|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
When a new restaurant, Martin's Cafe, opened in Riverville last year, many people predicted that business at the Wildflower Inn, Riverville's only other restaurant, would suffer from the competition. Surprisingly, however, in the year since Martin's Cafe opened, the average number of meals per night served at the Wildflower Inn has increased significantly.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the increase?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
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?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
In the nation of Partoria, large trucks currently have a much higher rate of traffic accidents per mile driven than other vehicles do. However, the very largest trucks-those with three trailers-had less than a third of the accident rate of single- and double-trailer trucks. Clearly, therefore, one way for Partoria to reduce the number of traffic accidents would be to require shippers to increase their use of triple-trailer trucks.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
Journalist: Every election year at this time the state government releases the financial disclosures that potential candidates must make in order to be eligible to run for office. Among those making the required financial disclosure this year is a prominent local businessman, Arnold Bergeron. There has often been talk in the past of Mr. Bergeron's running for governor, not least from Mr. Bergeron himself. This year it is likely he finally will, since those who have discounted the possibility of a Bergeron candidacy have always pointed to the necessity of making financial disclosure as the main obstacle to such a candidacy.In the journalist's argument, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Kate: The recent decline in numbers of the Tennessee warbler, a North American songbird that migrates each fall to coffee plantations in South America, is due to the elimination of the dense tree cover that formerly was a feature of most South American coffee plantations.Scott: The population of the spruce budworm, the warbler's favorite prey in North America, has been dropping. This is a more likely explanation of the warbler's decline.Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls Scott's hypothesis into question?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
Because it was long thought that few people would watch lengthy televised political messages, most televised political advertisements, like commercial advertisements, took the form of short messages. Last year, however, one candidate produced a half-hour-long advertisement. At the beginning of the half-hour slot a substantial portion of the viewing public had tuned in to that station. Clearly, then, many more people are interested in lengthy televised political messages than was previously thought.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Which of the following most logically completes the passage?On the whole, scientists do their most creative work before age forty, a tendency that has been taken to show that aging carries with it a loss of creative capacity. An alternative explanation is that by age forty most scientists have worked in their field for fifteen or more years and that by then they have exhausted the opportunity for creative work in that field. Supporting this explanation is the finding that ______.
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
For similar cars and drivers, automobile insurance for collision damage has always cost more in Greatport than in Fairmont. Police studies, however, show that cars owned by Greatport residents are, on average, slightly less likely to be involved in a collision than cars in Fairmont. Clearly, therefore, insurance companies are making a greater profit on collision-damage insurance in Greatport than in Fairmont.Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1 PREP08 Test 2
|
In the nation of Partoria, large trucks currently account for 6 percent of miles driven on Partoria's roads but are involved in 12 percent of all highway fatalities. The very largest trucks-those with three trailers-had less than a third of the accident rate of single- and double-trailer trucks. Clearly, therefore, one way for Partoria to reduce highway deaths would be to require shippers to increase their use of triple-trailer trucks.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Hunter: Hunters alone are blamed for the decline in Greenrock National Forest's deer population over the past ten years. Yet clearly, black bears have also played an important role in this decline. In the past ten years, the forest's protected black bear population has risen sharply, and examination of black bears found dead in the forest during the deer hunting season showed that a number of them had recently fed on deer.In the hunter's argument, the boldface portion plays which of the following roles?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Early in the twentieth century, Lake Konfa became very polluted. Recently fish populations have recovered as release of industrial pollutants has declined and the lake's waters have become cleaner. Fears are now being voiced that the planned construction of an oil pipeline across the lake's bottom might revive pollution and cause the fish population to decline again. However, a technology for preventing leaks is being installed. Therefore, provided this technology is effective, those fears are groundless.The argument depends on assuming which of the following?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Denoma, a major consumer-electronics maker, had a sizeable decline in sales revenue for its most recent fiscal year. This result appears surprising, because electronics retailers report that although their overall sales were considerably lower than in the previous year, their sales revenue from Denoma models actually grew, largely thanks to some innovative and popular models that Denoma introduced.Which of the following, if true, does most to explain the apparently surprising result?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Brochure: Help conserve our city's water supply. By converting the landscaping in your yard to a water-conserving landscape, you can greatly reduce your outdoor water use. A water-conserving landscape is natural and attractive, and it also saves you money.Criticism: For most people with yards, the savings from converting to a water-conserving landscape cannot justify the expense of new landscaping, since typically the conversion would save less than twenty dollars on a homeowner's yearly water bills.Which of the following, if true, provides the best basis for a rebuttal of the criticism?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
Two computer companies, Garnet and Renco, each pay Salcor to provide health insurance for their employees. Because early treatment of high cholesterol can prevent strokes that would otherwise occur several years later, Salcor encourages Garnet employees to have their cholesterol levels tested and to obtain early treatment for high cholesterol. Renco employees generally remain with Renco only for a few years, however. Therefore, Salcor lacks any financial incentive to provide similar encouragement to Renco employees.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
In parts of South America, vitamin-A deficiency is a serious health problem, especially among children. In one region, agriculturists hope to improve nutrition by encouraging farmers to plant a new variety of sweet potato called SPK004 that is rich in betacarotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. The plan has good chances of success, since sweet potato is a staple of the region's diet and agriculture, and the varieties currently grown contain little beta-carotene.Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the prediction that the plan will succeed?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?According to promotional material published by the city of Springfield, more tourists stay in hotels in Springfield than stay in the neighboring city of Harristown. A brochure from the largest hotel in Harristown claims that more tourists stay in that hotel than stay in the Royal Arms Hotel in Springfield. If both of these sources are accurate, however, the county's "Report on Tourism" must be in error in indicating that _______.
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant emitted by automobiles. Catalytic converters, devices designed to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions, have been required in all new cars in Donia since 1993, and as a result, nitrogen dioxide emissions have been significantly reduced throughout most of the country. Yet although the proportion of new cars in Donia's capital city has always been comparatively high, nitrogen dioxide emissions there have showed only an insignificant decline since 1993.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the insignificant decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions in Donia's capital city?
|
|
GWD PREP08 Test 1
|
Capuchin monkeys often rub their bodies with a certain type of millipede. Laboratory tests show that secretions from the bodies of these millipedes are rich in two chemicals that are potent mosquito repellents, and mosquitoes carry parasites that debilitate capuchins. Some scientists hypothesize that the monkeys rub their bodies with the millipedes because doing so helps protect them from mosquitoes.Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the scientists' hypothesis?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool Company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged. As evidence for this claim, the investor cited the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products. It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything 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. In Burton's case it indicates no such thing, however: 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?
|
|
PREP08 Test 1
|
Until now, only injectable vaccines against influenza have been available. They have been used primarily by older adults, who are at risk for complications from influenza. A new vaccine administered in a nasal spray has proven effective in preventing influenza in children. Since children are significantly more likely than adults to contract and spread influenza, making the new vaccine widely available for children will greatly reduce the spread of influenza across the population.Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
|