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GMAT

GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 44

in Critical Reasoning

Read the passage and choose the option that best answer the question.

1. The enormous distances between stars are not spaces entirely devoid of matter. The interstellar spaces are filled with ?dust?: very low density matter. This miniscule amount of matter, spread over almost infinite distances, acts like a curtain obscuring the stars that lie behind. If it were not for this material we would see no dark patches in the sky at night: the sky would be entirely covered with stars.

The two parts in boldface play what roles in the argument above?

A. The first is a suggestion that the author wishes to dispute. The second is hypothesis that the author wishes to explain.
B. The first is the main point the author wishes to make. The second is a hypothetical result of accepting that point.
C. The first is a fact that the author thinks is important in explaining a certain phenomenon. The second is a result that the author would expect if that fact were not true.
D. The first is a speculation that the author wishes to justify. The second is a consequence that would result if that speculation is not true.
E. The first is an established fact that the author wishes to explain. The second is a consequence of accepting this fact.

2. In the years since the city of London imposed strict air-pollution regulations on local industry, the number of bird species seen in and around London has increased dramatically. Similar air-pollution rules should be imposed in other major cities. Each of the following is an assumption made in the argument above EXCEPT:

A. In most major cities, air-pollution problems are caused almost entirely by local industry.
B. Air-pollution regulations on industry have a significant impact on the quality of the air.
C. The air-pollution problems of other major cities are basically similar to those once suffered by London .
D. An increase in the number of bird species in and around a city is desirable.
E. The increased sightings of bird species in and around London reflect an actual increase in the number of species in the area.

3. Meteorite explosions in the Earth's atmosphere as large as the one that destroyed forests in Siberia, with approximately the force of a twelve-megaton nuclear blast, occur about once a century. The response of highly automated systems controlled by complex computer programs to unexpected circumstances is unpredictable. Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn, if the statements above are true, about a highly automated nuclear-missile defense system controlled by a complex computer program?

A. Within a century after its construction, the system would react inappropriately and might accidentally start a nuclear war.
B. The system would be destroyed if an explosion of a large meteorite occurred in the Earth's atmosphere.
C. It would be impossible for the system to distinguish the explosion of a large meteorite from the explosion of a nuclear weapon.
D. Whether the system would respond inappropriately to the explosion of a large meteorite would depend on the location of the blast.
E. It is not certain what the system's response to the explosion of a large meteorite would be, if its designers did not plan for such a contingency.

4. The tobacco industry is still profitable and projections are that it will remain so. In the United States this year, the total amount of tobacco sold by tobacco-farmers has increased, even though the number of adults who smoke has decreased. Each of the following, if true, could explain the simultaneous increase in tobacco sales and decrease in the number of adults who smoke EXCEPT:

A. During this year, the number of women who have begun to smoke is greater than the number of men who have quit smoking.
B. The number of teen-age children who have begun to smoke this year is greater than the number of adults who have quit smoking during the same period.
C. During this year, the number of nonsmokers who have begun to use chewing tobacco or snuff is greater than the number of people who have quit smoking.
D. The people who have continued to smoke consume more tobacco per person than they did in the past.
E. More of the cigarettes made in the United States this year were exported to other countries than was the case last year.

5. In recent years many cabinetmakers have been winning acclaim as artists. But since furniture must be useful, cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product. For this reason, cabinetmaking is not art. Which of the following is an assumption that supports drawing the conclusion above from the reason given for that conclusion?

A. Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where it will not be used by anyone.
B. Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others with the practical utility of the products they produce.
C. Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the practical utility of their products than they currently are.
D. An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention to the object's practical utility.
E. Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of their products.

6. Exports of United States wood pulp will rise considerably during this year. The reason for the rise is that the falling value of the dollar will make it cheaper for paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe to buy American wood pulp than to get it from any other source. Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?

A. Factory output of paper products in Japan and Western Europe will increase sharply during this year.
B. The quality of the wood pulp produced in the United States would be adequate for the purposes of Japanese and Western European paper manufacturers.
C. Paper manufacturers in Japan and Western Europe would prefer to use wood pulp produced in the United States if cost were not a factor.
D. Demand for paper products made in Japan and Western Europe will not increase sharply during this year.
E. Production of wood pulp by United States companies will not increase sharply during this year.

7. The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives who use the corporate helicopter, whose landing site is 40 feet away from the pond. To solve the problem, the corporation plans to import a large number of herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter. Which of the following, if a realistic possibility, would cast the most serious doubt on the prospects for success of the corporation's plan?

A. The dogs will form an uncontrollable pack.
B. The dogs will require training to learn to herd the geese.
C. The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese.
D. It will be necessary to keep the dogs in quarantine for 30 days after importing them.
E. Some of the geese will move to the pond of another corporation in order to avoid being herded by the dogs.

8. The chanterelle, a type of wild mushroom, grows beneath host trees such as the Douglas fir, which provide it with necessary sugars. The underground filaments of chanterelles, which extract the sugars, in turn provide nutrients and water for their hosts. Because of this mutually beneficial relationship, harvesting the chanterelles growing beneath a Douglas fir seriously endangers the tree. Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

A. The number of wild mushrooms harvested has increased in recent years.
B. Chanterelles grow not only beneath Douglas firs but also beneath other host trees.
C. Many types of wild mushrooms are found only in forests and cannot easily be grown elsewhere.
D. The harvesting of wild mushrooms stimulates future growth of those mushrooms.
E. Young Douglas fir seedlings die without the nutrients and water provided by chanterelle filaments.

9. The human body secretes more pain-blocking hormones late at night than during the day. Consequently, surgical patients operated on at night need less anesthesia. Since larger amounts of anesthesia pose greater risks for patients, the risks of surgery could be reduced if operations routinely took place at night. Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly against the view that surgical risks could be reduced by scheduling operations at night?

A. Energy costs in hospitals are generally lower at night than they are during the day.
B. More babies are born between midnight and seven o'clock in the morning than at any other time.
C. Over the course of a year, people's biological rhythms shift slightly in response to changes in the amounts of daylight to which the people are exposed.
D. Nurses and medical technicians are generally paid more per hour when they work during the night than when they work during the day.
E. Manual dexterity and mental alertness are lower in the late night than they are during the day, even in people accustomed to working at night.

10. Which of the following, if true, is the most logical completion of the argument below? The tax system of the Republic of Grootland encourages borrowing by granting its taxpayers tax relief for interest paid on loans. The system also discourages saving by taxing any interest earned on savings. Nevertheless, it is clear that Grootland's tax system does not consistently favor borrowing over saving, for if it did, there would be no______

A. tax relief in Grootland for those portions of a taxpayer's income, if any, that are set aside to increase that taxpayer's total savings
B. tax relief in Grootland for the processing fees that taxpayers pay to lending institutions when obtaining certain kinds of loans
C. tax relief in Grootland for interest that taxpayers are charged on the unpaid balance in credit card accounts
D. taxes due in Grootland on the cash value of gifts received by taxpayers from banks trying to encourage people to open savings accounts
E. taxes due in Grootland on the amount that a taxpayer has invested in interest-bearing savings accounts