionize agriculture. Electrodes would be inserted into the soil, and the current between them would kill bugs and weeds and make crop plants stronger. | 3 | train_274 | Which of the following, if true, most strongly indicates that the logic of the prediction above is flawed? |
[
"People living in tropical areas periodically take tablets containing lactose when there are shortages of milk.",
"Milk consumption has fallen in both tropical and nontropical areas.",
"The extent to which people living in tropical areas lose the ability to absorb lactose depends on a genetic predisposition.",
"The abundant sunlight in tropical areas causes the human body to produce vitamin D naturally, which aids in the absorption of calcium."
] | Lactose, a sugar found in milk, aids in the absorption of calcium, which in turn is required for bone repair. In addition to there being shortages of milk in tropical areas, inhabitants of these areas lose the ability to absorb lactose, unlike people from nontropical areas. Yet inhabitants of tropical areas have no more problems with bone repair than do people who inhabit nontropical areas. | 3 | train_275 | Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox described above? |
[
"Other than medication, the only way to reduce blood pressure is by making lifestyle changes such as exercising more and avoiding fatty foods.",
"The side effects, if any, of exercising more and avoiding fatty foods in order to reduce blood pressure are less unhealthy than those of taking medication to reduce blood pressure.",
"If it is healthier to rely on a lifestyle change than on medication to reduce blood pressure, then that lifestyle change reduces blood pressure at least as effectively as medication does.",
"If an alternative to medication relieves a medical condition just as effectively as medication does, then it is always healthier to rely on that alternative than on medication to relieve that medical condition."
] | Doctor: Medication to reduce blood pressure often has unhealthy side effects. However, lifestyle changes such as exercising more and avoiding fatty foods reduce blood pressure just as effectively as taking medication does. Ttherefore, it is healthier to rely on these lifestyle changes than on medication to reduce blood pressure. | 1 | train_276 | Which one of the following is an assumption that the doctor's argument requires? |
[
"fails to define adequately the term \"top management\"",
"presumes, without giving justification, that the CEOs' priorities tend to be misplaced",
"presumes, without giving justification, that the CEOs' claims are reflected in actual practice",
"makes a generalization based on an unrepresentative sample"
] | In a recent poll of chief executive officers (CEOs) of 125 large corporations, the overwhelming majority claimed that employee training and welfare is of the same high priority as customer satisfaction. So the popular belief that the top management of large corporations behaves indifferently to the needs and aspirations of employees is unfounded. | 2 | train_277 | The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it |
[
"Asphalt used in road repair tends to expand in warmer temperatures and contract in cooler temperatures.",
"The budget for the repairs to Highway 93 was generous enough to make it unlikely that it would be exceeded.",
"The smaller number of cars on the roads at night and more comfortable nighttime temperatures allow road workers to work more quickly.",
"Road repair crews that work at night mark their work sites with bright hashing lights in addition to the orange cones they use during the daytime."
] | Most road repairs require more time and money than is budgeted, but last summer' s nighttime repairs of Highway 93 and similar roads required no more time or money than had been budgeted. Ttherefore, making summer repairs to major roads at night would save both time and money. | 2 | train_278 | Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the conclusion drawn above? |
[
"The price increase allowed the shop to retain its popular generous portions of ice cream.",
"The waiters and waitresses received fewer tips than before because the increased price deprived customers of change that many had left as tips.",
"The increased price of ice-cream sodas did not affect the wage rate at which the waiters and waitresses were paid.",
"Regular customers continued to frequent the shop, despite the increase in the price of ice cream sodas."
] | A very popular ice-cream shop recently raised the price of an ice-cream soda by $0. 20, from $1. 80 to $2. 00. Within a week of the price increase, all of the waiters-and waitresses had quit. | 1 | train_279 | Which of the following, if true, would most help to explain the resignations of the waiters and waitresses? |
[
"Researchers do not yet know how the body produces the messenger molecules that trigger asthma attacks.",
"Such a medication would be a preventative only and would be unable to alleviate an asthma attack once it had started.",
"Such a medication would be unable to distinguish between messages triggered by pollen and household dust and messages triggered by noxious air.",
"Such a medication would not become available for several years, because of long lead times in both development and manufacture."
] | Certain messenger molecules fight damage to the lungs from noxious air by telling the muscle cells encircling the lungs' airways to contract. This partially seals off the lungs. An asthma attack occurs when the messenger molecules are activated unnecessarily, in response to harmless things like pollen or household dust. | 2 | train_280 | Which of the following, if true, points to the most serious flaw of a plan to develop a medication that would prevent asthma attacks by blocking receipt of any messages sent by the messenger molecules referred to above? |
[
"The bacteria can continue to thrive indefinitely only in an environment in which the hydrogen sulfide they produce has removed all oxygen and killed other organisms in the area.",
"Most organisms, if killed by the hydrogen sulfide produced by the bacteria, can provide a source of food for the bacteria.",
"The hydrogen sulfide produced by the bacteria kills other organisms in the area by reacting with and removing oxygen.",
"A dense colony of the bacteria can indefinitely continue to produce enough hydrogen sulfide to kill other organisms in the area and to prevent oxygen from harming the bacteria."
] | Certain bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide as a waste product would die if directly exposed to oxygen. The hydrogen sulfide reacts with oxygen, removing it and so preventing it from harming the bacteria. Furthermore, the hydrogen sulfide tends to kill other organisms in the area, thereby providing the bacteria with a source of food. As a result, a dense colony of these bacteria produces for itself an environment in which it can continue to thrive indefinitely. | 3 | train_281 | Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above? |
[
"The first states the main conclusion of the columnist's argument; the second states a conclusion that the columnist draws in defending that conclusion against an objection.",
"The first identifies the conclusion of an argument that the columnist's argument is directed against; the second states the main conclusion of the columnist's argument.",
"The first is a claim that the columnist's argument seeks to clarify; the second states a conclusion drawn about one possible interpretation of that claim.",
"The first identifies an assumption made in an argument that the columnist's argument is directed against; the second states the main conclusion of the columnist's argument."
] | Columnist: Until very recently, Presorbin and Veltrex, two medications used to block excess stomach acid, were both available only with a prescription written by a doctor. In an advertisement for Presorbin, its makers argue that Presorbin is superior on the grounds that doctors have written 200 million prescriptions for Presorbin, as compared to 100 million for Veltrex. It can be argued that the number of prescriptions written is never a worthwhile criterion for comparing the merits of medicines, but that the advertisement' s argument is absurd is quite adequately revealed by observing that Presorbin was available as a prescription medicine years before Veltrex was. | 1 | train_282 | In the columnist's argument, the two highlighted portions play which of the following roles? |
[
"It summarizes a position the argument as a whole is directed toward discrediting.",
"It is compatible either with accepting the conclusion or with denying it.",
"It is required in order to establish the conclusion.",
"It sets out a problem the argument is designed to resolve."
] | Politician: Homelessness is a serious social problem, but further government spending to provide low-income housing is not the cure for homelessness. The most cursory glance at the real-estate section of any major newspaper is enough to show that there is no lack of housing units available to rent. So the frequent claim that people are homeless because of a lack of available housing is wrong. | 1 | train_283 | That homelessness is a serious social problem figures in the argument in which one of the following ways? |
[
"Trent's SWAT team is the city's best police unit.",
"The total number of crimes increases every year.",
"Violent crime has decreased dramatically, while petty drug offenses have increased substantially.",
"The police department focuses more on crimes involving serious injury or significant property damage."
] | Trent is a member of the SWAT Team, the most elite tactical unit at the city police department. SWAT apprehends more suspected criminals than all other police units combined. Taken as a whole, the police department solves a higher percentage of crime than ever before in its history. Within the SWAT team, Trent' s four-man unit is the most successful. However, the number of unsolved crime increases every year. | 1 | train_284 | Which of the following statements, if true, most logically resolves the apparent paradox? |
[
"Consumers' willingness to pay higher prices for the exotic sneakers was not influenced by the relative scarcity of those sneakers.",
"The workmanship of de los Santos's sneakers is of such high quality that it is impossible for lower-budget shoemakers to produce counterfeit versions of them.",
"De los Santos's sneakers are not priced substantially higher than those of the designers who compete most directly with him.",
"The designers who compete most directly with de los Santos will not produce similar lines of limited-edition sneakers in the near future."
] | Footwear designer John de los Santos last year released several limited editions of his best-known model of sneaker in exotic colors and prints. Although the new releases were priced substantially higher than their counterparts in more traditional colors, they sold out within a week of their release, and have since been selling on the resale market for up to four times the original price. The cost of producing the sneakers in exotic prints is no greater than that of producing them in more traditional colors, so de los Santos could earn a higher profit per unit by producing a greater percentage of his sneakers in such prints. | 0 | train_285 | Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above? |
[
"The county hospital that is the most expensive for the county to operate is the one with the highest fatality rate.",
"Most patients who would have gone to the closed county hospital will go to one of the privately run hospitals, instead of one of the six remaining county hospitals, driving up costs at these places.",
"The most at-risk patients throughout the county are referred to those public hospitals that have a high concentration of trained specialists on staff.",
"Each one of the county hospitals has lower fatality rate than at least one of the privately run hospitals."
] | Lawrence County has seven county run hospitals. Because three privately run hospitals are now in existence in the county, Lawrence has decided to close one of its seven county hospitals, to reduce costs to the county. The county executives want to choose a hospital to close so that its absence has the fewest negative health consequences for citizens of the county. An independent consulting firm, advising the county executives, has recommended closing the hospital with the highest fatality rate. | 2 | train_286 | Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the consulting firm's recommendation for the choosing the hospital to close? |
[
"The balance of opinion is likely to favor Patria in the event of a blockade.",
"Any trade embargo against Patria would be likely to fail at some time.",
"A naval blockade of Patria's ports would ensure that no goods enter or leave Patria.",
"For a blockade of Patria's ports to be successful, international opinion must be unanimous."
] | For a trade embargo against a particular country to succeed, a high degree of both international accord and ability to prevent goods from entering or leaving that country must be sustained. A total blockade of Patria's ports is necessary to an embargo, but such an action would be likely to cause international discord over the embargo. | 1 | train_287 | The claims above, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions? |
[
"people cannot really want what they should want",
"knowledge of what one really wants is not as desirable as it is usually thought to be",
"people are not necessarily reliable authorities about what they really want",
"people usually avoid making difficult decisions"
] | Most people are indignant at the suggestion that they are not reliable authorities about their real wants. Such self-knowledge, however, is not the easiest kind of knowledge to acquire. Indeed, acquiring it often requires hard and even potentially risky work. To avoid such effort, people unconsciously convince themselves that they want what society says they should want. | 2 | train_288 | The main point of the argument is that |
[
"Lack of financial support for faculty research is the root of ineffective teaching at universities.",
"In order to be able to teach well, university professors must conduct research.",
"Effective teaching is the primary mission of a university.",
"Lack of funds for research reduces the quality of education a university provides."
] | The primary task of a university is to educate. But to teach well, professors must be informed about new developments in their disciplines, and that requires research. Yet many universities cannot afford to support faculty research adequately. So a lack of funds for research adversely affects the degree to which a university can fulfill its central mission. | 3 | train_289 | Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion of the argument? |
[
"Even after Balzania began requiring surface mine operators to pay reclamation costs, coal mines in Balzania continued to be less expensive to operate than coal mines in almost any other country.",
"In the twenty years since the regulations took effect, the use of coal as a fuel has declined from the level it was at in the previous twenty years.",
"Even after Balzania began requiring surface mine operators to pay reclamation costs, surface mines continued to produce coal at a lower total cost than underground mines.",
"Mine operators have generally ceased surface mining in the mountainous areas of Balzania because reclamation costs per ton of coal produced are particularly high for mines in such areas."
] | Twenty years ago, Balzania put in place regulations requiring operators of surface mines to pay for the reclamation of mined-out land. Since then, reclamation technology has not improved. Yet, the average reclamation cost for a surface coal mine being reclaimed today is only four dollars per ton of coal that the mine produced, less than half what it cost to reclaim surface mines in the years immediately after the regulations took effect. | 3 | train_290 | Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the drop in reclamation costs described? |
[
"gives no reason to exclude the possibility that other differences between DataCom and its competitors accounted for its comparative financial success",
"applies a generalization to an exceptional case",
"presupposes what it sets out to demonstrate about the relationship between the financial success of DataCom's competitors and the number of patents they filed",
"confuses a company's financial success with its technological innovativeness"
] | DataCom, a company that filed many patents last year, was financially more successful last year than were its competitors, none of which filed many patents. It is ttherefore likely that DataCom owed its greater financial success to the fact that it filed many patents last year. | 0 | train_291 | The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it |
[
"there is less corruption in the country's government now than when Brooks was prime minister",
"most people in the country are either supporters or opponents of McFarlane",
"the charges on which Brooks was arrested were unfounded",
"Brooks's joining McFarlane's government inappropriately gives that government a semblance of legitimacy"
] | Political analyst: Several years ago, McFarlane, the military dictator, had Brooks, the former prime minister, arrested on charges of corruption. After years of negotiation, McFarlane has pardoned Brooks, and she has agreed to join his government. Almost all of McFarlane' s supporters believe that Brooks is guilty of corruption. Moreover, almost all of McFarlane' s opponents will oppose anyone who agrees to join his government. So Brooks will have few supporters in this country. | 1 | train_292 | The political analyst's argument depends on the assumption that |
[
"Consumers pay more for bottled milk when raw-milk prices are falling than when these prices are rising.",
"Consumers tend to complain more about the price they pay for bottled milk when dairy farmers are earning their smallest profits.",
"Increases in dairy farmers' cost of producing milk are generally not passed on to consumers.",
"Milk bottlers generally do not respond to a decrease in raw-milk prices by straightaway proportionately lowering the price of the bottled milk they sell."
] | Complaints that milk bottlers take enormous markups on the bottled milk sold to consumers are most likely to arise when least warranted by the actual spread between the price that bottlers pay for raw milk and the price at which they sell bottled milk. The complaints occur when the bottled-milk price rises, yet these price increases most often merely reflect the rising price of the raw milk that bottlers buy from dairy farmers. When the raw-milk price is rising, the bottlers' markups are actually smallest proportionate to the retail price. When the raw-milk price is falling, however, the markups are greatest. | 3 | train_293 | If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them? |
[
"Only one more thunderstorm was needed to ruin that roof. But the roof was still fine a month later. There must not have been any thunderstorms over that month.",
"Old and brittle paintings are always moved with extreme care. That particular painting is never moved with extreme care. So it must not be old and brittle.",
"To survive in the wild requires physical stamina like Mark's. All the same, Mark's fear of spiders would prevent his survival.",
"Spring is here. It has to be, because when it is spring, I cannot stop sneezing; and I just sneezed."
] | Which one of the following exhibits a pattern of reasoning most similar to that in the argument above? | 3 | train_294 | If that insect is a bee, it can only sting once. It only did sting once. So it is a bee. |
[
"offers a faulty analogy",
"relies on a sample of consumers that is unrepresentative of consumers in general",
"is circular",
"fails to consider the possibility that painters may in fact try to please the museum-going public"
] | Chinh: Television producers should not pay attention to the preferences of the viewing public when making creative decisions. Great painters do not consider what the museum-going public wants to see. Lana: But television is expressly for the viewing public. So a producer is more like a CEO than like an artist. Just as a company would be foolhardy not to consider consumers' tastes when developing products, the TV producer must consider viewers' preferences. | 0 | train_295 | According to Lana, Chinh's argument is flawed in that it |
[
"If high concentrations of many different pollutants in a city's air are correlated with a high frequency of the ailment among that city's population, then it is possible that two or more of those pollutants each causally contributes to the ailment.",
"In cities in which there are high concentrations of many air pollutants, there are generally also high concentrations of other forms of pollution that are very likely to contribute causally to the ailment.",
"If the ailment rarely occurs except in cities in which there are large amounts of soot in the air, then the soot is probably the cause of the ailment.",
"In each of the cities where there are large amounts of soot in the air but little other air pollution, the frequency of the ailment is at least as high as it is anywhere else."
] | A positive correlation has been found between the amount of soot in the atmosphere of cities and the frequency of a certain ailment among those cities' populations. However, the soot itself probably does not cause this ailment, since in cities where there are large amounts of soot in the air, there are usually also high concentrations of many other air pollutants. | 3 | train_296 | Which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the argument? |
[
"The first is the argument's main conclusion; the second supports that conclusion and is itself a conclusion for which support is provided.",
"The first is the argument's only explicit conclusion; the second is a premise supporting that conclusion.",
"The first is a premise supporting the only explicit conclusion; so is the second.",
"The first is a premise supporting the argument's only conclusion; the second is that conclusion."
] | Public health expert: <b> Increasing the urgency of a public health message may be counterproductive. </b> In addition to irritating the majority who already behave responsibly, <b> it may undermine all government pronouncements on health by convincing people that such messages are overly cautious. </b> And there is no reason to believe that those who ignore measured voices will listen to shouting. | 1 | train_297 | The two sections in boldface play which of the following roles in the public health expert's argument? |
[
"ignores the possibility that there was more negative news worthy of reporting concerning the challenger than there was concerning the incumbent",
"ignores the possibility that reporters generally fear losing access to incumbents more than they fear losing access to challengers",
"ignores the possibility that the electorate's voting behavior is not significantly affected by the content of coverage of candidates",
"presumes, without providing justification, that both candidates received equal amounts of coverage overall"
] | In the last election, 89 percent of reporters voted for the incumbent. The content of news programs reveals that reporters allowed the personal biases reflected in this voting pattern to affect their news coverage: 54 percent of coverage concerning the challenger was negative, compared with only 30 percent of that concerning the incumbent. | 0 | train_298 | The argument is logically most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it |
[
"It assumes that children with attention deficit disorder can pay attention to their surroundings without discipline.",
"It presumes, with justification, that children who are disciplined in private also suffer from attention deficit disorder.",
"It overlooks the possibility that the children who are disciplined in public, but do not suffer from attention deficit disorder, might benefit from being disciplined in public.",
"It neglects the possibility that providing firm instructions could be a form of disciplining children in public."
] | Child-rearing Expert: Parents should never discipline their children in public. Some children who are disciplined in public suffer from attention deficit disorder. This shows that these children do not need discipline, but rather need assistance from their parents or firm instructions to help the children pay attention to their surroundings. | 1 | train_299 | Each of the following describes a flaw in the child-rearing expert's reasoning EXCEPT: |