Ms. Ingres has filed a lawsuit against the firm claiming that she is the victim of gender-based discrimination because she was not promoted to partner. The firm has reviewed her personnel records and concluded that she had an excellent work record that was superior to the records of several men with fewer years of service who were promoted to partner. Additionally, there are no negative entries in her file. Nonetheless, we feel justified in refusing to make her a partner because this lawsuit shows that she is not a team player.

The reasoning of the speaker is most similar to which of the following?

(A) An elected official who is charged with corruption but refuses to resign from office pending a full investigation into the matter

(B) A contractor who acknowledges that faulty materials were used in a building but claims that he was defrauded by a supplier

(C) A young man who admits killing both of his parents who pleads for a judge to show him mercy because he is an orphan

(D) A teacher who gives a student a failing mark on a term paper after the student admits to plagiarizing the paper

(E) A soldier who refuses to follow orders from a superior officer and argues that the orders were immoral and therefore invalid

In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile accidents are typically more severe than in Europe, where laws require a different kind of safety belt. It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better.Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument above EXCEPT:

(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States.
(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the
event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their passengers.
(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars
built for the United States market.
(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being
involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe.
(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no
reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents.

Scientists calculated that the asteroid, traveling at 46,000 miles an hour, is on an elliptical path that orbits the Sun once a year and regularly brings it back toward Earth.

(A) hour, is on an elliptical path that orbits the Sun once a year and regularly brings it
(B) hour, is orbiting the Sun once a year on an elliptical path that regularly brings it
(C) hour, once a year orbits the Sun, regularly bringing it on an elliptical path
(D) hour and orbiting the Sun once a year on an elliptical path, regularly bringing it
(E) hour, orbits the Sun on an elliptical path once a year and that regularly brings it

A company’s personnel director surveyed employees about their satisfaction with the company’s system for awarding employee performance ratings. The survey data indicated that employees who received high ratings were very satisfied with the system. The personnel director concluded from these data that the company’s best-performing employees liked the system.
The personnel director’s conclusion assumes which of the following?

(A) No other performance rating system is as good as the current system.
(B) The company’s best-performing employees received high ratings.
(C) Employees who received low ratings were dissatisfied with the system.
(D) Employees who receive high ratings from a performance-rating system will like that system.
(E) The company’s best-performing employees were motivated to perform well by the knowledge
that they would receive performance ratings.

Less than 50 percent of a certain tropical country’s wildlands remains intact. Efforts are under way to restore biological diversity in that country by restoring some destroyed wild habitats and extending some relatively intact portions of forests. However, opponents argue that these efforts are not needed because there is still plenty of wildland left.

Which of the following, if true, most significantly weakens the argument of the opponents of conservation efforts?

(A) As much, if not more, effort is required to restore a wild habitat as to preserve an intact habitat.
(B) The opponents of restoration efforts are, for the most part, members of the wealthier classes in their own villages and cities.
(C) Existing conservation laws have been very effective in preserving biological diversity within the wildlands that remain intact.
(D) For many tropical species native to that country, the tropical wildlands that are still relatively intact do not provide appropriate habitats for reproduction.
(E) If a suitable population of plants and animals is introduced and is permitted to disperse and grow, tropical habitats can most certainly be restored.

Exports of United States wood pulp will rise consid-erably during this year. The reason for the rise isthat the falling value of the dollar will make itcheaper for paper manufacturers in Japan and West-ern Europe to buy American wood pulp than to getit from any other source.Which of the following is an assumption made indrawing the conclusion above?

(A) Factory output of paper products in Japan andWestern Europe will increase sharplyduringthisyear.
(B) The quality of the wood pulp produced in theUnited States would be adequate for the
purposes of Japanese and Western Europeanpaper manufacturers.
(C) Paper manufacturers in Japan and WesternEurope would prefer to use wood pulp
produced in the United States if cost werenot a factor.
(D) Demand for paper products made in Japan andWestern Europe will not increase sharply
during this year.
(E) Production of wood pulp by United Statescompanies will not increase sharply duringthis year.

A manufacturer of men’s dress socks sought to increase profits by increasing sales. The size of its customer pool was remaining steady, with the average customer buying twelve pairs of dress socks per year. The company’s plan was to increase the number of promotional discount-sale periods to one every six months.Which of the following, if it is a realistic possibility, casts the most serious doubt on the viability of the company’s plan?

(A) New manufacturing capacity would not be required if the company were to increase the number of pairs of socks sold.
(B) Inventory stocks of merchandise ready for sale would be high preceding the increase in the number of discount sale periods.
(C) The manufacturer’s competitors would match its discounts during sale periods, and its
customers would learn to wait for those times to make their purchases.
(D) New styles and colors would increase customers’ consciousness of fashion in dress
socks, but the customers’ requirements for older styles and colors would not be reduced.
(E) The cost of the manufacturer’s raw materials would remain steady, and its customers
would have more disposable income.

A study comparing a group of chronically depressed individuals with an otherwise matched group of individuals free from depression found significantly more disorders of the immune system among the depressed group. According to the researchers, these results strongly support the hypothesis that mental states influence the body’s vulnerability to infection.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the researchers’ interpretation of their findings?

(A) The researchers’ view does little more than echo a familiar theme in folklore an literature.
(B) Chronically depressed individuals are no less careful than others to avoid exposure to
infections.
(C) Disorders of the immune system cause many of those individuals who have them to become chronically depressed.
(D) Individuals who have previously been free from depression can become depressed quite suddenly.
(E) A high frequency of infections can stem from an unusually high level of exposure rather than from any disorder of the immune system.

Most large companies prefer customized computer software because it can be molded to fit the way a company does business, when off-the-shelf software often requires the company to alter its procedures to fit the software.

(A) when
(B) since
(C) whereas
(D) because
(E) insofar as

Stable interest rates on long-term bonds are the financial market’s vote of confidence in the Federal Reserve keeping in control of inflation.

(A) in the Federal Reserve keeping in control of inflation
(B) that the Federal Reserve will keep inflation under control
(C) for the Federal Reserve, that it would keep control of inflation
(D) that inflation will be kept control of by the Federal Reserve
(E) that inflation would be kept control of by the Federal Reserve

Bill: The newspaper discontinued Dr. Andrews’ weekly humor column because the editor said that he had plagiarized the work of another humorist. Dr. Andrews explained, however, that much of the column’s material was from stories submitted by readers and that he had no idea that the offending items had been written by another humorist. Since his use of the items was innocent, Dr. Andrews’ column should be reinstated.

Kathy: That’s not the point. No one accused Dr. Andrews of violating another author’s copyright. The offense was that he passed off material as his own that he had not actually written. And so it was plagiarism even though the owner of the copyrighted material wrote to the newspaper to say that he did not think that Dr. Andrews had intentionally stolen from him.

Which one of the following principles best justifies Bill’s defense of Dr. Andrews?

(A) A writer can quote without attribution if it appears that the material is in common circulation.

(B) An author is entitled to quote without attribution if the copyright owner will later grant permission.

(C) A humorist can retell anecdotes submitted by readers only after doing a thorough search for the source.

(D) An author has an absolute right to quote hers or his previously published work without need of attribution.

(E) Literary works that are no longer under copyright protection can be freely quoted by any writer.

The lack of complete historical records from the mid-to-late 1800′s have made some Black inventions difficult to trace to their originators.

(A) have made some Black inventions difficult to trace to their originators
(B) have made for difficulties in tracing some inventions by Blacks to their originators
(C) have made it difficult to trace some inventions by Blacks to their originators
(D) has made it difficult to trace some inventions to their Black originators
(E) has made it difficult in tracing some Black inventions to their originators

Previous studies have indicated that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease. However, a new, more reliable study has indicated
that eating chocolate does not increase the likelihood of getting heart disease. When the results of the new study become known, consumption of
chocolate will undoubtedly increase.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion above is based?

(A) Most people who eat a great deal of chocolate will not get heart disease.
(B) Although they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease, some people still eat as much chocolate as they want.
(C) People who have heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease do not believe it.
(D) There are people who currently eat as much chocolate as they want because they have not heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.
(E) There are people who currently limit their consumption of chocolate only because they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.

In the 1950′s astronomers were divided between those who believed the universe began in a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) with those who favored the model of an eternal and infinite steady-state universe.

(A) universe began in a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) with
(B) universe began with a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) and
(C) universe had a beginning a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) or
(D) universe’s beginning was a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) or
(E) universe’s beginning was a cosmic explosion (the “big bang”) against

In the main, incidents of breakdowns in nuclear reactors have not resulted from lapses of high technology but commonplace inadequacies in plumbing and wiring.

(A) not resulted from lapses of high technology but
(B) resulted not from lapsesd high technology but from
(C) resulted from lapses not of high technology but have stemmed from
(D) resulted from lapses not of high technology but have stemmed from
(E) resulted not from lapses of high technology but have stemmed from