6. In 1980, a Danish ten- re coin minted in 1747 was sold at auction for $8,000. Eleanor Bixby owns another Danish ten- re coin minted in 1747. When she puts it on the market next week, it will fetch a price over $18,000.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Since 1980, the average price for rare coins has increased by over 150 percent.
(B) There are only four coins like the one in question in the entire world.
(C) Since 1980, the consumer price index has risen by over 150 percent.
(D) In 1986, a previously unknown cache of one hundred coins just like the one in question was found.
(E) Thirty prominent, wealthy coin collectors are expected to bid for Bixby’s coin.
7. Merco has been in business longer than Nolen. Inc, Olean Industries was founded years before the Potter Company, and the Potter Company was started years after the Quarles Corporation. Nolen, Inc., and the Quarles Corporation were founded in the same year.
If the information above is true, which of the following must also be true?
(A) Olean Industries has been in business for more years than Merco.
(B) Olean Industries has been in business for more years than the Quarles Corporation.
(C) Nolen, Inc., has not been in business for as many years as Olean Industries.
(D) Merco has been in business for more years than the Potter Company.
(E) Nolen, Inc., has not been in business for as many years as the Potter Company.
8. Which of the following best completes the passage below?A primary factor in perpetuating the low salaries of women workers has been their segregation in the so-called pink-collar occupations, such as nursing, teaching, library science, and secretarial work. Partly because these jobs have traditionally been held by women, their salary levels have been depressed, and, despite increased attempts to unionize these workers in recent years, their pay continues to lag. Moreover, although a large percentage of women than ever before are now entering and remaining in the job market, most continue to gravitate toward the pink-collar fields, despite the lower salaries. It seems clear, therefore, that if the average salaries of women workers are to approach those of men, ______
(A) labor unions must redouble their efforts to improve the lot of working women
(B) society’s perception of pink-collar jobs as less important and less demanding than other jobs must be changed
(C) more men must be encouraged to enter fields traditionally occupied by women
(D) the number of jobs in the pink-collar fields relative to the size of the work force as a whole must be markedly increased
(E) more women must enter occupations other than those traditionally reserved for them
9. Determining the authenticity of purported pre-Columbian artifacts is never easy. Carbon-14 dating of these artifacts is often impossible due to contamination by radioactive palladium (which occurs naturally in the soils of Central and South America). However, historians and anthropologists have evolved two reliable criteria, which, utilized in combination, have proven effective for dating these artifacts. First, because authentic pre-Columbian artifacts characteristically occur in a coarse, granular matrix that is shifted by major earthquakes, they often exhibit the unique scratch patterns known as gridding. In addition, true pre-Columbian artifacts show a darkening in surface color that is caused by centuries of exposure to the minute amounts of magnesium in the soil of the Americas.
The criteria above would be LEAST useful in judging the authenticity of which of the following?
(A) An ax head of black obsidian, unearthed from a kitchen midden
(B) A pottery bowl with a red ocher design, found in the ruins of a temple
(C) A set of gold ear weights, ornamented with jasper pendants
(D) A black feather cape from a king’s burial vault
(E) A multicolored woven sash found near the gravesite of a slave
Questions 10-11 are based on the following.
From time to time, the press indulges in outbursts of indignation over the use of false or misleading information by the U.S. government in support of its policies and programs. No one endorses needless deception. But consider this historical analogy. It is known that Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the New World, deliberately falsified the log to show a shorter sailing distance for each day out than the ships had actually traveled. In this way, Columbus was able to convince his skeptical sailors that they had not sailed past the point at which they expected to find the shores of India. Without this deception, Columbus’s sailors might well have mutinied, and the New World might never have been discovered.
10. The author of the passage above assumes each of the following EXCEPT:
(A) Government deception of the press is often motivated by worthy objectives.
(B) Without government deception, popular support for worthwhile government policies and programs might well fade.
(C) Attacks on the government by the press are often politically motivated.
(D) Deception for deception’s sake should not be condoned.
(E) A greater good may sometimes require acceptance of a lesser evil.
11. Which of the following is the main weakness of the historical analogy drawn in the passage above?
(A) The sailors in Columbus’s crew never knew that they had been deceived, while government deception is generally uncovered by the press.
(B) A ship’s log is a record intended mainly for use by the captain, while press reports are generally disseminated for use by the public at large.
(C) The members of a ship’s crew are selected by the captain of the ship, while those who work in the press are self-selected.
(D) The crew of a ship is responsible for the success of a voyage, while the press is not responsible for the use others make of the factual information it publishes.
(E) In a democracy, the people are expected to participate in the nation’s political decision making, while the members of a ship’s crew are expected simply to obey the orders of the captain.
