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PREP08 Test 1
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Unlike George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of whom running as independent candidates, H. Ross Perot's independent run for the presidency in 1992 arose not from an unsuccessful effort to gain a major party nomination but from a desire to establish a viable third party in American politics.
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PREP2012
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An overwhelming proportion of the most productive employees at SaleCo's regional offices work not eight hours a day, five days a week, as do other SaleCo employees, but rather ten hours a day, four days a week, with Friday off. Noting this phenomenon, SaleCo's president plans to increase overall productivity by keeping the offices closed on Fridays and having all employees work the same schedule-ten hours a day, four days a week.Which of the following, if true, provides the most reason to doubt that the president's plan, if implemented, will achieve its stated purpose?
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OG16 GWD
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Since it has become known that several of a bank's top executives have been buying shares in their own bank, the bank's depositors, who had been worried by rumors that the bank faced impending financial collapse, have been greatly relieved. They reason that since top executives evidently have faith in the bank's financial soundness, those worrisome rumors must be false. They might well be overoptimistic, however, since corporate executives have sometimes bought shares in their own company in a calculated attempt to dispel negative rumors about the company's health.In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
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GWD
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A manufacturer of workstations for computer-aided design seeks to increase sales to its most important corporate customers. Its strategy is to publish very low list prices for workstations in order to generate interest among the buyers for those corporations.Which of the following, if characteristic of the marketplace, would tend to cause the manufacturer's strategy to fail?
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GWD PREP2012
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In the late 1980's, the population of sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean began to decline. Of the two plausible explanations for the decline-increased predation by killer whales or disease-disease is the more likely. After all, a concurrent sharp decline in the populations of seals and sea lions was almost certainly caused by a pollution-related disease, which could have spread to sea otters, whereas the population of killer whales did not change noticeably.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the reasoning?
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GWD PREP08 Test 1
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Political advocacy groups have begun to use information services to disseminate information that is then accessed by the public via personal computer. Since many groups are thus able to bypass traditional news sources, whose reporting is selective, and to present their political views directly to the public, information services present a more balanced picture of the complexities of political issues than any traditional news source presents.Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?
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GWD
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In 1983 Argonia's currency, the argon, underwent a reduction in value relative to the world's strongest currencies. This reduction resulted in a significant increase in Argonia's exports over 1982 levels. In 1987 a similar reduction in the value of the argon led to another increase in Argonia's exports. Faced with the need to increase exports yet again, Argonia's finance minister has proposed another reduction in the value of the argon.Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the prediction that the finance minister's plan will not result in a significant increase in Argonia's exports next year?
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GWD PREP08 Test 2
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Healthy lungs produce a natural antibiotic that protects them from infection by routinely killing harmful bacteria on airway surfaces. People with cystic fibroses, however, are unable to fight off such bacteria, even though their lungs produce normal amounts of the antibiotic. Since the fluid on airway surfaces in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis has an abnormally high salt concentration, scientists hypothesize that in high salt environments the antibiotic becomes ineffective at killing harmful bacteria.Which of the following, if it were obtained as an experimental result, would most decisively undermine the scientists' hypothesis?
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GWD
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In two months, the legal minimum wage in the country of Kirlandia will increase from five Kirlandic dollars(KD5.00) Per hour to KD5.50 per hour. Opponents of this increase have argued that the resulting rise in wages will drive the inflation rate up. In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirfandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
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GWD
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Mel: The official salary for judges has always been too low to attract the best candidates to the job. The legislature's move to raise the salary has done nothing to improve the situation, because it was coupled with a ban on receiving money for lectures and teaching engagements.Pat: No, the raise in salary really does improve the situation. Since very few judges teach or give lectures, the ban will have little or no negative effect.Pat's response to Mel is inadequate in that it
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GWD PREP08 Test 1
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Goronian lawmaker: Goronia's Cheese Importation Board, the agency responsible for inspecting all wholesale shipments of cheese entering Goronia from abroad and rejecting shipments that fail to meet specified standards, rejects about one percent of the cheese that it inspects. Since the health consequences and associated costs of not rejecting that one percent would be negligible, whereas the cost of maintaining the agency is not, the agency's cost clearly outweighs the benefits it provides.Knowing the answer to which of the following would be most useful in evaluating the lawmaker's argument?
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GWD
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Which of the following most logically completes the argument?A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants. Agronomists studying the herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert. Possibly, therefore, the herb's high histidine production is what allows it to grow in metal-rich soils, a hypothesis that would gain support if ______.
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GWD
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Which of the following, if true, provides evidence that most logically completes the argument below?According to a widely held economic hypothesis, imposing strict environmental regulations reduces economic growth. This hypothesis is undermined by the fact that the states with the strictest environmental regulations also have the highest economic growth. This fact does not show that environmental regulations promote growth, however, since ______.
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GWD
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In Patton City, days are categorized as having heavy rainfall (more than two inches), moderate rainfall (more than one inch, but no more than two inches), light rainfall (at least a trace, but no more than one inch), or no rainfall. In 1990, there were fewer days with light rainfall than in 1910 and fewer with moderate rainfall, yet total rainfall for the year was 20 percent higher in 1990 than in 1910.If the statements above are true, then it is also possible that in Patton City
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GWD
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Rabbits were introduced to Numa Island in the nineteenth century. Overgrazing by the enormous population of rabbits now menaces the island's agriculture. The government proposes to reduce the population by using a virus that has caused devastating epidemics in rabbit populations elsewhere. There is, however, a chance that the virus will infect the bilby, an endangered native marsupial. The government's plan, therefore, may serve the interests of agriculture but will clearly increase the threat to native wildlife.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
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GWD
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In the past, every ten-percentage-point increase in cigarette prices in the country of Coponia has decreased per capita sales of cigarettes by four percent. Coponia is about to raise taxes on cigarettes by 9 cents per pack. The average price of cigarettes in Coponia is and has been for more than a year 90 cents per pack. So the tax hike stands an excellent chance of reducing per capita sales of cigarettes by four percent.Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
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GWD
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Mice that have been given morphine are very likely to develop blood poisoning because bacteria that normally reside in the intestine typically respond to morphine by migrating into the bloodstream. However, when mice are given both morphine and the new drug naltrexone, blood poisoning is much less frequent, although it does still occur. These results provide support for researchers' prediction that naltrexone will turn out to be toxic to certain types of bacteria.Which of the following, if discovered to be true, would most seriously weaken the support for the researchers' prediction?
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GWD
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Industrial accidents are more common when some of the people in safety-sensitive jobs have drinking problems than when none do. Since, even after treatment, people who have had drinking problems are somewhat more likely than other people to have drinking problems in the future, any employer trying to reduce the risk of accidents should bar anyone who has ever been treated for a drinking problem from holding a safety-sensitive job.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument above?
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GWD
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The ancient Nubians inhabited an area in which typhus occurred, yet surprisingly few of their skeletons show the usual evidence of this disease. The skeletons do show deposits of tetracycline, an antibiotic produced by a bacterium common in Nubian soil. This bacterium can flourish on the dried grain used for making two staples of the Nubian diet, beer and bread. Thus, tetracycline in their food probably explains the low incidence of typhus among ancient Nubians.Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?
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GWD
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their living by gathering, organizing, and dispensing information about travel-related services that is not readily available to most consumers. Through new information technologies, such as the internet, much of this information can now be made directly available to consumers. Demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced.Which of the following, if true , most seriously weakens the argument ?
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