The total market value of real estate in Altonville has steadily declined over the past four years. This decline has meant that the overall figure on which the city's property tax is based - the assessed value of that real estate - has also declined. Moreover, the percentage of assessed value that was paid as property taxes to the city did not change during this period.

The information above most strongly supports which of the following?

Plankton generally thrive in areas of the ocean with sufficient concentrations of certain nitrogen compounds near the surface, where plankton live. Nevertheless, some areas, though rich in these nitrogen compounds, have few plankton. These areas have particularly low concentrations of iron, and oceanographers hypothesize that this shortage of iron prevents plankton from thriving. However, an experimental release of iron compounds into one such area failed to produce a thriving plankton population, even though local iron concentrations increased immediately.

Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly against concluding, on the basis of the information above, that the oceanographers' hypothesis is false?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants. Agronomists studying the herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert. Possibly, therefore, the herb's high histidine production is what allows it to grow in metal-rich soils, a hypothesis that would gain support if ______.

Lofgren's disease has been observed frequently in commercially raised cattle but very rarely in chickens. Both cattle and chickens raised for meat are often fed the type of feed that transmits the virus that causes the disease. Animals infected with the virus take more than a year to develop symptoms of Lofgren's disease, however, and chickens commercially raised for meat, unlike cattle, are generally brought to market during their first year of life.

Which of the following is most strongly supported by the information provided?

Which of the following most logically completes the editorial below?

Editorial in Golbindian Newspaper: For almost three months, opposition parties have been mounting daily street demonstrations in the capital in an effort to pressure the ruling party into calling an election. Though the demonstrations were well attended at first, attendance has declined steadily in recent weeks. However, the decline in attendance does not indicate that popular support for the opposition's demands is dropping, since

The chemical adenosine is released by brain cells when those cells are active. Adenosine then binds to more and more sites on cells in certain areas of the brain, as the total amount released gradually increases during wakefulness. During sleep, the number of sites to which adenosine is bound decreases. Some researchers have hypothesized that it is the cumulative binding of adenosine to a large number of sites that causes the onset of sleep.

Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the researchers' hypothesis?

Lawmaker: Raising taxes is not the only means of reducing government debt. The government's stockpile of helium is worth 25 percent more, at current market prices, than the debt accumulated in acquiring and storing it. Therefore, by selling the helium, the government can not only pay off that debt but reduce its overall debt as well.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

People who have spent a lot of time in contact with animals often develop animal-induced allergies, some of them quite serious. In a survey of current employees in major zoos, about 30 percent had animal-induced allergies. Based on this sample, experts conclude that among members of the general population who have spent a similarly large amount of time in close contact with animals, the percentage with animal-induced allergies is not 30 percent but substantially more.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest grounds for the experts' conclusion?

People who have spent a lot of time in contact with animals often develop animal-induced allergies, a significant percentage of which are quite serious. In a survey of current employees in major zoos, about 30 percent had animal-induced allergies. However, a zoo employee who develops a serious animal-induced allergy is very likely to switch to some other occupation.

Which of the following hypotheses receives the strongest support from the information given?

In order to raise revenue, the federal government planned a tax amnesty program that allows tax delinquents to pay all owed tax without added financial penalty. However, economists projected that the federal government would collect a far lower percentage of total tax owed by delinquents than did state governments implementing similar programs.

Which of the following, if true, would most contribute to an explanation of the economists' projections?