1. The number of airplanes equipped with a new anticollision device has increased steadily during the past two years. During the same period, it has become increasingly common for key information about an airplane’s altitude and speed to disappear suddenly from air traffic controllers’ screens. The new anticollision device, which operates at the same frequency as air traffic radar, is therefore responsible for the sudden disappearance of key information.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument?
(A) The new anticollision device has already
prevented a considerable number of mid-air
collisions.
(B) It was not until the new anticollision device
was introduced that key information first
began disappearing suddenly from
controllers’ screens.
(C) The new anticollision device is scheduled to be
moved to a different frequency within the
next two to three months.
(D) Key information began disappearing from
controllers’ screens three months before the
new anticollision device was first tested.
(E) The sudden disappearance of key information
from controllers’ screens has occurred only at
relatively large airports.
2. Most antidepressant drugs cause weight gain. While dieting can help reduce the amount of weight gained while taking such antidepressants, some weight gain is unlikely to be preventable.
The information above most strongly supports which
one of the following?
(A) A physician should not prescribe any
antidepressant drug for a patient if that
patient is overweight.
(B) People who are trying to lose weight should not
ask their doctors for an antidepressant drug.
(C) At least some patients taking antidepressant
drugs gain weight as a result of taking them.
(D) The weight gain experienced by patients taking
antidepressant drugs should be attributed to
lack of dieting.
(E) All patients taking antidepressant drugs should
diet to maintain their weight.
3. Violent crime in this town is a becoming a serious problem. Compared to last year, local law enforcement agencies have responded to 17 percent more calls involving violent crimes, showing that the average citizen of this town is more likely than ever to become a victim of a violent crime.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument?
(A) The town’s overall crime rate appears to have
risen slightly this year compared to the same
period last year.
(B) In general, persons under the age of 65 are less
likely to be victims of violent crimes than
persons over the age of 65.
(C) As a result of the town’s community outreach
programs, more people than ever are willing
to report violent crimes to the proper
authorities.
(D) In response to worries about violent crime, the
town has recently opened a community
center providing supervised activities for
teenagers.
(E) Community officials have shown that a
relatively small number of repeat offenders
commit the majority of violent crimes in the
town.
4. 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 following, if true, most weakens the
medical researcher’s argument?
(A) The hospital records indicate 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 routinely 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 are
women who do not receive adequate prenatal
care.
5. Researcher: People with certain personality disorders have more theta brain waves than those without such disorders. But my data show that the amount of one’s theta brain waves increases while watching TV. So watching too much TV increases one’s risk of developing personality disorders.
A questionable aspect of the reasoning above is
that it
(A) uses the phrase “personality disorders”
ambiguously
(B) fails to define the phrase “theta brain waves”
(C) takes a correlation to imply a causal connection
(D) draws a conclusion from an unrepresentative
sample of data
(E) infers that watching TV is a consequence of a
personality disorder
6. Unlike newspapers in the old days, today’s newspapers and televised news programs are full of stories about murders and assaults in our city. One can only conclude from this change that violent crime is now out of control, and, to be safe from personal attack, one should not leave one’s home except for absolute necessities.
Which one of the following, if true, would cast the
most serious doubt on the conclusion?
(A) Newspapers and televised news programs have
more comprehensive coverage of violent
crime than newspapers did in the old days.
(B) National data show that violent crime is out of
control everywhere, not just in the author’s
city.
(C) Police records show that people experience
more violent crimes in their own
neighborhoods than they do outside their
neighborhoods.
(D) Murder comprised a larger proportion of
violent crimes in the old days than it does
today.
(E) News magazines play a more important role
today in informing the public about crime
than they did in the old days.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument?
(A) The new anticollision device has already
prevented a considerable number of mid-air
collisions.
(B) It was not until the new anticollision device
was introduced that key information first
began disappearing suddenly from
controllers’ screens.
(C) The new anticollision device is scheduled to be
moved to a different frequency within the
next two to three months.
(D) Key information began disappearing from
controllers’ screens three months before the
new anticollision device was first tested.
(E) The sudden disappearance of key information
from controllers’ screens has occurred only at
relatively large airports.
2. Most antidepressant drugs cause weight gain. While dieting can help reduce the amount of weight gained while taking such antidepressants, some weight gain is unlikely to be preventable.
The information above most strongly supports which
one of the following?
(A) A physician should not prescribe any
antidepressant drug for a patient if that
patient is overweight.
(B) People who are trying to lose weight should not
ask their doctors for an antidepressant drug.
(C) At least some patients taking antidepressant
drugs gain weight as a result of taking them.
(D) The weight gain experienced by patients taking
antidepressant drugs should be attributed to
lack of dieting.
(E) All patients taking antidepressant drugs should
diet to maintain their weight.
3. Violent crime in this town is a becoming a serious problem. Compared to last year, local law enforcement agencies have responded to 17 percent more calls involving violent crimes, showing that the average citizen of this town is more likely than ever to become a victim of a violent crime.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument?
(A) The town’s overall crime rate appears to have
risen slightly this year compared to the same
period last year.
(B) In general, persons under the age of 65 are less
likely to be victims of violent crimes than
persons over the age of 65.
(C) As a result of the town’s community outreach
programs, more people than ever are willing
to report violent crimes to the proper
authorities.
(D) In response to worries about violent crime, the
town has recently opened a community
center providing supervised activities for
teenagers.
(E) Community officials have shown that a
relatively small number of repeat offenders
commit the majority of violent crimes in the
town.
4. 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 following, if true, most weakens the
medical researcher’s argument?
(A) The hospital records indicate 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 routinely 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 are
women who do not receive adequate prenatal
care.
5. Researcher: People with certain personality disorders have more theta brain waves than those without such disorders. But my data show that the amount of one’s theta brain waves increases while watching TV. So watching too much TV increases one’s risk of developing personality disorders.
A questionable aspect of the reasoning above is
that it
(A) uses the phrase “personality disorders”
ambiguously
(B) fails to define the phrase “theta brain waves”
(C) takes a correlation to imply a causal connection
(D) draws a conclusion from an unrepresentative
sample of data
(E) infers that watching TV is a consequence of a
personality disorder
6. Unlike newspapers in the old days, today’s newspapers and televised news programs are full of stories about murders and assaults in our city. One can only conclude from this change that violent crime is now out of control, and, to be safe from personal attack, one should not leave one’s home except for absolute necessities.
Which one of the following, if true, would cast the
most serious doubt on the conclusion?
(A) Newspapers and televised news programs have
more comprehensive coverage of violent
crime than newspapers did in the old days.
(B) National data show that violent crime is out of
control everywhere, not just in the author’s
city.
(C) Police records show that people experience
more violent crimes in their own
neighborhoods than they do outside their
neighborhoods.
(D) Murder comprised a larger proportion of
violent crimes in the old days than it does
today.
(E) News magazines play a more important role
today in informing the public about crime
than they did in the old days.
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