Logical Reasoning
"Every business strives to increase its productivity, for this increases profits for the owners and the likelihood that the business will survive. But not all efforts to increase productivity are beneficial to the business as a whole. Often, attempts to increase productivity decrease the number of employees, which clearly harms the dismissed employees as well as the sense of security of the retained employees."
Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the economist’s argument?
A) If an action taken to secure the survival of a business fails to enhance the welfare of the business’s employees, that action cannot be good for the business as a whole.
(B) Some measures taken by a business to increase productivity fail to be beneficial to the business as a whole.
(C) Only if the employees of a business are also its owners will the interests of the employees and owners coincide, enabling measures that will be beneficial to the business as a whole.
(D) There is no business that does not make efforts to increase its productivity.
(E) Decreasing the number of employees in a business undermines the sense of security of retained employees.
In creating a soup recipe, a chef is deciding which of seven vegetables-garlic, jalapeño, kale, onion, potato, tomato, and yam - to include among the ingredients. The chef has decided that the vegetables she includes will be added one at a time to a pot of liquid ingredients. Each vegetable will be added only once, subject to the following conditions:
1. If jalapeño is an ingredient, it must be added either first or last.
2. If jalapeño is an ingredient, yam must not be an ingredient.
3. Either potato is an ingredient or yam is an ingredient, but not both.
4. Garlic, kale, onion, and tomato must be ingredients.
5. Onion must be added at some time before garlic, and garlic must be added at some time before both kale and tomato.
Which one of the following could be the order in which the vegetables are added to the pot, listed from first to last?
(A) onion, garlic, tomato, kale
(B) garlic, onion, kale, tomato, potato
(C) jalapeno, onion, garlic, potato, tomato, kale
(D) onion, garlic, kale, yam, tomato, jalapeno
(E) potato, onion, garlic, kale, jalapeno, tomato
An undergraduate degree is necessary for appointment to the executive board. Further, no one with a felony conviction can be appointed to the board. Thus, Murray, an accountant with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, cannot be accepted for the position of Executive Administrator, since he has a felony conviction.
The argument’s conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) Anyone with a master’s degree and without a felony conviction is eligible for appointment to the executive board.
(B) Only candidates eligible for appointment to the executive board can be accepted for the position of Executive Administrator.
(C) An undergraduate degree is not necessary for acceptance for the position of Executive Administrator.
(D) If Murray did not have a felony conviction, he would be accepted for the position of Executive Administrator.
(E) The felony charge on which Murray was convicted is relevant to the duties of the position of Executive Administrator
All Labrador retrievers bark a great deal. All Saint Bernards bark infrequently. Each of Rosa’s dogs is a cross between a Labrador retriever and a Saint Bernard. Therefore, Rosa’s dogs are moderate barkers.
Which one of the following uses flawed reasoning that most closely resembles the flawed reasoning used in the argument above?
A) All students who study diligently make good grades. But some students who do not study diligently also make good grades. Jane studies somewhat diligently. Therefore, Jane makes somewhat good grades.
(B) All type A chemicals are extremely toxic to human beings. All type B chemicals are nontoxic to human beings. This household cleaner is a mixture of a type A chemical and a type B chemical. Therefore, this household cleaner is moderately toxic.
(C) All students at Hanson School live in Green County. All students at Edwards School live in Winn County. Members of the Perry family attend both Hanson and Edwards. Therefore, some members of the Perry family live in Green County and some live in Winn County.
(D) All transcriptionists know shorthand. All engineers know calculus. Bob has worked both as a transcriptionist and as an engineer. Therefore, Bob knows both shorthand and calculus.
(E) All of Kenisha’s dresses are very well made. All of Connie’s dresses are very badly made. Half of the dresses in this closet are very well made, and half of them are very badly made. Therefore, half of the dresses in this closet are Kenisha’s and half of them are Connie’s.
Each of five experts-a lawyer, a naturalist, an oceanographer, a physicist, and a statistician individually gives exactly one presentation at a conference. The five presentations are given consecutively. Each presentation is in exactly one of the four following languages: French, German, Japanese, or Mandarin.
Each expert speaks exactly one of the languages. The following conditions must hold:
1. Exactly two of the presentations are in the same language as each other.
2. The statistician gives the second presentation in German.
3. The lawyer gives the fourth presentation in either Mandarin or French.
4. The oceanographer presents in either French or Japanese; the same is true of the physicist.
5. The first presentation and the last presentation are in Japanese.
Which one of the following could be the order in which the IC experts give their presentations, from first to last?
(A) N, P, S, L, O
(B) P, S, L, N, O
(C) P, N, O, L, S
(D) O, A, L, N, P
(E) O, S, N, L, P
Although video game sales have increased steadily over the past 3 years, we can expect a reversal of this trend in the very near future. Historically, over three quarters of video games sold have been purchased by people from 13 to 16 years of age, and the number of people in this age group is expected to decline steadily over the next 10 years.
Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument?
(A) Most people 17 years old or older have never purchased a video game.
(B) Video game rentals have declined over the past 3 years.
(C) New technology will undoubtedly make entirely new entertainment options available over the next 10 years.
(D) The number of different types of video games available is unlikely to decrease in the near future.
(E) Most of the people who have purchased video games over the past 3 years are over the age of 16.
A century in certain ways is like a life, and as the end of a century approaches, people behave toward that century much as someone who is nearing the end of life does toward that life. So just as people in their last years spend much time looking back on the events of their life, people at a century’s end _______.
Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?
(A) reminisce about their own lives
(B) fear that their own lives are about to end
(C) focus on what the next century will bring
(D) become very interested in the history of the century just ending
(E) reflect on how certain unfortunate events of the century could have been avoided
An industrial electrician attaches exactly seven components-designated S, T, V, W, X, Y, and Z-to a circuit board in exactly seven consecutive steps; exactly one component is attached per step. Each component is attached exactly once, and each is attached either by hand or by machine, but not both.
1. X is the fourth component attached.
2. Exactly two components are attached by hand at some time before X is attached.
3. No component is attached by hand before T is attached.
4. W is attached at some time before T.
5. Y is attached at some time after both Z and S.
6. The sixth component attached is attached by hand.
Which one of the following could be an accurate list, in order, of the first three components attached?
(A) W, T, S
(B) W, T, Y
(C) X, Y, Z
(D) Y, W, T
(E) Y, Z, S
Proponents of the electric car maintain that when the technical problems associated with its battery design are solved, such cars will be widely used and, because they are emission-free, will result in an abatement of the environmental degradation caused by auto emissions. But unless we dam more rivers, the electricity to charge these batteries will come from nuclear or coal-fired power plants. Each of these three power sources produces considerable environmental damage. Thus, the electric car _______.
Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?
(A) will have worse environmental consequences than its proponents may believe
(B) will probably remain less popular than other types of cars
(C) requires that purely technical problems be solved before it can succeed
(D) will increase the total level of emissions rather than reduce it
(E) will not produce a net reduction in environmental degradation
Consumer: The latest Connorly Report suggests that Ocksenfrey prepackaged meals are virtually devoid of nutritional value. But the Connorly Report is commissioned by Danto Foods, Ocksenfrey’s largest corporate rival, and early drafts of the report are submitted for approval to Danto Foods’ public relations department. Because of the obvious bias of this report, it is clear that Ocksenfrey’s prepackaged meals really are nutritious.
The reasoning in the consumer’s argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument:
(A) reminisce about their own lives
(B) fear that their own lives are about to end
(C) focus on what the next century will bring
(D) become very interested in the history of the century just ending
(E) reflect on how certain unfortunate events of the century could have been avoided
The Odoski Advertising Agency has exactly seven representatives - Fetzger, Johnson, Lim, Mizoguchi, Pesek, Quijada, Sanchez. Its new campaign is presented to exactly one client by one or more of the representatives in accordance with the following conditions:
1. If Fetzger presents, then so do Mizoguchi and Pesek.
2. If Johnson presents, then Quijada does not.
3. If Quijada does not present, then Pesek does.
4. If Lim presents, then either Johnson, Sanchez, or both present.
5. If both Lim and Sanchez present, then Mizoguchi does not.
Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the representatives who present?
(A) M, S
(B) F, M, Q
(C) F, L, M, P
(D) M, P, Q, S
(E) J, L, M, Q, S
Double-blind techniques should be used whenever possible in scientific experiments. They help prevent the misinterpretations that often arise due to expectations and opinions that scientists already hold, and clearly scientists should be extremely diligent in trying to avoid such misinterpretations.
Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?
(A) Scientists’ objectivity may be impeded by interpreting experimental evidence on the basis of expectations and opinions that they already hold.
(B) It is advisable for scientists to use double-blind techniques in as high a proportion of their experiments as they can.
(C) Scientists sometimes neglect to adequately consider the risk of misinterpreting evidence on the basis of prior expectations and opinions.
(D) Whenever possible, scientists should refrain from interpreting evidence on the basis of previously formed expectations and convictions.
(E) Double-blind experimental techniques are often an effective way of ensuring scientific objectivity.
Earth’s average annual temperature has increased by about 0.5 degrees Celsius over the last century. This warming is primarily the result of the buildup of minor gases in the atmosphere, blocking the outward flow of heat from the planet.
Which one of the following, if true, would count as evidence against the scientist’s explanation of Earth’s warming?
(A) Only some of the minor gases whose presence in the atmosphere allegedly resulted in the phenomenon described by the scientist were produced by industrial pollution.
(B) Most of the warming occurred before 1940, while most of the buildup of minor gases in the atmosphere occurred after 1940.
(C) Over the last century, Earth received slightly more solar radiation in certain years than it did in others.
(D) Volcanic dust and other particles in the atmosphere reflect much of the Sun’s radiation back into space before it can reach Earth’s surface.
(E) The accumulation of minor gases in the atmosphere has been greater over the last century than at any other time in Earth’s history.
Xian interviews exactly five out of a total of seven job applicants-Gallagher, Ippolito, Lim, Nasser, Orloff, Robinson, and Taneguchi. She interviews the five one at a time, once each. Interviewing must meet the following conditions:
1. Lim is interviewed second or third.
2. Nasser or Taneguchi is interviewed last.
3. Gallagher, if interviewed, is interviewed first.
4. Ippolito is interviewed immediately after Robinson if both are interviewed.
5. Orloff is interviewed immediately after Robinson if both are interviewed.
6. Taneguchi is interviewed immediately after Nasser if both are interviewed.
Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the applicants interviewed, listed in the order in which they are interviewed?
(A) G, L, I, N, T
(B) G, L, I, R, N
(C) G, R, O, L, T
(D) I, G, L, O, T
(E) O, R, L, N, T
A cup of raw milk, after being heated in a microwave oven to 50 degrees Celsius, contains half its initial concentration of a particular enzyme, lysozyme. If, however, the milk reaches that temperature through exposure to a conventional heat source of 50 degrees Celsius, it will contain nearly all of its initial concentration of the enzyme. Therefore, what destroys the enzyme is not heat but microwaves, which generate heat.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Heating raw milk in a microwave oven to a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius destroys nearly all of the lysozyme initially present in that milk.
(B) Enzymes in raw milk that are destroyed through excessive heating can be replaced by adding enzymes that have been extracted from other sources.
(C) A liquid exposed to a conventional heat source of exactly 50 degrees Celsius will reach that temperature more slowly than it would if it were exposed to a conventional heat source hotter than 50 degrees Celsius.
(D) Milk that has been heated in a microwave oven does not taste noticeably different from milk that has been briefly heated by exposure to a conventional heat source.
(E) Heating any liquid by microwave creates small zones within it that are much hotter than the overall temperature that the liquid will ultimately reach.