30 Minutes 20 Questions
1. Two groups of laboratory mice were injected with cancerous cells. One group’s cages were rotated in a disorienting manner. Two-thirds of these mice developed cancers. One-tenth of the mice in stationary cages developed cancers. The researchers concluded that stress enhances the development of cancer in laboratory mice.
The researchers’ conclusion logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Rotating the cages in disorienting manner produced stress in the mice in those cages.
(B) The injections given to the two groups of mice were not of equal strength.
(C) Injecting the mice with cancerous cells caused stress in the mice.
(D) Even without the injections the mice in the rotated cages would have developed cancers.
(E) Even the rotation of cages in a manner that is not disorienting is likely to produce stress in mice in those cages.
2. In 1846 about 80 percent of the towns in New York State banned the sale of alcoholic beverages. A recent article about the bans concludes that mid-nineteenth-century supporters of the temperance movement were not residents of remote rural areas, as has often been asserted; rather, they were concentrated in centers of economic opportunity.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the conclusion reached in the article?
(A) After 1846 the temperance movement grew rapidly and it flourished until the turn of the century.
(B) Support for the ban on alcohol was strongest in New York towns where the economy was based on new, growing industries.
(C) Many young New York State farmers supported the ban on alcohol.
(D) The most adamant opponents of the ban included several affluent factory and mill owners.
(E) In New York City, which was a commercial center in 1846, the sale of alcoholic beverages was not banned.
3. In 1984 Exco, which sells it s products only through mail-order catalogs, began distributing its catalog to people who had never purchased Exco’s products, while it continued to distribute the catalog to previous customers. Total dollar sales increased in 1984, but Exco’s profits that year were smaller than in 1983.
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of Exco’s smaller profits in 1984, as compared to 1983?
(A) There was a two percent increase in 1984 in the sales tax that consumers had to pay on all purchases from the catalog.
(B) A greater number of catalogs were sent to previous customers than to people who never purchased products from Exco.
(C) In 1984 Exco’s product-manufacturing costs increased by a smaller amount than the products’ selling prices increased.
(D) Customers who never previously purchased products from Exco purchased, on the average, fewer products in 1984 than did previous customers.
(E) The increase between 1983 and 1984 in the cost of mailing the catalogs was greater than the increase in sales from 1983 to 1984.
4. People living in the undeveloped wilderness area want jobs, and commercial development of the area will create jobs. But if the new commercial development plan is carried out, the wilderness will suffer. Thus the board considering the area’s future must choose between the preservation of the wilderness and the wishes of the local people.
The answer to which of the following questions would be LEAST relevant to evaluating whether the board indeed faces the choice the author says it faces?
(A) Could commercial development be carried out under an alternative plan without damaging the wilderness?
(B) Would commercial development of the wilderness area significantly benefit people living elsewhere?
(C) Would the jobs created by the new development plan be filled by the local people?
(D) Do local people support or oppose commercial development of the wilderness area?
(E) Can job be provided without commercial development of the wilderness area?
Questions 5-6 are based on the following.
The lobbyists argued that because there is no statistical evidence that breathing other people’s tobacco smoke increases the incidence of heart disease or lung cancer in healthy nonsmokers, legislation banning smoking in workplaces cannot be justified on health grounds.
5. The argument reported above would be most seriously weakened if it were true that
(A) Breathing smoke-filled air increase the incidence of headaches and coughs in healthy nonsmokers.
(B) Most nonsmokers dislike the odor of smoke-filled air.
(C) Smoke-filled air is a major source of the dirt that damages computers and other sensitive equipment.
(D) Most workers would prefer to have smoking banned in workplaces.
(E) Legislation banning smoking in workplaces decreases friction between smoking and nonsmoking workers and is easy to enforce.
6. Of the following, which is the best criticism of the argument reported above?
(A) It ignores causes of lung cancer other than smoking.
(B) It neglects the damaging effects of smoke-filled air on nonsmokers who are not healthy.
(C) It fails to mention the roles played by diet, exercise, and heredity in the development of heart disease.
(D) It does not consider the possibility that nonsmokers who breathe smoke-filled air at work may become more concerned about their health.
(E) It does not acknowledge that nonsmokers, even those who breathe smoke-filled air at work, are in general healthier than smokers.
7. Which of the following best completes the passage below?When a project is failing and should be terminated, plan to bring in a new manager. New managers are more likely to terminate the project than are the original managers because______
(A) the project may have failed for reasons that the original manager could not have foreseen
(B) organizations tend to reward managers who can overcome problems
(C) managerial decisions to terminate a project should depend on the likelihood of the project’s eventual success
(D) the original managers were not necessarily able to overcome problems caused by external events over which they had no control
(E) the new managers have no need to justify the earlier decision to maintain the project
8. State X’s income-averaging law allows a portion of one’s income to be taxed at lower rate than the rate based on one’s total taxable income. To use income averaging, the taxpayer must have earned taxable income for a particular year that exceeds 140 percent of his or her average taxable income for the previous three years. People using income averaging owe less tax for that year than they would without income averaging.
Which of the following individuals would be most seriously affected if income averaging were not permitted in computing the taxes owed for current year?
(A) Individuals whose income has steadily decreased for the past three years
(B) Individuals whose income increased by 50 percent four years ago and has remained the same since then
(C) Individuals whose income has doubled this year after remaining about the same for five years
(D) Individuals who had no income this year, but did in each of the previous three years
(E) Individuals who are retired and whose income has remained about the same for the past ten years
9. According to a recent study, fifteen corporations in the United States that follow a credo of social responsibility are also very profitable. Because of their credos, these fifteen corporations give generously to charity, follow stringent environmental-protection policies, and have vigorous affirmative-action programs.
Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?
(A) Following a credo of social responsibility helps to make a corporation very profitable.
(B) It is possible for a corporation that follows a credo of social responsibility to be very profitable.
(C) A corporation that gives generously to charity must be doing so because of its credo of social responsibility.
(D) Corporations that are very profitable tend to give generously to charity.
(E) Corporations that have vigorous affirmative-action programs also tend to follow stringent environmental-protection policies.
10. A year after the start an experiment to decrease crime in two high-crime subway stations by the installation of closed-circuit televisions, the experiment is being discontinued, city officials say the program has led to an increase in crime, citing the fact that following the installation, both stations showed increases in the number of crimes reported.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the claim of the city officials that the program has led to an increase in crime?
(A) The two subway stations had been chosen on the basis subway stations was higher than that of other high-crime subway stations not equipped with closed-circuit-television.
(B) The rate of increase in crimes reported for two subway stations was higher than that of other high-crime subway stations not equipped with closed-circuit television.
(C) The percentage of all crimes committed at the two subway stations that were reported rose as a result of increased instances of observations of crime on the closed-circuit televisions.
(D) The year in which the experiment was conducted was a year in which the total number of crimes reported in the city fell
(E) Closed-circuit televisions installed in shops and stores throughout the city have proved to be useful in the prevention of shoplifting and burglaries.
