Number Cellular telephone towers are critical for their ability to allow wireless transmission

1 of signals between cell phone users. Because many of the towers currently in use
were built over a decade ago and rely on outdated circuitry, workers with specialized
training are needed to repair them. Without repairs, a number of these older cell
phone towers would soon fail. Thus, workers with the training required to repair older
towers must continue to be utilized.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Most people rely on cellular phones for email correspondence in addition to
voice communication.
(B) Programs that specialize in training technicians to repair older circuitry are
extremely expensive.
(C) Repairs attempted by unqualified technicians often result in further damage that
requires subsequent and more extensive repairs.
(D) The high wages and scarcity of qualified repair technicians make repairing old cell
phone towers more costly and time consuming than simply constructing new
towers.
2 Scientists often study modern-day primates in an attempt to better understand the
behavior and lifestyle of their now-extinct primate ancestors. This is a questionable
technique, however, as primate groups have not always been exposed to the same
types of external stimuli. Most primates now being observed have been seriously
impacted by the loss of their former habitat due to deforestation.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument above?
(A) By studying the response of a primate group to any external factors, scientists can
better predict how other primates would respond to different stimuli.
(B) Primates from different regions tend to show more variation in behavior than do
primates from the same geographical area.
(C) Primate behavior is extremely complex and thus difficult to fully understand.
(D) Many scientists who study modern-day primates are not concerned with the
behavior of extinct primate groups.
3 The new Axis Starlight, Axis Auto’s flagship electric-gas hybrid automobile, is
considered so efficient by Axis that the company plans to sell the Starlight to
consumers for no payment other than the difference between what the consumer paid
for gasoline for the past three years of driving their previous vehicle and what they
will pay for gasoline while driving the Starlight for the next three years. Consumers
will make an initial downpayment, and then pay any remaining fees after fuel costs
have been assessed at the end of the three year period.
Which of the following, if true, would most significantly disadvantage Axis Auto
based on their proposed payment system?
(A) Most drivers own only one automobile.
(B) Other car manufacturers are planning to introduce similar fuel-efficient vehicles.
(C) Drivers interested in the Starlight tend to drive significantly more miles annually
than the average driver.
(D) The price of gasoline is expected to rise dramatically over the next three years.
4 Anew state-sponsored tax law aimed at increasing the state’s college attendance rate gives local public
universities tax incentives to encourage acceptance of a greater
percentage of applicants from within the state. Legislators supporting the new law
believe that it will not only allow more students from the state to obtain further
education, but also provide a strong financial boost to in-state universities.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the strongest critique of the
legislators’ proposal?
(A) Public universities receive the majority of their funding through state-sponsored initiatives.
(B) Public universities are generally less expensive than private universities.
(C) Many college applicants find that relocating to a new state is the single largest
obstacle to attending college.
 (D) Public universities feel that having a broader applicant pool is more financially
beneficial than the incentives provided under the new law.
5 Most managers in the financial industry work for several different companies over the
course of their careers, seeking new employment in response to market pressures and
changing corporate policies. Paxton Investment Group, however, is renowned in the
financial sector for its exceptionally low managerial turnover. Paxton attributes its
ability to retain managers to its extremely generous managerial salaries.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the strongest support for Paxton
Investment Group’s statement regarding its managers’ reluctance to change
companies?
(A) Many managers in the financial sector have spouses that also work in finance.
(B) The majority of managers at Paxton Investment Group had previously worked at
several other companies before working at Paxton.
(C) Managers in the financial industry consistently list “income” as the greatest
motivator for seeking employment with a new firm.
(D) Investment firms with lower managerial salaries than those at Paxton often
compensate by offering their managers performance-based bonuses.
6 Last year, in an effort to decrease fossil fuel use, Suzanne traded in her late-model
gas-powered car for a brand new gas/electric “hybrid” vehicle which uses significantly
less gasoline for each mile driven. Because she has not changed her normal driving
habits since then, it is obvious that Suzanne is now responsible for less fossil fuel use
than she would have been if she had not switched to a hybrid vehicle.
Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?
(A) Many drivers who have not switched to hybrid vehicles have nonetheless
decreased their gasoline use by using various modes of public transportation.
(B) Suzanne’s old, gas-powered car is more fuel efficient than some hybrid vehicles.
(C) Many drivers who switch to gas/electric hybrid vehicles do so in part to make a
statement regarding the importance of the environment.
(D) The total amount of fossil fuels used in the production and use of Suzanne’s new
hybrid vehicle was less than the amount that Suzanne would have used had she not
switched to a hybrid vehicle.
7 Carl is clearly an incompetent detective. He has solved a smaller percentage of the cases assigned to him in
the last 3 years-only 1 out of 25-than any other detective on the police force.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Because the police chief regards Carl as the most capable detective, she assigns him only the most
difficult cases, ones that others have failed to solve.
(B) Before he became a detective, Carl was a neighborhood police officer and was highly respected by the
residents of the neighborhood he patrolled.
(C) Detectives on the police force on which Carl serves are provided with extensive resources, including the
use of a large computer database, to help them solve crimes.
(D) Carl was previously a detective in a police department in another city, and in the 4 years he spent there,
he solved only 1 out of 30 crimes.
8 Beverage company representative: The plastic rings that hold six-packs of beverage cans together pose a
threat to wild animals, which often become entangled in the discarded rings and suffocate as a result.
Following our lead, all beverage companies will soon use only those rings consisting of a new plastic that
disintegrates after only three days' exposure to sunlight. Once we all complete the switchover from the old
to the new plastic rings, therefore, the threat of suffocation that plastic rings pose to wild animals will be
eliminated.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the representative's argument?
(A) The switchover to the new plastic rings will
take at least two more years to complete. (B) After the beverage companies have switched over to the new
plastic rings, a substantial number of the old plastic rings will persist in most aquatic and woodland
environments.
(C) The new plastic rings are slightly less expensive than the old rings.
 (D) The new plastic rings rarely disintegrate during shipping of beverage six-packs because most trucks that
transport canned beverages protect their cargo from sunlight.
9 Human beings have cognitive faculties that are superior to those of other animals, and once humans become
aware of these, they cannot be made happy by anything that does not involve gratification of these faculties.
Which one of the following statements, if true, most calls into question the view above?
(A) Certain animals-dolphins and chimpanzees, for example appear to be capable of rational
communication.
(B) Many people familiar both with intellectual stimulation and with physical pleasures enjoy the latter
more.
(C) Someone who never experienced classical music as a child will usually prefer popular music as an adult.
(D) Many people who are serious athletes consider themselves to be happy.
10 Loggerhead turtles live and breed in distinct groups, of which some are in the Pacific Ocean and some are in
the Atlantic. New evidence suggests that juvenile Pacific loggerheads that feed near the Baja peninsula
hatch in Japanese waters 10,000 kilometers away. Ninety-five percent of the DNA samples taken from the
Baja turtles match those taken from turtles at the Japanese nesting sites.
Which one of the following, if truc, most seriously weakens the reasoning above?
(A) Nesting sites of loggerhead turtles have been found off the Pacific coast of North America several
thousand kilometers north of the Baja peninsula.
(B) The distance between nesting sites and feeding sites of Atlantic loggerhead turtles is less than 5,000
kilometers.
(C) Loggerhead hatchlings in Japanese waters have been declining in number for the last decade while the
number of nesting sites near the Baja peninsula has remained constant.
(D) Ninety-five percent of the DNA samples taken from the Baja turtles match those taken from Atlantic
loggerhead turtles.
s.
11 People who have specialized knowledge about a scientific or technical issue are systematically excluded
from juries for trials where the issue is relevant. Thus, trial by jury is not a fair means of settling disputes
involving such issues.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) 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.
(B) 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.
(C) 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.
(D) Experts who give testimony on scientific or technical issues tend to hedge their conclusions by
discussing the possibility of error.
12 The five senses have traditionally been viewed as distinct yet complementary. Each sense is thought to have
its own range of stimuli that are incapable of stimulating the other senses. However, recent research has
discovered that some people taste a banana and claim that they are tasting blue, or see a color and say that it
has a specific smell. This shows that such people, called synesthesiacs, have senses that do not respect the
usual boundaries between the five recognized senses.
Which one of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Synesthesiacs demonstrate a general, systematic impairment in their ability to use and understand
words.
(B) Recent evidence strongly suggests that there are other senses besides sight, touch, smell, hearing, and
taste.
(C) The particular ways in which sensory experiences overlap in synesthesiacs follow a definite pattern.
(D) The synesthetic phenomenon has been described in the legends of various cultures.
13 Archaeologist: A skeleton of a North American mastodon that became extinct at the peak of the Ice Age
was recently discovered. It contains a human-made projectile dissimilar to any found in that part of Eurasia
closest to North America. Thus, since Eurasians did not settle in North America until shortly before the
peak of the Ice Age, the first Eurasian settlers in North America probably came from a more distant part of
 Eurasia.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the archaeologist's argument?
(A) The projectile found in the mastodon does not resemble any that were used in Eurasia before or during
the Ice Age.
(B) The people who occupied the Eurasian area closest to North America remained nomadic throughout the
Ice Age.
(C) The skeleton of a bear from the same place and time as the mastodon skeleton contains a similar
projectile.
(D) Other North American artifacts from the peak of the Ice Age are similar to ones from the same time
found in more distant parts of Eurasia.
14 Lobsters and other crustaceans eaten by humans are more likely to contract gill diseases when sewage
contaminates their water. Under a recent proposal, millions of gallons of local sewage each day would be
rerouted many kilometers offshore. Although this would substantially reduce the amount of sewage in the
harbor where lobsters are caught, the proposal is pointless, because hardly any lobsters live long enough to
be harmed by those diseases.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Contaminants in the harbor other than sewage are equally harmful to lobsters.
(B) Lobsters, like other crustaceans, live longer in the open ocean than in industrial harbors.
(C) Lobsters breed as readily in sewage- contaminated water as in unpolluted water.
(D) Humans often become ill as a result of eating lobsters with gill diseases.
15 The number of airplanes equipped with a new anticollision device has increased steadily during the past two
years. During the same period, it has become increasingly common for key information about an airplane's
altitude and speed to disappear suddenly from air traffic controllers' screens. The new anticollision device,
which operates at the same frequency as air traffic radar, is therefore responsible for the sudden
disappearance of key information.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) The new anticollision device has already prevented a considerable number of mid-air collisions.
(B) It was not until the new anticollision device was introduced that key information first began
disappearing suddenly from controllers' screens.
(C) The new anticollision device is scheduled to be moved to a different frequency within the next two to
three months.
(D) Key information began disappearing from controllers' screens three months before the new anticollision
device was first tested.
16 Violent crime in this town is becoming a serious problem. Compared to last year, local law enforcement
agencies have responded to 17 percent more calls involving violent crimes, showing that the average citizen
of this town is more likely than ever to become a victim of a violent crime.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) The town's overall crime rate appears to have risen slightly this year compared to the same period last
year.
(B) In general, persons under the age of 65 are less likely to be victims of violent crimes than persons over
the age of 65.
(C) As a result of the town's community outreach programs, more people than ever are willing to report
violent crimes to the proper authorities.
(D) In response to worries about violent crime, the town has recently opened a community center providing
supervised activities for teenagers.
17 Medical researcher: As expected, records covering the last four years of ten major hospitals indicate that
babies born prematurely were more likely to have low birth weights and to suffer from health problems than
were babies not born prematurely. These records also indicate that mothers who had received adequate
prenatal care were less likely to have low birth weight babies than were mothers who had received
inadequate prenatal care.
Adequate prenatal care, therefore, significantly decreases the risk of low birth weight babies.
Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the medical researcher's argument?
(A) The hospital records indicate that many babies that are born with normal birth weights are born to
mothers who had inadequate prenatal care.
 (B) Mothers giving birth prematurely are routinely classified by hospitals as having received inadequate
prenatal care when the record of that care is not available.
(C) The hospital records indicate that low birth weight babies were routinely classified as having been born
prematurely.
(D) Some babies not born prematurely, whose mothers received adequate prenatal care, have low birth
weights.
18 Unlike newspapers in the old days, today's newspapers and televised news programs are full of stories about
murders and assaults in our city. One can only conclude from this change that violent crime is now out of
control, and, to be safe from personal attack, one should not leave one's home except for absolute
necessities.
Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the conclusion?
(A) Newspapers and televised news programs have more comprehensive coverage of violent crime than
newspapers did in the old days.
(B) National data show that violent crime is out of control everywhere, not just in the author's city.
(C) Police records show that people experience more violent crimes in their own neighborhoods than they
do outside their neighborhoods.
(D) Murder comprised a larger proportion of violent crimes in the old days than it does today.
19 According to the theory of continental drift, in prehistoric times, many of today's separate continents were
part of a single huge landmass. As the plates on which this landmass rested began to move, the mass broke
apart, and ocean water filled the newly created chasms. It is hypothesized, for example, that South America
was once joined on its east coast with what is now the west coast of Africa.
Which one of the following discoveries, if it were made, would most support the above hypothesis about
South America and Africa?
(A) A large band of ancient rock of a rare type along the east coast of South America is of the same type as
a band on the west coast of Africa.
(B) Many people today living in Brazil are genetically quite similar to many western Africans.
(C) The climates of western Africa and of the east coast of South America resemble each other.
(D) Some of the oldest tribes of people living in eastern South America speak languages linguistically
similar to various languages spoken by certain western African peoples.
20 Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills, ranging from irritability to potentially
dangerous instances of impaired decision making. Most people today suffer from sleep deprivation to some
degree. Therefore we should restructure the workday to allow people flexibility in scheduling their work
hours.
Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the medical doctor's argument?
(A) The primary cause of sleep deprivation is overwork.
(B) Employees would get more sleep if they had greater latitude in scheduling their work hours.
(C) Individuals vary widely in the amount of sleep they require.
(D) More people would suffer from sleep deprivation today than did in the past if the average number of
hours worked per week had not decreased.
21 Galanin is a protein found in the brain. In an experiment, rats that consistently chose to eat fatty foods when
offered a choice between lean and fatty foods were found to have significantly higher concentrations of
galanin in their brains than did rats that consistently chose lean over fatty foods. These facts strongly
support the conclusion that galanin causes rats to crave fatty foods.
Which one of the following, if true, most supports the argument?
(A) The craving for fatty foods does not invariably result in a rat's choosing those foods over lean foods.
(B) The brains of the rats that consistently chose to eat fatty foods did not contain significantly more fat
than did the brains of rats that consistently chose lean foods.
(C) The chemical components of galanin are present in both fatty foods and lean foods.
(D) The rats that preferred fatty foods had the higher concentrations of galanin in their brains before they
were offered fatty foods.