KM - StrengthenKM - Strengthen and Weaken - PDF and Weaken

Stre n gth e n/Weo ke n
Qu
esti o ns
Strengthen/UUea ken
Questions
Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some
questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question, However, you are to choose the best answer; that
is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not make assumptions that are by
commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage.
L Companypresident: Grievance procedures should
allow the grievant and the respondent to select a
mediator who will attempt to work out a
resolution. Grievances are costly and mediation
could help to resolve many of them. However,
beginning mediation fairly late in the process, as
our human resources department proposes, would
be relatively ineffective.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
justify the company president's criticism of the
human resources department's proposal?
(A) People who file grievances are unreasonabie
and would resist listening to a mediator.
(B) Many disagreements are already being solved
without the intervention of a mediator.
(C) Adversaries'positions tend to harden as a
dispute wears on, making compromise less
likely.
(D) Respondents tend to be supervisors who
cannot give in to employees without losing
authority.
(E) The mediation process itself is likely to cost as
much in time and money as the present
grievance procedures.
Advertisement: At most jewelry stores, the person
assessing the diamond is the person selling it, so
you can see why an assessor might say that a
diamond is of higher quality than it really is. But
because all diamonds sold at Gem World are
certified in writing, you're assured of a fair price
when purchasing a diamond from Gem World.
The reasoning in the advertisement would be most
strengthened if rvhich one of the following were true?
(A) Many jewelry stores other than Gem World
also provide written certification of the
quality of their diamonds.
(B)
The certifications of diamonds at Gem World
are written by people with years of
experience in appraising gems.
(C) The diamonds sold at Gem World are generally
ofhigher quality than those sold at other
jewelry stores.
(D) The diamond market is so volatile that prices of
the most expensive diamonds can change by
hundreds of dollars from one day to the next.
(E)
The written certifications of diamonds at Gm
World are provided by an independent
company of gem specialists.
In response to office workers'worries about the
health risks associated with using video display
terminals (VDTs),
researchers asked office rvorkers ro
estimate both the amount of time they had spent
using VDTs and how often they had suffered
headaches over the previous year. According to the
survey, frequent VDT users suffered from headaches
more often than other office workers did, leading
researchers to conclude that VDTs cause headaches.
Which one of the following, if true, most undermin.r
fr
the researchers' conclusion?
(A) Few ofthe offce workers surveyed participated
in regular health programs during the year in
question.
(B) In their study the researchers failed to ask the
workers to distinguish between severe
migraine headaches and mild headaches.
(C) Previous studies have shown that the glare
from VDT screens causes some users to suffer
eyestrain.
(D) Office workers who experienced frequent
headaches were more likely than other
workers to overestimate how much time they
spent using VDTs.
(E)
Office workers who regularly used VDTs
experienced the same amount of
.iob-related
stress as workers who did not use VDTs.
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Source: PrepTest 37, Sectlon 2,
Queetlons l, 6, and !4
229
4. A plausible explanation ofthe disappearance ofthe
dinosaurs is what is known as the comet theory. A
large enough comet colliding with Earth could have
caused a cloud of dust that enshrouded the planet
and cooled the climate long enough to result in the
dinosaurs' demise.
Which one of the following statements, if true, most
seriously weakens the argument?
(A) One of the various schools of paleontology
adheres to an explanation for the
disappearance of the dinosaurs that is
significantly different from the comet theory.
(B) Various species of animals f:rom the same era
as the dinosaurs and similar to them in
physiology and habitat did not become
. extinct when the dinosaurs did.
(C) It cannot be determined from a study of
dinosaur skeletons whether the animals died
from the effects of a dust cloud.
Many other animal species from the era of the
dinosaurs did not become extinct at the same
time the dinosaurs did.
The consequences for vegetation and animals
of a comet colliding with Earth are not fully
understood.
5. Nutritionisl Recently a caze has developed for
home juicers,
$300 machines that separate the
pulp of fruits and vegetables from the juice
they contain. Outrageous claims are being
made about the benefits of these devices:
drinking the juice
they produce is said to help
one lose weight or acquire a clear complexion,
to aid digestion, and even to prevent cancer.
But there is no indication that juice
separated
from the putp of the fruit or vegetable has any
properties that it does not have when
unseparated. Save your money. If you want
carrotjuice, eat a carrot.
Which one of the following, if true, most calls into
question the nutritionistt argument?
(A) Most people find it much easier to consume a
given quantity of nutrients in liquid form
than to eat solid foods containing the same
quantity of the same nutrients.
Drinking juice
from home juicers
is less
healthy than is eating fruits and vegetables
because such juice
does not contain the fiber
that is eaten if one consumes the entire fruit
or vegetable.
To,most people who would be tempted to buy
a home juicer,
9300 would not be a major
exPense.
The nutritionist was a member of a panel that
extensively evaluated early prototypes of
home
iuicers.
Vitamin pills that supposedly contain
nutrients available elsewhere only in fruits
and vegetables often contain a form of those
compounds that cannot be as easily
metabolized as the varieties found in fruits
and vegetables.
Sources.' Prepiest 37, Sectlon 4, Questlon t8
PrepTe* 38, Seetlon 7, Questlon 2
(D)
(E)
(B)
(c)
(D)
(E)
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Stren gth en/Weo ke n
Qu
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(B)
(c)
Several companies will soon offer personalized
electronic news services, delivered via cable or
telephone lines and displayed on a television. People
using these services can view continually updated
stories on those topics for which they subscribe.
Since these services will provide people with the
information they are looking for more quickly and
efficiently than printed newspapers can, newspaper
sales will decline drastically if these services become
widely available.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument?
(A) In reading newspapers, most people not only
look for stories on specific topics but also like
to idly browse through headlines or pictures
for amusing stories on unfamiliar or unusual
topics.
Companies offering personalized electronic
news services will differ greatly in what they
charge for access to their services, depending
on howwide a range oftopics they cover.
Approximately 30 percent of people have never
relied on newspapers for information but
instead have always relied on nelvs programs
broadcast on television and radio.
The average monthly cost of subscribing to
several channels on a personalized electronic
news service will approximately equal the cost
of a month's subscription to a newspaper.
Most people who subscribe to personalized
electronic news services will not have to pay
extra costs for installation since the services
will use connections installed by cable and
telephone companies.
7 , Solicitor; Loux named Zembaty executor of her
will. Her only beneficiary r^ras her grandson, of
whom she was very fond. Prior to distributing
the remainder to the beneficiary, Zembaty was
legally required to choose which properties in
the estate should be sold to clear the estate's
healy debts. Loux never expressed any
particular desire about the Stoke Farm, which
includes the only farmland in her estate. Thus,
it is unlikely that Loux would have had any
objection to Zembaty's having sold it rather
than having transferred it to her grandson.
Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the
solicitor's argument?
(A)
The estate's debts could not have been cleared
without selling the Stoke Farm.
(B) Loux repeatedly told her grandson that she
would take care of him in her will.
(C) Louxwas well aware of the legal requirements
the executor of her will would have to satisfy.
(D) The Stoke Farm was the main cause of the
estate's debts.
(E) Loux's grandson had repeatedly expressed his
desire to own a farm.
8. Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of
many social ills, ranging from irritabfity 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 theyhad
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 todaythan did in the past ifthe
average number of hours worked per week
had not decreased.
(E) The extent of one's sleep deprivation is
proportional to the lengh of one's workday.
Source: PrepTest 36, Eectlon 3, Qucstlons 2, 5, and 7
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ISAT Mostery Practice
9.
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Peter: Because the leaves of mildly drought-stressed
plants are tougher in texture than the leaves of
abundantly watered plants, insects prefer to
feed on the leaves of abundantly watered
.
plants. Therefore, to minimize crop damage,
farmers should water crops only
just enough
to ensure that there is no substantial threat,
from a lack of water, to either the growth or
the yield of the crops.
Jennifer:
Indeed. In fact, a mildly drought-stressed
plant will divert a small amount of its
resources from normal growth to the
development of pesticidal toxins, but
abundantly watered plants will not.
Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens
Peter's argument?
The leaves of some crop plants are much
larger, and therefore absorb more water, than
the leaves of some other crop plants.
In industrialized nations there are more crops
that are abundantly watered than there are
crops grown under mild drought stress.
Insect damage presents a greater threat to crop
plants than does mild drought stress.
Farmers are not always able to control the
amount of water that their crops receive
when, for instance, there are rainstorms in the
areas where their crops are growing.
Mexican bean beetles are mor likely to feed
on the leaves of slightly drought-stressed
soybeans than oak lace bugs are to feed on the
leaves of abundantly watered soybeans.
10. A recent study suggests that Alzheimer's disease,
which attacks the human brain, may be caused by a
virus. In the study, blood from I 1 volunteers, each of
whom had the disease, was injected into rats. The
rats eventually exhibited symptoms of another
degenerative neurological disorder, Creutzfeldt-f akob
disease, which is caused by a virus. This led the
scientist who conducted the study to conclude that
Alzheimer's disease might be caused by a virus.
Which one of the following statements, if true, would
most strengthen the scientist s hypothesis that
Alzheimer's disease is caused by a virus?
(A) Alzheimer's disease in rats is not caused by a
virus.
(B) Creutzfeldt-|akob disease affects only motor
nerves in rats'limbs, not their brains.
(C) The virus that causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
in rats has no effect on humans,
(D) The symptoms known, respectively, as
Creutzfeldt-Iakob disease and Alzheimer's
disease are different manifestations of the
same disease.
(E) Blood from rats with Creutzfeldt-|akob disease
produced no symptoms of the disease when
injected into other expetimental rats.
11. Marmosets are the only primates other than humans
ffu
known to display a preference for using one hand
-
rather than the other. Significantly more marmosets
are left-handed than are right-handed. Since infant
marmosets engage in much irnitative behavior,
researchers hypothesize that it is by imitation that
infant marmosets learn which hand to use, so that
offspring reared by left-handed parents generally
share their parents' handedness.
Which one of the following, if true, most supports
the researchers' hypothesis?
(A) A study conducted on adult marmosets
revealed that many were right-handed.
(B)
Right-handed marmosets virtually all have at
least one sibling who is left-handed.
(C) According to the study,33 percent of
marmosets are ambidextrous, showing equal
facility using either their left hand or their
right hand.
(D) Ninety percent of humans are right-handed,
but those who are left-handed are likely to
have at least one left-handed parent.
(E) Marmosets raised in captivity with right-
handed adult marmosets to whom thev are
not related are more likely to be right-iranded
than left-handed.
9ourcee: Preplest 36, S*tlon 3,
Questlon 73,
Prcpl$t 35, Sectlon 4, Questlon t0
Preplest 33, Sectton
L Queetlon 7
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I(APLAN
232
Str e n gth e n/llleo ke n
Quesfions
12.
|uan:
Unlike the ancient Olympic games on which
they are based, the modern Olympics include
professional as well as amateur athletes. But
since amateurs rarely have the financial or
material resources available to professionals, it
is unlikely that the amateurs will ever offer a
serious challenge to professionals in those
Olympic events in which amateurs compete
against professionals' Hence, the presence of
professional athletes violates the spirit of
fairness essential to the games.
Michiko: But the idea of the modern Olympics is to
showcase the rvorld's finest athletes, regardless
of their backgrounds or resources. Hence,
professionals should be allowed to compete.
undermines luaris
argument?
(A) In general, amateur athletes tend to
outnumber professional athletes in the
modern OIYmPics.
(B) In certain events in the modern Olympics the
best few competitors are amateurs; in certain
other events the best few competitors are
professionals.
(C) The concept of "amateur" and "professional"
athletics would have been unfamiliar to the
ancient Greeks on whose games the modern
Olympics are based.
In the modern Olympics there has been no
noticeable correlation between the financial
or material resources expended on the
training of individual athletes and the
eventual performance of those athletes.
Many amateur athletes who take part in
international competitions receive no
financial or material support from the
governments of the countries that the
amateurs represent.
t 3. A recent national study of the trash discarded in
several representative areas confirmed that plastics
constitute a smaller proportion of all trash than
paper products do, whether the trash is measured by
weight or by volume. The damage that a given weight
or volume of trash does to the environment is
roughly the same whether the trash consists of
plastics or paper products. Contrary to popular
opinion, therefore, the current use of plastics actually
does less harm to the environment nationwide than
that of paper products.
the argument?
(A) A given weight of paper product may increase
in volume after manufacture and before being
discarded as trash.
(B) Accordiag to popular opinion, volume is a
more important consideration than weight in
A
predicting the impact of a given quantity of
)^(
trash on the environment.
(C) The sum of damage caused to the environment
by paper trash and by plastic trash is greater
than that caused by any other sort of trash
that was studied.
(D) The production of any paper product is more
harmful to the environment than is the
production of an equal weight or volume of
any plastic.
(E) The proportion of plastic trash to paper trash
varies from one part of the country to
another.
There should be a greater use of gasohol. Gasohol is a
mixture of alcohol and gasoline, and has a higher
octane rating and fewer carbon monoxide emissions
than straight gasoline. Burning gasohol adds no
more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than plants
remol by photosynthesis.
Each of the following, if true, strengthens the
argument above EXCEPT:
(A) Cars run less well on gasoline than they do on
gasohol.
(B) Since less gasoline is needed with the use of
gasohol, an energy shortage is less likely.
(C) Cars burn on the average slightly more gasohol
per kilometer than they do gasoline.
(D) Gasohol is cheaper to produce and hence costs
less at the pump than gasoline.
(E) Burning gasoline adds more carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere than plants can remove.
Sources: PrepTest 33, Sectlon 7,
Queetlons
4 and 6
PrcpTest 29, Sectlon 7, Questlon 3
KAPTA9
233
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ISAT Mostery Prodice
Automobile-emission standards are enforced through
annual inspection. At those inspections cars are testid
while idling; that is, standing still with their engines
running. Testing devices measure the levels of various
pollutants as exhaust gases leave the tail pipe.
Which one of the following, if true, most strongly
indicates that current enforcement of automobile-
emission standards might be ineffective in
controlling overall pollutant levels?
(A) As an emission-control technology approaches
its limits, any additional gains in effectiveness
become progressively more expensive.
(B) The testing devices used must be recalibrated
frequently to measure pollutant levels with
acceptable accuracy.
(C)
The adjustments needed to make a car idle
cleanly make it likely that the car will emit
high levels of pollutants when moving at
highway speeds.
16.
Ianer l'elevision programs and movies that
depict violence among
.eenagers
are extremely
popular. Given how influential these media
are, we have good reason to believe that these
depictions cause young people to engage in
violent behavior. Hence, depictions
-of
violence among teenagers sliould be prohibited
from movies and telev,ision p.og.u-i,
if only
in those programs and movies promoted to
'
young audiences.
Maurice-: But you are recommending
nothing short
of censorship! Besides which, your claim that
television and movie depictions of violence
cause violence is mistaken: violence among
young people predates movies and televisi6n
by centuries.
fane's argument?
The most violent characters depicted in
movies and on television programs are adult
characters who are portrayedly
adult actors,
The movies that have been'shorvn
to have thc
most influence on young people,s
behavior
are.those that are promoted
to young
audiences.
The people who make the most profits in the
movie and television industry ire those who
can successfully promote their work to both
young and old audiences.
Many adolescents who engage in violent
behavior had already displayed such behavior
betore they lvere exposed to violence in
movies.
Among the producers who make both movies
and television programs,
many voluntarily
restrict the subject matter of films directed
toward young audiences.
(E)
(A)
(D)
(B)
(c)
(D)
(E)
Most car owners ask their mechanics to make
sure that their cars are in compliance with
emission standards,
When emission standards are set, no
allowances are made for older cars.
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Sources: Prcplest 29, Eection l,
euestion 24
Prcplest 29, Sectton
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euestion 6
234
Stre n gth en/Wea ke n
Qu
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17. In Yasukawa's month-long study of blackbirds, the
percentage of smaller birds that survived the
duration of the study exceeded the percentage of
larger birds that survived. However, Yasukawa's
conclusion that size is a determinant of a blackbird's
chances of survival over a month-long period is
probably misiaken, since smaller blackbirds are
generally younger than larger ones.
Which one of the following, if true, indicates that the
criticism ofYasukawa's research is based on a
misunderstanding of it?
(A) Yasukarva compared the survival chances of
two different species of blackbirds, a larger
and a small species, rather than of different
sizes of birds within one species,
(B) Yasukawa examined blackbirds in their natural
habitat rather than in captivity.
(C) Yasukawa did not compare the survival
chances of blackbirds with those of other
kinds of birds.
18. Advances in photocopying technology allow criminals
with no printing expertise to counterfeit paper
currency. C)ne standard anticounter{eiting technique,
microprinting, prints paper currency with tiny designs
that cannot be photocopied distinctly. Although
counterfeits of microprinted currency can be detected
easily by experts, such counterfeits oftea circslate
widely before being detected. An alternative, though
more costly, printing technique would print currency
rvith a special irk. Currency printed with the ink would
change color depending on how ordinary light strikes
it, whereas photocopied counterfeits of such currency
would not. Because this technique would allow anyone
to detect photocopied counterfeit currency easiill it
should be adopted instead of microprinting despite the
exPense.
undermines the argument?
(D)
(E)
Yasukawa noted that the larger blackbirds had
more success in fights than did the smaller
blackbirds.
Yasukawa noted that the larger blackbirds
(B)
tended to have more firmly established social
hierarchies than did the smaller blackbirds,
(c)
(A) The longer the interval between the time
"
)k
counterfeit bill
passes
into circulation and the
time the counterfeit is detected, the more
difficult it is for law enforcement officials to
apprehend the counterfeiter.
Sophisticated counterfeiters could produce
currency printed with the special inkbut cannot
duplicate microprinted currency exactly.
Further advances in photocopying technology
will dramatically increase the level of detail
that photocopies can reproduce.
The largest quantities of counterfeit currency
now entering circulation are produced by
ordinary criminals who engage in
counterfeiting only briefly.
It is very difficult to make accurate estimates of
what the costs to society would be if large amor.rnts
of counterfeit currenry circulated widely.
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Sources; PtepTest 27,Section 7,
question
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PrepTest 25, Sectlon 2, Question 5
I(APLAN
235
ISAT Mastery Practice
19. The Board of Trustees of the Federici Art Museum
has decided to sell some works from its collection in
order to raise the funds necessary to refurbish its
galleries. Although this may seem like a drastic
remedy, the curator has long maintained that among
the paintings that the late Ms' Federici collected for
the museum were several unsuccessful immature
works by Renoir and Czanne that should be sold
because they are of inferior quality and so add
nothing to the overall quality of the museum's
collection. Hence, the board's action will not detract
from the quality of the museum's collection.
argument?
The directors of an art museum can generally
raise firnds for refurbishing the building in
rvhich the museurt's collection is housed by
means other than selling part of its collection.
I'he quality of an art collection is determined
not just by the quality of its paintings, but by
*-hat its collection demonstrates about the
development of the artistic talent and ideas of
the artists represented.
The immature works by Renoir and Czanne
that were purchased by Ms. Federici \i/ere at
that time thought by some critics to be
unimportant
juvenile works.
Those people who speculate in art by
purchasing artworks merely to sell them at
much higher prices welcome inflation in the
art market, but curators of art museums
regret the inflation in the art market.
The best work of a great artist demands much
higher prices in the art market than the rvorst
work of that same artist.
A neighborhood group plans to protest the closing of
the neighborhood's only recreation center on the
grounds that to do so would leave the neighborhood
without local access to a recreation center. "Our
neighborhood already has the most residents per
center of any neighborhood in the city," complained
one resident, "and closing this center would make the
situation unacceptable since access to recreational
facilities is a necessity for this neighborhood."
Each of the following, if true, weakens the resident's
argument EXCEPT:
(A)
A large number of the neighborhood's
residents are unable to travel outside their
locality to gain access to recreational facilities.
(B) Children, the main users of recreational
facilities, make up a disproportionately small
segment of the neighborhood's population.
(C) Often the recreation center in the
neighborhood is open but not being used.
(D) Programs that are routinely filled at other
recreation centers must be canceled at the
neighborhood's recreation center due to lack
of interest.
(E) As people become more involved in computers
and computer games, recreation centers are
becoming increasingly less important.
Most small children are flat-footed. This failure of
the foot to assume its natural arch, if it persists past
early childhood can sometimes result in discomfort
and even pain later in life. Traditionalll flat-footedness
in children has been treated by having the children
wear special shoes that give extra support to the foot,
in order to foster the development of the arch.
Which one of the follorving, if true, most calls into
question the efficacy of the traditional treatment
described above?
(A) Many small children who have normal feet
wear the same special shoes as those worn by
flat-footed children.
(B)
Studies of flat-footed adults show that flat feet
are subject to fewer stress fractures than are
feet with unusually high arches.
(C) Although most children s flat-footedness is
corrected by the time the children reach
puberty, some people remain flat-footed for
life.
(D)
Flat-footed children who do not wear the
special shoes are as likely to develop natural
arches as are flat-footed children who lyear
the special shoes.
(E) Some children who are not flat-footed have hip
and lower leg bones that are rotated excessively
either inward or outward.
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Sources: PrepTesl 25, Eection 4,
Questlon !0
PrepTest 24, Sectlon 2, Questlon 7
PrepTest 22, Sectlon 2, Questlan
4
I(APLAN
236
Stre n gth en/We o ken
Questi
o n s
22. Antinuclear activist: The closing of the nuclear
power plant is a victory for the antinuclear
cause. It also represents a belated
acknowledgment by the power industry that
they cannot operate such plants safely.
Nuclear power plant manager: It represents no
such thing. The availability of cheap power
from nonnuclear sources, together with the
cost of mandated safety inspections and safety
repairs, made continued operation
uneconomic. Thus it was not safety
considerations but economic considerations
that dictated the plant's closing.
Which one of the followiag, if true, most strongly
supports the activist's claim of victory?
(A) The plant had reached the age at which its
operating license expired.
The mandate for inspections and repairs
mentioned by the manager was recently
enacted as a result of pressure ftom
antinuclear groups.
The plant would not have closed if cheap
power from nonnuclear sources had not been
available.
(D) Per unit of electricity produced, the plant had
the highest operating costs of any nuclear
power plant.
(E) The plant that closed had been able to provide
backup power to an electrical network"rhen
parts of the network became overloaded.
23. A number of seriously interested amateur
astronomers have tested the new Exodus refractor
telescope, With it, they were able to observe in crisp
detail planetaryfeatures that were seen only as{uzzy
images in their 8-inch (approximately 20-centimeter)
Newtonian telescopes, even though the 8-inch
telescopes, with their wider apertures, gather more
light than the 4-inch (approximately l0-centimeter)
Exodus. Given these amateur astronomers'
observational findings, any serious amateur
astronomer ought to choose the Exodus if she or he
is buying a telescope for planetary observation.
Which one of the following most seriously weakens
the argument?
(A) Telescopes of certain types will not perform
well unless they have been precisely
collimated, a delicate adjustment requiring
deftness.
Image quality is only one of several different
factors that, taken together, should determine
the choice of a telescope for planetary
observation.
Sourees: PrepTest 2!, Sectlan 2, Questlon 23
PrepTest 27, Section 3, Questlan
2!
(c)
(B)
(B)
(D)
(E)
(C) Many serious amateur astronomers have no
F
intention of buying a telescope for planetary
O
observation. otl
The comparisons made by the amateur
astronomers were based on observations
made during several different observation
sessions.
The substance used to make the lenses of
Exodus telescopes differs from that used in
the lenses of other telescopes.
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I(A PLAN
237
26.
24. A director of the Rem Pharmaceutical Company
argued that the development costs for new vaccines
that the health department has requested should be
subsidized by the government, since the marketing of
vaccines promised to be less profitable than the
marketing of any other pharmaceutical product. In
support of this claim the director argued that sales of
vaccines are likely to be lower since each vaccine is
administered to a patient only once, whereas
medicines that combat diseases and chronic illnesses
are administered many times to each patient.
support offered by the company director for the
claim concerning the marketing of vaccines?
(A) Vaccines are administered to many more people
than are most other pharmaceutical products'
(B) Many of the diseases that vaccines are
designed to prevent can be successfully
treated by medicines.
(C) Pharmaceuticalcompaniesoccasionally
market products that are neither medicines
nor vaccines.
(D) Pharmaceutical companies other than the Repi
Pharmaceutical Company produce vaccines.
(E) The cost of administering a vaccine is rarely
borne by the pharmaceutical company that
manufactures that vaccine,
Someone who gets sick from eating a meal will often
develop a strong distaste for the one food in the meal
that had the most distinctive flavor, rvhether or not
that food caused the sickness' This phenomenon
explains why children are especially likely to develop
strong aYersions to some foods.
Which one of the following, if true, provides the
strongest support for the explanation?
(A) Children are more likely than adults to be
given meals composed of foods lacking
especially distinctive fl avors.
(B) Children are less likely than adults to see a
connection between their health and the
foods they eat.
(C) Children tend to have more acute taste and to
become sick more often than adults do'
(D) Children typically recover more slorvly than
adults do from sickness caused by food.
(E) Children are more likely than are adults to
refuse to eat unfamiliar foods.
Opponents of allowing triple-trailer trucls to use the
national highway system are wrong in claiming that
these trucks are more dangerous than other
commercial vehicles. In the western part of the
country, in areas where triple-trailers are now
permitted on some highlvays, for these vehicles the
rate of road accident fatalities per mile of travel is
lower than the national rate for other types of
commercial vehicles. Clearly, triple-trailers are safer
than other commercial vehicles.
Which one of the following, if true, most substantially
{A) It takes two smaller semitrailers to haul as
much weight as a single triple-trailer can.
(B) Ilighways in the sparsely populated West are
much less heavily traveled and consequently
are far safer than highways in the national
system as a whole.
(C) Opponents of the triple-trailers also once
::1":;1*iliT',i:*l.Ttff #"1:l*'
(D) In areas where the triple-trailers are permitted,
drivers need a special license to operate them.
(E) For triple-trailers the rate of road accident
fatalities per mile of travel was higher last
year than in the two previous years,
A newly developed light bulb is much more cost-
effective than conventional light bulbs: it costs only
about 3 times what a conventional light bulb costs
but it lasts up to l0 times as long as a conventional
light bulb. Despite the manufacturer's intense efforts
to publicize the advantages of the new bulb, one
analyst predicts that these new bultrs will prove to
sell very poorly.
Each of the following, if true, provides support for
the analyst's prediction EXCEPT:
(A) The light generated by the new bulb is in the
yellow range of the spectrum, a type of
artificial light most people find unappealing.
(B) Most people who purchase light bulbs prefer
to buy inexpensive light bulbs rather than
more durable but expensive light bulbs.
(C) A manufactuter of one brand of conventional
light bulb has advertised clairns that the new
light bulb uses more electricity than do
conventional iight buibs.
(D)
The new bulb is to be marketed in several
different quantities, ranging frorn packages
containing one bulb to packages containing
four bulbs.
(E) A competing manufacturer is about to
introduce a light bulb that lasts 10 times as
long as a conventional bulb but costs less than
a conventional bulb.
Sources: PrepTest 20, Section 7,
Questions 2 and
g
PrepTest 2O, Sectlon 4,
Questlons
3 and 5
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25.
238
28.
Str e n gth e n/ We o ke n
Qu esti o n s
For every 50 dogs that contract a certain disease, one
will die from it, A vaccine exists that is virtually 100
percent effective in preventing this disease. Since the
iisk of death from complications of vaccination is
one death per 5,000 vaccinations, it is therefore safer
for a dog to receive the vaccine than not to receive it.
Which one of the following would it be most helpful
to know in order to evaluate the argument?
(A) the total number of dogs that die each year
from all causes taken together
(B) whether the vaccine is effective against the
disease in household pets other than dogs
(C) the number of dogs that die each year from
diseases other than the disease in question
tD)
the likelihood that a dog will contract another
disease such as rabies
(E) the likelihood that an unvaccinated dog will
contract the disease in question
Public health will improve more quickly in the wake
of new medical discoveries if medical researchers
abandon their practice of waiting until their findings
are published in peer-reviewed
journals before
informing the press of important research results,
This is because the public release of new medical
information allows people to use that information in
order to improve their health, but the peer-review
process is unavoidablY verY slow
(A) Peer review often prevents the publication of
false conclusions drawn on the basis of poorly
conducted medical research.
(B) People often alter their life-styles on the basis
of nerv medical information made available
through the
Press.
(C) Some improvements in public health are due
to factors other than the discovery of new
medical information.
(D) Some newspapers would be willing to publish
the results of medical research before those
results have appeared in peer-reviewed
journals.
(E) Most peer-reviewed scientific
journals would
refuse to give up the practice of peer review.
30. Three major laundry detergent manutacturers have
concentrated their powdered detergents by reducing
the proportion of inactive ingredients in the detergeirt
formulas. The concentrated detergents will be sold irr
smaller packages. In explaining the change, the
manufacturers cited the desire to reduce cardboard
packaging and other production costs. Market
analysts predict that the decision of these three
manufacturers, who control 80 percent of the laundry
detergent market, will eventually bring about the
virtual disappearance of old-style bulky detergents.
supports the prediction made by the market analysts?
(A) Most smaller manufacturers of laundry
detergents will consider it too expensive to
retool factories for the production of the
smaller detergent packages.
29.
(B) Many consumers will be skeptical initially that
n
the recommended small amount of
tk
concentrated detergent will clean laundry as
effectively as the larger amount of the old-
style detergent did.
Some analysts believe that consumers will have
to pay a greater cost per load of laundry to
use the new concentrated detergent than they
did to use the old-style detergent.
Major supermarkets have announced that they
will not charge the detergent nranufacturers
less to display their detergents, even though
the detergents will take up less shelf space.
Consumers are increasingly being persuaded
by environmental concerns to buy
concentrated detergents when available in
order to reduce cardboard waste'
(c)
(D)
(E)
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Sources.' PrepTest 20, Sectlon 4, Queetlon
7
PrepTest 17, Sectlon 2, Queslion
x'3
PrcpTest 77, Sectlon 3, Questlon
I
I(APLAN
239
ISAT Mastery Proctice
33.
@
Ouestions 31.-32
Although tales of wonder and the fantastic are iategral
to all world literatures, only recently has the fantasy genre
had a comrnercial resurgence in North America. During the
last 20 years, sales of fantasy-fiction books written for
adults have gone from 1 to l0 percent of total adult-fiction
sales. At the same time, the number of favorable reviews of
fantasy books has increased markedly. Some booksellers
say that the increased sales of fantasy books written for
adults can be traced to the increased favorable attention
given the genre by book reviewers.
3 l. Which one of the following, if true, undermines the
booksellers' explanation of the growth in sales of
fantasy-fiction books for adults?
(A) Publishers often select a manuscript on the
basis of whether they think that the published
book will receive favorable reviews by trook
reviewers.
(B) Few readers of fantasy fiction read book
reviews, and even fewer select books to
purchase on the basis of those reviews.
(C)
Most booksellers are aware of what maior
book reviewers have written about reiently
published books.
(D) Although the increase in the percentage of
fantasy books sold has been substantial,
publishers estimate that sales could increase
even further,
(E) Many of the book reviews of new fantasy-
fiction novels also mention great fantasy
novels ofthe past.
32. Which one of the following, if true, most strongly
supports the booksellers'explanation of the growth
in sales offantasy-fiction books for adults?
(A) Many experts report that on average the
reading level of book buyers has declined over
the past 20 years.
(B) Because life during the past 20 years has
become complex and difficult, many readers
have come to prefer the happy endings that
fantasy fiction often provides.
iC)
Some fantasy publishers take advantage of the
popularity of certain books by commissioning
similar books.
(D) Because few readers of mystery novels were
buyrng fantasy fiction, 10 years ago the major
publishers of fantasy fiction created an
advertising campaign directed specifically at
those readers.
(E) After fantasy fiction began to be favorably
reviewed by respected critics 20 years ago,
book buyers began to regard fantasy books as
suitable reading for adults.
Advertisement: Most power hedge trimmers on the
market do an adequate job
of trimming
hedges, but many power hedge trimmers are
dangerous to operate and can cause serious
injury when used by untrained operators.
Bolter Industries'hedge trimmer has been
tested by National Labotatories, the most
trusted name in safety testing. So you know, if
you buy a Bolter's, you are buying a power
hedge trimmer whose safety is assured.
The answer to which one of the following questions
would be most usefiil in evaluating the truth of the
conclusion drawn in the advertisement?
Has National Laboratories performed safefy
tests on other machines made by Bolter
Industries?
How important to the average buyer of a
power hedge trimrner is safety of operation?
What were the results of National
Laboratories' tests of Bolter Industriest hedge
trimmer?
fue there safer ways of trimming a hedge than
using a power hedge trimmer?
Does any other power hedge trimmer on the
market do a better job
of trimming hedges
than does Bolter Industries'hedge trimmer?
(A)
(B)
(c)
(D)
(E)
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Sorrrces; PrepTest 77, Sectlon 3, euesfjons !7 and lg
PrepTest 7O, Section 7, Question 6
240
34,
Ouestions 34-35
A physician who is too thorough in conducting a
medical checkup is likely to subject the patient to the
discomfort and expense of unnecessary tests. One who is
not thorough enough is likely to miss some serious
problem and therefore give the patient a false sense of
security. It is difficult for physicians to judge exactly how
thorough they should be. Therefore, it is generally unwise
for patients to have medical checkups when they do not
feel ill.
seriously weaken the argument in the passage?
Some serious diseases in their early stages have
symptoms that physicians can readily detect,
although patients are not aware of any
problem.
Under the Dressure of reduced
reimbursements, physicians have been
reducing the average amount of time they
spend on each medical checkup.
(C) Patients not medically trained are unable to
judge for themselves what degree of
thoroughness is appropriate for physicians in
conducting medical checkups.
(D)
Many people are financially unable to afford
regular medical checkups.
(E) Some physicians sometimes exercise exactly
the right degree of thoroughness in
performing a medical checkup.
Which one of the following, if true, would provide
the most support for the conclusion in the passage?
Not all medical tests entail significant
discomfort.
Sometimes, unnecessary medical tests cause
healthy people to become ill.
Some patients refuse to accept a physician's
assurance that the patient is healthy.
The more complete the series of tests
performed in a medical checkup, the more
likely it is that a rare disease, if present, will
be discovered.
Physicians can eliminate the need to order
certain tests by carefully questioning patients
and rejecting some possibi-lities on that basis.
36. The foreign minister of Zeria announced today that
her country was severing diplomatic relations with
Nandalo because of Nandalo's flagrant violations of
human rights. But Zeria continues to maintain
diplomatic relations with many countries that the
minister knows to have far worse human-rights
records than Nandalo does. Therefore, despite the
foreign minister's claim, this latest diplomatic move
cannot be explained exclusively by Zeria's
commitment to upholding human rights.
Which one of the follorving, if true, provides the
most support for the argument in the passage?
The country that currently buys most of
Zeria's exports recently suggested that it
might severely restrict its imports fromZeria
unless Zeria broke off diplomatic relations
with Nandalo.
Two weeks after the Zeian minister's
announcement, several other countries cited
human-rights violations as a reason for
severing diplomatic relations with Nandalo.
More countries have expressed concern over
reported human-rights violations in Nandalo
than have expressed concern over
human-rights violations in Zeria.
Nandalo has considered accusing Zefia of
violating the human rights of Nandalo
citizens living il Zeria.
The opposition party rn Zeia has long
advocated severing trade relations with
countries that systematically violate human
rights but has opposed severing diplomatic
relations.
(A)
(A)
(B)
(c)
(B)
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(E)
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(D)
(E)
Source: Prepfest 7O, Sectlon 4,
Questions l, 2, and tl
?41
LSAT Mostery Prodice
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J7 lhe number of aircraft collisions on the ground is
increasing because ofthe substantial increase in the
number Jf ttigtttt operated bv the airlines. Many of
the tatalittes that occur in such collisions are caused
not by the collision itself, but by an inherent flaw in
the cabin design of most aircraft, in which seats, by
restricting access to emergency exits, impede escape'
Therefore-, to reduce the total number of fatalities
that result annually from such collisions, the airlines
should be required to remove all seats that restrict
access to emergencY exits.
most suppori for the
ProPosal?
(A) The number of deaths that occurred in theater
fires because theater
Patrons
could not escape
was greatly reduced when theaters were
required to have aisles leading to each exit'
(B) Removing the seats that block emergency exits
on aircraft rvill require a costly refitting of
aircraft cabins.
(C) In the event of fire, public buildings equipped
with smoke detectors have fewer fatalities
than do public buildings not so equipped'
(D) In the event of collision, passengets on planes
rvith a smaller passenger capacity generally
suffer more serious injury than do passengers
on planes with a larger passnger capacity.
(E) The safetybelts attached to aircraft seats
function to
Protect
passengers from the full
force of impact in the event of a collision.
38. When a study of aspirin s ability to
Prevent
heart
attacks in humans yielded positive results'
researchers immediately submitted those results to a
medical
journal, which published them six weeks
later. Had the results been published sooner, many of
the heart attacks that occurred during the delay
could have been
Prevented.
The conclusion drawn above lvould be most
undermined if it were true that
(A) the medical
journal's
staff worked overtime in
order to publish the study's results as soon as
possible
(B) studies of aspirin's usefulness in reducing
heart attacks in laboratory animals remain
inconclusive
(C) people who take aspirin regularly suffer a
higher-than-average incidence of stomach
ulcers
(D) the medical
journalt officiai policy is to publish
articles only after atr extensive review process
(E) a person's risk of suffering a heart attack drops
only after that person has taken aspirin
regularly for two
Years
39. Policy Adviser: Freedom of speech is not only a
basic human right; it is also the only rational
policy for this government to adopt. When
ideas are openly aired, good ideas flourish, silly
proposals are easily recognized as such, and
dangerous ideas can be responded to by
rational argunrent. Nothing is ever gained by
forcing citizens to disseminate their thoughts
in secret.
strengthen the argument?
(A) Most citizens would tolerate some limits on
fteedom of speech.
(B) With or without a poliry of freedom of speech,
governments respond to dangerous ideas
irrationally.
(C) Freedom of religion and freedom of assembly
are also basic human rights that governments
must recognize,
(D) Governments are less likely to be overthrown if
they openly adopt a policy allowing freedom
of speech.
(E)
Great ideas have flourished in societies that
repress free speech as often as in those that
permit it.
40. The use of money causes a civilization to decline.
That this is true is shown by the way the troubles of
Western civilization began with the invention of
money. While real money
(gold
and sil'r'er) is bad
enough, imitation money
(paper money) is a horror.
The decline of Western civilization exactly parallels
the increasing use of money-both real money and
worthless paper money-as a substitute for things of
intrinsic value.
Which one of the following, if true, could contribute
most to a refutation of the argument?
(A) People prefer using lnoney to having a system
in *'hich goods are bartered for other goods
of equal intrinsic value.
(B)
Eastern cultures have used money' and Eastern
civilizations have not declined.
((,)
'Ihe
use of paper money encourages disregard
tbr the value of work because the money itself
has no intrinsic value.
(D) The rate of exchange befiveen gold and paper
money has tluctuated greatiy in Western
civilization.
(E) Some employers exchange goods for their
employees'services in order to avoid the
exchange of money.
Sources,' PrepTest 9, Section 2,
Questlon
I
PrepTest 9, Section 4, Questlan
2
PrepTest 6, Section 2, Questlon
21
Preplest 6, Sectlon 3, Questlon
2
) A) I(A PLAN)
--z
Stre n gth e n/We a ke n
Quesfrons
4t. In an attempt to counter complaints that a certain
pesticide is potentially hazardous to humans if
absorbed into edible plants, the pesticide
manufacturer has advertised that "ounce for ounce,
the active ingredient in this pesticide is less toxic
than the active ingredient in mouthwash."
Which one of the following, if true, indicates a
weakness in the manufacturer's argument?
(A) The ounce-for-ounce toxicity of the active
ingredient in mouthwash is less than that of
most products meant for external use by
humans, such as nail polish or other cosmetics'
(B) The quantity of toxins humans ingest by
consuming plants treated with the pesticide
is, on average, much higher than the quantity
of toxins humans ingest by using mouthwash.
(C) The container in which the pesticide is
packaged clearly identifies the toxic
ingredients and carries warnings about their
potential danger to humans.
(D) On average, the toxins
Present
in the pesticide
take longer than the toxins present in
mouthwash to reach harmful levels in the
human body.
(E) Since the government began to regulate the
pesticide industry over ten years ago, there
has been a growing awareness ofthe dangers
of toxins used in pesticides.
Recently, highly skilled workers in Eastern Europe
have left jobs in record numbers to emigrate to the
West. It is therefore likely that skilled workers who
remain in Eastern Europe are il high demand in
their home countries.
(A) Eastern European factories prefer to hire
workers from their home countries rather
than to import workers from abroad.
(B) Major changes in Eastern European economic
structures have led to the elimination of
many positions previously held by the highly
skilled emigrants.
(C) Many Eastern European emigrants need to
acquire new skills after finding rvork in the
West.
(D) Eastern European coutrtries plan to train many
nerv rvorkers to replace the highly skilled
workers lvho have emigrated.
(E) Because of the departure of skilled lvorkers
from Eastern European countries, many
positions are now unfilled.
43. Sedimentary rock hardens within the eartir"s crust as
layers of matter accumulate and the pressure of the
layers above converts the layers below into rock, One
particular layer of sedimentary rock that contains an
unusual amount of the element iridium has been
presented as support for a theory that a meteorite
collided with the earth some sixty million years ago.
Meteorites are rich in iridium compared to the
earth's crust, and geologists theorize that a
meteorite's collision with the earth raised a huge
cloud of iridium-laden dust. The dust, they say,
eventually settled to earth where it combined with
other matter, and as new layers accumulated above it,
it formed a layer of iridium-rich rock.
Which one of the following, if true, would counter
the claim that the iridium-rich layer described in the
passage is evidence for the meteorite collision theory?
The huge dust cloud described in the passage
would have blocked the transmission of
sunlight and lowered the earth's temperature.
A layer of sedimentary rock takes millions of
years to harden.
Layers of sedimentary rock are used to
determine the dates of prehistoric events
rvhether or not they contain iridium.
Sixty million years ago there was a surge in
volcanic activity in which the matter spewed
from the volcanoes formed huge iridium-rich
dust clouds.
The iridium deposit occurred at about the
same time that many animal species became
extinct and some scientists have theorized
that mass dinosaur extinctions were caused
by a meteorite collision.
Sourcesi Pseplest
Q
Sectfon 3, Questlon
4
PrepTest 5, Sectlon 7,
Questions
5 and !7
(A)
(B)
(c)
(E)
42.
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243
44. In essence, all rent-control policies involve specifrilg
a maximum rent that a landlord may charge for a
dwelling. The rationale for controlling rents is to
protect tenants in situations where limited supply
will cause rents to rise sharply in the face of
increased demand, However, although rent control
may help some tenants in the short run, it affects the
rental-housing market adversely in the long run
because landlords become reluctant to maintain the
quality of their existing properties and even more
reluctant to have additional rental-housing units
built.
Which one of the following, if true, best explains the
landlords' reluctance described above?
(A) Tenantspreferlow-qualityaccommodations
with rent control to high-quality
accommodations without it.
Rent control makes it very difficult for
landlords to achieve reasonable returns on
any investments in maintenance or in new
construction.
Rent control is a common practice even
though it does nothing to alleviate shortages
in rental housing.
Rent control is generally introduced for
politicai reasons and it takes political action
to have it lifted again.
Tenants prefer rent control to the alternative of
receiviag direct government subsidies toward
rents they cannot afford.
Several studies have shown that hospitals are not all
equally successfi.rl: patients are much more likely to
die in some of them than in others. Since the
hospitals in the studies had approximately equal
per-patient funding, differences in the quality of care
provided by hospital staff are probably responsible
for the differences in mortality rates.
Which one of the following, if true, casts the most
doubt on the conclusion drawn aboye?
(A) The staff in some of the hospitals studied had
earned more advanced degrees, on average,
than the staff in the other hospitals.
(B) Patient populations vary substantially in
average severity of illness from hospital to
hospital.
The average number of years that staff
members stay on at a given job varies
considerably from one hospital to another.
Approximately the same surgical procedures
were performed in each of the hospitals
covered in the studies.
Mortality rates for hospital patients do not
vary considerably from one region of t}re
country to another.
45.
(B)
(c)
(D)
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Soutc6s.'PrepTest 5,9ectlon l, Questlon 29
Question 2
244
Str e n gth e n
/VVe
a ke n
Qu
esfions
46. Compared to us, people who lived a century ago had
very few diversions to amuse them. Therefore, they
likely read much more than we do today.
Which one of the followi,ng statements, if true, most
weakens the arprment?
(A) Many of the books published a century ago
r+'ere of low literary quality.
(B) On average, people who lived a century ago
had considerably less leisure time than we do
today.
(C) The number of books sold today is larger than
it was a century ago.
(D) On the average, books today cost slightly less
in relation to other goods than they did a
century ago.
(E) One of the popular diversions of a century ago
was horse racing.
The vomeronasal organ
(VNO) is fourrd inside the
noses of various animals. \{hile its structural
development and function are clearer in other
animals, most humans have a Vl.{O that is detectable,
though only microscopically. \Vhen researchers have
been able to stimulate VNO cells il hurnans, the
subjects have reported experiencing subtle smell
sensations. It seems, then, that the VNO, though not
completely understood, is a functioning sensory
organ in most hurnans.
Which one of the follorving, if true, most weakens the
argument?
(A)
It is not known whether the researchers
succeeded in stinrulating only VNO cells in
the human subiects' noses.
(B) Relative to its occurrence in certain other
animals, the human VNC) appears to be
anatomically rudimentary and
underdeveloped.
(C) Certain chemicals that play a leading role in
the way the VNO functions in animals in
which it is highly developed do not appear to
play a role i-n its functioning in humans.
(D) Secondaryanatomicalstructuresassociated
with the VNO in other animals seem to be
absent in humans.
tE)
For many animal species, the VNO is thought
to subtly enhance the sense of snell.
48. Lydia: Red squirreis are knon'n to make holes in
the bark of sugar maple trees and to consume
the trees'sap. Since sugar maple sap is
essentially rvater with a small concentration of
sugar, the squirrels almost certainly are after
either water or sugar. Water is easily available
from other sources in places where maple trees
grow, so the squirrels u'ould not go to the
trouble of chewing holes in trees
just
to get
water. Therefore, they are probably after the
sugar.
Galina: It must be something other than sugar,
because the concentration of sugar in the
maple sap is so low that a squirrel would need
to drink an enormous amount of sap to get
any significant amount of sugar.
$ources: PrepTest 37, Seation 2,
Question 4
PrcpTest 37, Sectlon 4,
Questlons 2 and tl
Which one of the following, if true, rrrost undermines
s9
the force of Galina's attempted rebuttal of Lydia's
?
argument{
(A)
Squirrels are klo*'n to like foods that have a
high concentration of sugar.
(B) Once a hole in a sugar maple trunk has
provided one red squirrel rvith sap, other red
squirrels will make additional holes in its
trunk.
(C) Trees other than sugar maples, whose sap
contains a lower concentration of sugar than
does sugar mapie sap, are less frequently
tapped by red squirrels.
(D) Red squiruels leave the sugar maple sap that
slowly oozes out of the holes in the tree's
trunli until much of the water in the sap has
evaporated.
(E) During the season rvhen sap can be obtained
fiom sugar maple trees, the weather often
becomes cold enough to prevent sap from
oozing out of the trees.
47.
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49, When several of a dermatologist's patients
complained of a rash on just one side of their faces,
the dermatologist suspected that the cause was some
kind of external contact. In each case it turned out
that the rash occurred on the side of the face to
which the telephone was held. The dermatologist
concluded that the rash was caused by prolonged
contact with telephones.
Each of the following, if true, provides additional
support for the dermatologist's diagnosis EXCEPT:
(A) Many telephones are now manufactured using
a kind of plastic to which some people are
mildly allergic.
(B)
Contact between other devices and the
patients'faces occurred equally on both sides
of their faces.
(C) Most of the patients had occupations that
required them to use their telephones
extensively.
(D) Telephones are used by most people in the
industrialized world.
(E) The complaints occurued after an increase in
the patients' use of the telephone.
In ancient Mesopotamia, prior to 2900 B.C., wheat
was cultivated in considerable quantities, but after
2900 B.C. production of that grain began to decline
as the production of barley increased sharply. Some
historians who study ancient Mesopotamia contend
that the decline in wheat production was due to
excessive irrigation, lack ofdrainage, and the
consequent accumulation of salt residues in the soil.
support the historians' contention concerning the
reasons for the decline in wheat production in
ancient Mesopotamia?
(A)
The cultivation of barley requires considerably
less water than does the cultivation of wheat,
(B) Barley has much greater resistance to the
presence of salt in soi_l than does wheat.
(C) Prior to 2900 8.C., barley was cultivated along
with wheat, but the amount of barley
produced was far less than the amount of
lvheat produced,
(D)
Around 2900 8.C., a series of wheat blishts
occurred, destroying much of the whe-at crop
year after year.
(E) Literary and archaeological evidence indicates
that in the period following 2900 8.C., barley
becarne the principal grain in the diet of
most of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia.
51. It has been claimed that television networks shoutd
provide equal time for the presentation of opposing
views whenever a television program concerns
scientific issues*such as those raised by the claims
of environmentalists-about which people disagree.
However, although an obligation to provide equil
time does arise in the case of any program
concerning social issues, it does so because social
issues almost always have important political
implications and seldom can definitely be settled on
the basis of available evidence. If a program concerns
scientific issues, that program gives rise to no such
equal time obligation.
(A) No scientific issues raised by the claims of
environmentalists have important political
implications.
(B) There are often more than two opposing views
on an issue that cannot be definitely settled
on the basis of avai_lable evidence.
{C) Some social issues could be definitely settled
on the basis of evidence if the opposing sides
would give all the available evidence a fair
hearing.
(D) Many scientific issues have important political
implications and cannot be definitely settled
on the basis of the available evidence.
(E) Some television networks refuse to broadcast
programs on issues that have important
political implications and that cannot be
definitely settled by the available evidence.
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Sources: PrepTest 37, Sectlon 4, Questlons t3 and 25
Prep7est 36, Sectlon l, Question 8
246
Qu
esti o n s
52. Journal:
In several ps1'chological studies' subjects
rvere given statements to read that caused
them to form ner,r'beliefs' Later, the subjects
were told that the original statements lt/ere
false, The studies report, however, that most
subjects persevered in their newly acquired
beliefs, even after being told that the original
statements were false. This strongly suggests
that humans continue to hold onto acquired
beliefs even in the absence of any credible
evidence to suPPort them.
Which one of the following, if true, most undermines
the
journal's argument?
(A) Regardless ofthe truth ofrvhat the subjects
were later told, the beliefs based on the
original statements were, for the most part,
correct'
(B)
It is unrealistic to expect people to keep track
of the original basis of their beliefs, and to
revise a belief when its original basis is
undercut.
(C) The statements originally given to the subjects
would be highly misleading even if true.
(D) Most of the subjects had acquired
confirmation of their newly acquired beliefs
by the time they were told that the original
statements were false.
(E) Most of the subjects were initially skeptical of
the statements originally given to them.
Statistician: A financial magazine claimed that its
survey of its subscribers showed that North
Americans are more concerned about their
personal finances than about politics. One
question was: "Which do you think about more:
politics or the joy of earning money?" This
question is clearly biased' Also, the readers of
ihe magazine are a self-selecting sample. Thus'
there is reason to be skeptical about the
conclusion drawn in the magazine's survel'.
Each of the following, if true, would strengthen the
statistician's argument EXCEPT:
(A) The credibility of the magazine has been called
into question on a number of occasions'
(B) The conclusions drawn in most magazine
surveys have eventually been disproved'
(C) Other surveys suggest that North Americans
are
just as concerned about politics as they
are about finances.
(D) There is reason to be skeptical about the
results of surveys that are biased and
unrePresentative.
(E) Other surveys suggest that North Americans
are concerned not only with politics and
finances, but aiso with social issues.
54, One of the advantages of Bacillus thuringiensis (B't.)
toxins over chemical insecticides results from their
specificity for pest insects. The toxins have no known
detrimental effects ott mammals or birds. In
addition, the limited range of activity of the toxins
toward insects means that often a particular toxin
will kill pest species but not affect insects that prey
upon the species. This advantage makes B't. toxins
preferable to chemical insecticides for use as
components of insect pest management programs.
Which one of the following statements, if true, most
(A) Chemical insecticides cause harm to a greater
number of insect species than do B't. toxins.
(B) No particular B.t. toxin is effective against all
insects,
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toxins than to chemical insecticides.
(E) Birds and rodents often do greater damage to
farm crops than do insects.
55. Expert witness: Ten times, and in controlled
circumstances, a single drop of the defendant's
blood was allowed to fail onto the fabric. And in
all ten cases, the stained area was much less than
the expected 9.5 cm2.In fact, the stained area
was alwuys between 4.5 and 4.8 cm2. I conclude
that a single drop of the defendant's blood stains
much less than 9.5 cm/ of the fabric,
the value of the evidence for the expert witness's
conclusion?
(A) If similar results had been found after 100 test
drops of the defenclant's blood' the evidence
rvould be even stronger.
(B) Expert witnesses have sometimes been known
to fudge their data to accord with the
prosecution's case.
(C) In an eleventh test drop of the defendant's
blood, the area stailed was also less than
9.5 cm2'-this time stainin g9.3 cmz.
(D) Another person's blood was substituted' and in
otherwise identical circumstances, stained
between 9.8 and 10.6 cmz of the fabric'
(E) Not all expert witnesses are the authorities in
their fields that they claim to be.
Sources,' PrepTest 35, Sectlon 1,
Questions
13 and t5
PrepTest 35,9ection 4, Question
5
Prcplest 33, Section t, Question
t7
247
ISAT Mostery Proctice
56. Sales manager: Last year the total number of meals
sold in our company's restaurants was much
higher than it was the year be{bre. Obviously
consumers find our meals desirable.
Accountant: Ifyou look at individual restaurants,
however, you find that the number of meals
sold actually decreased substantially at every
one of our restaurants that was in operation
both last year and the year before, The
desirability of our meals to consumers has
clearly decreased, given that this group of
restaurants-the only ones for which we have
sales figures that permit a comparison between
last year and the year before-demonstrates a
trend toward ferver sales.
calls into question the accountant's argument?
The company's restaurants last year dropped
from their menus most of the new dishes that
had been introduced the year before.
Prior to last year there was an overall
downward trend in the company's sales.
Those of the company's restaurants that did
increase their sales last year did not offer large
discounts on prices to attract customers.
Sales of the company's most expensive meal
contributed little to the overall two-year sales
increase.
Most of the company's restaurants that were in
operation throughout both last year and the
year before are located in areas where
residents experienced a severe overall decline
in income last year,
In defending the llyperion School of
]ournalism
from charges that its program is of little or no value
to its students, the dean of the school pointed to its
recent success in placing students: 65 percent of its
graduates rvent on to internships or jobs in print or
broadcast journalism,
undermines the defense offered by the dean?
More than half of the school's students came
from
jobs
in journalism
to improve their skills.
Some newspaper editors do not regard
journalism schools as a necessary part ofthe
training of a journalist.
The number of cities with more than one
major newspaper has declined sharply over
the last 25 years.
The program offered by the Hyperion School of
]ournalism
is similar in quality and content to
those offered by its peer institutions.
The proportion of applicants to the Hyperion
School of Journalisrn that are admitted is
lower than it rvas ten years ago.
Advances in photocopying technology allow criminals
with no printing expertise to counterfeit paper
currency. One standard anticounterfeiting technique,
microprinting, prints paper currency with tiny designs
that cannot be photocopied distinctly. Although
counterfeits of microprinted currency can be detected
easily by experts, such counterfeits often circulate
widely before being detected. An alternative, though
more costll', printing technique would print currency
with a special ink. Currenry printed with the ink would
change color depending on how ordinary light strikes
it, whereas photocopied counterfeits of such crurensy
would not. Because this technique would allow anyone
to detect photocopied counterfeit currency easily, it
should be adopted instead of microprinting, despite the
expnse.
most support for the recommendation made by the
argument?
(A) When an anticounterfeiting technique depends
on the detection of counterfeits by experts, the
cost of inspection by experts adds significantly
to the cost to society of that technique.
(B) For any anticounterfeiting technique to be
effective, the existence of anticounterfeiting
techniques should be widely broadcast, but
the method by which counterfeits are
detected should be kept secret.
(C) The process of microprinting paper currency
involves fewer steps than does the printing of
paper currency with the special ink.
(D) Before photocopying technology existed, most
counterfeits of paper currency were
accomplished by master engravers.
(E) Many criminals do not have access to the
advanced photocopiers that are needed to
produce counterfeits of microprinted paper
currency that cashiers will accept as real.
5b.
(A)
(B)
(c)
(D)
(E)
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(B)
(D)
Sources; PrcpTest 27, Section I, Questlon 70
Questlon 5
PrcpTest 25, Sectlon 2, Questlon 4
248
(E)
Stre ngthe n/Wea ke n
Qu
esti o n s
59. Some plants have extremely sensitive biological
thermometers. For example, the leaves of
rhododendrons curl when the temPerature of the air
around them is below OoC (Celsius)' Similarly'
mature crocus blossoms open in temperatures above
2"C. So someone who simultaneously observed
rhododendroas with uncurled leaves, crocuses with
mature but unopened blossoms, and a thermometer
showing loC could determine that the thermometer's
reading was accurate to within plus or minus loC.
undermines the reasoning above?
(A) Neither rhododendrons nor crocuses bloom
for more than a few weeks each year, and the
blossoms of rhododendrons growing in any
area do not appear until at least several weeks
after crocuses growing in that area haYe
ceased to bloom.
(B) Many people find it unpleasant to be outdoors
for long periods when the temperature is at or
about 1"C.
(C) The climate and soil conditions that favor the
growth of rhododendrons are also favorable
to the growth of crocuses.
(D) Airtemperature surroundingrhododendrons,
which can grow 12 feet tall, is likely to differ
from air temperature surrounding crocuses'
which are normally only a few inches high, by
more than 2oC, even if the two plants are
growing side bY side.
(E) Certail types of thermometers that are
commonly used to measure outdoor
temPeratures can be extremely accurate in
moderate temperature ranges but much less
accurate in warmer or colder temperature
ranges.
The authors of a recent article examined warnings of
an impending wave of extinctions of animal species
within the next 100 years. These authors saythat no
evidence exists to support the idea that the rate of
extinction of animal species is now accelerating. They
are wrong, however. Consider only the data on fishes:
40 species and subspecies of North American fishes
have vanished in the twentieth century, 13 between
1900 and 1950, and 27 since 1950.
would contribute most to an evaluation of
the argument?
(A) Were the fish species and subspecies that
became extinct unrepresentative of animal
species in general with regard to their pattern
of extinction?
(B)
How numerous were the populations in 1950
ofthe species and subspecies ofNorth
American fishes that have become extinct
since 1950?
(C) Did any of the species or subspecies of North
American fishes that became extinct in the
twentieth century originate in regions outside
of North America?
(D) What proportion of North American fish
species and subspecies whose populations
were endangered in 1950 are now thriving?
(E) Were any of the species or subspecies of North
American fishes that became extinct in the
twentieth century commercially important?
Theplay Mankindmust have been written between
1431 and l47l.It cannot have been written before
143 1, for in that year the rose noble, a coin
mentioned in the play, was first circulated. The play
cannot have been written after 147I, since in that
year King Henry VI died, and he is mentioned as a
living monarch in the play's dedication.
The argument would be most seriously weakened if
which one of the following were discovered?
(A) The Royal Theatre Company includes the play
on a list of those performed in 1480.
(B) Another coin mentioned in the play was first
minted inl422.
{C)
The rose noble was neither minted nor
circulated after 1468.
(D) Although HenryVI was deposed in 1461, he
was briefly restored to the throne in 1470.
(E) In a letter written in early 1428, a merchant
told of having seen the design for a much-
discussed new coin called the "rose noble."
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Questlon t5
Preplest 24, Sectlon 2,
Questlon
76
PrepTest 24, Seetion 3,
Questlon
9
I(APLAN
249
ISAT MasterY Proctice
62. The local agricultural official gave the fruit growers
of the District 10 Farmers' Cooperative a new
pesticide that they applied for a period of three.years
io their pear orchards in place of the pesticide they
had formerly applied' During those three years, the
proportion of piars lost to insects was significantly
iess-than it had been during the previous three-year
period. On the basis of these results, the official
concluded that the new pesticide was more effective
than the old pesticide, at least in the short term, in
limiting the loss of certain fruit to insects'
The official's conclusion is most strongly supported
if which one of the following groups of trees did not
show a reduction in losses offruit to insects?
(A) peach trees grown in the district that were
treated with the new pesticide instead of the
old
Pesticide
(B) peach trees grown in the district that were
treated with the new pesticide in addition to
the old
Pesticide
(C) pear trees grown in the district that were
treated with the old pesticide instead of the
new pesticide
(D) pear tiees grown in a neighboring district that
were treated with neither the old nor the new
pesticide
(E) pear trees grown in a neighboring district that
-were
treatid with the new pesticide instead of
the old
Pesticide
A member of the British Parliament is reputed to
have said, "The first purpose of good social reform is
to increase the sum total of human happiness' So,
any reform which makes somebody happy is
achieving its purpose. Since the reform I propose
would mike my constituents happy' it is a good
social reform."
weakens the argument attributed to the member of
Parliament?
Different things make different people hapPy.
The proposed reform would make a few people
huppy, but would not increase the happiness
of most other peoPle.
(C) The proposed reform would affect only the
member of Parliament's constituents and
would make them haPPY.
(D) Increasing some people's happiness might not
increase the sum total of human happiness if
others are made unhaPPY.
(E) Good social reforms usually have widespread
suPPort'
64. Brorvnlea's post office must be replaced lvith a larger
one. The present one cannot be expanded. Land near
the present location in the center of town is more
expensive than land on the outskirts of town' Since
the cost of acquiring a site is a significant part of the
total construction cost, the post of{ice clearly could
be built more cheaply on the outskirts of town'
Which one of the follot'ing, if true, most seriously
undermines the argument's stated conclusion?
(A) The nerv post office will have to be built in
accordance with a demanding new citl'wide
building code.
(B) If the new post office is built on the outskirts
of town, it will require a parking lot, but if
sited near the present post office it will nol
(C) If the new post office is built on the outskirts
of town, current city bus routes will have to
be expanded to provide access'
(D) If the new post office is built on the outskirts
of torvn, residents will make decreased use of
post of;fice boxes, with the result that mail
carriers will have to deliver more mail to
homes.
(E) If the new post office is built near the center of
town, disruptions to city traffic rvould have to
be minirnized by taking such steps as doing
some construction work in stages at night and
on weekends.
Sources; PrcpTest 22t Sectlon 2, Question
I
PrcpTest 22, Sectlon 4, Question
26
PrepTest 21, Section 2, Question
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(B)
254
St r e n g t h e n/We a k e
4
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65. Eva: A "smart highway" system should be
installed, one that would monitor areawide
trafBc patterns and communicate with
computers in vehicles or with programmable
highlvay signs to give drivers information
about traffic congestion and alternate routes'
Such a system, we can infer, wouki result in
improved traffic flow in and around cities that
would do more than improve drivers'tempers;
it would decrease the considerable loss of
money and productivity that now results from
traffic congestion'
Luis: There are already traffic reports on the
radio. Why would a "smart highway" system be
anY better?
If Eva responded to l.uis by saying that the current
one-minute radio reports ate too short to give a
sufficient description of overall patterns of traffic
congestion, whiih one of the following, if true, rvould
mos't strengthen Luis's challenge?
(A) Bad weather, which radio stations report'
would cause traffic to slow- down whether or
not a "smart highway" system was in
operation.
(B) It would be less costly to have radio stations
that give continual, lengthier traffic reports
than to install a "smart highway" system-
(C) Radio reports can take note of congestion once
it occurs, but a "smart highway" systern could
anticipate and forestall it in many instances'
(D) The proposed traffic monitoring would not
reduce the
Privary
of drivers.
(E) Tbll collection booths, which constitute traffic
bottlenecks, would largely be replaced in the
"smart highway" system by electronic
debiting of commuters' accounts while traffic
proceeded at full sPeed.
56. An ingredient in marijuana known as THC has been
found to inactivate herpes viruses in experiments' ln
previous experiments researchers found that
inactivated herpes viruses can convert healthy cells
into cancer cells. It can be concluded that the use of
marijuana can cause cancer'
(A)
Several teams of scientists performed the
various experiments and all of the teams had
similar results.
(B)
'Ihe
carcinogenic effect of THC could be
neutralized by the other ingredients found in
marijuana.
(C) When THC kills herpes viruses it weakens the
immune system, and it might thus diminish
the body's ability to fight other viruses,
including viruses linked to cancers'
(D) If chemists modifu the structure of THC' THC
can be safely incorporated into medications
to prevent herPes.
iE) To lessen the undesirable side effects of
chemotherapy, the use of mariiuana has been
recommended for cancer patients who are
free of the herpes virus.
67. tt is probably not true that colic in infants is caused
by the inability of those infants to tolerate certain
antibodies found in cow's milk, since it is often the
case that symPtoms of colic are shorvn by infants that
are f'ed breast milk exclusivelY'
(A) A study involving 500 sets of twins has found
that if one infant has colic, its tlvin will
probably also have colic.
(B) Symptoms of colic generally disappear as
infants grow older, whether the infants have
been fed breast milk exclusively or have been
fed infant formula containing cow's milk'
(C) In a study of 5,000 infants who were fed only
infant formula containing cow's milk, over
4,000 of the infants never displayed any
symPtoms of colic.
(D)
When mothers of infants that ate fed only
breast milk eliminate cov/s milk and all
products made from cow's milk from their
own diets, any colic symptoms that their
infants have manifested quickly disappear.
(E)
Infants that are fed breast milk develop mature
digestive systems at an earlier age than do
those that are fed infant formulas, and infants
with mature digestive systems are better able
to tolerate certain proteins and antibodies
found in cow's milk.
Sources: PrepTest 21, Sectlon 3, Questlon
I
PrcpTest 20, Sectlon 7, Questlons
4 and 72
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68. Garbage dumps do not harm wildlife. Evidence is
furnished by the Masai-Mara reserve in Kenya, where
baboons that use the garbage dumps on the reserve
as a food source mature faster and have inore
offspring than do baboons on the reserve that do not
scavenge on garbage.
Each of the following statements, if true, casts doubt
on the argument EXCEPT:
(A) The baboons that feed on the garbage dump
are of a different species from those that do
not.
(B) The life expectancy ofbaboons that eat
garbage is significantly lower than that of
baboons that do not eat garbage.
(C) The cholesterol level of garbage-eating
baboons is dangerously higher than that of
baboons that do not eat garbage.
(D) The population of hyenas that live near
unregulated garbage landfills north of the
reserve has doubled in the last two years.
(E)
The rate ofbirth defects for the baboon
population on the reserve has doubled since
the first landfills were opened.
69. Babies who can hear and have hearing parents who
expose them to speech begin to babble at a certain
age as a precursor to speaking. In the same way, deaf
babies with deaf parents who communicate with
them and with each other by signing begin to babble
in signs at the same age. That is, they make repetitive
hand gestures that constitute, within the language
system of signs, the analogue of repeated syllables in
speech.
The information above, if accurate, can best be used
as evidence against which one of the following
hypotheses?
(A) Names of persons or things are the simplest
words in a language, since babies use them
before using the names of actions or
Processes,
(B) The development of language competency in
babies depends prirnarily on the physical
maturation of the vocal tract, a process that
requires speech-oriented vocal activity.
(C)
In the absence of adults who communicate
with each other in their presence, babies
develop idiosyncratic languages.
(D) In babbling, babies are unalvare that the sound
or gesture combinations they use can be
employed in a purposive way.
(E)
The making of hand gestures by hearing babies
who have hearing parents should be
interpreted as a part of their developing
language.
70. A favored theory to explain the efiinction of
dinosaurs, together with many other species, has
been the globally catastrophic collision of a large
asteroid with the Earth. Supporting evidence is an
extraterrestrial chemical element in a layer of dust
found worldwide at a geological level laid down
contemporaneously with the supposed yent. A new
competing theory contends that any asteroid impact
was irrelevant, because it was massive volcanic
activity that caused the extinctions by putting
enough dust into the atmosphere to cool the planet.
The Deccan region of India contains extensive
volcanic flows that occurred within the same time
period as the supposed asteroid impact and the
extinctions.
indicates that the asteroid-impact theory is at least
incomplete, if not false?
(A) Large concentrations of dinosaur nests with
fossil eggs found in Alberta indicate that at
least some species of dinosaurs congregated in
large groups during some part of their lives.
(B) Dinosaur remains indicate that some species of
dinosaur could have migrated in herds over
wide ranges, so that they could have traveled to
escape the local effects of certain catastrophes.
(C) Legends from many cultures, such as the Greek
legend that Cadmus raised an army by sowing
dragons'teeth in the ground, show that
various ancient peoples worldwide were
familiar with the fossils of dinosaurs.
(D) In the Gobi desert in China, where now only
small animals can eke out an existence, fossil
dinosaur skeletons 27 feet long were found in
circumstances indicating that the climate
there was as dry when the dinosaurs lived as
it is now.
(E) The fossil record in Montana from below the
layer of extraterrestrial dust shows a
diminution over time in dinosaur species
from 35 to 13, and dinosaur teeth found
above rhe dust layer show a diminution in
species from l3 to 5.
Sources; PrcpTest 2A, Sectlon 4,
Questlon 23
Questlon t 5
PrepTest tO, Sectlon 1, Questlon !6
252
Str e n gth e n
/Wea
ke n
Qu
e sti o n s
7t, Data from satellite photographs of the tropical rarn
forest in Melonia show that last year the
deforestation rate of this environmentally sensitive
zone was significantly lower than in previous years.
The Melonian goYernment, which spent millions of
dollars last year to enforce laws against burning and
cutting of the forest, is claiming that the satellite data
indicate that its increased efforts to halt the
destruction are proving effective'
undermines the government's claim?
(A) Landowner opposition to the government's
antideforestation efforts grew more violent
last year in response to the increased
enforcement.
(B) Rainfall during the usually dry 6-month
annual burning season was abnormally heavy
last year.
(C) Government agents had to issue fines totaling
over $9 nillion to 3,500 violators of
burning-and-cutting regulations.
(D) The inaccessibility of much of the rain forest
has made it impossible to confirm the satellite
data by direct observation from the field.
(E) Much of the money that was designated last
year for forest preservation has been spent on
research and not on enforcement.
Purebred dogs are prone to genetically determined
abnormalities. Although such abnormalities oft en
can be corrected by surgery, the cost can reach
several thousand dollars. Since nonpurebred dogs
rarely suffer from genetically determined
abnormalities,
potential dog owners who want to
reduce the risk of incurring costly medical bills for
their pets would be well advised to choose
nonprrEbred dogs'
Which one of the following if true, most seriously
(A) Most genetically determined abnormalities in
dogs do not seriously affect a dog's general
well-being.
(B) All dogs, whether purebred or nonpurebred,
are subject to the same common
nongenetically determined diseases.
(C) Purebred dogs tend to have shorter natural life
spans than do nonpurebred dogs.
(D) The purchase price of nonpurebred dogs tends
to be lower than the purchase price of
purebred dogs'
(E) A dog that does not have genetically
determined abnormalities may nevertheless
have offspring with such abnormalities.
73. G: The group of works exhibited in this year's
Metropolitan Art Show reveals a bias in favor
of photographers. Equal numbers of
photographers, sculptors, and painters
submitted works that met the traditional
criteria for the show, yet more photographs
were exhibited than either sculptures or
paintings. As you know, each artist was allowed
to submit work in one medium on1y.
H: How could there have been bias? All submitted
works that met the traditional criteria-and
only those vv61l6s-1vsrs exhibited in the show
supports G's allegation of bias?
(A) If an artist has had one of his or her works
exhibited in the Metropolitan Art Shoq that
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artist has an advantage in getting commissions
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and selling works over artists who have never
had a work exhibited in the show.
(B) The fee for entering photographs in the
Metropolitan Art Show was $25 per work
submitted, while the fee for each painting or
sculpture submitted was $75.
(C)
The committee that selected from the submitted
works the ones to be exhibited in this year's
Metropolitan Art Show had four members: one
photographer, one sculptor, one painter, and
one who worls in all three media but is the
least known of the four members.
(D) Reviews of this year's Metropolitan Art Show
that appeared in major newspapers and
magazines tended to give more coverage to
the photographs in the show than to the
sculptures and paintings that were exhibited.
(E) In previous years, it has often happened that
more paiatings or more sculptures were
exhibited in the Metropolitan Art Show than
photographs, even though the total number of
works exhibited each year does not vary widely.
Questlons
4 and 72
PrepTest 9, Section 4, Question 77
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74. High-technology medicine is driving up the nation,s
health care costs. Recent advances in cataract surgery
illustrate why this is occurring. Cataracts are a mijor
cause of blindness, especially in elderly people. Ten
years ago, cataract surgery \^/as painfrrl and not always
effective. Thanl$ to the new technology used in
cataract surgery, the operation now restores vision
dramatically and is less expensive. These two factors
have caused the numtrer of cataract operations
performed to increase greatly, which has, in turn,
driven up the total amount spent on cataract surgery.
Each of the following, if true, would support a
challenge to the author's explanation ofthe increase
in the number of cataract operations EXCEpT:
(A)
The overall population of the nation has
increased from what it was ten years ago.
(B)
Any one individual's chance of developing
cataracts is greater than it was ten years ago.
(C)
The number of older people has increased
during the last ten yars.
(n) Today, health insurance covers cataract surgery
.
for more people than it did ten years ago.
(E)
People who have had unsuccessfi.rl cataract
surgery are left with more seriously impaired
vision than they had before the surger),.
75 Valitania's long-standing practice of paying high
salaries to its elected politicians has had a disastrous
effect on the level of integrity among politicians in that
co-untry. This is because the prospect of earning a high
salary
is
always attractive to anyone whose primary
-
airn in life is to make money, so that ineyitably the
wrong people must have been attracted into Valitanian
politics: people who are more interested in making
money than in serving the needs of the nation.
Which one of the following, if true, would weaken
the argument?
(A)
Many Valitanian candidates for elected ofiice
spend some of their own money to ffnance
their campaigns.
(B) Most Valitanian elective offices have four-year
terms.
(C)
No more people compete for elected office
when ofliceholders are paid well than when
they are paid poorly.
(D)
Only politicians who rely on their offices for
income tend to support policies that advance
their own selfish interests.
(E)
Most of those who are currentlyValitanian
politicians could have obtained better-paid
work outside politics.
76. Arguing that there was no trade between Europe and
East Asia in the early Middle Ages because theie are
no written records of such trade is like arluing that
the yeri, arr apelike creature supposedly eiistirig in
the Himalayas, does not exist 6C.uur. ihere haie
been no scientifically confirmed sightings. A
verifiable sighting of the yeti would proie that the
creature does exist, but the absence ofsightings
cannot prove that it does not.
Which one of the following considerations, if true,
best counters the argumentl
(A)
Most of the evidence for the existence of trade
between Europe and East Asia in the early
Middle Ages is archaeological and therefore
does not rely on written records,
(B)
Although written records of trade in East Asia
in the early Middle Ages survived, there are
almost no European documents from that
period that mention trade at all.
(C) Any trade between Europe and East Asia in the
early Middle Ages would necessarily have
been of very low volume and wodd have
involved high-priced items, such as precious
metals and silk.
(D)
There have been no confirmed sightings of the
yeti, but there is indirect evidenie, suih a,
footprints, which if it is accepted as authentic
would establish the yeti's
existence.
(E)
There are surviving E.r.op"un and East Asian
written records from the early Middle Ages
that do not mention trade between the tio
regions but would have been very likely to do
so if this trade had existed.
77. Auto industryexecutive:
Statistics showthat cars that
were built smaller after 1977 to make them
more fuel-efficient had a higher incidence
of
accident-related
fatalities thin did their earlier,
larger counterparts. For this reason we oppose
recent guidelines that would require us to
produce cars with higher fuel efficiency,
Which one of the following, if true, would constitute
the strongest objection to ihe executive,s argument?
(A)
Even after 1977,large automobiles
were
frequently involved in accidents that caused
death or serious iniury.
(B)
Although fatalities in accidents involving small
cars have increased since 1977, the number of
accidents has decreased.
(C)
New computerized fuel systems can enable
large cars to meet fuel efficiency standards
established by the recent guideiines.
(D)
Modern technology can muke small cars more
fuel-efficient today than at any other time in
their production
history.
(E)
Fuel efficienry in modeli of larse cars rose
immediately after 1977 but hai been declining
eyer since.
Sources: PrepTest 6, Sectlon 2,
euesilons T and tg
Preplesl 8, Sectlon 3, Question 13
PrepTest 5, Sectlon !, euestlon !0
254
Stre n gth e n/We a ke n
Qu
e sti o n s
78. As air-breathing manimals, whales must once have
lived on land and needed hind limbs capable of
supporting the mammals'rveight. Whales have the
bare remnants of a pelvis. If anirnals have a pelvis, we
expect them to have hind limbs. A nervly discovered
fossilized whale skeleton has very fragile hind limbs
that could not have supported the animal's rveight on
land. This skeleton had a partial pelvis.
If the statements above are true, ivhich one of the
following, if also true, rvould most strongly support the
conclusion that the fragile hind limbs are remnants of
limbs that land-drvelling rvhaies once had?
{A) Whale bones older than the fossilized hind
limbs confirm that ancient whales had full
pelvises.
(B)
No skeletons of ancient whales with intact
hind limbs capable of supporting the
mammals'weight have ever been found.
(C) Scientists are uncertain whether the apparently
nonfunctioning lirnbs of other early
mammals derived from once-functionirlg
limbs of their ancestors.
(D) Other large-bodied mammals like seals and sea
lions maneuver on beaches and rocky coasts
without fully functioning hind limbs.
(E) Some smaller sea-dwelling mammals, such as
modern dolphins, have no visible indications
of hind limbs.
79. Older United States automobiles have been identified
as contributing disproportionately to global air
pollution. The requirement in many
iurisdictions
that automobiles pass emission-control inspections
has had the effect of taking many such automobiles
out of service in the United States, as thev fail
inspection and their owners opt to buy newer
automobiles. Thus the burden of pollution such
older United States automobiles contribute to the
global atmosphere rvill be gradually reduced over the
next decade.
rveakens the argument?
(A)
It is impossible to separate the air of one
country or jurisdiction
from that of others,
since air currents circle the globe.
(B)
When automobiles that are now new become
older, they will, because of a design change,
cause less air polh"rtion than older
automobiles do now.
(C)
There is a thriving market for used older
United States automobiles that are exported
to regions that have no emission-control
regulations.
(D) fhe number of
jurisdictions
in the United
States requiring automobiles to pass
emission-control inspections is no longer
increasing.
(E)
Even if all the older automobiles in the United
States were retired from service, air pollution
from United States automobiles could still
increase if the total number of automobiles in
use should increase significantly.
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255
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80. Antarctic seals dive to great depths and stay
submerged for hours. They do not rely solely on
oxygen held in their lungs, but also store extra
oxygen in their blood. Indeed, some researchers
hypothesize that for long dives these seals also store
oxygenated blood in their spleens.
Each of the following, if true, provides some support
for the researchers' hypothesis EXCEPT:
(A) Horses are known to store orygenated blood in
their spleens for use during exertion.
(B) Many species of seal can store oxygn directly
in their muscle tissue.
(C) The orygen contained in the seals'lungs and
bloodstream alone would be inadequate to
support the seals during their dives.
(D) The spleen is much larger in the Antarctic seal
than in aquatic mammals that do not make
long dives.
(E) The spleens ofAntarctic seals contain greater
concentrations of blood vessels than are
contained in most of their other organs.
81. A l99l calculation was made to determine what, if
any, additional health-care costs beyond the ordinary
are borne by society at large for people who live a
sedentary life. The figure reached was a lifetime
average of $1,650. Thus people's voluntary choice not
to exercise places a significant burden on society.
Which one of the following, if true and not taken
into account by the calculation, most seriously
(A) Many people whose employment requires
physical exertion do not choose to engage in
regular physical exercise when they are not at
work.
(B) Exercise is a topic that is often omitted from
discussion between doctor and patient during
a patient's visit.
(C) Physical conditions that eventually require
medical or nursing-home care often first
predispose a person to adopt a sedentary
lifestyle.
(D) Individuals vary widely in the amount and
kind of exercise they choose, when they do
exercise regularly.
(E) A regular program ofmoderate exercise tends
to increase circulation, induce a feeling of
well-being and energy, and decrease excess
weight.
82. Before 1986 physicists believed they could describe
the universe in terms of four universal forces.
Experiments then suggested, however, a flfth
universal force of mutual repulsion between particles
of matter. This fifth force would explain the
occurrence in the experiments of a smaller
measurement of the gravitational attraction between
bodies than the established theory predicted.
the argument that there is a fifth universal force?
(A) The extremely sophisticated equipment used
for the experiments was not available to
physicists before the 1970s.
(B) No previously established scientific results are
incompatible with the notion of a fifth
universal force.
(C) Some scientists have suggested that the alleged
fifth universal force is an aspect of gravity
rather than being fundamental in itself.
(D) The experiments were conducted by physicists
in remote geological settings in which factors
affecting the force of gravity could not be
measured with any degree of precision.
(E)
The fifth universal force was postulated at a time
in which many other exciting and productive
ideas in theoretical physics were developed,
$ourcos.' Prcplest 37, Sectlon 2, Questlon 20
FrcpTast 38, Sectlon t,
Questlon 25
Prcp|est 36, Sectlan 3, Questlon 26
Questi
o n s
83. Parent P: Children rvill need computer skills to deal
rvith tomorrow's lvorld' Computers should be
introduced in kindergarten, and computer
languages should tre required in high school'
Parent Q:
That would be pointless' Technology
advances so rapidly that the computers used
by today's kindergartners
and the comPuter
- -
languages taught in today's high schools would
becimi obsolete by the time these children are
adults.
Which one of the following, if true, is the strongest logical
counter parent P can make to parent
Q's
objection?
(A) When technology is advancing rapidly. regular
training is necessary to keep one's skills at a
level proficient enough to deal with the
societY in which one lives'
(B) Throughout
history people have adapted to
change, and there is no reason to believe that
today's children are not equally capable of
adapting to technology as it advances'
(C) In the process of learning to work with any
comPuter or computer language, children
incriase their ability to interact with
computer technologY.
(D) Automotive
technology is continualla advancing
too, but that does not result in one's having to
relearn to drive cars as the new advances are
incorporated into new automobiles'
(E) Once people have graduated from high school'
they have less time to learn about computers
and technology than they had during their
schooling
Years.
Politician: All nations that place a high tax on
income produce thereby a negative incentive
for technological innovation, and all nations in
which technological innovation is hampered
inevitably fall behind in the international arms
race, Those nations that, through historical
accident or the foolishness of their political
leadership, wind up in a strategically
disadvantageous position are destined to lose
their voice in world affairs. So if a nation
wants to maintain its value system and way of
life, it must not allow its highest tax bracket to
exceed 30
Percent
of income'
Each of the following, if true, weakens the politician's
industrialist from introducing new
argument EXCEPT:
__A._
(A) The top level of taxation must reach 45 percent )^(
befori taxation begins to deter inventois and
ft
84.
@
(B)
(c)
technologies and industries.
Making a great deal of money is an insignificant
factor in driving technological innovation.
Falling behind in the international arms race
does not necessarily lead to a strategically less
advantageous position.
Those naiions that lose influence in the world
community do not necessarily suffer from a
threat to their value system or way of life.
Allowing one's country to lose its technological
edge, especially as concerns rveaponry, would
be foolish rather than merelv a historical
accident.
85.
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(E)
We can learn about the living conditions of a
vanished culture by examining its language. Thus, it
is likely that the people who spoke Proto-Indo-
European, the language from which all Indo-
European languages descended, lived in a cold
climate. isolated from ocean or sea, because Proto-
Indo-European lacks a word for "seal'yet contains
words for
ttwinter," t'snowr"
and
ttwolf.tt
Which one of the follorving, if true, most seriously
(A) A word meaning "fish"'was used by the people
who spoke Proto-Indo-EuroPean.
(B) Some languages lack words for prominent
elements of the environments of their
speakers.
(C) There are no known languages today that lack
a word for "sea."
(D) Proto-Indo-European
possesses words for
"hgat."
(E) The people who spoke Proto-Indo-European
were nomadic.
gources:
Questlon
4
Preplest 35, Section 4, Question
t7
PrepTest 29, Section 7, Quesilon
76
257
ISAT Mastery Prodice
86. Marianne is a professional chess player who hums
audibly while playing her matches, thereby
distracting her opponents. When ordered by chess
officials to cease humming or else be disqualified
from professional chess, Marianne protested the
order. She argued that since she was unaware ofher
humming, her humming was involuntary and that
therefore she should not be heid responsible for it.
Marianne's argument against the order?
(A)
The officials of chess have little or no authority
to control the behavior of its professional
players outside of matches'
(B) Many of the customs of amateur chess matches
are not observed by professional chess
players.
Not all of a person's involuntary actions are
actions of which that person is unaware'
A person who hums involuntarily can easily
learn to notice it and can thereby come to
control it.
Not all of Marianne's opponents are distracted
by her humming during chess matches'
Questions
87-88
The fishing industry cannot currently be relied upon
to help the government count the seabirds killed by net
fishing, since an accurate count might result in restriction
of net fishing. The government should therefore institute a
program under which tissue samples from the dead birds
are examined to determile the amount of toxins in the
fish eaten by the birds. The industry would then have a
reason to turn in the bird carcasses, since the industry
needs to know whether the fish it catches are contaminated
with toxins.
Which one of the follolving, if true, most strengthens
the argument?
The seabirds that are killed by net fishing do
not eat all of the species of fish caught by the
fishing industry.
The government has not in the past sought to
determine whether fish were contaminated
with toxins by examining tissue samples of
seabirds.
The government cannot gain an accurate
count of the number of seabirds killed by net
fishing unless the fishing industry cooperates.
If the government knew that fish caught by the
fishing industry were contaminated by toxins,
the government would restrict net fishing.
If net fishing were restricted by the
government, then the fishing industry would
become more inclined to reveal the number
of seabirds killed by net fishing.
indicates that the government program would not by
itself provide an accurate count of the seabirds killed
by net fishing?
(A) The seabirds killed by net fishing might be
contaminated with several different toxins
even if the birds eat only one kind of fish.
(B) The fishing industry could learn whether the
fish it catches are contaminated with toxins if
only a few of the seabirds killed by the nets
were examined.
(C) The government could gain valuable
information about the source of toxins bv
examining tissue samples of the seabirds
caught in the nets.
(D) The fish caught in a particular net might be
contaminated with the same toxins as those in
the seabirds caught in that net.
(E) The government would be willing to certify
that the fish caught by the industry are not
contaminated with toxins if tests done on the
seabirds showed no contamination.
Sources; PrepTest 20, Sectlon 4,
Questlon 25
Questlons 7 and I
87.
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(B)
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(D)
(E)
(c)
(D)
(E)
88.
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89. Waste management companies, which collect waste for
disposal in landfills and incineration plants, report thal
disposable plastics make up an ever-increasing
percentage of the waste they handle. It is clear that
attempts to decrease tle amount of plastic that people
throw away in the garbage are failing.
(A) Because plastics create harmfirl pollutants
when burned, an increasing perceatage of the
plastics handled by waste management
companies are being disposed of in landfills.
(B) Although many plastics are recyclable, most of
the plastics disposed of by waste management
companies are not.
People are more likely to save and reuse plastic
containers than containers made of heavier
materials like glass or metal.
An increasing proportion of the paper, glass,
and metal cans that waste management
companies used to handle is now being
recycled.
While the percentage of products using plastic
packaging is increasing, the total amount of
plastic being manufactured has remained
unchanged.
Stre n gth e n/Weo ke n
Qu
esti o n s
90. When butterfat was considered nutritious and
healthful, a law was enacted requiring that
manufacturers use the term "imitation butter" to
indicate butter whose butterfat content had been
diminished through the addition of water. Today, it is
known that the high cholesterol content of butterfat
makes it harmful to human health. Since the public
should be encouraged to eat foods with lower rather
than higher butterfat content and since the term
"imitation" with its connotations of falsity deters
many people from purchasing products so
designated, manufacturers who wish to give
reduced-butterfat butter the more appealing name of
"lite butter" should be allowed to do so.

undermines the argument?
fi'
(A) The manufacturers who prefer to use the word
Sb
"lite" instead of "imitatiorl'are motivated ?
principally by the financial interest of their
tk
stockholders.
The manufacturers rvho wish to call their
product "lite butter" plan to change the
composition of the product so that it contains
more water than it now does.
Some individuals who need to reduce their
intake of cholesterol are not deterred from
using the reduced-butterfat product by the
negative connotations of the term "irnitation."
Cholesterol is only one of many factors that
contribute to the types of health problems
with which the consumption of excessive
amounts of cholesterol is often associated.
Most people deterred from eating "imitation
butter" because of its name choose
alternatives with a lower butterfat content
than this
product
has.
Soutces.' PrepTest 9,5eetion 2,
Question 7
Prcplest 9, Section 4, Questlon 22
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259
ISAT Mastery Pradice
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91. Samples from the floor of a rock shelter in
Pennsylvania were dated by analyzing the carbon
they contained. The dates assigned to samples
associated with human activities formed a consistent
series, beginning with the present and going back in
time, a series that was correlated with the depth from
which the samples came. The oldest and deepest
sample was dated at 19,650 years before the present,
plus or minus 2,400 years. Skeptics, viewing that date
as too early and inconsistent with tJre accepted date
of human migration into North America, suggested
that the samples could have been contaminated by
dissolved "old carbon" carried by percolating
groundwater from nearby coal deposits.
Which of the following considerations, if true, argues
most strongly against the suggestion of the skeptics?
(A) No likely mechanism of contamination
involving percolating groundwater would
have affected the deeper samples from the site
without affecting the uppermost sample.
(B) Not every application of the carbon-dating
procedure has led to results that have been
generally acceptable to scientists.
(C) There is no evidence that people were using
coal for fuel at any time when the deepest
layer might have been laid down.
(D) No sample in the series, when retested by the
carbon-dating procedure, was assigned an
earlier date than that assigned to a sample
from a layer above it.
(E) No North American site besides the one in
Pennsylvania has ever yielded a sample to
which the carbon-dating procedure assigned a
date that was comparably ancient.
92. Two paleontologists, Dr. Tyson and Dr. Rees, disagree
over the interpretation of certain footprints that were
left among other footprints in hardened volcanic ash
at site G. Dr. Tyson claims they are clearly early
hominid footprints since they show human
characteristics: a squarish heel and a big toe
immediately adjacent to the next toe. However, since
the footprints indicate that if hominids made those
prints they would have had to walk in an unexpected
cross-stepping manner, by placing the left foot to the
right of the right foot, Dr. Rees rejects Dr. Tysorls
conclusion.
undermines Dr. Tyson's conclusion?
(A) The footprints showing human characteristics
were clearly those of at least two distinct
individuals.
(B) Certain species of bears had feet very like
human feet, except that the outside toe on
each foot was the biggest toe and the
innermost toe was the smallest toe.
(C) Footprints shaped like a human's that do not
show a cross-stepping pattern exist at site M,
which is a mile away from site G, and the two
sets of footprints are contemporaneous.
(D) When the moist volcanic ash became sealed
under additional layers of ash before
hardening, some details of some of the
footprints were erased.
(E) Most of the other footprints at site G were of
animals with hooves.
Questlon t7
Preplest 5, Sectlon t,
Questlon
8
260
,gp
Str e n gth e n/Tlleo ke n
Qu
esti o ns
93. There are about 75 brands of microwave poPcotn on
flp
the market; altogether, they account for a little over
v
haH of the money from sales of microwave food
products. It takes three minutes to pop corn in the
microwave, compared to seven minutes to poP corn
conventionally. Yet by weight, microwave popcorn
typically costs over five times as much as
"on
rettiion"l popcotn.
|udging
by the popularity of
microwave popcorn' many people are willing to pay a
high price for just a little additional convenience.
Which one of the following statements, if true, would
call into question the conclusion in the passage?
(A) More than 50 percent of popcorn purchasers
buy conventional popcorn rather than
microwave
PoPcorn.
(B) Most people who prefer microwave
Popcorn
do so because it is less fattening than popcorn
that is popped conventionally in oil.
(C) The price of microwave popcorn reflects its
packaging more than it reflects the quality of
the
*popcorn
contained in the package.
(D)
The ratio of unpopped kernels to popped
kernels is generally the same whether
popcorn is
PoPPed
in a microwave or
conventionallY in oil'
(E) Because microwave popcorn contains additives
not contained in conventional popcorn'
microwave
Popcorn
weighs more than an
equal volume of conventional popcorn'
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Source: PrcpTest 6, Sectlon 3,
Quastlon
24
261
ISAT Mastery Proctice
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94, Columnist: George Orwell's book 1984 has 96,
ata
exercised much influence on a great number of
-
this newspaper's readers. One thousand
**
readers were survyed and asked to name the
-
one book that had the most influence on their
lives. The book chosen most often was the
Bible; f984 was second.
would most help in evaluating the columnist's
argument?
(A) How manybooks had each person surveyed
read?
(B) How many people chose boola other than 1984?
(C) How many people read the columnist's
newspaper?
(D) How many books by George Orwell other than
1984 were chosen?
(E) How many of those surveyed had actually read
the books they chose?
95, Lobsters and other crustaceans eaten by humans are
more likely to conftact gill diseases whn se$rage
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.
(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) Gill diseases cannot be detected by examining
the surface of the lobster.
(E) Humans often become ill as a result of eating
lobsters with gill diseases.
Sources: PrcpTest 36,9ectlon t,
Questlon
24
PrepTest 35,Section 1, Questlon 8
Prepleet 35, Sectlon 4,
Questlon
20
PrcpTest 33, Seetlon t, Questlon 20
252
'99
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 fust Eurasian settlers in
North America probably came from a more
distant part of Eurasia.
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.
(E) Climatic conditions in North America just
before the Ice Age were more conducive to
human habitation than were those in the part
of Eurasia closest to North America at that
time.
Recently discovered prehistoric rock paintings on
small islands off the northern coast of Norway have
archaeologists puzzled. The predominant theory
about northern cave paintings was that they were
largely a description of the current diets of the
painters, This theory cannot be right, because the
painters must have needed to eat the sea animals
populating the waters north of Norway if they were
to make the long journey to and from the islands,
and there are no paintings that unambiguously
depict such creatures.
Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument
against the predominant theory about northern cave
paintings EXCEPTT
(A) Once on these islands, the cave painters
hunted and ate land animals.
(B)
Parts of the cave paintings on the islands did
not survive the centuries.
(C)
The cave paintings that were discovered on the
islands depicted many land animals.
(D) Those who did the cave paintings that were
discovered on the islands had unusually
advanced techniques of preserving meats.
(E)
The cave paintings on the islands were done by
the original inhabitants of the islands who ate
the meat of land animals.
97.
98.
@
Amphibian populations are declining in numbers
worldwide. Not coincidentally, the eartht ozone layer
has been continuously depleted throughout the last
50 years. Atmospheric ozone blocks tfV-B, a type of
ultraviolet radiation that is continuously produced
by the sun, and which can damage genes. Because
amphibians lack hair, hide, or feathers to shield
them, they are particularly vulnerable to UV-B
radiation, In addition, their gelatinous eggs lack the
protection of leathery or hard shells. Thus, the
primary cause of the declining amphibian
population is the depletion of the ozone layer.
Each of the following, if true, would strengthen the
argument EXCEPT:
(A) Of the various types of radiation blocked by
atmospheric ozone, UV-B is the only fype
that can damage genes.
(B) Amphibian populations are declining far more
rapidly than are the populations of
nonarnphibian species whose tissues and eggs
have more natural protection from lfV-B.
(C) Atmospheric ozone has been significantly
depleted above all the areas of the world in
which amphibian populations are declining.
(D) The natural habitat of amphibians has not
become smaller over the past century.
(E) Amphibian populations have declined
continuously for the last 50 years.
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 followiag, if true, most weakens the
medical researcher's argument?
(A) The hospital records in&cate 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 routiaely classified as
having been born prematurely.
(D)
Some babies not born prematurely, whose
mothers received adequate prenatal care, have
low birth weights.
(E) Women who receive adequate prenatal care,
are less likely to give birth prematurely than
,lre women who do not receive adequate
prenatal care.
Sourcs,' PrcpTest 29, Sectlan 4, Quastians 20 and 24
99.
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ISAT Mastery Prodice
100. The interstitial nucleus, a subregion of the brain's
hypothalamus, is typically smaller for male cats than
for female cats. A neurobiologist performed
autopsies on male cats who died from disease X, a
disease affecting no more than
'05
percent of male
cats, and found that these male cats had interstitial
nuclei that rvere as large as those generally found in
female cats. Thus, the size of the interstitial nucleus
determines whether or not male cats can contract
disease X.
Which of the following statements, if true, most
seriously weakens the argurnent?
(A) No female cats have been known to contract
disease X, which is a subtype of disease Y.
(B) Many male cats who contract disease X also
contract disease Z, the cause ofwhich is
unknown.
(C)
The interstitial nuclei of female cats who
contract disease X are larger than those of
female cats rvho do not contract disease X.
(D) Of 1,000 autopsies on male cats rvho did not
contract disease X, 5 revealed interstitial
nuclei larger than those of the average male
cat.
(E) The hypothalamus is known not to be causally
linked to disease Y, and disease X is a subtype
of disease Y.
In Australia the population that is of driving age has
grown larger over the last five years, but the annual
nurnber of traffic fatalities has declined' This leads to
the conclusion that, overall, the driving-age
population of Australia consists of more skillful
drivers now than five years ago.
Each of the statements below, if true, weakens the
argument EXCEPT:
(A) Three years ago, a mandatory seat-belt law
went into effect throughout Australia'
(B) Five years ago, Australia began a major road
repair project.
(C) Because of increases in the price of fuel,
Australians on average drive less each year
than in the preceding year.
(D) The number of hospital emergency facilities in
Australia has doubled in the last five years'
(E) In response to an increase in traffic fatalities,
Australia instituted a program of mandatory
driver education five years ago.
Sources; Preplest 28, Sectlon 3, Question
25
PrepTest 24, Sectlon 2, Questions
79 and 20
fuepTest 24, Sectlon 3, Questlon
23
Anthropological studies indicate that distinct
cultures differ in their moral codes. Thus, as long as
there are distinct cultures, there are no values shared
across cultures,
Each of the following, if true, would weaken the
argument EXCEPT:
(A) Anthropologists rely on inadequate translation
techniques to investigate the values of
cultures that use languages different from the
anthropolo gists' languages.
(B) As a result of advancing technology and global
communication, we will sorneday all share the
same culture and the same values.
(C) Although specific moral values differ across
cultures, more general moral principles, such
as "Friendship is good," are common to all
cultures.
(D) The anthropologists who have studied various
cultures have been biased in favor of finding
differences rather than similarities between
distinct cultures.
(E) What appear to be differences in values
between distinct cultures are nothing more
than differences in beliefs about how to live in
accordance rvith shared values.
Historians of North American architecture who have
studied early nineteenth-century houses with
rvooden floors have observed that the boards used on
the floors of bigger houses were generally much
narrower than those used on the floors of smaller
houses. These historians have argued that, since the
people for whom the bigger houses were built were
generally richer than the people for whom the
smaller houses were built, floors made out of narrow
floortloards were probaLrly once a status symbol,
designed to proclaim the owner's wealth.
strengthen the historians' argument?
(A) More original floorboards have survived from
big early nineteenth-century houses than
from small early nineteenth-century houses.
(B) In the early nineieenth century, a piece of
narrow floorboard was not significantly less
expensive than a piece of wide floorboard of
the same length.
(C) In the early nineteenth century, smaller houses
generally had ferver rooms than did bigger
houses.
(D) Some early nineteenth-century houses had
wide floorboards near the walls of each room
and narrower floorboards in the center, where
the floors were usually carpeted.
(E) Many of the biggest early niaeteenth-century
houses but very few small houses from that
period had some floors that were made of
materials that were considerably more
expensive.
102.
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Speaker: Contemporary business firms need to
rccagnize that avoiding social responsibility
leads to the gradual erosion of power. This is
Davis and Blomstromt Iron Law of
Responsibility: "In the long run, those who do
not use power in a manner which society
considers responsible will tend to lose it." The
law's application to human institutions
certainly stands confirmed by history. Though
the "long rurt''may require decades or even
centuries in some instances, society ultimately
acts to reduce power when sociefy thinks it is
not being used responsibly. Therefore, a
business that wishes to retain its power as long
as it can must act responsibly.
Which one of the following statemnts, if true, most
weakens the speaker's argument?
(A) Government institutions are as subject to the
Iron Law of Responsibility as business
institutions.
(B) Public relations ptograms can caus society to
consider an institution socially responsible
even when it is not.
(C) The power of some institutions erodes more
slowly than the power of others, whether they
are socially responsible or not.
(D) Since no institution is eternal, every business
will eventually fail.
(E) Some businesses that have used power in
socially responsible ways have lost it.
105. Party spokesperson: The opposition party's
proposal to stimulate economic activity in the
province by refunding
96O0 million in
provincial taxes to taxpayers, who could be
expected to spend the money, envisions an
illusory benefit. Since the province's budget is
required to be in balance, either new taxes
would be needed to make up the shortfall, in
which case the purpose of the refund would be
defeated, or else workers for the province
would be dismissed. So either the province's
taxpayers or its workers, who are also residents
of the province, will have the $600 million to
spend, but there can be no resulting net
increase in spending to stimulate the
provincets economy.
The conclusion about whether there would be a
resulting net increase in spending would not follow if
the
(A) taxpayers of the province would spend outside
the province at least $300 million of any $600
million refunded to them
tB) taxpayers ofthe province would receive any
refund in partial payments during the year
rather than in a lump sum
(C) province could assess new taxes in a way that
would avoid angering taxpayers
(D) province could, instead of refunding the
money, stimulate its economy by redirecting
its spending to use the $600 million for
construction projects creating jobs
around
the province
(E) province could keep its workers and use them
more effectively, with a resulting savings of
$600 million in its out-of-province
erpenditures
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Source: PrcpTest 22, Section 4, Questions !9 and 24
265
ISAT Mqstery Proctice
106, Members of the Amazonian Akabe people commonly
take an early-morning drink of a tea made from the
leaves of a forest plant' Although they greatly enjoy
this drink, at darvn they drink it only in small
amounts. Anthropologists hypothesize that since this
tea is extraordinarily high in caft'eine, the erplanation
for the Akabe's not drinking more of it at dalvn is
that high caffeine intake would destroy the
surefootedness that their daily tasks require.
calls the anthropologists' explanation into question?
(A) The drink is full of nutrients otherwise absent
from the Akabe diet.
(B) The Akabe also drink the tea in the evening,
after their dayt work is done.
(C) The leaves used for the tea contain a soluble
narcotic.
(D) Akabe children are introduced to the tea in
only a weak form.
(E) When celebrating, the Akabe drink the tea in
large quantities,
LA7. Raising the tax rate on essential goods-a traditional
means of increasing government revenues-invariably
turns low- and middle-income taxpayers against the
government, Hence government officials have
proposed adding a new tax on purchases of luxury
items such as yachts, private planes, jewels, and furs.
The officials claim that this tax will result in a
substantial increase in government revenues while
affecting only the wealthy individuals and
corporations who can afford to purchase such items.
would be the most relevant in evaluating the
accuracy of the government officials' prediction?
(A) Will luxury goods be taxed at a higher rate
than that at which essential goods are
currently taxed?
(B) Will the revenues generated by the proposed
tax be cornparable to those that are currently
being generated by taxes on essential goods?
(C) Will sales of the luxury items subject to the
proposed tax occur at current rates once the
proposed tax on luxury items has been
Passed?
(D) Will the proposed tax on luxury items rvin
support for the government in the eyes of
low- and middle-income taxpayers?
(E) Will purchases of luxury iterns by corporations
account fbr more of the revenue generated by
the proposed tax than will purchases of
luxury items by wealthy individuals?
One year ago a local government initiated an
antismoking advertising campaign in local newspapers,
which it financed by imposing a tax on cigarettes of 20
cents per pack One year later, the number of people in
the locality who smoke cigarettes had deciined by 3
percent. Clearly, what was said in the advertisements
had an effect, although a small olle, on the number of
people in the locality who smoke cigarettes.
strengthen the argument?
(A) Residents of the localit,v have not ilcreased
their use of other tobacco products such as
snuff and chen'ing tobacco since the
campaign went into effect.
(B) A substantial number of cigarette smokers in
the locality who did not quit smoking during
the campaign nolt smoke less than they did
before it began.
(C)
Admissions to the local hospital for chronic
respiratory ailments were down by l5 percent
one year after the campaign began.
(D) Merchants in the locality responded to the
local tax by reducing the price at which they
sold cigarettes by 20 cents per pack.
(E) Smokers in the locality had incomes that on
average were 25 percent lower than those of
nonsmokers.
Paleontologists have discovered fossils of centipedes
that are 414 million years old. These fossils are at
least 20 million years older than the earliest
Iand-dwelling animals previously identified. The
paleontologists are confident that these centipedes
lived on land, even though the fossilized centipedes
were discovered in rock that also contained fossilized
remains of animals known to be water-dwelling.
The paleontologists'view would be LBAST supported
by the truth of which one of the following?
(A) The legs of the fossilized centipedes were
particularly suited to being a means of
locomotion on land,
(B) Ail of the centipedes that had previously been
discovered were land dwellers.
(C)
The rock in which the fossilized centipedes
were found was formed from mud flats that
were occasionally covered by river water.
(D)
Fossils of the earliest land-dwelling animals
that had previously been identified rvere
found in rock that did not contain fossilized
remains of water-dwelling animals.
(E)
Fossils of spiders with respiratory sysrems
adapted only to breathing air were found in
the same rock as the centipede fossils.
108.
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Sources: PrcpTest 2!, Section 2, Question 7Z
PrcpTest 2!, Section 3, Question !!
tuepTest !7, Section 3,
Question !2
tuepTest 70, Section 7, Question
g
266
Str e n gth e n
/Wea
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esti o n s
I 10.
@
Fares on the city-run public buses in Greenville are
subsidized by city tax reyenues, but among the
beneficiaries of the low fares are many people who
commute from outside the city to
jobs
in Greenville.
Some city councillors argue that city taxes should be
used primarily to benefit &e people who pay them,
and therefore that bus fares should be raised enough
to cover the cost of the service.
Each of the following, if true, would weaken the
argument advanced by the city councilors EXCEPT:
(A) Many businesses whose presence in the city is
beneficial to the city's taxpayers would
relocate outside the city if public-transit fares
were more expensive.
(B) By providing commuters with economic
incentives to drive to work, higher transit
fares would worsen air pollution in Greenville
and increase the cost of maintaining the city's
streets.
(C) Increasing transit fares would disadvantage
those residents of the city whose low incomes
make them exempt from city taxes, and all
city councilors agree that these residents
should be able to take advantage of city-run
services.
(D) Voters in the city, many of whom benefit from
the low transit fares, are strongly opposed to
increasing local taxes.
(E) People who work in Greenville and earn wages
above the nationally mandated minimum all
pay the city wage tax of 5 percent,
I 1 1. There is relatively little room for growth in the
overall carpet market, which is tied to the size of the
population. Most who purchase carpet do so only
once or twice, first in their twenties or thirties, and
then perhaps again in their fifties or sixties. Thus as
the population ages, companies producing carpet will
be able to gain market share in the carpet market
only through purchasing competitors, and not
through more aggressive marketing.
Which one of the following, if true, casts the most
doubt on the conclusion above?
(A) Most of the major carpet producers market
other floor coverings as well.
(B)
Most established carpet producers market
several different Ltrand names and varieties,
and there is no remaining niche in the market
for new brands to fiIl.
(C)
Two of the three mergers in the industry's last
ten years led to a decline in profits and
revenues for the newly merged companies.
(D) Price reductions, achieved by cost-cutting in
production, by some of the dominant firms in
the carpet market are causing other producers
to leave the market altogether.
(E) The carpet market is unlike most markets in
that consumers are becoming increasingly
resistant to new patterns and styles.
Sourceg' PrepTest 10, Sectlon t, Qsestlon !9
Preplest 10, Section 4,
Questlon
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The number of afucraft collisions on the growrd is
increasing because of the substantial increase in the
number of fligtttt operated by the airlines. Many of
the fatalities that occur in such collisions are caused
not by the collision itself, but by an inherent flaw in
the cabin design of most aircraft, in which seats' by
restricting access to emergency exits, impede escaPe'
Therefore, to redrtce the total number of fatalities
that result annually from such collisions, the airlines
should be required to remove all seats that restrict
access to emergenry exits'
Which one of the following proposals, if
implemented together with the proposal made in the
pasug*, would improve the prospects for achieving
ihe stat"d objective of reducing fatalities?
(A) The airlines should be required, when buying
new planes, to buY onlY
Planes
with
unrestricted access to emergency exits.
(B) The airlines should not be permitted to
increase further the number of flights in
order to offset the decrease in the number of
seats on each aircraft.
Airport authorities should be required to
stteamiine their passenger check-in
procedures to accommodate the increased
number of passengers served by the airlines'
Airport authorities should be required to
refine security precautions by making them
less conspicuous without making them less
effective,
The airlines should not be allowed to increase
the tickei price for each passenger to offset
the decrease in the number of seats on each
aircraft,
113.
@
A translation invariably reflects the writing style ofthe
translator. Sometimes when a long document needs to
be translated quickly, several translators are put to
work on the job, each assigned to translate part of the
document. In these cases, the result is usually a
translation marked by different and often incompatible
writing sryles. Certain computer programs for
language translation that work without the
intervention of human translators can finish the
job
faster than human translators and produce a
stylistically uniform translation with an 80 percent
accuracy rate. Therefore, when a long document needs
to be translated quickly, it is better to use a comPuter
translation program than human translators.
Which one of the following issues would be LEAST
importaat to resolve in evaluating the argument?
whether the problem of stylistic variety in
human translation could be solved by giving
stylistic guidelines to human translators
whether numerical comparisons of the accuracy
of translations can reasonably be made
(C) whether computer translation programs, like
human translators, each have their own
distinct writing style
(D) whether the computer translation contains
errors of grammar and usage that drastically
alter the meaning of the text
(E) how the accuracy rate of computer translation
programs compares with that of human
translators in relation to the users'needs
Mr It is almost impossible to find a person
between the ages of 85 and 90 who primarily
uses the left hand.
Q:
Seventy to ninetyyears ago, however, children
were punished for using their left hands to eat
or to write and were forced to use their right
hands.
Q's
response serves to counter any Bse by M of the
evidence about 85 to 90 year olds in support of
which one of the following hypotheses?
(A) Being born right-handed confers a survival
advantage.
tB)
Societal attitudes toward handedness differ at
different times.
(C) Forcing a prson to switch from a preferred
hand is harmless.
(D) Handedness is a product of both genetic
predisposition and social pressures.
(E) Physical habits learned in school often persist
in old age.
Question
lO
PrcpTest 9, Section 4'
Question
8
*eplest 5, Sectlon l, Questlan
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(B)
(c)
(D)
(E)
114.
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268
I 15. A ftee's age can be determined by counting the annual
growth rings in its trunk Each ring represents one
year, and the ring's thickness reveals the relative
amount of rainfall that year. Archaeologists
successfrrlly used annual rings to determine the
relative ages of ancient tombs atPazyryk Each tomb
was constructed from freshly cut logs, and the tombs'
builders were constrained by tradition to use only
logs from trees growing in the sacred PazyrykValley.
Which one of the following, if true, contributes most
to an explanation of the archaeologists'success in
using annual rings to establish the relative ages of the
tombs at the Paryryk site?
(A) The Paryryk tombs were all robbed during
ancient times, but breakage of the tombs'
seals allowed the seepage of water, which soon
froze permanently, thereby preserving the
tombs' remaining artifacts.
(B) The PazyrykValle!, surrounded by extremely
high mountains, has a distinctive yearly
pattern of rainfall, and so trees growing in the
PazyrykValleyhave annual rings that are quite
distinct from trees growing in nearby valleys.
(C) Each log in the Pazyryk tombs has among its
rkgs a distinctive sequence of twelve annual
rings representing six &ought years followed by
three rainyyears and tltree more drought years.
(D) The archaeologists determined that the youngest
tree used in any of the tombs was 90 years old
and that the oldest tree was 450 years old,
(E) All of the Pazyryk tombs contained cultural
artifacts that can be dated to roughly 2300
years ago,
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Source: PtepTest 5, Scatlon !, eueeuon 19
{l19 26s

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