9. In the suburbs surrounding Middletown, there is an average of 2.4 automobiles per family, and thus very few suburban residents use public buses. The suburban communities, therefore, would derive little benefit from continuing to subsidize the portion of Middletown’s public bus system that serves the suburbs.Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) The real-estate tax rate in Middletown is higher than it is in the suburbs.
(B) Last year voters in the suburban communities defeated by a narrow margin a bill designed to increase subsidies for public bus routes.
(C) Many suburban shops can attract enough employees to remain in business only because subsidized public transportation from Middletown is available.
(D) Public buses operated with less than a 35 percent occupancy rate produce more pollution per passenger mile than would the operation of private automobiles for each passenger.
(E) Most voters in Middletown’s suburban communities are unwilling to continue subsidies for public buses next year if ridership on those buses drops below current levels.
10. Any tax relief received by the solar industry would not benefit the homeowner who installs a solar-energy system. Even though homeowners would pay a lower price for solar-energy system installations because of this tax relief, with the government paying the balance, government revenues come from the public.The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) The tax relief would cause the homeowner to lose, through taxes or reduced government benefits or both, an amount at least equal to the reduction in the price of that homeowner’s solar-energy system installation.
(B) The tax relief that would be received by solar-energy industries would not be offered at the same time as any tax relief for other industries.
(C) Advertisements of the solar-energy industry, by failing to identify the source of government revenues explicitly to the public, mask the advantage the industry receives from the public.
(D) Homeowners generally believe that they benefit from any tax relief offered to the solar-energy industry.
(E) Tax relief would encourage solar industries to sell solar-energy systems at higher prices.
11. Less than 50 percent of a certain tropical country’s wildlands remains intact. Efforts are under way to restore biological diversity in that country by restoring some destroyed wild habitats and extending some relatively intact portions of forests. However, opponents argue that these efforts are not needed because there is still plenty of wildland left.Which of the following, if true, most significantly weakens the argument of the opponents of conservation efforts?
(A) As much, if not more, effort is required to restore a wild habitat as to preserve an intact habitat.
(B) The opponents of restoration efforts are, for the most part, members of the wealthier classes in their own villages and cities.
(C) Existing conservation laws have been very effective in preserving biological diversity within the wildlands that remain intact.
(D) For many tropical species native to that country, the tropical wildlands that are still relatively intact do not provide appropriate habitats for reproduction.
(E) If a suitable population of plants and animals is introduced and is permitted to disperse and grow, tropical habitats can most certainly be restored.
12. A study comparing a group of chronically depressed individuals with an otherwise matched group of individuals free from depression found significantly more disorders of the immune system among the depressed group. According to the researchers, these results strongly support the hypothesis that mental states influence the body’s vulnerability to infection.Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the researchers’ interpretation of their findings?
(A) The researchers’ view does little more than echo a familiar theme in folklore and literature.
(B) Chronically depressed individuals are no less careful than others to avoid exposure to infections.
(C) Disorders of the immune system cause many of those individuals who have them to become chronically depressed.
(D) Individuals who have previously been free from depression can become depressed quite suddenly.
(E) A high frequency of infections can stem from an unusually high level of exposure rather than from any disorder of the immune system.
13. Exports of United States wood pulp will rise considerably during this year. The reason for the rise is that the falling value of the dollar will make it cheaper for paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe to buy American wood pulp than to get it from any other source.Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?
(A) Factory output of paper products in Japan and Western Europe will increase sharply during this year.
(B) The quality of the wood pulp produced in the United States would be adequate for the purposes of Japanese and Western European paper manufacturers.
(C) Paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe would prefer to use wood pulp produced in the United States if cost were not a factor.
(D) Demand for paper products made in Japan and Western Europe will not increase sharply during this year.
(E) Production of wood pulp by United States companies will not increase sharply during this year.
14. A company’s personnel director surveyed employees about their satisfaction with the company’s system for awarding employee performance ratings. The survey data indicated that employees who received high ratings were very satisfied with the system. The personnel director concluded from these data that the company’s best-performing employees liked the system.The personnel director’s conclusion assumes which of the following?
(A) No other performance rating system is as good as the current system.
(B) The company’s best-performing employees received high ratings.
(C) Employees who received low ratings were dissatisfied with the system.
(D) Employees who receive high ratings from a performance-rating system will like that system.
(E) The company’s best-performing employees were motivated to perform well by the knowledge that they would receive performance ratings.
15. In Argonia the average rate drivers pay for car accident insurance is regulated to allow insurance companies to make a reasonable profit. Under the regulations, the rate any individual driver pays never depends on the actual distance driven by that driver each year. Therefore, Argonians who drive less than average partially subsidize the insurance of those who drive more than average.The conclusion above would be properly drawn if it were also true that in Argonia
(A) the average accident insurance rate for all drivers rises whenever a substantial number of new drivers buy insurance
(B) the average cost to insurance companies of insuring drivers who drive less than the annual average is less than the average cost of insuring drivers who drive more than the annual average
(C) the lower the age of a driver, the higher the insurance rate paid by that driver
(D) insurance company profits would rise substantially if drivers were classified in terms of the actual number of miles they drive each year
(E) drivers who have caused insurance companies to pay costly claims generally pay insurance rates that are equal to or lower than those paid by other drivers
