Identify the conclusion

Conclusion: An undergraduate degree is necessary for appointment to the executive board. Further, no
one with a felony conviction can be appointed to the board. Thus, Murray, an accountant with both a
bachelor’s and a master’s degree, cannot be accepted for the position of Executive Administrator, since
he has a felony conviction. The argument’s conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is
assumed?

Anyone with a master’s degree and without a felony conviction is eligible for appointment to the
executive board.

Only candidates eligible for appointment to the executive board can be accepted for the position of
Executive Administrator.

An undergraduate degree is not necessary for acceptance for the position of Executive Administrator.

If Murray did not have a felony conviction, he would be accepted for the position of Executive
Administrator.

The felony charge on which Murray was convicted is relevant to the duties of the position of Executive
Administrator.

ANSWER: B

Weaken: Although video game sales have increased steadily over the past 3 years, we can expect a
reversal of this trend in the very near future. Historically, over three quarters of video games sold have
been purchased by people from 13 to 16 years of age, and the number of people in this age group is
expected to decline steadily over the next 10 years. Which one of the following, if true, would most
seriously weaken the argument?

Most people 17 years old or older have never purchased a video game.

Video game rentals have declined over the past 3 years.

New technology will undoubtedly make entirely new entertainment options available over the next 10
years.

The number of different types of video games available is unlikely to decrease in the near future.

Most of the people who have purchased video games over the past 3 years are over the age of 16.

ANSWER: E

Support: Question 3: Modern science is built on the process of posing hypotheses and testing them
against observations—in essence, attempting to show that the hypotheses are incorrect. Nothing brings
more recognition than overthrowing conventional wisdom. It is accordingly unsurprising that some
scientists are skeptical of the widely accepted predictions of global warming. What is instead remarkable
is that with hundreds of researchers striving to make breakthroughs in climatology, very few find
evidence that global warming is unlikely.

The information above provides the most support for which one of the following statements?
Most scientists who are reluctant to accept the global warming hypothesis are not acting in accordance
with the accepted standards of scientific debate.

Most researchers in climatology have substantial motive to find evidence that would discredit the global
warming hypothesis.

There is evidence that conclusively shows that the global warming hypothesis is true.

Scientists who are skeptical about global warming have not offered any alternative hypotheses to
explain climatological data.

Research in global warming is primarily driven by a desire for recognition in the scientific community.

ANSWER: B

Issue/dispute: Question 4: Carolyn: The artist Marc Quinn has displayed, behind a glass plate,
biologically replicated fragments of Sir John Sulston’s DNA, calling it a “conceptual portrait” of Sulston.
But to be a portrait, something must bear a recognizable resemblance to its subject. Arnold: I disagree.
Quinn’s conceptual portrait is a maximally realistic portrait, for it holds actual instructions according to
which Sulston was created. The dialogue provides most support for the claim that Carolyn and Arnold
disagree over an isssue whether the object described by Quinn as a conceptual portrait of Sir John
Sulston

should be considered to be art

should be considered to be Quinn’s work

bears a recognizable resemblance to Sulston

contains instructions according to which Sulston was created

is actually a portrait of Sulston

ANSWER: (E)

Strengthen: Question 5: Therapist: Cognitive psychotherapy focuses on changing a patient’s conscious

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the therapist’s argument?

Psychological problems are frequently caused by unconscious beliefs that could be changed with the aid
of psychotherapy.

It is difficult for any form of psychotherapy to be effective without focusing on mental states that are
under the patient’s direct conscious control.
Cognitive psychotherapy is the only form of psychotherapy that focuses primarily on changing the
patient’s conscious beliefs.

No form of psychotherapy that focuses on changing the patient’s unconscious beliefs and desires can be
effective unless it also helps change beliefs that are under the patient’s direct conscious control.

All of a patient’s conscious beliefs are under the patient’s conscious control, but other psychological
states cannot be controlled effectively without the aid of psychotherapy.

ANSWER: (B)

Principle: Question 6: Commentator: In academic scholarship, sources are always cited, and
methodology and theoretical assumptions are set out, so as to allow critical study, replication, and
expansion of scholarship. In open-source software, the code in which the program is written can be
viewed and modified by individual users for their purposes without getting permission from the
producer or paying a fee. In contrast, the code of proprietary software is kept secret, and modifications
can be made only by the producer, for a fee. This shows that open-source software better matches the
values embodied in academic scholarship, and since scholarship is central to the mission of universities,
universities should use only open-source software.

The commentator’s reasoning most closely conforms to which one of the following principles?

Whatever software tools are most advanced and can achieve the goals of academic scholarship are the
ones that should alone be used in universities.

Universities should use the type of software technology that is least expensive, as long as that type of
software technology is adequate for the purposes of academic scholarship.

Universities should choose the type of software technology that best matches the values embodied in
the activities that are central to the mission of universities.

The form of software technology that best matches the values embodied in the activities that are central
to the mission of universities is the form of software technology that is most efficient for universities to
use.

A university should not pursue any activity that would block the achievement of the goals of academic
scholarship at that university.

ANSWER: (C)

Flaw: Question 7: Political candidates’ speeches are loaded with promises and with expressions of good
intention, but one must not forget that the politicians’ purpose in giving these speeches is to get
themselves elected. Clearly, then, these speeches are selfishly motivated and the promises made in
them are unreliable.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the argument above?

The argument presumes, without providing justification, that if a person’s promise is not selfishly
motivated then that promise is reliable.

The argument presumes, without providing justification, that promises made for selfish reasons are
never kept.

The argument confuses the effect of an action with its cause.

The argument overlooks the fact that a promise need not be unreliable just because the person who
made it had an ulterior motive for doing so.

The argument overlooks the fact that a candidate who makes promises for selfish reasons may
nonetheless be worthy of the office for which he or she is running.

ANSWER: (D)

Question 9:

Resolve conflict: Under the modern model for music distribution, musicians sell the right to broadcast
their music to companies who give listeners affordable access to large quantities of music. Some
musicians who have been selling their music for many years are displeased with the new model and
have seen decreased revenue. Yet, musicians as a whole are making more money under the new model
than they were previously.

Which of the following, if true, would most help to reconcile the apparent conflict?

The new model is not generating as much revenue as it could be generating

Some musicians want to make more money than they made under the old model

A greater number of musicians sell music now than under the old model

The old model could be used now and would generate more revenue than the new model

Music producers charge higher fees now, leaving less revenue for musicians

ANSWER: (C)

Explain: Automated flight technology can guide an aircraft very reliably, form navigation to landing. Yet
this technology, even when functioning correctly, is not a perfect safeguard against human error.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the situation above?
Automated flight technology does not always function correctly.

Smaller aircraft do not always have their automated flight technology updated regularly.

If a plane’s automated flight technology malfunctions, crew members have to operate the plane
manually.

Some airplanes crashes are due neither to human error nor malfunction of automated flight technology.

Automated flight technology invariably executes exactly the command that humans give it.