DAY3
3-1 Two centuries ago, Tufe Peninsula became separated form the mainland, isolating on the newly formed Tufe Island a population of Turfil sunflowers. This population’s descendants grow to be, on average, 40 centimeters shorter than Turfil sunflowers found on the mainland. Tufe Island is significantly drier than Tufe Peninsula was. So the current average height of Tufe’s Turfil sunflowers is undoubtedly at least partially attributable to changes in Tufe’s environmental conditions.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
- There are no types of vegetation on Tufe Island that are known to benefit from dry conditions.
- There were about as many Turfil sunflowers on Tufe Peninsula two centuries ago as there are on Tufe Island today.
- The mainland’s environment has not changed in ways that have resulted in Turfil sunflowers on the mainland growing to be 40 centimeters taller than they did two centuries ago.
- The soil on Tufe Island, unlike that on the mainland, lacks important nutrients that help Turfil sunflowers survive and grow tall in a dry environment.
- The 40-centimeter height difference between the Turfil sunflowers on Tufe Island and those on the mainland is the only difference between the two populations.
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3-2 Guidebook writer: I have visited hotels throughout the country and have noticed that in those built before 1930 the quality of the original carpentry work is generally superior to that in hotels built afterward. Clearly carpenters working on hotels before 1930 typically worked with more skill, care, and effort than carpenters who have worked on hotels built subsequently.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the guidebook writer’s argument?
- The quality of original carpentry in hotels is generally far superior to the quality of original carpentry in other structures, such as houses and stores.
- Hotels built since 1930 can generally accommodate more guests than those built before 1930.
- The materials available to carpenters working before 1930 were not significantly different in quality from the materials available to carpenters working after 1930.
- The better the quality of original carpentry in a building, the less likely that building is to fall into disuse and be demolished.
- The average length of apprenticeship for carpenters has declined significantly since 1930.
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3-3 The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long been significantly lower than that in neighboring Borodia. Since Borodia dropped all tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago, the number of televisions sold annually in Borodia has not changed. However, recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia. Therefore, updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
- The number of television assemblers in Vernland has increased by at least as much as the number of television assemblers in Borodia has decreased.
- Televisions assembled in Vernland have features that televisions assembled in Borodia do not have.
- The average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to assemble a television has not decreased significantly during the past three years.
- The number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has increased significantly during the past three years.
- The difference between the hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland and the hourly wage of television assemblers in Borodia is likely to decrease in the next few years.
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3-4 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?
- Unlike the Wildflower Inn, Martin’s Cafe serves considerably more meals on weekends than it does on weekdays.
- Most of the customers of Martin’s Cafe had never dined in Riverville before this restaurant opened, and on most days Martin’s Cafe attracts more customers than it can seat.
- The profit per meal is higher, on average, for meals served at Martin’s Cafe than for those served at the Wildflower Inn.
- The Wildflower Inn is not open on Sundays, and therefore Riverville residents who choose to dine out on that day must either eat at Martin’s Cafe or go to neighboring towns to eat.
- A significant proportion of the staff at Martin’s Cafe are people who formerly worked at the Wildflower Inn and were hired away by the owner of Martin’s Cafe.
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3-5 It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young adults live longer than those who never marry. This dose not show that marriage causes people to live longer, since, as compared with other people of the same age, young adults who are about to get married have fewer of the unhealthy habits that can cause a person to have a shorter life, most notably smoking and immoderate drinking of alcohol.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?
- Marriage tends to cause people to engage less regularly in sports that involve risk of bodily harm.
- A married person who has an unhealthy habit is more likely to give up that habit than a person with the same habit who is unmarried.
- A person who smokes is much more likely than a nonsmoker to marry a person who smokes at the time of marriage, and the same is true for people who drink alcohol immoderately.
- Among people who marry as young adults, most of those who give up an unhealthy habit after marriage do not resume the habit later in life.
- Among people who as young adults neither drink alcohol immoderately nor smoke, those who never marry live as long as those who marry.
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3-6 Lightbox, Inc., owns almost all of the movie theaters in Washington County and has announced plans to double the number of movie screens it has in the county within five years. Yet attendance at Lightbox’s theaters is only just large enough for profitability now and the county’s population is not expected to increase over the next ten years. Clearly, therefore, if there is indeed no increase in population, Lightbox’s new screens are unlikely to prove profitable.
Which of the following, if true about Washington County, most seriously weakens the argument?
- Though little change in the size of the population is expected, a pronounced shift toward a younger, more affluent, and more entertainment-oriented population is expected to occur.
- The sales of snacks and drinks in its movie theaters account for more of Lightbox’s profits than ticket sales do.
- In selecting the mix of movies shown at its theaters, Lightbox’s policy is to avoid those that appeal to only a small segment of the moviegoing population.
- Spending on video purchases, as well as spending on video rentals, is currently no longer increasing.
- There are no population centers in the county that are not already served by at least one of the movie theaters that Lightbox owns and operates.
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3-7 Maize contains the vitamin niacin, but not in a form the body can absorb. Pellagra is a disease that results from niacin deficiency. When maize was introduced into southern Europe from the Americas in the eighteenth century, it quickly became a dietary staple, and many Europeans who came to subsist primarily on maize developed pellagra. Pellagra was virtually unknown at that time in the Americas, however, even among people who subsisted primarily on maize.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the contrasting incidence of pellagra described above?
- Once introduced into southern Europe, maize became popular with landowners because of its high yields relative to other cereal crops.
- Maize grown in the Americas contained more niacin than maize grown in Europe did.
- Traditional ways of preparing maize in the Americas convert maize’s niacin into a nutritionally useful form.
- In southern Europe many of the people who consumed maize also ate niacin-rich foods.
- Before the discovery of pellagra’s link with niacin, it was widely believed that the disease was an infection that could be transmitted from person to person.
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3-8 Historian: In the Drindian Empire, censuses were conducted annually to determine the population of each village. Village census records for the last half of the 1600’s are remarkably complete. This very completeness makes one point stand out; in five different years, villages overwhelmingly reported significant population declines. Tellingly, each of those five years immediately followed an increase in a certain Drindian tax. This tax, which was assessed on villages, was computed by the central government using the annual census figures. Obviously, whenever the tax went up, villages had an especially powerful economic incentive to minimize the number of people they recorded; and concealing the size of a village’s population from government census takers would have been easy. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the reported declines did not happen.
In the historian’s argument, the two portions in boldfaceplay which of the following roles?
- The first supplies a context for the historian’s argument; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against the position the historian seeks to establish.
- The first presents evidence to support the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against that position.
- The first provides a context for certain evidence that supports the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second is that position.
- The first is a position for which the historian argues; the second is an assumption that serves as the basis of that argument.
- The first is an assumption that the historian explicitly makes in arguing for a certain position; the second acknowledges a consideration that calls that assumption into question.
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3-9 Scientists typically do their most creative work before the age of forty. It is commonly thought that this happens because aging by itself brings about a loss of creative capacity. However, studies show that a disproportionately large number of the scientists who produce highly creative work beyond the age of forty entered their field at an older age than is usual. Since by the age of forty the large majority of scientists have been working in their field for at least fifteen years, the studies’ finding strongly suggests that the real reason why scientists over forty rarely produce highly creative work is not that they have simply aged but rather that they generally have spent too long in a given field.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldfaceplay which of the following roles?
- The first is the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second is an objection that has been raised against a position defended in the argument.
- The first is a claim that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes; the second is a finding that has been used in support of that position.
- The first is an explanation that the argument challenges; the second is a finding that has been used in support of that explanation.
- The first is an explanation that the argument challenges; the second is a finding on which that challenge is based.
- The first is an explanation that the argument defends; the second is a finding that has been used to challenge that explanation.
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3-10 In Teruvia, the quantity of rice produced per year is currently just large enough to satisfy domestic demand. Teruvia’s total rice acreage will not be expanded in the foreseeable future, nor will rice yields per acre increase appreciably. Teruvia’s population, however, will be increasing significantly for years to come. Clearly, therefore, Teruvia will soon have to begin importing rice.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
- No pronounced trend of decreasing per capita demand for rice is imminent in Teruvia.
- Not all of the acreage in Teruvia currently planted with rice is well suited to the cultivation of rice.
- None of the strains of rice grown in Teruvia are exceptionally high-yielding.
- There are no populated regions in Teruvia in which the population will not increase.
- There are no major crops other than rice for which domestic production and domestic demand are currently in balance in Teruvia.