Part 3
11. Carrie: The title of the seminar we just attended, Being a Good Husband, is
misleading. A title should describe all of the contents of a seminar, but nearly half
of this seminar was involved with discussing wives.
Alan: I don’t think the title is misleading. It seems to me that husbands and wives
are two sides of one relationship: marriage. One cannot be a husband without a
wife.
Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the discussion above?
(A) Carrie believes that the seminar should have been titled, Being a Good Wife.
(B) Alan believes that there is no real distinction between the roles of husband
and wife.
(C) Carrie and Alan disagree about the relevance of traditional marriage.
(D) Carrie and Alan disagree about the overall value of the seminar.
(E) Carrie believes that the seminar title should not mention husbands without
mentioning wives.
12. Internet Advertising Executive: Those pundits who claim that TV viewership is
down only 5 percent are clearly incorrect. They clearly haven’t looked at the
numbers that I have. Network A is down 12 percent, Network B is down 10
percent, Network C is down 14 percent, and Network D is down nearly 40
percent.
The reasoning in the executive’s argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the
grounds that the argument
(A) attacks the character of the pundits rather than addressing their arguments
(B) fails to demonstrate that the pundits mentioned are not experts in the area
of television viewership
(C) incorrectly concludes that something is not true based on the claim that it
has not been demonstrated to be true
(D) draws evidence from only a small pool of available sources, which may be
nonrepresentative
(E) relies upon an emotional appeal in an effort to persuade the listener
13. In 1977, a young wolf was observed entering a cave in pursuit of prey. Soon, other
wolves started entering the cave, and over the next few seasons, this behavior
became the norm for the entire wolf pack. Before 1977, no wolf had been seen
entering or leaving the cave and no signs of wolves were found in the cave. By
2004, the entire pack was spending most of its winters in or near the cave.
Therefore, these wolves are capable of adopting and passing on new behaviors, and
are not merely bound by their genetics.
Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?
(A) Genetic mutations in wolves can occur in a fairly short time span, such as a
few decades.
(B) New behaviors that emerge in wolf populations over the course of a couple
of decades are not necessarily genetically predetermined.
(C) Only after certain patterns of behavior become the norm for a given animal
population can it be inferred that a genetic mutation has occurred in that
group.
(D) The social actions of wolves are fully independent of their genetics.
(E) The wolves’ new pattern of behavior will continue for several generations
yet to come.
14. Literature Expert: Great pieces of literature have often caused outrage among the
public when first published; for example Ulysses by James Joyce was banned for
years due to its alleged obscenity, and Walt Whitman’s poem collection, Leaves of
Grass, was banned for its use of explicit language. So, since literature often causes
outrage and shock, we should not limit the use of public funds to support books
that many people find obscene.
Which of the following is an assumption that the literature expert’s argument
requires in order to properly come to his or her conclusion?
(A) Most literature is obscene.
(B) James Joyce and Walt Whitman received public funding for their writing.
(C) Literature was more shocking in the past.
(D) Public funds should be used to support literature.
(E) Literature should not be shocking or obscene.
15. A city poll of the community showed that 88 percent of respondents believe that
an appropriate amount of the city budget is being spent on parks and recreation. It
seems, then, that any significant increase in the city budget should be spent on
something other than parks and recreation.
Which one of the following describes a flaw in reasoning in the above argument?
(A) The argument confuses a coincidence with a correlation.
(B) The argument confuses the percentage of the budget spent on parks and
recreation with the amount of money spent on parks and recreation.
(C) The argument does not justify its presumption that what is true of a portion
of the budget also applies to the total budget.
(D) The argument fails to consider that less money could be spent and a significant
percentage of the community would still find that amount to be appropriate.
(E) The argument fails to consider that if more money from the budget were
spent on parks and recreation, then an even larger percentage of the
community might approve of that use of the budget.
includes something that the reader may safely infer is that Carrie feels that wives
should have been mentioned in the seminar title since a good portion of the
discussion was devoted to wives. Answer choice A is incorrect because it is an exaggeration
of Carrie’s position. Answer choice B is incorrect because it is not
supported by any information in the stimulus. Just because Alan believes that the
two roles, husband and wife, are parts of the same relationship, does not mean that
he sees no distinction or difference between the roles. Answer choices C and D are
both irrelevant to the stimulus because they go far beyond the scope of the
evidence presented.
12. The best answer is D. This is a flaw question. Answer choice D points to a flaw
because the executive making the argument is only looking at a sample of four
segments of all of television viewership. Just because the four networks that he
points to are down more than 5 percent, we cannot safely conclude that at least
some of those viewers have not simply moved to other networks or channels not
included in the Internet executives’ sample. Answer choice A is incorrect because
there is no attack on the pundits’ characters. Answer choice B is incorrect because
the success or failure of the executive’s argument does not rest with showing that
the pundits are not experts. Answer choices C and E both describe flaws that can
be fatal to arguments but are simply not present in the stimulus argument.
13. The best answer is B. This is an assumption question. Remember that an assumption
is a piece of unstated evidence. If we negate answer choice B and say, “New
behaviors that emerge in wolf populations over the course of a couple of decades
are necessarily genetically predetermined,” we can see that this statement would
directly contradict the conclusion of the stimulus argument, which is that the
wolves’ behavior is evidence against genetically predetermined behavior. Because
the negation of answer choice B conflicts with the conclusion of the stimulus
argument, answer choice B, as originally stated, must be an important part of the
argument. Negating any of the other answer choices results in a statement that is
irrelevant to the argument, showing that each of the other choices is irrelevant to
the argument and therefore not a suppressed premise.
14. The best answer is D. This is an assumption question. The author of the argument
must be assuming that public funds should be used to support literature, or
nothing else in the argument would make any sense at all. If public funds should
not be used to support literature, any discussion of what type of literature ought to
be supported would be meaningless. The statements made in the other answer
choices might or might not be true, but they are not assumptions necessary to
connect the stated evidence of the stimulus argument to its conclusion.
15. The best answer is E. This is a flaw question. Answer choice E correctly points
out that the author of the argument is assuming that the proportion of city residents
who approve of the level of funding for parks and recreation cannot be raised
above 88 percent. While such an outcome is not guaranteed simply by spending
more public money on parks and recreation, it is at least a plausible, possible
outcome that prevents reaching the argument’s conclusion, that any new money
11. Carrie: The title of the seminar we just attended, Being a Good Husband, is
misleading. A title should describe all of the contents of a seminar, but nearly half
of this seminar was involved with discussing wives.
Alan: I don’t think the title is misleading. It seems to me that husbands and wives
are two sides of one relationship: marriage. One cannot be a husband without a
wife.
Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the discussion above?
(A) Carrie believes that the seminar should have been titled, Being a Good Wife.
(B) Alan believes that there is no real distinction between the roles of husband
and wife.
(C) Carrie and Alan disagree about the relevance of traditional marriage.
(D) Carrie and Alan disagree about the overall value of the seminar.
(E) Carrie believes that the seminar title should not mention husbands without
mentioning wives.
12. Internet Advertising Executive: Those pundits who claim that TV viewership is
down only 5 percent are clearly incorrect. They clearly haven’t looked at the
numbers that I have. Network A is down 12 percent, Network B is down 10
percent, Network C is down 14 percent, and Network D is down nearly 40
percent.
The reasoning in the executive’s argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the
grounds that the argument
(A) attacks the character of the pundits rather than addressing their arguments
(B) fails to demonstrate that the pundits mentioned are not experts in the area
of television viewership
(C) incorrectly concludes that something is not true based on the claim that it
has not been demonstrated to be true
(D) draws evidence from only a small pool of available sources, which may be
nonrepresentative
(E) relies upon an emotional appeal in an effort to persuade the listener
13. In 1977, a young wolf was observed entering a cave in pursuit of prey. Soon, other
wolves started entering the cave, and over the next few seasons, this behavior
became the norm for the entire wolf pack. Before 1977, no wolf had been seen
entering or leaving the cave and no signs of wolves were found in the cave. By
2004, the entire pack was spending most of its winters in or near the cave.
Therefore, these wolves are capable of adopting and passing on new behaviors, and
are not merely bound by their genetics.
Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?
(A) Genetic mutations in wolves can occur in a fairly short time span, such as a
few decades.
(B) New behaviors that emerge in wolf populations over the course of a couple
of decades are not necessarily genetically predetermined.
(C) Only after certain patterns of behavior become the norm for a given animal
population can it be inferred that a genetic mutation has occurred in that
group.
(D) The social actions of wolves are fully independent of their genetics.
(E) The wolves’ new pattern of behavior will continue for several generations
yet to come.
14. Literature Expert: Great pieces of literature have often caused outrage among the
public when first published; for example Ulysses by James Joyce was banned for
years due to its alleged obscenity, and Walt Whitman’s poem collection, Leaves of
Grass, was banned for its use of explicit language. So, since literature often causes
outrage and shock, we should not limit the use of public funds to support books
that many people find obscene.
Which of the following is an assumption that the literature expert’s argument
requires in order to properly come to his or her conclusion?
(A) Most literature is obscene.
(B) James Joyce and Walt Whitman received public funding for their writing.
(C) Literature was more shocking in the past.
(D) Public funds should be used to support literature.
(E) Literature should not be shocking or obscene.
15. A city poll of the community showed that 88 percent of respondents believe that
an appropriate amount of the city budget is being spent on parks and recreation. It
seems, then, that any significant increase in the city budget should be spent on
something other than parks and recreation.
Which one of the following describes a flaw in reasoning in the above argument?
(A) The argument confuses a coincidence with a correlation.
(B) The argument confuses the percentage of the budget spent on parks and
recreation with the amount of money spent on parks and recreation.
(C) The argument does not justify its presumption that what is true of a portion
of the budget also applies to the total budget.
(D) The argument fails to consider that less money could be spent and a significant
percentage of the community would still find that amount to be appropriate.
(E) The argument fails to consider that if more money from the budget were
spent on parks and recreation, then an even larger percentage of the
community might approve of that use of the budget.
Answers and Explanations
11. The best answer is E. This is an inference question. The only answer choice thatincludes something that the reader may safely infer is that Carrie feels that wives
should have been mentioned in the seminar title since a good portion of the
discussion was devoted to wives. Answer choice A is incorrect because it is an exaggeration
of Carrie’s position. Answer choice B is incorrect because it is not
supported by any information in the stimulus. Just because Alan believes that the
two roles, husband and wife, are parts of the same relationship, does not mean that
he sees no distinction or difference between the roles. Answer choices C and D are
both irrelevant to the stimulus because they go far beyond the scope of the
evidence presented.
12. The best answer is D. This is a flaw question. Answer choice D points to a flaw
because the executive making the argument is only looking at a sample of four
segments of all of television viewership. Just because the four networks that he
points to are down more than 5 percent, we cannot safely conclude that at least
some of those viewers have not simply moved to other networks or channels not
included in the Internet executives’ sample. Answer choice A is incorrect because
there is no attack on the pundits’ characters. Answer choice B is incorrect because
the success or failure of the executive’s argument does not rest with showing that
the pundits are not experts. Answer choices C and E both describe flaws that can
be fatal to arguments but are simply not present in the stimulus argument.
13. The best answer is B. This is an assumption question. Remember that an assumption
is a piece of unstated evidence. If we negate answer choice B and say, “New
behaviors that emerge in wolf populations over the course of a couple of decades
are necessarily genetically predetermined,” we can see that this statement would
directly contradict the conclusion of the stimulus argument, which is that the
wolves’ behavior is evidence against genetically predetermined behavior. Because
the negation of answer choice B conflicts with the conclusion of the stimulus
argument, answer choice B, as originally stated, must be an important part of the
argument. Negating any of the other answer choices results in a statement that is
irrelevant to the argument, showing that each of the other choices is irrelevant to
the argument and therefore not a suppressed premise.
14. The best answer is D. This is an assumption question. The author of the argument
must be assuming that public funds should be used to support literature, or
nothing else in the argument would make any sense at all. If public funds should
not be used to support literature, any discussion of what type of literature ought to
be supported would be meaningless. The statements made in the other answer
choices might or might not be true, but they are not assumptions necessary to
connect the stated evidence of the stimulus argument to its conclusion.
15. The best answer is E. This is a flaw question. Answer choice E correctly points
out that the author of the argument is assuming that the proportion of city residents
who approve of the level of funding for parks and recreation cannot be raised
above 88 percent. While such an outcome is not guaranteed simply by spending
more public money on parks and recreation, it is at least a plausible, possible
outcome that prevents reaching the argument’s conclusion, that any new money
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