Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer, that is the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should pot make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage After you have chosen the best answer, blacken the corresponding space on you answer sheet.
1. Press release A comprehensive review evaluating the medical studies done up to the present time has found no reason to think that drinking coffee in normal amounts harms the coffee-drinker s heart So coffee drinkers can relax and enjoy their beverage—it is safe to drink coffee
Which one of the following points to a weakness in the reasoning in the press release s argument?
(A) The review was only an evaluation of studies and did not itself undertake to study patients. (B) The health of the heart is not identical with the general health of the body (C) Coffee drinkers might choose to eat along with their coffee foods contaming substances that harm the heart (D) Other beverages besides coffee might contain stimulants that have some effect on the heart (E) Drinking unusually large amounts of coffee could be caused by stress that itself directly harms the heart
2. All people prefer colors that they can distinguish easily to colors that they have difficulty distinguishing. Infants can easily distinguish bright colors but, unlike adults, have difficulty distinguishing subtle shades. A brightly colored toy for infants sells better than the same toy in subtle shades at the same price
Which one of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by the information in the passage?
(A) Infants prefer bright primary colors to bright secondary colors (B) Color is the most important factor in determining which toys an infant will prefer to play with (C) Individual infants do now have strong preferences for one particular bright color over other bright colors (D) The sales of toys ofr infants reflect the preferences of infants in at least one respect (E) Toy makers study infants to determine what colors the infants can distinguish easily
3. A group of unusual meteorites was found in Shergotty. India. Their structure indicates that they originated on one of the geologically active planets. Mercury, Venus, or Mars Because of Mercury s proximity to the Sun any material dislodged from that planet s surface would have been captured by the Sun, rather than falling to Earth as meteorites, Nor could Venus be the source of the meteorites, because its gravity would have prevented dislodged material from escaping into space The meteorites, therefore, probably fell to Earth after being dislodged from Mars, perhaps as the result of a collision with a large object
The argument derives its conclusion by
(A) offering a counterexample to a theory (B) eliminating competing alternative explanations (C) contrasting present circumstances with past circumstances (D) questioning an assumption (E) abstracting a general principle from specific data
4. Because quitting smoking is very stressful and leads to weight gain, it is difficult to do. The key to quitting however, may be as simple as replacing an unhealthy activity with a healthy one In one study half of htose attempting to quit were assigned to a smoking-cessation program alone, and the other half were assigned to the same program plus fifteen weeks of aerobic exercise the one-month mark none in the first group had quit but 40 percent of those in the second group had not smoked
Each of the following, if true, provides some support for the argument EXCEPT:
(A) Regular exercise prevents weight gain (B) Each group in the study included four hundred randomly 0selected participants (C) Nonsmokers accustomed to regular exercise do not gain weight when they stop exercising (D) Aerobic exercise can stimulate the brain s production of endorphins. which reduce tension (E) Of those in the second group in the study 38 percent had not smoked at the one-year mark.