Pg 190 onwards…

193
1. Technically a given category of insurance policy is under priced if, over time, claims
against it plus expenses associated with it exceed total income from premiums. But
premium income can be invested and will then yield returns of its own. Therefore, an
under priced policy does not represent a net loss in every case.
The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) No insurance policies are deliberately under priced in order to attract customers to
the insurance company offering such policies.
(B) A policy that represents a net loss to the insurance company is not an under priced
policy in every case.
(C) There are policies for which the level of claims per year can be predicted with great
accuracy before premiums are set.
(D) The income earned by investing premium income is the most important
determinant of an insurance company’s profits.(Surely not the answer since no
mention of Profits!!)
(E) The claims against at least some under priced policies do not require paying out all
of the premium income from those policies as soon as it is earned.
All seem to be incorrect …

204
2. Samples from a ceramic vase found at a tomb in Sicily prove that the vase was
manufactured in Greece. Since the occupant of the tomb died during the reign of a
Sicilian ruler who lived 2,700 years ago, the location of the vase indicates that there
was trade between Sicily and Greece 2,700 years ago.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Sicilian potters who lived during the reign of the ruler did not produce work of the
same level of quality as did Greek potters.
(B) Sicilian clay that was used in the manufacture of pottery during the ruler’s reign
bore little resemblance to Greek clay used to manufacture pottery at that time.
(C) At the time that the occupant of the tomb was alive, there were ships capable of
transporting large quantities of manufactured goods between Sicily and Greece.
(D) The vase that was found at the Sicilian tomb was not placed there many
generations later by descendants of the occupant of the tomb.
(E) The occupant of the tomb was not a member of the royal family to which the
Sicilian ruler belonged.

205
3. In several cities, the government is going ahead with ambitious construction projects
despite the high office vacancy rates in those cities. The vacant offices, though
available for leasing, unfortunately do not meet the requirements for the facilities
needed, such as court houses and laboratories. The government, therefore, is not
guilty of any fiscal wastefulness.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?
(A) Adaptation of vacant office space to meet the government’s requirements, if
possible, would not make leasing such office space a more cost-effective alternative
to new construction.
(B) The government prefers leasing facilities to owning them in cases where the two
alternatives are equally cost-effective.
(C) If facilities available for leasing come very close to meeting the government’s
requirements for facilities the government needs, the government can relax its own
requirements slightly and consider those facilities in compliance.
(D) The government’s construction projects would not on being completed, add to the
stock of facilities available for leasing in the cities concerned.
(E) Before embarking on any major construction project, the government is required by
law to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that there are no alternatives that
are most cost-effective.

206
4. Any serious policy discussion about acceptable levels of risk in connection with
explosions is not well served if the participants fail to use the word “explosion” and use
the phrase “energetic disassembly” instead. In fact, the word “explosion” elicits
desirable reactions, such as a heightened level of attention, whereas the substitute
phrase does not. Therefore, of the two terms, “explosion” is the one that should be
used throughout discussions of this sort.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?

(A) In the kind of discussion at issue, the advantages of desirable reactions to the term
“explosion” outweigh the drawbacks, if any, arising from undesirable reactions to
that term.
(B) The phrase “energetic disassembly” has not so far been used as a substitute for the
word “explosion” in the kind of discussion at issue.
(C) In any serious policy discussion, what is said by the participants is more important
than how it is put into words.
(D) The only reason that people would have for using “energetic disassembly” in place
of “explosion” is to render impossible any serious policy discussion concerning
explosions.
(E) The phrase “energetic disassembly” is not necessarily out of place in describing a
controlled rather than an accidental explosion.

211
5. Handwriting analysis—also known as graphology—is a poor way to predict
personality types, even though it is used by 3,000 United States firms and by a
majority of European companies. In a recent study, five graphologists scored no better
than chance in predicting the occupations of forty professionals.
Which one of the following is an assumption necessary to the argument?
(A) People in the same occupation usually do not have the same personality type.
(B) Graphology is an effective means of predicting personality types in non-business
contexts.
(C) There are more United States firms that do not use graphology than all the United
States and European firms that do use it.
(D) There are several other techniques for predicting personality types that are more
accurate than graphology.
(E) There is a correspondence between type of personality and choice of occupation.

212
6. The simple facts are these: the number of people killed each year by grizzly bears is
about the same as the number of people killed by lightning on golf courses. And the
number of people killed by lightning on golf courses each year is about the same as the
number of people electrocuted by electric blenders. All the horrible myths and
gruesome stories aside, therefore, a grizzly bear is in fact about as dangerous as an
electric blender or a game of golf.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the author relies upon in the passage?
(A) Most incidents involving grizzly bears are fatal.
(B) Grizzly bears are no longer the danger they once were.
(C) The number of fatalities per year is an adequate indication of something’s
dangerousness.
(D) A golf course is a particularly dangerous place to be in a thunderstorm.
(E) Something is dangerous only if it results in death in the majority of cases.

214
7. Some people say that the scarcity of food is a function of the finite limits of the
earth’s resources, coupled with a relentless rate of population growth. This analysis
fails to recognize, however, that much of the world’s agricultural resources are used to
feed livestock instead of people. In the United States, for example, almost one-half of
the agricultural acreage is devoted to crops fed to livestock. A steer reduces twenty-
one pounds of inexpensive grain to one pound of expensive meat. Thus, the scarcity of
food is not merely a function of limited resources and population growth.
Which one of the following is an assumption that would allow the conclusion in the
argument to be properly drawn?
(A) People prefer eating meat to eating grain.
(B) Meat is twenty-one times more expensive than grain.
(C) The limits of the earth’s agricultural resources are not finite.
(D) More than one-half of the agricultural acreage in the United States is devoted to
crops fed to humans.
(E) Growing crops for human consumption on the acreage currently devoted to crops
for livestock will yield more food for more people.

215
8. Top college graduates are having more difficulty demonstrating their superiority to
prospective employers than did the top students of twenty years ago when an honors
degree was distinction enough. Today’s employers are less impressed with the honors
degree. Twenty years ago no more than 10 percent of a given class graduated with
honors. Today, however, because of grade inflation, the honors degree goes to more
than 50 percent of a graduating class. Therefore, to restore confidence in the degrees
they award, colleges must take steps to control grade inflation.
Which one of the following is an assumption that, if true, would support the conclusion
in the passage?
(A) Today’s students are not higher achievers than the students of twenty years ago.
(B) Awarding too many honors degrees causes colleges to inflate grades.
(C) Today’s employers rely on honors ranking in making their hiring decisions.
(D) It is not easy for students with low grades to obtain jobs.
(E) Colleges must make employers aware of the criteria used to determine who
receives an honors degree

216
9. Investigators concluded that human failure was not responsible for the fatal airplane
crash last August, and since that time new and more stringent rules for identifying and
reporting mechanical problems have been in effect. That accounts for the fact that
reports of airplane mechanical problems have increased in frequency by 50 percent
since last August.

Which one of the following is an assumption underlying the argument in the passage?
(A) Airplane travel is still relatively safe, despite the increase in reported mechanical
problems.
(B) Mechanical problems in airplanes have increased dramatically since last August.
(C) Mechanical problems in airplanes have not increased by 50 percent since last
August.
(D) Airlines are less reluctant to report mechanical problems than they previously were.
(E) Mechanical problems in airplanes have become easier to detect since last August.

224
10. Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in which their
side is dominant and the other side is submissive. In contrast, communal thinkers
strive for parity among all sides. Therefore, achieving parity of nuclear weaponry
between the East and the West is not enough for Western military generals. (Analogy)
Which one of the following assumptions would provide the most support for the
conclusion above?
(A) Western military generals do not have the same mentality as do Eastern military
generals.
(B) Parity in nuclear weaponry requires that military generals from both the East and
the West think in communal terms.
(C) Western military generals want parity with respect to strength in nuclear weaponry
between the East and the West.
(D) Western military generals’ thinking about relative strength in nuclear weaponry is
hierarchical.
(E) The thinking of military generals with respect to relative strength in nuclear
weaponry is either hierarchical or communal.

251
11. Economic considerations color every aspect of international dealings, and nations
are just like individuals in that the lender sets the terms of its dealings with the
borrower. That is why a nation that owes money to another nation cannot be world
leader.
The reasoning in the passage assumes which one of the following?
(A) A nation that does not lend to any other nation cannot be a world leader.
(B) A nation that can set the terms of its dealings with other nations is certain to be a
world leader.
(C) A nation that has the terms of its dealings with another nation set by that nation
cannot be a world leader.
(D) A nation that is a world leader can borrow from another nation as long as that other
nation does not set the terms of the dealings between the two nations.
(E) A nation that has no dealings with any other nation cannot be world leader.

285
12. The reforms to improve the quality of public education that have been initiated on
the part of suppliers of public education have been insufficient. Therefore, reforms
must be demanded by consumers. Parents should be given government vouchers with
which to pay for their children’s education and should be allowed to choose the schools
at which the vouchers will be spent. To attract students, academically underachieving
schools will be forced to improve their academic offerings.
The argument assumes that
(A) in selecting schools parents would tend to prefer a reasonable level of academic
quality to greater sports opportunities or more convenient location
(B) improvement in the academic offerings of schools will be enforced by the discipline
of the job market in which graduating students compete
(C) there is a single best way to educate students
(D) children are able to recognize which schools are better and would influence their
parents’ decisions
(E) schools would each improve all of their academic offerings and would not tend to
specialize in one particular field to the exclusion of others.
Makes sense since discipline of job market <> market forces… Also (A) strengthens the
conc.(lst line) by stating that only academics is the criteria to which parents give
importance…

299
13. When a group of children who have been watching television programs that include
acts of violence is sent to play with a group of children who have been watching
programs that do not include acts of violence, the children who have been watching
violent programs commit a much greater number of violent acts in their play than do
the children who have been watching nonviolent programs. Therefore, children at play
can be prevented from committing violent acts by not being allowed to watch violence
on television.
The argument in the passage assumes which one of the following?
(A) Television has a harmful effect on society.
(B) Parents are responsible for the acts of their children.
(C) Violent actions and passive observation of violent actions are not related.
(D) There are no other differences between the two groups of children that might
account for the difference in violent behavior.
(E) Children who are treated violently will respond with violence.

372
14. In Malsenia sales of classical records are soaring. The buyers responsible for this
boom are quite new to classical music and were drawn to it either by classical scores
from television commercials or by theme tunes introducing major sports events on
television. Audiences at classical concerts, however, are continually shrinking in
Malsenia. It can be concluded from this that the new Malsenian converts to classical
music, having initially experienced this music as recorded music, are most comfortable
with classical music as recorded music and really have no desire to hear live
performances.
The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) To sell well in Malsenia, a classical record must include at least one piece familiar
from television.
(B) At least some of the new Malsenian buyers of classical records have available to
them the option of attending classical concerts.
(C) The number of classical concerts performed in Malsenia has not decreased in
response to smaller audiences.
(D) The classical records available in Malsenia are, for the most part, not recordings of
actual public concerts.
(E) Classical concerts in Malsenia are not limited to music that is readily available on
recordings.

378
15. Doctors in Britain have long suspected that patients who wear tinted eyeglasses
are abnormally prone to depression and hypochondria. Psychological tests given there
to hospital patients admitted for physical complaints like heart pain and digestive
distress confirmed such a relationship. Perhaps people whose relationship to the world
is psychologically painful choose such glasses to reduce visual stimulation, which is
perceived as irritating. At any rate, it can be concluded that when such glasses are
worn, it is because the wearer has a tendency to be depressed or hypochondriacal.
The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) Depression is not caused in some cases by an organic condition of the body.
(B) Wearers do not think of the tinted glasses as a means of distancing themselves
from ocher people.
(C) Depression can have many causes, including actual conditions about which it is
reasonable for anyone to be depressed.
(D) For hypochondriacs wearing tinted glasses, the glasses serve as a visual signal to
others that the wearer’s health is delicate.
(E) The tinting does not dim light to the eye enough to depress the wearer’s mood
substantially.

380
16. Between 1971 and 1975, the government office that monitors drug companies
issued an average of 60 citations a year for serious violations of drug-promotion laws.
Between 1976 and 1980, the annual average for issuance of such citations was only 5.
This decrease indicates that the government office was, on average, considerably more
lax in enforcing drug-promotion laws between 1976 and 1980 than it was between
1971 and 1975.
The argument assumes which one of the following?
(A) The decrease in the number of citations was not caused by a decrease in drug
companies violations of drug-promotion laws.
(B) A change in enforcement of drug-promotion laws did not apply to minor violations.
(C) The enforcement of drug-promotion laws changed in response to political pressure.
(D) The government office should not issue more than an average of 5 citations a year
to drug companies for serious violations of drug-promotion laws.
(E) Before 1971 the government office issued more than 60 citations a year to drug
companies for serious violations of drug-promotion laws.

411
17. English and the Austronesian language Mbarbaram both use the word “dog” for
canines. These two languages are unrelated, and since speakers of the two languages
only came in contact with one another long after the word “dog” was first used in this
way in either language, neither language could have borrowed the word from the
other. Thus this case shows that sometimes when languages share words that are
similar in sound and meaning the similarity is due neither to language relatedness nor
to borrowing.
The argument requires that which one of the following be assumes?
(A) English and Mbarbaram share no words other than “dog.”
(B) Several languages besides English and Mbarbaram use “dog” as the word for
canines.
(C) Usually when two languages share a word, those languages are related to each
other.
(D) There is no third language from which both English and Mbarbaram borrowed the
word “dog.”
(E) If two unrelated languages share a word, speakers of those two languages must
have come in contact with one another at some time.

412
18. A poor farmer was fond of telling his children: “In this world, you are either rich or
poor, and you are either honest or dishonest. All poor farmers are honest. Therefore, all
rich farmers are dishonest.”
The farmer’s conclusion is properly drawn if the argument assumes that
(A) every honest farmer is poor
(B) every honest person is a farmer
(C) everyone who is dishonest is a rich farmer
(D) everyone who is poor is honest
(E) every poor person is a farmer

412
19. Medical research findings are customarily not made public prior to their publication
in a medical journal that has had them reviewed by a panel of experts in a process
called peer review. It is claimed that this practice delays public access to potentially
beneficial information that, in extreme instances, could save lives. Yet prepublication
peer review is the only way to prevent erroneous and therefore potentially harmful
information from reaching a public that is ill equipped to evaluate medical claims on its
own. Therefore, waiting until a medical journal has published the research findings that
have passed peer review is the price that must be paid to protect the public from
making decisions based on possibly substandard research.
The argument assumes that ……NOTE…… (Reason?)
(A) unless medical research findings are brought to peer review by a medical journal,
peer review will not occur
(B) anyone who does not serve on medical review panel does not have the necessary
knowledge and expertise to evaluate medical research finding (This apparently
weakens the argument)
(C) the general public does not have access to the medical journals in which research
findings are published
(D) all medical research findings are subjected to prepublication peer review
(E) peer review panels are sometimes subject to political and professional pressures
that can make their judgments less than impartial
-------------------------------------------End of SECTION III -------------------------------------------------

415
20. The economies of some industrialized countries face the prospect of large labor
shortages in the decades ahead. Meanwhile, these countries will have a vast number of
experienced and productive older workers who, as things stand, will be driven from the
work force upon reaching the age of sixty-five by the widespread practice of requiring
workers to retire at that age. Therefore, if the discriminatory practice of mandatory
retirement at age sixty-five were eliminated, the labor shortages facing these
economies would be averted.
The argument assumes that
(A) older workers have acquired skills that are extremely valuable and that their
younger colleagues lack
(B) workers in industrialized countries are often unprepared to face the economic
consequences of enforced idleness
(C) a large number of workers in some industrialized countries would continue working
beyond the age of sixty-five if workers in those countries were allowed to do so
(D) mandatory retirement at age sixty-five was first instituted when life expectancy
was considerable lower than it is today
(E) a substantial proportion of the population of officially retired workers is actually
engaged in gainful employment

596
21. A well-known former quarterback is probably very adept at analyzing the relative
strengths of football teams. However, efforts by television advertisers to suggest that
the quarterback is an expert on pantyhose or popcorn poppers should arouse
skepticism among viewers. The same response should result when a popular television
actor, who is frequently cast in the role of a doctor, appears in a commercial to endorse
a brand of decaffeinated coffee. His views on television acting would deserve attention
since he has had considerable experience in that field, but viewers have every right to
doubt his authority in coffee advertisements.
Which one of the following is a presupposition essential to the reasoning in the passage
above?
(A) The strength of authoritative evidence as legitimate proof is closely related to the
authority’s degree of expertness in the area in question.
(B) Practical experience counts for more than academic training in assessing the
competence of authorities.
(C) The only kind of evidence being used in many television commercials is appeal to
authority.
(D) The viewing audience is not sufficiently capable of evaluating authoritative appeals
in advertisements.
(E) Television viewers will somehow mentally transfer the credibility of celebrities in
one area of expertise to another represented by the product being advertised.

655
22. Health officials claim that because the foods and beverages mentioned or
consumed on many television programs are extremely low in nutritional value watching
television has a bad influence on the dietary habits of television viewers.
The claim by health officials depends on the presupposition that
(A) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs are designed to
mirror the eating and drinking habits of television viewers
(B) seeing some foods and beverages being consumed on or hearing them mentioned
on television programs increases the likelihood that viewers will consume similar kinds
of foods and beverages
(C) the food and beverage industry finances television programs so that the foods and
beverages that have recently appeared on the market can be advertised on those
programs
(D) television viewers are only interested in the people on television programs who
have the same eating and drinking habits as they do
(E) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs provide health
officials with accurate predictions about the foods and beverages that will become
popular among television viewers

318
23. Many Ann: Our country should, above all, be strong. Strength gains the respect of
other countries and makes a country admirable.
Inez: There are many examples in history of countries that were strong but used their
strength to commit atrocities. We should judge a country by the morality of its actions,
not by its strength. If the actions are morally good, the country is admirable.
Which one of the following is a presupposition that underlies Inez’ argument?
(A) At least one country is admirable.
(B) Countries can not be both strong and moral.
(C) It is possible to assign moral weight to the actions of countries.
(D) The citizens of any country believe that whatever their country does is good.
(E) Countries should impose their standards of morality on other countries by whatever
means necessary.

598
24. The introduction of symbols for numbers is an event lost in prehistory, but the
earliest known number symbols, in the form of simple grooves and scratches on bones
and stones date back 20,000 years or more. Nevertheless, since it was not until 5,500
years ago that systematic methods for writing numerals were invented, it was only
then that any sort of computation became possible.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?
(A) Grooves and scratches found on bones and stones were all made by people, and
none resulted from natural processes.
(B) Some kinds of surfaces upon which numeric symbols could have been made in the
period before 5,500 years ago were not used for that purpose.
(C) Grooves and scratches inscribed on bones and stones do not date back to the time
of the earliest people.
(D) Computation of any sort required a systematic method for writing numerals.
(E) Systematic methods for writing numerals were invented only because the need for
computation arose.

612
25. Caffeine can kill or inhibit the growth of the larvae of several species of insects.
One recent experiment showed that tobacco hornworm larvae die when they ingest a
preparation that consists in part of finely powdered tea leaves which contain caffeine.
This result is evidence for the hypothesis that the presence of non-negligible quantities
of caffeine in various parts of many diverse species of plants is not accidental but
evolved as a defense for those plants.
The argument assumes that
(A) caffeine-producing plants are an important raw material in the manufacture of
commercial insecticides
(B) caffeine is stored in leaves and other parts of caffeine-producing plants in
concentrations roughly equal to the caffeine concentration of the preparation fed to the
tobacco hornworm larvae
(C) caffeine-producing plants grow wherever insect larvae pose a major threat to
indigenous plants or once posed a major threat to the ancestors of those plants
(D) the tobacco plant is among the plant species that produce caffeine for their own
defense
(E) caffeine-producing plants or their ancestors have at some time been subject to
being fed upon by creatures sensitive to caffeine