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670
|
Enforcement of local speed limits through police monitoring has proven unsuccessful in the town of Ardane. In many nearby towns, speed humps (raised areas of pavement placed across residential streets, about 300 feet apart) have reduced traffic speeds on residential streets by 20 to 25 percent. In order to reduce traffic speed and thereby enhance safety residential neighborhoods, Ardane's transportation commission plans to install multiple speed humps in those neighborhoods.
Which of the following, if true, identifies a potentially serious drawback to the plan for installing speed humps in Ardane?
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671
|
Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?NowNews, although still the most popular magazine covering cultural events in Kalopolis, has recently suffered a significant drop in advertising revenue because of falling circulation. Many readers have begun buying a competing magazine that, at 50 cents per copy, costs less than NowNews at $1.50 per copy. In order to boost circulation and thus increase advertising revenue, NowNews`s publisher has proposed making it available at no charge, but this proposal has a serious drawback, since ________.
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672
|
Archaeologist: Researchers excavating a burial site in Cyprus found a feline skeleton lying near a human skeleton. Both skeletons were in the same sediment at the same depth and equally well-preserved, suggesting that the feline and human were buried together about 9,500 years ago. This shows that felines were domesticated around the time farming began, when they would have been useful in protecting stores of grain from mice.Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the archaeologist`s argument?
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673
|
Farmer: Several people in the past few years have claimed to have seen a mountain lion in the suburban outskirts-the latest just last month-and, while mountain lions were thought to have been driven from this entire region about twenty years ago, there is no reason for the people who reported seeing a
mountain lion to have deliberately concocted a false report. Therefore, local wildlife managers should begin to urgently address the mountain lion's presence.
Which of the following would, if true, most seriously weaken the farmer's argument?
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674
|
The heavy traffic in Masana is a growing drain on the city's economy--the clogging of the streets of the central business district alone cost the economy more than $1.2 billion over the past year. In order to address this problem, officials plan to introduce congestion pricing, by which drivers would pay to enter the city`s most heavily trafficked areas during the busiest times of the day.Which of the following, if true, would most strongly indicate that the plan will be a success?
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675
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Economist: The most economically efficient way to reduce emissions of air pollutants is to tax them in proportion to the damage they are likely to cause. But in Country Y, many serious pollutants are untaxed and unregulated, and policy makers strongly oppose new taxes. Therefore, the best way to achieve a reduction in air pollutant emissions in Country Y would be to institute fixed upper limits on them.Which of the following is an assumption of the economist`s argument?
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676
|
Humans get Lyme disease from infected ticks. Ticks get infected by feeding on animals with Lyme disease, but the ease of transmission from host animal to tick varies. With most species of host animal, transmission of Lyme disease to ticks is extremely rare, but white-footed mice are an exception, readily passing Lyme disease to ticks. And white-footed mouse populations greatly expand, becoming the main food source for ticks, in areas where biodiversity is in decline.The information in the passage most strongly supports which of the following?
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677
|
Many industrialized nations are trying to reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a gas released by the burning of fossil fuels. One proposal is to replace conventional cement, which is made with calcium carbonate, by a new "eco-cement." This new cement, made with magnesium carbonate, absorbs large amount of carbon dioxide when exposed to the atmosphere. Therefore, using eco-cement for new concrete building projects will significantly help reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide.Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
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678
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Advertisement: When your car`s engine is running at its normal operating temperature, any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does. When the engine is cold, it is a different story: Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do. So, if you want your car`s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff.which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?
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679
|
Linguist: In English, the past is described as "behind" and the future "ahead," whereas in Aymara the past is "ahead" and the future "behind." Research indicates that English speakers sway backward when discussing the past and forward when discussing the future. Conversely, Aymara speakers gesture forward with their hands when discussing the past and backward when discussing the future. These bodily movements, therefore, suggest that the language one speaks affects how one mentally visualizes
time.
The linguist's reasoning depends on assuming which of the following?
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680
|
The Testament of William Thorpe was published around 1530 as an appendix to Thorpe`s longer Examination. Many scholars, however, doubt the attribution of the Testament to Thorpe because, whereas the Examination is dated 1406, the Testament is dated 1460. One scholar has recently argued that the 1460 date be amended to 1409, based on the observation that when these numbers are expressed as Roman numerals, MCCCCLX and MCCCCIX, it becomes easy to see how the dates might have become confused through scribal error.Which of the following, if true, would most support the scholar`s hypothesis concerning the date of the Testament?
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681
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A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool Company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged, citing as evidence the company`s failure to slow down production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products. It is doubtful whether an investors sniping at management can ever be an thing other than counterproductive, but in this case it is clearly not justified. It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, but in Burton's case it indicates no such thing. Rather, the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
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682
|
To reduce productivity losses from employees calling in sick, Corporation X implemented a new policy requiring employees to come into work unless they were so sick that they had to go to a doctor. But a year after the policy was implemented, a study found that Corporation X`s overall productivity losses due to reported employee illnesses had increased.Which of the following, if true, would best explain why the policy produced the reverse of its intended effect?
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683
|
Advertising by mail has become much less effective, with fewer consumers responding. Because consumers are increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of junk mail they receive, most discard almost all offers without considering them. Thus, an effective way for corporations to improve response rates would be to more carefully target the individuals to whom they mail advertising, thereby cutting down on the amount of junk mail each consumer receives.Which of the following, if true, would most support this recommendation?
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684
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Petrochemical industry officials have said that the extreme pressure exerted on plant managers during the last five years to improve profits by cutting costs has done nothing to impair the industry`s ability to operate safely. However, environmentalists contend that the recent rash of serious oil spills and accidents at petrochemical plants is traceable to cost-cutting
measures.Which of the following, if true, would provide the strongest support for the position held by industry officials?
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685
|
A company has developed a new sensing device that, according to
the company's claims, detects weak, ultralow-frequency electromagnetic signals associated with a beating heart. These signals, which pass through almost any physical obstruction, are purportedly detected by the device even at significant distances. Therefore, if the company`s claims are true, their device will radically improve emergency teams ability to locate quickly people who are trapped within the wreckage of collapsed buildings.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
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686
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Economist: The price of tap water in our region should be raised drastically. Supplies in local freshwater reservoirs have been declining for years because water is being used faster than it can be replenished. Since the price of tap water has been low, few users have bothered to adopt even easy conservation measures.The two sections in boldface play which of the following roles in the economist's argument?
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687
|
Politician: Hybrid cars use significantly less fuel per kilometer than nonhybrids. And fuel produces air pollution, which contributes to a number of environmental problems. Motorists can save money by driving cars that are more fuel efficient, and they will be encouraged to drive hybrid cars if we make them aware of that fact. Therefore, we can help reduce the total amount of pollution emitted by cars in this country by highlighting this advantage of hybrid cars.Which of the following, if true, would most indicate a vulnerability of the politician`s argument?
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688
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Mayor: False alarms from home security systems waste so much valuable police time that in many communities police have stopped responding to alarms from homes whose systems frequently produce false alarms. This policy reduces wastage of police time but results in a loss of protection for some residents. To achieve a comparable reduction in wastage without reducing protection for residents, the council has enacted a measure to fine residents for repeated false alarms.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on whether the measure enacted by the council will achieve its goal?
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689
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Excavation of the house of a third-century Camarnian official revealed that he had served four magistrates-public officials who administer the law-over his thirty-year public career, in four provincial capital cities. However, given the Camarnian administrative system of that era, it is unclear whether he served them simultaneously, as a traveling administrator living for part of the year in each provincial capital, or else did so sequentially, leaving one magistrate after several years to join another.
Which of the following would, if found in the excavation, most likely help reveal the pattern of the official's administrative service?
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