151. Cars are safer than planes. Fifty percent of plane accidents result in death, while only one percent of car accidents result in death. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?
A.Planes are inspected more often than cars.
B.The number of car accidents is several hundred thousand times higher than the number of plane accidents.
C.Pilots never fly under the influence of alcohol, while car drivers often do.
D.Plane accidents are usually the fault of air traffic controllers, not pilots.
E.Planes carry more passengers than cars do.
Ans : B
152. Mrs. Mason is gifted with psychic powers that enable her to foretell future events. In the past, Mrs. Mason has predicted such actual events as the election of President Clinton, the stock market crash of 1987, and the St. Louis Cardinals' 1982 World Series victory. These are just a few of Mrs. Mason's accurate predictions. The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating the strength of the argument above?
What percentage of Mrs. Mason's predictions has come true?
A.Could the election of President Reagan have been predicted without the help of psychic powers?
B.What is the actual mechanism by which Mrs. Mason's psychic powers are supposed to operate?
C.How long before the events in question did Mrs. Mason make her accurate predictions?
D.Do most scientists accept the idea that the power to predict the future through psychic means really exists?
Ans : A
153.An ingredient in coffee, known as RTC, has been found to inactivate common cold viruses in experiments. In previous experiments, researchers found that inactivated common cold viruses can convert healthy cells into cancer cells. It can be concluded that the use of coffee can cause cancer. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.Several teams of scientists performed the various experiments, and all of the teams had similar results.
B.The carcinogenic effect of RTC could be neutralized by the other ingredients found in coffee.
C.When RTC kills common cold viruses it weakens the immune system, and it might thus diminish the body's ability to fight other viruses, including viruses linked to cancers.
D.If chemists modify the structure of RTC, RTC can be safely incorporated into medications to prevent the common cold.
E.To lessen the undesirable side effects of chemotherapy, the use of coffee has been recommended for cancer patients who are free of the common cold virus.
Ans : B
154. The body of anyone infected by virus X will, after a week, produce antibodies to fight the virus; the antibodies will increase in number for the next year or so. There is now a test that reliably indicates how many antibodies are present in a person's body. If positive, this test can be used during the first year of infection to estimate to within a month how long that person has had the virus. Which one of the following conclusions is best supported by the statements above?
A.Antibodies increase in number only until they have defeated the virus.
B.Without the test for antibodies, there is no way of establishing whether a person has virus X.
C.Antibodies are produced only for viral infections that cannot be fought by any other body defenses.
D.If a person remains infected by virus X indefinitely, there is no limit to the number of antibodies that can be present in the person's body.
E.Anyone infected by virus X will for a time fail to exhibit infection if tested by the antibody test.
Ans : E
155. Mrs. Mason is gifted with psychic powers that enable her to foretell future events. In the past, Mrs. Mason has predicted such actual events as the election of President Clinton, the stock market crash of 1987, and the St. Louis Cardinals' 1982 World Series victory. These are just a few of Mrs. Mason's accurate predictions.
The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating the strength of the argument above?
A.What percentage of Mrs. Mason's predictions has come true?
B.Could the election of President Reagan have been predicted without the help of psychic powers?
C.What is the actual mechanism by which Mrs. Mason's psychic powers are supposed to operate?
D.How long before the events in question did Mrs. Mason make her accurate predictions?
E.Do most scientists accept the idea that the power to predict the future through psychic means really exists?
Ans : A
156.An ingredient in coffee, known as RTC, has been found to inactivate common cold viruses in experiments. In previous experiments, researchers found that inactivated common cold viruses can convert healthy cells into cancer cells. It can be concluded that the use of coffee can cause cancer.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.Several teams of scientists performed the various experiments, and all of the teams had similar results.
B.The carcinogenic effect of RTC could be neutralized by the other ingredients found in coffee.
C.When RTC kills common cold viruses it weakens the immune system, and it might thus diminish the body's ability to fight other viruses, including viruses linked to cancers.
D.If chemists modify the structure of RTC, RTC can be safely incorporated into medigreions to prevent the common cold.
E.To lessen the undesirable side effects of chemotherapy, the use of coffee has been recommended for cancer patients who are free of the common cold virus.
Ans : B
157.Ever since I arrived at the college last week, I've been shocked by the poor behavior of the students. The student population is completely lacking in proper social skills. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the above conclusion?
A.Students who are away from their parents often exhibit rude behavior.
B.The college numbers over 50,000 students.
C.The narrator is a student and has interacted with many students.
D.Social skills should not be expected of college students.
E.The narrator was reluctant to stay at the college.
Ans : B
158.The symptoms of mental disorders are behavioral, cognitive, or emotional problems. Some patients with mental disorders can be effectively treated with psychotherapy, but it is now known that in some patients' mental disorders result from chemical imbalances affecting the brain. Thus, these patients can be effectively treated only with medication that will reduce or correct the imbalance.
The argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
A.Treatment by psychotherapy can produce no effective reduction in or correction of chemical imbalances that cause mental disorders.
B.Treatment with medication always shows faster results for patients with mental disorders than does treatment with psychotherapy
C.Most mental disorders are not the result of chemical imbalances affecting the brain.
D.Medication is always more effective in treating patients with mental disorders than is psychotherapy.
E.Treatment with psychotherapy has no effect on mental disorders other than a reduction of the symptoms.
Ans : A
159.Jack Bygrave is an executive at a major South African diamond company that produces 2% of the world's total annual diamond production. The CFO is anxious to maximize revenues and increase sales. Bygrave, however, believes that increased production would only drive down the world price of diamonds and lower revenues.
Which of the following represents the logical flaw in Bygrave's reasoning?
A.Jack connects the price of unrefined diamonds and the price of jewelry-quality diamonds.
B.He assumes that production goals are similar to financial goals.
C.He assumes that the supply produced by a single company can significantly alter the aggregate supply for the market.
D.He assumes that seasonal and long term supply are proportional.
E.He correlates long-term and short-term demand.
Ans : C
160.The crux of creativity resides in the ability to manufacture variations on a theme. If we look at the history of science, for instance, we see that every idea is built upon a thousand related ideas. Careful analysis leads us to understand that what we choose to call a new theme or a new discovery is itself always and without exception some sort of variation, on a deep level, of previous themes.
If all of the statements in the passage are true, each of the following must also be true EXCEPT:
A.A lack of ability to manufacture a variation on a previous theme connotes a lack of creativity
B.No scientific idea is entirely independent of all other ideas.
C.Careful analysis of a specific variation can reveal previous themes of which it is a variation.
D.All great scientific discoverers have been able to manufacture a variation on a theme.
E.Some new scientific discoveries do not represent, on a deep level, a variation on previous themes.
Ans : E
161.Studies of fatal automobile accidents reveal that, in the majority of cases in which one occupant of an automobile is killed while another survives, it is the passenger, not the driver, who is killed. It is ironic that the innocent passenger should suffer for the driver's carelessness, while the driver often suffers only minor injuries or none at all.
Which of the following is an assumption underlying the reasoning in the passage above?
A.In most fatal automobile accidents, the driver of a car in which an occupant is killed is at fault.
B.Drivers of automobiles are rarely killed in auto accidents.
C.Most deaths in fatal automobile accidents are suffered by occupants of cars rather than by pedestrians.
D.Auto safety experts should increase their efforts to provide protection for those in the passenger seats of automobiles.
E.Automobile passengers sometimes play a contributing role in causing auto accidents.
Ans : A
162.The editors of Business Today magazine conducted a poll of its readers regarding the proposed increase in the rate of income tax paid on profits from the sale of stocks. More than 60% of the readers opposed the proposed tax. The editors announced that the majority of Americans opposed any increase in the tax on profits from stock sales.
Which one of the following statements, if true, would most weaken the editor's conclusion?
A.Some readers of Business Today magazine are citizens of countries other than the United States.
B.Decisions concerning the income tax laws are made by the Congress rather than directly by the people.
C.Most of those who earn profits from stock sales are wealthy and can afford to pay higher taxes.
D.The viewpoints of the vast majority of the readers of Business Today magazine differ from the views of most Americans.
E.Not all readers of Business Today magazine responded to the editors' poll.
Ans : D
163.Several movie versions of Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities have been made. The original movie version made in 1939 is the best because it is closest in spirit to the original novel.
An underlying assumption of the argument above is that a movie based on a novel should:
A.reflect the director's original interpretation of the main themes of the novel.
B.accurately depict the time and place in which the novel is set.
C.feature actors and actresses who closely resemble the characters in the novel both in body and spirit.
D.faithfully render the details of the plot from the narrator's point of view.
E.capture the true meaning and intention of the novel.
Ans : E
Each CAT sample logical reasoning question in this part of the assessment starts with a reading passage containing the information to be used to choose between correct and incorrect logical conclusions. These conclusions are based on the information in the passage. After this reading passage, you are given a lead-in phrase that tells you to choose from among five different responses. These possible responses are generated by correctly or incorrectly applying logical thought to the information in the passage at the beginning of the question. They can be thought of as different ways of completing a sentence that begins with the lead-in phrase. Each reading passage is based on actual Bureau of Labor Statistics documents but is not necessarily a completely accurate representation of BLS work. It is important that you accept every fact in the reading passage as true, when you evaluate the response choices offered. You should use only the information in the passage as the basis for accepting or rejecting any response choices. Be careful not to allow any "facts" that are not clearly stated in the reading passage, or any outside knowledge you may have of the "facts", to influence your thinking. Following are some CAT sample logical reasoning questions.
164.Testifying before the Senate committee investigating charges that cigarette manufacturers had manipulated nicotine levels in cigarettes in order to addict consumers to their products, tobacco executives argued that cigarette smoking is not addictive. The primary reason they gave in support of this claim was that cigarette smoking was not regulated by the Federal Drug Administration.
For the tobacco executives' argument to be logically correct, which of the following must be assumed?
A.Substances that are not addictive are not regulated by ...........the Federal Drug Administration.
B.The tobacco executives lied when they claimed that ...........cigarette smoking was not addictive.
C.Some addictive substances are not regulated by the ...........Federal Drug Administration.
D.There is no scientific proof that cigarette smoking is ...........addictive.
E.Substances that are not regulated by the Federal Drug ...........Administration are not addictive.
Ans : E
165.People should be held accountable for their own behavior, and if holding people accountable for their own behavior entails capital punishment, then so be it. However, no person should be held accountable for behavior over which he or she had no control.
Which of the following is the most logical conclusion of the argument above?
A.People should not be held accountable for the ...........behavior of other people.
B.People have control over their own behavior.
C.People cannot control the behavior of other people.
D.Behavior that cannot be controlled should not be ...........punished.
E.People have control over behavior that is subject ...........to capital punishment.
Ans : B
Page 11
|
