The children in the second grade at a local elementary school scored lower on tests of math skills this year than the second graders did last year. The school board blames the disappointing results on the budget cuts that forced the school to consolidate several classes of second-grade students, thus depriving them of the individualized attention that they had previously enjoyed.

Which of the following, if true, best supports the explanation offered by the school board for the students' lower test scores?

Ecologist: The incidence of alligator attacks on humans in the vicinity of the Blue Lagoon has increased in recent years. Relocating at least half of the Blue Lagoon's alligator population would help decrease the incidence of alligator attacks on humans.

The ecologist's claim relies on which of the following assumptions?

Congress has passed a law that scales back the tax credits offered to purchasers of hybrid cars. Because of this, the number of hybrid cars sold each year, which has approximately doubled in each of the last five years, is likely to flatten in the next few years.

Which of the following statements, if true, most weakens the conclusion that the number of hybrid cars sold annually is likely to flatten in the next few years?

The legislature of the Philippines voted recently to abolish the death penalty. In contrast, the death penalty remains legal in the United States. The difference in the legality of capital punishment demonstrates that the majority of American citizens believe in the death penalty, while the majority of Filipino citizens do not.

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the above argument depends?

On average, American consumers buy a new computer every four years even though older computers are still perfectly capable of basic operations such as word processing and surfing the Internet. This is the case despite the fact that most computers are designed to work for approximately ten years.

The statements above, if true, best support which of the following as a conclusion?

At any given time, approximately fifteen percent of all homes in Florida are on the market. In Texas, however, only seven percent of all homes are on the market at any given time. Therefore, one will have a wider selection of homes to choose from if one looks for a home in Florida rather than in Texas.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously strengthen the argument above?

Albinism is a rare genetic condition that inhibits the production of melanin, or pigmentation, in the skin and hair. People born with albinism are unusually susceptible to sunburn, melanoma, and a range of other health issues that are generally connected to excessive exposure to the sun.

The statements above, if true, provide the most support for which of the following conclusions?

Demand levels for some categories of products are closely interdependent. When one type of a product can serve as a complement for another product, the levels of demand for these goods are positively related. An increase in the demand for one product usually increases the demand for its complementary product. Similarly, a decrease in the demand for one good causes a decrease in the demand for its complementary product.

Which of the following statements provides an example of the relationship between product demands described above?

The Central City Church building was recently damaged by a fire that occurred overnight. The insurance company will not pay on a claim if it is determined that a fire was started deliberately. Since nobody was in the Central City Church building at the time the fire swept through the structure, the insurance company will most certainly reimburse the church for the damage caused by the fire.

Which of the following is an assumption that is required to reach the conclusion above?

During the recent spate of brushfires in the Southwest, homeowners who lived near affected areas were advised to douse their roofs with water to prevent their houses from catching fire before evacuating the area. After the fires were brought under control and the homeowners were allowed to return to the area, many who doused their roofs discovered significant fire damage to their houses. Clearly, then, dousing their roofs was a wasted effort.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion above?

The Blackridge Company, a software retailer, recently implemented a service offering free telephone support for its customers. After 3 months of service, the average length of a technical support call was 15 minutes, 3 minutes higher than the company's target length of 12 minutes. After studying the operations of the new telephone support division, the company discovered that customer support agents were putting customers on hold for an average of 4 minutes per call while these agents researched possible solutions to the technical issues at hand.

From the passage above, it can be inferred that the Blackridge Company could reduce the average length of its customer support calls by doing which of the following, assuming that each is a realistic possibility?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

Although the pesticide TDX has been widely used by fruit growers since the early 1960's, a regulation in force since 1960 has prohibited sale of fruit on which any TDX residue can be detected. That regulation is about to be replaced by one that allows sale of fruit on which trace amounts of TDX residue are detected. In fact, however, the change will not allow more TDX on fruit than was allowed in the 1960's, because ______.

The population of desert tortoises in Targland's Red Desert has declined, partly because they are captured for sale as pets and partly because people riding all-terrain vehicles have damaged their habitat. Targland plans to halt this population decline by blocking the current access routes into the desert and announcing new regulations to allow access only on foot. Targland's officials predict that these measures will be adequate, since it is difficult to collect the tortoises without a vehicle.

Which of the following would it be most important to establish in order to evaluate the officials' prediction?

Macrophages are cells that play a role in the response of the immune system of mice and other mammals to invasive organisms such as bacteria. Unlike other mice, mice that are genetically incapable of making these particular cells do not show elevated levels of nitrates when infected with bacteria.

The statements above, if true, provide the most support for which of the following conclusions?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A new drug, taken twice daily for one month, is an effective treatment for a certain disease. The drug now most commonly prescribed for the disease occasionally has serious side effects such as seizures; in field tests, the new drug's side effects, though no worse than mild nausea, turned out to be much more frequent. Nevertheless, the new drug is clearly preferable as a treatment, since _____.