In each of the past five years, Barraland's prison population has increased. Yet, according to official government statistics, for none of those years has there been either an increase in the number of criminal cases brought to trial, or an increase in the rate at which convictions have been obtained. Clearly, therefore, the percentage of people convicted of crimes who are being given prison sentences is on the increase.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

Because visual inspection cannot reliably distinguish certain skin discolorations from skin cancers, dermatologists at clinics have needed to perform tests of skin tissue taken from patients. At Westville Hospital, dermatological diagnostic costs were reduced by the purchase of a new imaging machine that diagnoses skin cancer in such cases as reliably as the tissue tests do. Consequently, even though the machine is expensive, a dermatological clinic in Westville is considering buying one to reduce diagnostic costs.

Which of the following would it be most useful for the clinic to establish in order to make its decision?

Environmental organizations want to preserve the land surrounding the Wilgrinn Wilderness Area from residential development. They plan to do this by purchasing that land from the farmers who own it. That plan is ill-conceived: if the farmers did sell their land, they would sell it to the highest bidder, and developers would outbid any other bidders. On the other hand, these farmers will never actually sell any of the land, provided that farming it remains viable. But farming will not remain viable if the farms are left unmodernized, and most of the farmers lack the financial resources modernization requires. And that is exactly why a more sensible preservation strategy would be to assist the farmers to modernize their farms to the extent needed to maintain viability.

In the argument as a whole, the two boldface proportions play which of the following roles?

Environmental organizations want to preserve the land surrounding the Wilgrinn Wilderness Area from residential development. They plan to do this by purchasing that land from the farmers who own it. That plan is ill-conceived: if the farmers did sell their land, they would sell it to the highest bidder, and developers would outbid any other bidders. On the other hand, these farmers will never actually sell any of the land, provided that farming it remains viable. But farming will not remain viable if the farms are left unmodernized, and most of the farmers lack the financial resources modernization requires. And that is exactly why a more sensible preservation strategy would be to assist the farmers to modernize their farms to the extent needed to maintain viability.

In the argument as a whole, the two boldface proportions play which of the following roles?

In general, jobs are harder to get in times of economic recession because many businesses cut back operations. However, any future recessions in Vargonia will probably not reduce the availability of teaching jobs at government-funded schools. This is because Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that education in government-funded schools be available, free of charge, to all Vargonian children regardless of the state of the economy, and that current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

Which if the following, if true, most logically completes the argument?

Aroca County's public schools are supported primarily by taxes on property. The county plans to eliminate the property tax and support schools with a new three percent sales tax on all retail items sold in the county. Three percent of current retail sales is less than the amount collected through property taxes, but implementation of the plan would not necessarily reduce the amount of money going to Aroca County public schools, because ______.

Certain genetically modified strains of maize produce a natural insecticide that protects against maize-eating insects. The insecticide occurs throughout the plant, including its pollen. Maize pollen is dispersed by the wind and often blows onto milkweed plants that grow near maize fields. Caterpillars of monarch butterflies feed exclusively on milkweed leaves. When, in experiments, these caterpillars were fed milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from modified maize plants, they died. Therefore, use of the modified maize inadvertently imperils monarch butterflies.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

Which of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

Information in the passage suggests which of the following concerning the Earth's mantle 2.5 to 4 billion years ago?

Which of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

The author mentions which of the following as a disadvantage of urban employment for Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic group?

The author of the passage would most likely agree that the opinions of the Latin American women discussed in the third paragraph (highlight) are influenced by the

Given the information in the passage, which of the following is a true statement about the NIC's?

The author of the passage most clearly implies that Broad and Cavanagh disagree with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund about which of the following?

The author mentions Malaysia and Thailand in order to