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126
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Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits.If they did, countries with the largest budget deficits would also have the largest trade deficits.In fact, when deficit figures are adjusted so that different countries are reliably comparable to each other, there is no such correlation.If the statements above are all true, which of the following can properly be inferred on the basis of them?
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127
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Which of the following best completes the passage below?The more worried investors are about losing their money, the more they will demand a high potential return on their investment:great risks must be offset by the chance of great rewards.This principle is the fundamental one in determining interest rates, and it is illustrated by the fact that ________ .
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128
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It is often said that high rates of inflation tend to diminish people`s incentive to save and invest. This view must be incorrect, however, because people generally saved and invested more of their income in the 1970`s when inflation rates were high than they did in the 1980`s when inflation rates were low.Of the following, the best criticism of the argument above is that it overlooks the possibility that
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129
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Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?Within the earth`s core, which is iron, pressure increases with depth. Because the temperature at which iron melts increases with pressure, the inner core is solid and the outer core is molten. Physicists can determine the melting temperature of iron at any given pressure and the pressure for any given depth in the earth. Therefore, the actual temperature at the boundary of the earth`s outer and inner cores-the melting temperature of iron there – can be determined, since_______.
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130
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Which of the following most logically completes the reasoning?Either food scarcity or excessive hunting can threaten a population of animals. If the group faces food scarcity, individuals in the group will reach reproductive maturity later than otherwise. If the group faces excessive hunting, individuals that reach reproductive maturity earlier will come to predominate. Therefore, it should be possible to determine whether prehistoric mastodons became extinct because of food scarcity or human hunting, since there are fossilized mastodon remains from both before and after mastodon populations declined, and ______.
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131
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Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
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132
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Many office buildings designed to prevent outside air from entering have been shown to have elevated levels of various toxic substances circulating through the air inside, a phenomenon known as sick building syndrome. Yet the air in other office buildings does not have elevated levels of these substances, even though those buildings are the same age as the "sick" buildings and have similar designs and ventilation systems.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain why not all office buildings designed to prevent outside air from entering have air that contains elevated levels of toxic substances?
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133
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Newsletter: A condominium generally offers more value for its cost than an individual house because of economies of scale. The homeowners in a condominium association can collectively buy products and services that they could not afford on their own. And since a professional management company handles maintenance of common areas, condominium owners spend less time and money on maintenance than individual homeowners do.The two portions in boldface play which of the following roles in the newsletter`s argument?
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134
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Which of the following most logically completes the argument?When officials in Tannersburg released their plan to widen the city`s main roads, environmentalists protested that widened roads would attract more traffic and lead to increased air pollution. In response, city officials pointed out that today`s pollution-control devices are at their most effective in vehicles traveling at higher speeds and that widening roads would increase the average speed of traffic. However, this effect can hardly be expected to offset the effect pointed out by environmentalists, since __________.
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135
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Premature babies who receive regular massages are more active than premature babies who do not. Even when all the babies drink the same amount of milk, the massaged babies gain more weight than do the unmassaged babies. This is puzzling because a more active person generally requires a greater food intake to maintain or gain weight.Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the apparent discrepancy described above?
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136
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An eyeglass manufacturer tried to boost sales for the summer quarter by offering its distributors a special discount if their orders for that quarter exceeded those for last year's summer quarter by at least 20 percent.Many distributors qualified for this discount.Even with much merchandise discounted, sales increased enough to produce a healthy gain in net profits.The manufacturer plans to repeat this success by offering the same sort of discount for the fall quarter.Which of the following, if true, most clearly points to a flaw in the manufacturer's plan to repeat the successful performance of the summer quarter?
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137
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Which of the following, if true, most logically completes the argument?Some dairy farmers in the province of Takandia want to give their cows a synthetic hormone that increases milk production. Many Takandians, however, do not want to buy milk from cows given the synthetic hormone. For this reason Takandia`s legislature is considering a measure requiring milk from cows given the hormone to be labeled as such. Even if the measure is defeated, dairy farmers who use the hormone will probably lose customers, since __________.
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138
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Budget constraints have made police officials consider reassigning a considerable number of officers from traffic enforcement to work on higher-priority, serious crimes. Reducing traffic enforcement for this reason would be counterproductive, however, in light of the tendency of criminals to use cars when engaged in the commission of serious crimes. An officer stopping a car for a traffic violation can make a search that turns up evidence of serious crime.Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument given?
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139
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Conventional wisdom suggests vaccinating elderly people first in flu season, because they are at greatest risk of dying if they contract the virus. This year`s flu virus poses particular risk to elderly people and almost none at all to younger people, particularly children. Nevertheless, health professionals are recommending vaccinating children first against the virus rather than elderly people.Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason for the health professionals` recommendation?
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140
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Pro-Tect Insurance Company has recently been paying out more on car-theft claims than it expected. Cars with special antitheft devices or alarm systems are much less likely to be stolen than are other cars. Consequently Pro-Tect, as part of an effort to reduce its annual payouts, will offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies if their cars have antitheft devices or alarm systems.Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest indication that the plan is likely to achieve its goal?
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141
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While the total enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools in Sondland is one percent higher this academic year than last academic year, the number of teachers there increased by three percent. Thus, the Sondland Education Commission's prediction of a teacher shortage as early as next academic year is unfounded. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the claim that the prediction of a teacher shortage as early as next academic year is unfounded?
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142
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Art restorers who have been studying the factors that cause Renaissance oil paintings to deteriorate physically when subject to climatic changes have found that the oil paint used in these paintings actually adjusts to these changes well. The restorers therefore hypothesize that it is a layer of material called gesso, which is under the paint, that causes the deterioration.Which of the following, if true , most strongly supports the restorers' hypothesis?
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143
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Automobile Dealer's Advertisement:The Highway Traffic Safety Institute reports that the PZ 1000 has the fewest injuries per accident of any car in its class.This shows that the PZ 1000 is one of the safest cars available today.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument in the advertisement?
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144
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Archaeologists working in the Andes Mountains recently excavated a buried 4,000-year-old temple containing structures that align with a stone carving on a distant hill to indicate the direction of the rising sun at the summer solstice. Alignments in the temple were also found to point toward the position, at the summer solstice, of a constellation known in Andean culture as the Fox. Since the local mythology represents the fox as teaching people how to cultivate and irrigate plants, the ancient Andeans may have built the temple as a religious representation of the fox. Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument is based?
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145
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Which of the following most logically completes the passage?It is generally believed that people receiving frequent medical checkups are likely to need hospitalization less frequently than they would otherwise; after all, many things can be done following a checkup to prevent problems that, if ignored, might become acute and then require hospitalization. But for people with chronic illnesses, frequent medical checkups are likely to lead to more frequent hospitalization since __________.
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