16. Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) As the number of ski injuries that occur on the slopes decreases, the number of injuries that occur on the premises of ski resorts increases.
(B) The amount of alcohol consumed per skier increased between 1950 and 1980.
(C) The technology of ski boots and bindings affects the incidence of each type of ski-related injury.
(D) If the technology of ski boots and bindings continues to advance, the incidence of ski-related injuries will continue to decline.(E)
(E) Injuries that occurred on the slopes of ski resorts made up a smaller percentage of ski-related injuries in 1980 than in 1950.
17. Which one of the following conflicts with information in the passage?
(A) The number of ski injuries that occurred on the slopes was greater in 1980 than in 1950.
(B) A skier was less likely to be injured on the slopes in 1950 than in 1980.
(C) The reporting of ski injuries became more accurate between 1950 and 1980.
(D) The total number of skiers dropped between 1950 and 1980.(B)
(E) Some ski-related injuries occurred in 1980 to people who were not skiing.
18. Learning how to build a nest plays an important part in the breeding success of birds. For example, Dr. Snow has recorded the success of a number of blackbirds in several successive years. He finds that birds nesting for the first time are less successful in breeding than are older birds, and also less successful than they themselves are a year later. This cannot be a mere matter of size and strength, since blackbirds, like the great majority of birds, are fully grown when they leave the nest. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they benefit by their nesting experience.
Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument?
(A) Blackbirds build better nests than other birds.
(B) The capacity of blackbirds to lay viable eggs increases with each successive trial during the first few years of reproduction.
(C) The breeding success of birds nesting for the second time is greater than that of birds nesting for the first time.
(D) Smaller and weaker blackbirds breed just as successfully as bigger and stronger blackbirds.(B)
(E) Up to 25 percent of all birds are killed by predators before they start to nest.
19. How do the airlines expect to prevent commercial plane crashes? Studies have shown that pilot error contributes to two-thirds of all such crashes. To address this problem, the airlines have upgraded their training programs by increasing the hours of classroom instruction and emphasizing communication skills in the cockpit. But it is unrealistic to expect such measures to compensate for pilots’ lack of actual flying time. Therefore, the airlines should rethink their training approach to reducing commercial crashes.
Which one of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
(A) Training programs can eliminate pilot errors.
(B) Commercial pilots routinely undergo additional training throughout their careers.
(C) The number of airline crashes will decrease if pilot training programs focus on increasing actual flying time.
(D) Lack of actual flying time is an important contributor to pilot error in commercial plane crashes.(D)
(E) Communication skills are not important to pilot training programs.
20. All savings accounts are interest-bearing accounts. The interest from some interest-bearing accounts is tax-free, so there must be some savings accounts that have tax-free interest.
Which one of the following arguments is flawed in a way most similar to the way in which the passage is flawed?
(A) All artists are intellectuals. Some great photographers are artists. Therefore, some great photographers must be intellectuals.
(B) All great photographers are artists. All artists are intellectuals. Therefore, some great photographers must be intellectuals.
(C) All great photographers are artists. Some artists are intellectuals. Therefore, some great photographers are intellectuals.
(D) All great photographers are artists. Some great photographers are intellectuals. Therefore, some artists must be intellectuals.(C)
(E) All great photographers are artists. No artists are intellectuals. Therefore, some great photographers must not be intellectuals.
21. One method of dating the emergence of species is to compare the genetic material of related species. Scientists theorize that the more genetically similar two species are to each other, the more recently they diverged from a common ancestor. After comparing genetic material from giant pandas, red pandas, raccoons, coatis, and all seven bear species, scientists concluded that bears and raccoons diverged 30 to 50 million years ago. They further concluded that red pandas separated from the ancestor of today’s raccoons and coatis a few million years later, some 10 million years before giant pandas diverged from the other bears.
Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) Giant pandas and red pandas are more closely related than scientists originally thought they were.
(B) Scientists now count the giant panda as the eighth species of bear.
(C) It is possible to determine, within a margin of just a few years, the timing of divergence of various species.
(D) Scientists have found that giant pandas are more similar genetically to bears than to raccoons.(D)
(E) There is substantial consensus among scientists that giant pandas and red pandas are equally related to raccoons.
Questions 22-23
Despite improvements in treatment for asthma, the death rate form this disease has doubled during the past decade from its previous rate. Two possible explanations for this increase have been offered. First, the recording of deaths due to asthma has become more widespread and accurate in the past decade than it had been previously. Second, there has been an increase in urban pollution. However, since the rate of deaths due to asthma has increased dramatically even in cities with long-standing, comprehensive medical records and with little or no urban pollution, one must instead conclude that the cause of increased deaths is the use of bronchial inhalers by asthma sufferers to relieve their symptoms.
22. Each of the following, if true, provides support to the argument EXCEPT:
(A) Urban populations have doubled in the past decade.
(B) Records of asthma deaths are as accurate for the past twenty years as for the past ten years.
(C) Evidence suggests that bronchial inhalers make the lungs more sensitive to irritation by airborne pollen.
(D) By temporarily relieving the symptoms of asthma, inhalers encourage sufferers to avoid more beneficial measures.(A)
(E) Ten years ago bronchial inhalers were not available as an asthma treatment.
23. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Urban pollution has not doubled in the past decade.
(B) Doctors and patients generally ignore the role of allergies in asthma.
(C) Bronchial inhalers are unsafe, even when used according to the recommended instructions.
(D) The use of bronchial inhalers aggravates other diseases that frequently occur among asthma sufferers and that often lead to fatal outcomes even when the asthma itself does not.(E)
(E) Increased urban pollution, improved recording of asthma deaths, and the use of bronchial inhalers are the only possible explanations of the increased death rate due to asthma.
24. There is little point in looking to artists for insights into political issues. Most of them hold political views that are less insightful than those of any reasonably well-educated person who is not an artist. Indeed, when taken as a whole, the statements made by artists, including those considered to be great, indicate that artistic talent and political insight are rarely found together.
Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(A) There are no artists who have insights into political issues.
(B) A thorough education in art makes a person reasonably well educated.
(C) Every reasonably well-educated person who s not an artist has more insight into political issues than any artist.
(D) Politicians rarely have any artistic talent.(E)
(E) Some artists are no less politically insightful than some reasonably well-educated persons who are not artists.
7. There is no reason why the work of scientists has to be officially confirmed before being published. There is a system in place for the confirmation or disconfirmation of scientific finding, namely, the replication of results by other scientists. Poor scientific work on the part of any one scientist, which can include anything from careless reporting practices to fraud, is not harmful. It will be exposed and rendered harmless when other scientists conduct the experiments and obtain disconfirmatory results.
Which one of the following, if true, would weaken the argument?
(A) Scientific experiments can go unchallenged for many years before they are replicated.
(B) Most scientists work in universities, where their work is submitted to peer review before publication.
(C) Most scientists are under pressure to make their work accessible to the scrutiny of replication.
(D) In scientific experiments, careless reporting is more common than fraud.(A)
(E) Most scientists work as part of a team rather than alone.
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