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Time—35 minutes 24 Questions Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However you are to choose the best answer that is me response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not make assumptions that are bycommonsense standards implausible superfluous or incompatible with the passage. After you have chosen the best answer blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet. 1. Director of Ace Manufacturing Company: Our management consultant proposes that we reassign staff so that all employees are doing both what they like to do and what they do well. This, she says, will "increase productivity by fully exploiting our available resources." But Ace Manufacturing has a long-standing commitment not to exploit its workers. Therefore, implementing her recommendations would cause us to violate our own policy. The director's argument for rejecting the management consultant's proposal is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds? (A) failing to distinguish two distinct senses of a key term (B) attempting to defend an action on the ground that it is frequently carried out (C) defining a term by pointing to an atypical example of something to which the term applies (D) drawing a conclusion that simply restates one of the premises of the argument (E) calling something by a less offensive term than the term that is usually used to name that thing 2. A large number of drivers routinely violate highway speed limits. Since driving at speeds that exceed posted limits is a significant factor in most accidents, installing devices in all cars that prevent those cars from traveling faster than the speed limit would prevent most accidents. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? (A) A person need not be a trained mechanic to install the device properly. (B) Most accidents are caused by inexperienced drivers. (C) A driver seldom needs to exceed the speed limit to avoid an accident when none of the other drivers involved are violating the speed limit. (D) Most drivers who exceed the speed limit do so unintentionally. (E) Even if the fines for speed-limit violations were increased, the number of such violations would still not be reduced. 3. In a recession, a decrease in consumer spending causes many businesses to lay off workers or even to close, Workers who lose their jobs in a recession usually cannot find new jobs. The result is an increase in the number of people who are jobless. Recovery from a recession is defined by an increase in consumer spending and an expansion of business activity that creates a need for additional workers. But businesspeople generally have little confidence in the econnomy after a recession and therefore delay hiring additional workers as long as possible. The statements above, if true, provide most support for which one of the following conclusions? (A) Recessions are usually caused by a decrease in businesspeople's confidence in the economy. (B) Governmental intervention is required in order for an economy to recover from a recession. (C) Employees of businesses that close during a recession make up the majority of the workers who lose their jobs during that recession. |