25 Minutes 16 Questions

　　1. The local board of education found that, because the current physics curriculum has little direct relevance to today’s world, physics classes attracted few high school students. So to attract students to physics classes, the board proposed a curriculum that emphasizes principles of physics involved in producing and analyzing visual images.

　　Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to expect that the proposed curriculum will be successful in attracting students?

　　(A) Several of the fundamental principles of physics are involved in producing and analyzing visual images.

　　(B) Knowledge of physics is becoming increasingly important in understanding the technology used in today’s world.

　　(C) Equipment that a large producer of photographic equipment has donated to the high school could be used in the proposed curriculum.

　　(D) The number of students interested in physics today is much lower than the number of students interested in physics 50 years ago.(E)

　　(E) In today’s world the production and analysis of visual images is of major importance in communications, business, and recreation.

　　2. Many companies now have employee assistance programs that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop smoking. These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Therefore, these programs benefit the company as well as the employee.

　　Which of the following, if true, most significantly strengthens the conclusion above?

　　(A) Physical fitness programs are often the most popular services offered to employees.

　　(B) Studies have shown that training in stress management is not effective for many people.

　　(C) Regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart disease and provides them with increased energy.

　　(D) Physical injuries sometimes result from entering a strenuous physical fitness program too quickly.(C)

　　(E) Employee assistance programs require companies to hire people to supervise the various programs offered.

　　3. Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.

　　Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

　　(A) The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last year.

　　(B) The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.

　　(C) The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.

　　(D) Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.(A)

　　(E) The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

　　4. Small-business groups are lobbying to defeat proposed federal legislation that would substantially raise the federal minimum wage. This opposition is surprising since the legislation they oppose would, for the first time, exempt all small businesses from paying any minimum wage.

　　Which of the following, if true, would best explain the opposition of small-business groups to the proposed legislation?

　　(A) Under the current federal minimum-wage law, most small businesses are required to pay no less than the minimum wage to their employees.

　　(B) In order to attract workers, small companies must match the wages offered by their larger competitors, and these competitors would not be exempt under the proposed laws.

　　(C) The exact number of companies that are currently required to pay no less than the minimum wage but that would be exempt under the proposed laws is unknown.

　　(D) Some states have set their own minimum wages—in some cases, quite a bit above the level of the minimum wage mandated by current federal law—for certain key industries.(B)

　　(E) Service companies make up the majority of small businesses and they generally employ more employees per dollar of revenues than do retail or manufacturing businesses.

　　5. Reviewer: The book Art’s Decline argues that European painters today lack skills that were common among European painters of preceding centuries. In this the book must be right, since its analysis of 100 paintings, 50 old and 50 contemporary, demonstrates convincingly that none of the contemporary paintings are executed as skillfully as the older paintings.

　　Which of the following points to the most serious logical flaw in the reviewer’s argument?

　　(A) The paintings chosen by the book’s author for analysis could be those that most support the book’s thesis.

　　(B) There could be criteria other than the technical skill of the artist by which to evaluate a painting.

　　(C) The title of the book could cause readers to accept the book’s thesis even before they read the analysis of the paintings that supports it.

　　(D) The particular methods currently used by European painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used by painters in other parts of the world.(A)

　　(E) A reader who was not familiar with the language of art criticism might not be convinced by the book’s analysis of the 100 paintings.

　　6. The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs can be recouped in later sales, the current 20 years of protection provided by patents should be extended in the case of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries new-product development continues despite high development costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.

　　Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the pharmaceutical industry’s argument against the challenge made above?

　　(A) No industries other than the pharmaceutical industry have asked for an extension of the 20-year limit on patent protection.

　　(B) Clinical trials of new drugs, which occur after the patent is granted and before the new drug can be marketed, often now take as long as 10 years to complete.

　　(C) There are several industries in which the ratio of research and development costs to revenues is higher than it is in the pharmaceutical industry.

　　(D) An existing patent for a drug does not legally prevent pharmaceutical companies from bringing to market alternative drugs, provided they are sufficiently dissimilar to the patented drug.(B)

　　(E) Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in products—for example, in the computer and electronics industries—for which patent protection is often very ineffective.

　　Questions 7-8 are based on the following.

　　Bank depositors in the United States are all financially protected against bank failure because the government insures all individuals’ bank deposits. An economist argues that this insurance is partly responsible for the high rate of bank failures, since it removes from depositors any financial incentive to find out whether the bank that holds their money is secure against failure. If depositors were more selective, then banks would need to be secure in order to compete for depositors’ money.

　　7. The economist’s argument makes which of the following assumptions?

　　(A) Bank failures are caused when big borrowers default on loan repayments.

　　(B) A significant proportion of depositors maintain accounts at several different banks.

　　(C) The more a depositor has to deposit, the more careful he or she tends to be in selecting a bank.

　　(D) The difference in the interest rates paid to depositors by different banks is not a significant factor in bank failures.(E)

　　(E) Potential depositors are able to determine which banks are secure against failure.

　　25 Minutes 16 Questions

　　1. The local board of education found that, because the current physics curriculum has little direct relevance to today’s world, physics classes attracted few high school students. So to attract students to physics classes, the board proposed a curriculum that emphasizes principles of physics involved in producing and analyzing visual images.

　　Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to expect that the proposed curriculum will be successful in attracting students?

　　(A) Several of the fundamental principles of physics are involved in producing and analyzing visual images.

　　(B) Knowledge of physics is becoming increasingly important in understanding the technology used in today’s world.

　　(C) Equipment that a large producer of photographic equipment has donated to the high school could be used in the proposed curriculum.

　　(D) The number of students interested in physics today is much lower than the number of students interested in physics 50 years ago.(E)

　　(E) In today’s world the production and analysis of visual images is of major importance in communications, business, and recreation.

　　2. Many companies now have employee assistance programs that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop smoking. These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Therefore, these programs benefit the company as well as the employee.

　　Which of the following, if true, most significantly strengthens the conclusion above?

　　(A) Physical fitness programs are often the most popular services offered to employees.

　　(B) Studies have shown that training in stress management is not effective for many people.

　　(C) Regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart disease and provides them with increased energy.

　　(D) Physical injuries sometimes result from entering a strenuous physical fitness program too quickly.(C)

　　(E) Employee assistance programs require companies to hire people to supervise the various programs offered.

　　3. Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.

　　Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

　　(A) The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last year.

　　(B) The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.

　　(C) The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.

　　(D) Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.(A)

　　(E) The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

　　4. Small-business groups are lobbying to defeat proposed federal legislation that would substantially raise the federal minimum wage. This opposition is surprising since the legislation they oppose would, for the first time, exempt all small businesses from paying any minimum wage.

　　Which of the following, if true, would best explain the opposition of small-business groups to the proposed legislation?

　　(A) Under the current federal minimum-wage law, most small businesses are required to pay no less than the minimum wage to their employees.

　　(B) In order to attract workers, small companies must match the wages offered by their larger competitors, and these competitors would not be exempt under the proposed laws.

　　(C) The exact number of companies that are currently required to pay no less than the minimum wage but that would be exempt under the proposed laws is unknown.

　　(D) Some states have set their own minimum wages—in some cases, quite a bit above the level of the minimum wage mandated by current federal law—for certain key industries.(B)

　　(E) Service companies make up the majority of small businesses and they generally employ more employees per dollar of revenues than do retail or manufacturing businesses.

　　5. Reviewer: The book Art’s Decline argues that European painters today lack skills that were common among European painters of preceding centuries. In this the book must be right, since its analysis of 100 paintings, 50 old and 50 contemporary, demonstrates convincingly that none of the contemporary paintings are executed as skillfully as the older paintings.

　　Which of the following points to the most serious logical flaw in the reviewer’s argument?

　　(A) The paintings chosen by the book’s author for analysis could be those that most support the book’s thesis.

　　(B) There could be criteria other than the technical skill of the artist by which to evaluate a painting.

　　(C) The title of the book could cause readers to accept the book’s thesis even before they read the analysis of the paintings that supports it.

　　(D) The particular methods currently used by European painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used by painters in other parts of the world.(A)

　　(E) A reader who was not familiar with the language of art criticism might not be convinced by the book’s analysis of the 100 paintings.

　　6. The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs can be recouped in later sales, the current 20 years of protection provided by patents should be extended in the case of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries new-product development continues despite high development costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.

　　Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the pharmaceutical industry’s argument against the challenge made above?

　　(A) No industries other than the pharmaceutical industry have asked for an extension of the 20-year limit on patent protection.

　　(B) Clinical trials of new drugs, which occur after the patent is granted and before the new drug can be marketed, often now take as long as 10 years to complete.

　　(C) There are several industries in which the ratio of research and development costs to revenues is higher than it is in the pharmaceutical industry.

　　(D) An existing patent for a drug does not legally prevent pharmaceutical companies from bringing to market alternative drugs, provided they are sufficiently dissimilar to the patented drug.(B)

　　(E) Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in products—for example, in the computer and electronics industries—for which patent protection is often very ineffective.

　　Questions 7-8 are based on the following.

　　Bank depositors in the United States are all financially protected against bank failure because the government insures all individuals’ bank deposits. An economist argues that this insurance is partly responsible for the high rate of bank failures, since it removes from depositors any financial incentive to find out whether the bank that holds their money is secure against failure. If depositors were more selective, then banks would need to be secure in order to compete for depositors’ money.

　　7. The economist’s argument makes which of the following assumptions?

　　(A) Bank failures are caused when big borrowers default on loan repayments.

　　(B) A significant proportion of depositors maintain accounts at several different banks.

　　(C) The more a depositor has to deposit, the more careful he or she tends to be in selecting a bank.

　　(D) The difference in the interest rates paid to depositors by different banks is not a significant factor in bank failures.(E)

　　(E) Potential depositors are able to determine which banks are secure against failure.