【4月16日逻辑题目】 must be true

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Must be true

33. Rural households have more purchasing power than do urban or suburbanhouseholds at the same income level, since some of the income urban andsuburban households use for food and shelter can be used by rural householdsfor other needs.

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the statement madeabove?

A. The average rural household includes more people than does the averageurban or suburban household.

B. Rural households have lower food and housing costs than do either urbanor suburban households.

C. Suburban households generally have more purchasing power than do eitherrural or urban households.

D. The median income of urban and suburban households is generally higherthan that of rural households. B

E. All three types of households spend more of their income on food andhousing than on all other purchases combined.

33.

If the greater purchasing power of rural households results from theirhaving more money left over after meeting basic expenses, it follows, as Bsays, that those expenses are lower for those households than they are forsuburban or urban households at the same income level. Consequently, B is thebest answer.

A is not a supported inference,since there is no information to suggest that larger households are not morelikely to have either more purchasing power or lower food and shelter expenses.C and D are not supported, since the passage compares only households thatshare the same income level. Because the relative amounts spent on differenttypes of expenditures are not specified for any of the categories ofhouseholds, E is not supported.

69. High levels of fertilizer and pesticides, needed when farmers try toproduce high yield of the same crop year after year, pollute water supplies. Expertstherefore urge farmers to diversify their crops and to rotate their plantingsyearly. To receive governmental price-support benefits for a crop, farmers musthave produced that same crop for the past several years.

The statements above, if true, best support which of the followingconclusions?

(A) The rules for governmental support of farm prices work against effortsto reduce water pollution.

(B) The only solution to the problem of water pollution from fertilizersand pesticides is to take farmland out of production.

(C) Farmers can continue to make a profit by rotating diverse crops, thusreducing costs for chemicals, but not by planting the same crop each year.

(D) New farming techniques will be developed to make it possible forfarmers to reduce the application of fertilizers and pesticides. A

(E) Governmental price supports for farm products are set at levels thatare not high enough to allow farmers to get out of debt.

69.

Farmers benefit from governmental price supports only when they producethe same crops from year to year. Farmers who wish to receive the benefit ofthese price supports will be unlikely to reduce water pollution because theywill not follow the experts’ advice regarding diversification and rotation.Thus, A is the best answer.

Since the experts’ advice isevidently their favored solution, the notion that the sole solution issomething else (choice B) is not supported. The statements mention neitherfarmers’ cost and revenues nor developments in farming techniques, and thussupport no conclusions about prospects for profits (choice C) or future farmingtechniques (choice D). Because no information is given about either the amountof price support or farmers’ debt, choice E is not supported.

72. Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade deficits. Ifthey did, countries with the largest budget deficits would also have thelargest trade deficits. In fact, when deficit figures are adjusted so thatdifferent countries are reliably comparable to each other, there is no suchcorrelation.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following can properlybe inferred on the basis of them?

(A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to restrict foreigntrade.

(B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one country with thoseof another are impossible.

(C) Reducing a country’s national budget deficit will not necessarilyresult in a lowering of any trade deficit that country may have.

(D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest in terms ofpopulation, the smallest countries generally have the smallest budget and tradedeficits. C

(E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have similarly largenational budget deficits.

The passage asserts that large budgets deficits do not cause large tradedeficits. If this is so, it is possible that a country with large budget andtrade deficits could reduce its budget deficit and yet retain a large tradedeficit. Thus, choice C is the best answer.

None of the other choices canbe inferred. The passage says nothing about how countries respond to largebudget deficits (choice A). The passage states that comparing deficit figuresfor different countries can be reliable (contrary to choice B). Correlationbetween deficit size and population size (choice D) is not at issue in thepassage. Finally, it is consistent with the passage that countries with thelargest trade deficits sometimes have similarly large budget deficits (choiceE).

90.

The sustained massive use of pesticides infarming has two effects that are especially pernicious. First, it often killsoff the pests' natural enemies in the area. Second, it often unintentionallygives rise to insecticide-resistant pests, since those insects that survive aparticular insecticide will be the ones most resistant to it, and they are theones left to breed.

From the passage above, it can be properlyinferred that the effectiveness

of the sustained massive use of pesticidescan be extended by doing which of the following, assuming that each is arealistic possibility?

(A)Using only chemically stable insecticides

(B)Periodically switching the type ofinsecticide used

(C)Gradually increasing the quantities ofpesticides used

(D)Leaving a few fields fallow every year

(E)Breeding higher-yielding varieties of cropplants

91. When a polygraph test is judged inconclusive, this is no reflection onthe examinee. Rather, such a judgment means that the test has failed to showwhether the examinee was truthful or untruthful. Nevertheless, employers willsometimes refuse to hire a job applicant because of an inconclusive polygraphtest result.

Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn from theinformation above?

(A) Most examinees with inconclusive polygraph test results are in factuntruthful.

(B) Polygraph tests should not be used by employers in the considerationof job applicants.

(C) An inconclusive polygraph test result is sometimes unfairly heldagainst the examinee.

(D) A polygraph test indicating that an examinee is untruthful cansometimes be mistaken. C

(E) Some employers have refused to consider the results of polygraph testswhen evaluating job applicants.

91.

The passage indicates that an inconclusive polygraph test tells nothingabout the person who has taken the test, and yet employers sometimes refuse tohire someone whose results from such a test are inclusive. Treating lack ofinformation as if it were unfavorable evidence about a person can reasonably beconsidered unfair. There, C is the best choice.

Choice A is not supported, since the passage says that an inconclusivepolygraph test is no reflection on the examinee. Neither B nor D is supported,since the information given includes nothing either implicit or explicit aboutpolygraph tests that yield conclusive results. Since the passage is consistentwith both E and its denial, E is not supported.

94.To protect certain fledgling industries, the government of country Zbanned imports of the types of products those industries were starting to make.As a direct result, the cost of those products to the buyers, severalexport-dependent industries in Z, went up, sharply limiting the ability ofthose industries to compete effectively in their export markets.

Which of the following can be most properly inferred from the passageabout the products whose importation was banned?

(A) Those products had been cheaper to import than they were to makewithin country Z’s fledgling industries.

(B) Those products were ones that country Z was hoping to export in itsturn, once the fledgling industries matured.

(C) Those products used to be imported from just those countries to whichcountry Z’s exports went.

(D) Those products had become more and more expensive to import, whichresulted in a foreign trade deficit just before the ban. A

(E) Those products used to be imported in very small quantities, but theywere essential to country Z’s economy.

94.

In Z, when the government banned imports of certain products the cost ofthose produces rose, so the products must have been cheaper to import than theywere to make in Z. Therefore choice A is the best answer.

None of the other choices canbe inferred. Country Z need have had no plan to export those products later(choice B), nor need the products have come previously from those countries towhich country Z exported goods (choice C). The products need not have becomemore expensive before the ban (choice D), and they could have been imported inrelatively large quantities (choice E).

95.

To protect certain fledgling industries, the government of country Zbanned imports of the types of products those industries were starting to make.As a direct result, the cost of those products to the buyers, severalexport-dependent industries in Z, went up, sharply limiting the ability ofthose industries to compete effectively in their export markets.

Which of the following conclusions about country Z’s adversely affectedexport-dependent industries is best supported by the passage?

(A) Profit margins in those industries were not high enough to absorb therise in costs mentioned above.

(B) Those industries had to contend with the fact that other countriesbanned imports from country Z.

(C) Those industries succeeded in expanding the domestic market for theirproducts.

(D) Steps to offset rising materials costs by decreasing labor costs weretaken in those industries. A

(E) Those industries started to move into export markets that they hadpreviously judged unprofitable.

95.

When the cost of the products rose, the competitive ability of thoseexport-dependent industries that bought them was sharply limited. This factstrongly supports the claim that those industries did not have sufficientlyhigh profit margins to enable them to absorb the price increase, so choice A isthe best answer.

Given the limitation on theircompetitive ability, it is unlikely that those industries would be able eitherto expand their domestic markets (choice C) or to enter into new export markets(choice E). The other choices relate situations that would be possible but thatare not strongly supported: other countries could have continued to permitimports from Z (choice B), and the industries may have unable to decrease laborcosts (choice D).

99.

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modelrenaissance among United States firms, even though projects undertaken by twoor more corporations under a collaborative agreement are less profitable thanprojects undertaken by a singly corporation.

The advantage of transnational cooperation is that such jointinternational projects may allow United States firms to win foreigncontracts that they would not otherwise be able to win.

Which of the following is information provided by the passage above?

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a singlecorporation to handle.

(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading tohigh-quality performance.

(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common andless common than it is now among United States firms.

(D) Joint projects between United  States and foreign corporation are notprofitable enough to be worth undertaking. C

(E) Joint projects between United  States and foreign corporations benefit onlythose who commission the projects.

99.

To say that transnational cooperation is experiencing a modest renaissancemeans that it used to be relatively common, became less so, and is now becomingmore common again. Therefore choice C is the best answer, since it follows fromthat statement.

None of the other choicespresents information provided by the passage. The passage says nothing aboutthe size of the projects (choice A), nor about the quality of work in cases oftransnational cooperation (choice B). Since the passage strongly suggests transnationalcooperation can be profitable for the firms concerned, it thereby tends tocontradict both the claims that joint projects are not profitable (choice D)and that they only benefit those who commission the projects (choice E).

107. The number of patents granted to inventors by the United StatesPatent Office dropped from 56,000 in 1971 to 45,000 in 1978. Spending onresearch and development, which peaked at 3 percent of the gross nationalproduct (GNP) in 1964, was only 2.2 percent of the GNP in 1978. During thisperiod, when the United Statespercentage was steadily decreasing, West Germanyand Japanincreased the percentage of their GNP’s spent on research and development to3.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the informationabove?

(A) There is direct relationship between the size of a nation’s GNP andthe number of inventions it produces.

(B) Japan and West Germanyspent more money on research and development is directly related to the numberof inventions patented in that nation.

(C) The amount of money a nation spends on research and development isdirectly relocated to the number of inventions patented in that nation.

(D) Between 1964 and 1978 the United States consistently spent alarger percentage of its GNP on research and development than did Japan. D

(E) Both West Germanyand Japan will soon surpassthe United Statesin the number of patents granted to investors.

107.

From 1964 to 1978, spending on research and development never fell below2.2 percent of the GNP in the United Statesand never rose above 1.6 percent in Japan. Therefore choice D followsfrom the information given and is the best answer.

Since no information isprovided about the size of the GNP of any of the countries mentioned, neitherchoice A nor choice B is supported. The amount of information given aboutnumbers of patents granted is insufficient to establish any general relationbetween spending and numbers of patents, so choice C is unsupported; and giventhat there is no information about the number of inventions patented in Japanand West Germany, choice E is not supported either.

115. Many people argue that tobacco advertising plays a crucial role incausing teen-agers to start or continue smoking. In Norway, however, where there hasbeen a ban on tobacco advertising since 1975, smoking is at least as prevalentamong teen-agers as it is in countries that do not ban such advertising.

Which of the following statements draws the most reliable conclusion fromthe information above?

(A) Tobacco advertising cannot be the only factor that affects theprevalence of smoking among teen-agers.

(B) Advertising does not play a role in causing teen-agers to start orcontinue smoking.

(C) Banning tobacco advertising does not reduce the consumption oftobacco.

(D) More teen-agers smoke if they are not exposed to tobacco advertisingthan if they are. A

(E) Most teen-agers who smoked in 1975 did not stop when the ban ontobacco advertising was implemented.

115

Since no information is givenabout what effect, if any, the Norwegian ban on tobacco advertising had onteenage smoking in Norway,none of choices B through E can be concluded, since each makes some claim aboutthe effects of tobacco advertising, or of banning such advertising, on teenagesmoking or on tobacco consumption.

116. Laws requiring the use of headlights during daylight hours canprevent automobile collisions. However, since daylight visibility is worse incountries farther from the equator, any such laws would obviously be moreeffective in preventing collisions in those countries. In fact, the onlycountries that actually have such laws are farther from the equator than is thecontinental United States.

Which of the following conclusions could be most properly drawn from theinformation given above?

(A) Drivers in the continental United States who used theirheadlines during the day would be just as likely to become involved in acollision as would drivers who did not use their headlights.

(B) In many countries that are farther from the equator than is thecontinental United Statespoor daylight visibility is the single most important factor in automobilecollisions.

(C) The proportion of automobile collisions that occur in the daytime isgreater in the continental United  States than in the countries that havedaytime headlight laws.

(D) Fewer automobile collisions probably occur each year in countries thathave daytime headlight laws than occur within the continental United States. E

(E) Daytime headlight laws would probably do less to prevent automobilecollisions in the continental United  States than they do in the countries thathave the laws.

116.

Since the laws are more effective in countries farther from the equatorthan the United States, the laws would probably do less to prevent collisionsin the United States than they do in the countries that now have suchlaws—countries that are all farther from the equator than the United States. Sochoice E is the best answer.

The passage does not indicatethat the use of headlights during the day is totally ineffective, so choice Ais incorrect. No information is given about the importance of daylightvisibility relative to other causes of collisions, so choice B is incorrect.The passage contains no quantitative information for comparing the United Statesto countries that have the laws, so neither C nor D is correct.

117. A company’s two divisions performed with remarkable consistency overthe past three years: in each of those years, the pharmaceuticals division hasaccounted for roughly 20 percent of dollar sales and 40 percent of profits, andthe chemicals division for the balance.

Which of the following can properly be inferred regarding the past threeyears from the statement above?

(A) Total dollar sales for each of the company’s divisions have remainedroughly constant.

(B) The pharmaceuticals division has faced stiffer competition in itsmarkets than has the chemicals division.

(C) The chemicals division has realized lower profits per dollar of salesthan has the pharmaceuticals division.

(D) The product mix offered by each of the company’s divisions hasremained unchanged. C

(E) Highly profitable products accounted for a higher percentage of thechemicals division’s sales than of those of the pharmaceuticals divisions.

117.

The pharmaceuticals division made 40 percent of the profits on only 20percent of the sales, while the chemicals division, making up the balance, made60 percent of the profits on 80 percent of the sales. Thus, the chemicalsdivision made a lower profit per dollar of sale than the pharmaceuticalsdivision, as choice C asserts. Choice C is the best answer.

The passage provides noinformation about total dollar sales, so choice A is incorrect, nor about theseverity of competition, so choice B is incorrect. Similarly, no information isprovided about the mix of products offered, nor about the breakdown betweenhighly profitable and not highly profitable products in either division, soneither choice D nor choice E is correct.

135. Although aspirin has been proven to eliminate moderate feverassociated with some illnesses, many doctors no longer routinely recommend itsuse for this purpose. A moderate fever stimulates the activity of the body'sdisease-fighting white blood cells and also inhibits the growth of many strainsof disease-causing bacteria.

If the statements above are true, which of the following conclusions ismost strongly supported by them?

(A) Aspirin, an effective painkiller, alleviates the pain and discomfort ofmany illnesses.

(B) Aspirin can prolong a patient's illness by eliminating moderate feverhelpful in fighting some diseases.

(C) Aspirin inhibits the growth of white blood cells, which are necessaryfor fighting some illnesses.

(D) The more white blood cells a patient's body produces, the less severethe patient's illness will be. B

(E) The focus of modern medicine is oninhibiting the growth of disease-causing bacteria within the body.

135.

By stimulating disease-fighting white blood cells and inhibiting thegrowth of disease-causing bacteria, moderate fever can aid the body in fightinginfection. However, aspirin can eliminate moderate fever. Thus, as choice Bstates, aspirin can prolong a patient’s illness by eliminating moderate feverand thereby also eliminating its disease-fighting effects. B is the bestanswer.

Choice A is not the correctanswer because no mention is made of aspirin’s role as a painkiller. Thepassage also says nothing about aspirin’s effect on the growth or production ofwhite blood cells, mentioning only its effect on their activity, so neither Cnor D is correct. Because the statements given could be true regardless of thefocus of modern medicine, E is also incorrect.

142. A computer equipped with signature-recognition software, whichrestricts access to a computer to those people whose signatures are on file,identifies a person’s signature by analyzing not only the form of the signaturebut also such characteristics as pen pressure and signing speed. Even the mostadept forgers cannot duplicate all of the characteristics the program analyzes.

Which of the following can be logically concluded from the passage above?

(A) The time it takes to record and analyze a signature makes the softwareimpractical for everyday use.

(B) Computers equipped with the software will soon be installed in mostbanks.

(C) Nobody can gain access to a computer equipped with the software solelyby virtue of skill at forging signatures.

(D) Signature-recognition software has taken many years to develop andperfect. C

(E) In many cases even authorized users are denied legitimate access tocomputers equipped with the software.

142.

The passage asserts that skill at forging signatures is not by itselfsufficient to match all of the characteristics that the software analyzes toidentify signatures. Because the software gives access only after identifying asignature, access cannot be achieved by someone employing forging skill alone.Choice C is thus the best answer.

The passage gives noinformation about how fast the software operates or about how long the softwarewas under development, so neither A nor D can be concluded. Choice B isincorrect since the software might have features not mentioned in the passagethat make it unattractive to banks. The passages give no reason to think thaterrors of the sort that choice E describes, even if made, would be numerous.

145. Between 1975 and 1985, nursing-home occupancy rates averaged 87percent of capacity, while admission rates remained constant, at an average of95 admissions per 1,000 beds per year. Between 1985 and 1988, however,occupancy rates rose to an average of 92 percent of capacity, while admissionrates declined to 81 per 1,000 beds per year.

If the statements above are true, which of the following conclusions canbe most properly drawn?

(A) The average length of time nursing-home residents stayed in nursinghomes increased between 1985 and 1988.

(B) The proportion of older people living in nursing homes was greater in1988 than in 1975.

(C) Nursing home admission rates tend to decline whenever occupancy ratesrise.

(D) Nursing homes built prior to 1985 generally had fewer beds than didnursing homes built between 1985 and 1988. A

(E) The more beds a nursing home has, the higher its occupancy rate islikely to be.

145.

Between 1985 and 1988, nursing home occupancy rates rose althoughadmission rates declined. Choice A receives support from these facts since itwould be a basis fro an adequate account of how they arose. Because it is theonly choice that receives support, A is therefore the best answer.

Without information about thepopulation of older people, nothing can be concluded about percentages innursing homes; thus, choice B is incorrect. Since there is nothing to indicatewhether the development that took place between 1985 and 1988 was an unusualdevelopment or a common one, choice C receives no support. No information aboutnumbers of beds is provided, so neither choice D nor choice E is correct.

150. United Stateshospitals have traditionally relied primarily on revenues from paying patientsto offset losses from unreimbursed care. Almost all paying patients now rely ongovernmental or private health insurance to pay hospital bills. Recently,insurers have been strictly limiting what they pay hospitals for the care ofinsured patients to amounts at or below actual costs.

Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the informationabove?

(A) Although the advance of technology has made expensive medicalprocedures available to the wealthy, such procedures are out of the reach oflow-income patients.

(B) If hospitals do not find ways to raising additional income forunreimbursed care, they must either deny some of that care of suffer losses ifthey give it.

(C) Some patients have incomes too high for eligibility for governmentalhealth insurance but are unable to afford private insurance for hospital care.

(D) If the hospitals reduce their costs in providing care, insurancecompanies will maintain the current level of reimbursement, thereby providingmore funds for unreimbursed care. B

(E) Even though philanthropic donations have traditionally provided somesupport for the hospitals, such donations are at present declining.

150.

The passage explains that the primary way hospitals have covered the costof unreimbursed care in the past is no longer available to them. It followsthat they have three options: finding a new way to cover that cost, reducing itby giving less unreimbused care, or suffering a loss. This is essentially whatchoice B concludes, so B is the best answer.

The passage touches neither onkinds of medical procedures administered in hospitals (choice A) nor on revenueother than that received from patients or their insurers (choice E), so neitherchoice is correct. The passage gives no hint of who the paying patients are howdo not rely on insurance, so choice C is unsupported. Concerning choice D, thepassage actually suggests that it is false.

164. Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered bythe cumbersome procedure of injection under the skin. If proteins are takenorally, they are digested and cannot reach their target cells. Certainnonprotein drugs, however, contain chemical bonds that are not broken down bythe digestive system. They can, thus, be taken orally.

The statements above most strongly support a claim that a researchprocedure that successfully accomplishes which of the following would bebeneficial to users of protein drugs?

(A) Coating insulin with compounds that are broken down by target cells,but whose chemical bonds are resistant to digestion

(B) Converting into protein compounds, by procedures that work in thelaboratory, the nonprotein drugs that resist digestion

(C) Removing permanently from the digestive system any substances thatdigest proteins

(D) Determining, in a systematic way, what enzymes and bacteria arepresent in the normal digestive system and whether they tend to be broken downwithin the body A

(E) Determining the amount of time each nonprotein drug takes to reach itstarget cells.

164.

Coating insulin as described in choice A, the best answer, would benefitprotein-drug users by removing the obstacle identified in the passage thatprevents protein drugs, such as insulin, from being taken orally. The insulinwould become available to the target cells, since these cells would break downthe coating.

Converting nonprotein drugsinto protein compounds (choice B) would necessitate administration byinjection, benefiting neither their users nor users of protein drugs. Ifremoving substances that digest proteins (choice C) enabled protein drugs to betaken orally, it would be at the expense of normal digestive function. Thebreakdown of normally occurring bacteria and enzymes (choice D) and theactivity of nonprotein drugs (choice E) are irrelevant to the problemsassociated with protein drugs.

169. Corporate officers and directors commonly buy and sell, for their ownportfolios, stock in their own corporations. Generally, when the ratio of suchinside sales to inside purchases falls below 2 to 1 for a given stock, a risein stock prices is imminent. In recent days, while the price of MEGACorporation stock has been falling, the corporation’s officers and directorshave bought up to nine times as much of it as they have sold.

The facts above best support which of the following predictions?

(A) The imbalance between inside purchases and inside sales of MEGA stockwill grow even further.

(B) Inside purchases of MEGA stock are about to cease abruptly.

(C) The price of MEGA stock will soon begin to go up.

(D) The price of MEGA stock will continue to drop, but less rapidly. C

(E) The majority of MEGA stock will soon be owned by MEGA’s own officersand directors.

169.

Since MEGA’s officers and directors have bought almost nine ties as muchof MEGA’s stock as they have sold, the ratio of inside sales to insidepurchases is roughly 1 to 9, well below 2 to 1. Hence, by the generalizationstated in the passage, a rise in MEGA’s stock price is imminent and choice C isthe best answer.

Since the prediction in choiceD runs counter to the stated generalization, choice D is not supported. Thepassage does not suggest there will be an increase in the imbalance betweensuch purchases and sales. Thus, choice A is not supported. Similarly, thepassage suggests neither that inside purchases are about to cease nor that themajority of MEGA stocks will soon be owned by MEGA officers and directors.Thus, neither choice B nor choice E is supported.

174. In 1987 sinusitis was the most common chronic medical condition inthe United States,followed by arthritis and high blood pressure, in that order. The incidencerates for both arthritis and high blood pressure increase with age, but theincidence rate for sinusitis is the same for people of all ages. The averageage of the United Statespopulation will increase between 1987 and 2000.

Which of the following conclusions can be most properly drawn aboutchronic medical conditions in the United States from the informationgiven above?

(A) Sinusitis will be more common than either arthritis or high bloodpressure in 2000.

(B) Arthritis will be the most common chronic medical condition in 2000.

(C) The average age of people suffering from sinusitis will increasebetween 1987 and 2000.

(D) Fewer people will suffer from sinusitis in 2000 than suffered from itin 1987. C

(E) A majority of the population will suffer from at least one of themedical conditions mentioned above by the year 2000.

174.

Given that the incidence rate for sinusitis is the same for people of allages, and that the average age of the population will increase, if follows thatthe average age of people suffering from sinusitis will increase. Therefore, Cis the best answer.

Although it follows thatsinusitis will become less common relative to arthritis and high bloodpressure, nothing can be concluded about the exact ranking of the threediseases, so choices A and B are ruled out. Just because sinusitis will becomerelatively less common, one cannot conclude that it will become absolutely lesscommon (choice D). Lacking information about levels of incidence of thediseases, one cannot conclude what proportion of the population has at leastone of them (choice E).

175. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs directly into the eggs of various hostinsects in exactly the right numbers for any suitable size of host egg. If theylaid too many eggs in a host egg, the developing wasp larvae would compete witheach other to the death for nutrients and space. If too few eggs were laid, portionsof the host egg would decay, killing the wasp larvae.

Which of the following conclusions can properly be drawn from theinformation above?

(A) The size of the smallest host egg that a wasp could theoreticallyparasitize can be determined from the wasp’s egg-laying behavior.

(B) Host insects lack any effective defenses against the form of predationpracticed by parasitic wasps.

(C) Parasitic wasps learn from experience how many eggs to lay into theeggs of different host species.

(D) Failure to lay enough eggs would lead to the death of the developingwasp larvae more quickly than would laying too many eggs. A

(E) Parasitic wasps use visual clues to calculate the size of a host egg.

175.

Comparing two host eggs in which parasitic wasps have laid differentnumbers of eggs, it is theoretically possible laid different numbers of eggs,it is theoretically possible to determine what size of host egg would berequired for a single wasp egg. This would be the smallest egg the wasp couldparasitized, so A is the best answer.None of the other choices follows from theinformation given. Host insects could conceal their eggs from the wasps (choiceB)., and the wasps could have inborn abilities to lay appropriate numbers oeggs (choice C). Laying too many eggs could lead to the death of the larvaefaster than laying too few (choice D), and the wasps could use tactile clues tocalculate the size of a host egg (choice E).