19. Beautiful beaches attract people, no doubt about it. Just look at this city’s beautiful beaches, which are among the most overcrowded beaches in the state. Which of the following exhibits a pat- tern of reasoning most similar to the one exhibited in the argument above? (A) Moose and bear usually appear at the same drinking hole at the same time of day. Therefore, moose and bear must grow thirsty at about the same time. (B) Children who are scolded severely tend to misbehave more often than other children. Hence, if a child is not scolded severely that child is less likely to misbehave. (C) This software program helps increase the work efficiency of its users. As a result, these users have more free time for other activities. (D) During warm weather, my dog suffers from fleas more so than during cooler weather. There- fore, fleas must thrive in a warm environment. (E) Pesticides are known to cause anemia in some people. How- ever, most anemic people live in regions where pesticides are not commonly used. 20. With laser technology, vision prob- lems, skin disorders, and even many forms of cancer can now be treated by means of using a quick and painless surgical procedure. (A) by means of using (B) by means of the use of (C) with using (D) by means of (E) through means of 21. The need to foster allegiances between all the states was recognized by Madison and Hamilton, among others, during its burgeoning inde- pendence from England by the United States. (A) The need to foster allegiances between all the states was recognized by Madison and Hamilton, among others, during its burgeoning independence from England by the United States. (B) The need to foster allegiances was recognized by Madison and Hamilton, among others, between all the states during their burgeoning independence from England. (C) During the United States’ burgeoning independence from England, Madison and Hamil- ton, among others, recognized the need to foster allegiances among all the states. (D) During the United States’ burgeoning independence from England, among others, Madi- son and Hamilton recognized the need to foster allegiances among all the states. (E) The need recognized by Madi- son and Hamilton, among others, was to foster allegiances among all the states during their burgeoning independence from England. practice test Practice Test 6 623 www.petersons.com 22. Justin: Under current state law, employers must provide worker’s compensation insurance, which provides income to employees who cannot work due to injuries sustained at the workplace, to all full-time employees. This form of insurance is vital in protecting workers from financial ruin in the event they are suddenly unable to work. Bharti: I disagree with your assess- ment. The high premiums employers are forced to pay for worker’s com- pensation insurance force many of them out of business, thereby serving to increase the state’s unemployment rate. Since unemployed people are statistically unlikely to carry health insurance, the state-mandated worker’s compensation scheme actually renders workers more vulnerable to financial devastation in the event of bodily injury. Which of the following, if true, should Justin cite in order to respond most effectively to Bharti’s counter- argument? (A) In addition to carrying worker’s compensation insurance, most employers in the state also provide health insurance for full-time employees. (B) Patients without health insur- ance and who have no money typically receive inferior treatment at hospital emer- gency rooms. (C) People are statistically more likely to sustain debilitating injuries at the workplace than elsewhere. (D) The state agency that compen- sates injured workers under the current insurance scheme is financially able to pay all foreseeable claims. (E) Many workers file fraudulent worker’s compensation claims, and state regulators often fail to detect such fraud. 23. Casino X advertises that it has the “loosest” one-dollar slot machines in town, which means that the statisti- cal odds of winning money playing a one-dollar slot machine are greater at Casino X than at any other casino. Meanwhile, Casino Y claims to have the loosest five-dollar slot machines in town. In any event, the statistical odds are always against any slot- machine player. Elaine has five dollars to spend on gambling and has decided to play a five-dollar slot machine at Casino Y. Assuming Elaine hopes to win money, which of the following, if true, provides the strongest evidence that she made a good decision as to how to gamble her money? (A) Casino Y’s total gambling revenues far exceed those of Casino X. (B) At Casino Y, more gamblers win money playing slot machines than at any other casino game. (C) One of the two casinos is providing accurate information about its slot machines, but the other casino is not. (D) Each of the two casinos has both types of slot machines: one-dollar and five-dollar. (E) Casino X and Casino Y are the only two casinos in town that claim to have the loosest slot machines of any type. 624 PART VI: Five Practice Tests www.petersons.com 24. There is the gene that causes hemophilia which, if paired with a healthy gene, the individual will not develop the disease’s symptoms. (A) There is the gene that causes hemophilia which, if paired with a healthy gene, the individual will not develop (B) The gene that causes hemo- philia which, if paired with a healthy gene, then the indi- vidual will not develop (C) There is the gene that causes hemophilia, and if paired with a healthy gene, the individual will not develop (D) If paired with a healthy gene, the gene that causes hemophilia will not result in the individu- al’s developing (E) Hemophilia is caused by a gene that, if paired with a healthy gene, will not develop in the individual 25. In the future, any justification for our government’s military interven- tion in the internal political affairs of other nations in the interest of suppressing their civil wars must be weighed against the costs of inter- vening. (A) must be weighed against the costs of intervening (B) will need to weigh against intervening costs (C) are weighed against the costs of intervening (D) must also include the costs of such intervention (E) must weigh the costs of inter- vening QUESTIONS 26–29 ARE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE: Line Matthew Arnold, through his Culture and Anarchy (1869), placed the word “culture” at the center of debates about the goals of intellectual life and humanistic society. Arnold’s definition of culture as “the pursuit of perfection by getting to know the best which has been thought and said” helped define the Western world’s liberal arts curriculum over the next century. Although three forms of dissent from his views have had considerable impact of their own, each one misunderstands Arnold. The first protested Arnold’s designa- tion of “anarchy” as culture’s enemy, viewing this dichotomy simply as a struggle between a privileged power structure and radical challenges to it. Yet, Arnold himself was plagued in his soul by the blind arrogance of the world’s reactionary powers. Another form of opposition saw Arnold’s culture as a perverse perpetuation of literary learning in a world where science had become the new arch from which any new order of thinking must develop. At the center of the “two cultures” debate were the goals of the formal educa- tional curriculum, the principal vehicle through which Arnoldian culture operates. But Arnold himself had viewed culture as enacting its life in a much more broadly conceived set of institutions. Today, Arnoldian culture is sustained, if indirectly, by a third form of dissent, multiculturalism, which seeks to deflate the imperious author- ity that “high culture” exercises over curriculum while promoting the idea that we must learn what is representa- tive because we have overemphasized what is exceptional. Yet, multicultural- ism actually affirms Arnold by return- ing us to a tension inherent in the idea of culture. The social critics, defenders of science, and multiculturalists wrongly insist that Arnold’s culture is simply a device for ordering us about. Instead, it practice test Practice Test 6 625 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 www.petersons.com is designed to register the gathering of ideological clouds on the horizon. Perfection mattered to Arnold only as the background against which we could form a just image of our actual circum- stances, just as we can conceive finer sunsets and unheard melodies. 26. The author of the passage is prima- rily concerned with (A) arguing against those who have opposed Arnold’s ideas. (B) describing Arnold’s conception of culture. (C) explaining why Arnold consid- ered the pursuit of perfection to be the essence of culture. (D) tracing Arnold’s influence on the liberal arts educational curriculum. (E) examining the different views of culture that have emerged since the mid-eighteenth century. 27. It can be inferred from the passage that the two-cultures debate (A) emerged as a reaction to the multiculturalist movement. (B) developed after 1869. (C) influenced Arnold’s thinking about culture. (D) was carried on by American as well as European scientists. (E) led to two competing educa- tional systems. 28. In criticizing Arnold’s dissenters, the author employs all of the following methods EXCEPT: (A) Pointing out the paradoxical nature of an argument against Arnoldian culture (B) Presenting evidence that conflicts with a claim made by Arnold’s dissenters (C) Asserting that a claim made by the dissenters is an oversimpli- fication (D) Drawing an analogy between one of the dissenters’ claims and an- other insupportable theory (E) Suggesting that the focus of one of the dissenters’ arguments is too narrow 29. It can be inferred from the informa- tion in the passage that Arnoldian culture is perpetuated today by (A) the two-cultures debate. (B) postmodernists. (C) imperious elitists. (D) existentialists. (E) social critics. 30. Our school district should not spend its money on a new reading program. After all, our students get all the reading practice they need by studying history and science. The argument above depends on which the following assumptions? (A) The reading program involves only reading practice. (B) Other reading programs are just as effective but less expensive than the new program. (C) The new program would not help the students learn history and science. (D) Teaching students history and science is more important than teaching them reading skills. (E) The students can already read well enough to study history and science. 626 PART VI: Five Practice Tests 55 www.petersons.com 31. City Official: I cannot deny that sodium monofluoride, which is used in all major brands of toothpaste to help prevent tooth decay, has been shown to be more toxic than lead. Those who oppose our plan to treat the public water supply with sodium monofluoride cite warnings on the back of toothpaste tubes advising the user to contact a poison control center if the user swallows more toothpaste than needed for brushing. But these same opponents ignore the fact that even though nobody reads these warnings virtually no cases of toothpaste poisoning have ever been reported. The passage is structured to lead to which of the following conclusions? (A) Sodium monofluoride warnings on toothpaste tubes should be more conspicuous to toothpaste users. (B) Fluoride in toothpaste is not as toxic as warnings on toothpaste tubes would lead users to believe. (C) Neither fluoridated water nor fluoridated toothpaste con- tains lead. (D) Suppliers of public water treated with sodium monofluo- ride should not be required to warn their customers about its toxicity. (E) Fluoridated water is not as toxic as those who oppose treating water with sodium monofluoride might claim. 32. Contrary to popular myth promul- gated partly by Greek classics and partly by the Hollywood movie industry, war heroes rarely earn their status by acting as if they themselves are invincible. (A) if they themselves are invincible (B) though they are invincible (C) being invincible (D) if they themself are invincible (E) if they were invincible 33. Upon appearing first as a tiny speck in the night sky, some comets eventually grow quite large in appearance, although their total mass is miniscule in comparison to the celestial objects we see ev- ery night. (A) Upon appearing first (B) Appearing initially (C) Their initial appearance (D) When first appearing (E) At first, comets appear 34. Improved sonar technology, together with less stringent quotas, account for the recent increase in the amount of fish caught by commercial vessels. (A) account for the recent increase in the amount of (B) would account for a recent increase in (C) accounts for the recent increase in the number of (D) is accounted for by the recent increase in (E) account for recent increases in amounts of practice test Practice Test 6 627 www.petersons.com 35. Some of our federal legislators are opposed to government endowments or other financial support for photog- raphy as an art form on the basis that much of modern photography portrays nudity and is thus obscene. These legislators are mistaken, however, since even they would agree that Michelangelo’s works of art, most of which depict nudity, are not obscene. Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above? (A) Due to their relatively high artistic value, the works of Michelangelo that portray nudity are not considered obscene. (B) Many modern photographic works of art have been dis- played in museums alongside Michelangelo’s works. (C) The majority of Michelangelo’s work was not funded or otherwise supported by the government. (D) What these legislators consider to be obscene does not coincide with what the general citizenry views as obscene. (E) The artistic level of the works of the vast majority of modern photographers does not ap- proach that of Michelangelo’s works. QUESTIONS 36–38 ARE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE: Line In nearly all human populations, a majority of individuals can taste the artificially synthesized chemical phenylthiocarbonide (PTC). However, the percentage varies dramatically— from as low as 60 percent in India to as high as 95 percent in Africa. That this polymorphism is observed in nonhuman primates as well indicates a long evolutionary history which, although obviously not acting on PTC, might reflect evolutionary selection for taste discrimination of other, more significant, bitter substances, such as certain toxic plants. A somewhat more puzzling human polymorphism is the genetic variability in earwax, or cerumen, which is observed in two varieties. Among European populations, 90 percent of individuals have a sticky yellow variety rather than a dry, gray one, whereas in northern China these numbers are approximately the reverse. Perhaps like PTC variability, cerumen variabil- ity is an incidental expression of something more adaptively significant. Indeed, the observed relationship between cerumen and odorous bodily secretions, to which nonhuman pri- mates—and to a lesser extent hu- mans—pay attention suggests that during the course of human evolution genes affecting body secretions, including cerumen, came under selective influence. 36. It can be inferred from the passage that human populations vary consid- erably in their (A) sensitivity to certain bodily odors. (B) capacity for hearing. (C) ability to assimilate artificial chemicals. (D) vulnerability to certain toxins found in plants. (E) ability to discern bitterness in taste. 628 PART VI: Five Practice Tests 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 www.petersons.com 37. Which of the following provides the most reasonable explanation for the assertion in the first paragraph that evolutionary history “obviously” did not act on PTC? (A) PTC is not a naturally occur- ring chemical but rather has been produced only recently by scientists. (B) Most humans lack sufficient taste sensitivity to discriminate between PTC and bitter chemi- cals occurring naturally. (C) Variability among humans respecting PTC discrimination, like variability respecting earwax, cannot be explained in terms of evolutionary adaptivity. (D) The sense of taste in humans is not as discriminating as that in nonhuman primates. (E) Unlike nonhuman primates, humans can discriminate intellectually between toxic and nontoxic bitter substances. 38. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage? (A) Artificially synthesized chemi- cals might eventually serve to alter the course of evolution by desensitizing humans to certain tastes and odors. (B) Some human polymorphisms might be explained as vestigial evidence of evolutionary adaptations that still serve vital purposes in other primates. (C) Sensitivity to taste and to odors have been subject to far greater natural selectivity during the evolution of primates than previously thought. (D) Polymorphism among human populations varies considerably from region to region through- out the world. (E) The human senses of taste and smell have evolved considerably over the course of evolutionary history. 39. The city of Exitur recently began providing recycling bins to every household in the city, along with a brochure explaining what types of trash residents should put in the bins for pickup by city workers. Previously, the city’s residents had no means of recycling any of their trash. Exitur’s residents, who generate a significant amount of recyclables, have all cooperated conscientiously with the new program. Nevertheless, the total amount of trash they have been putting in their garbage cans for disposal—and not for recycling— remains about the same as before. If the information provided is true, which of the following must on the basis of it also be true about Exitur since the program’s implementation? (A) The city’s trash collection workers are not performing their jobs properly. (B) The average number of trash cans used by each household has increased. (C) The amount of trash generated by the city’s residents has increased. (D) Some items put in recycling bins are being disposed of rather than recycled. (E) The city’s residents have not been generating any trash that can be recycled. practice test Practice Test 6 629 www.petersons.com 40. With crude-oil production peaking, the corporate suppliers of energy are aggressively pursuing other energy sources; nevertheless, because oil prices are currently in decline, demand for alternative energy products is lessening. (A) because oil prices are currently in decline, demand for alterna- tive energy products is lessening (B) because of currently declining oil prices, alternative energy products are lower in demand (C) in view of the current decline of oil prices, demand for alterna- tive energy products is also declining (D) being that oil prices are cur- rently lessening in amount, so too is the demand for alterna- tive energy products (E) considering the fact that current oil prices are declining, demand for alternative energy products is lessening 41. In 2005, more citizens from the country of Monrovia migrated from Monrovia to neighboring Abstania than during any prior year. In 2005, the number of reported violent crimes in Abstania increased dra- matically over 2004. The unavoidable conclusion is that Monrovians who migrated from Monrovia to Abstania were responsible for this increase. Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the claim that Monrovians were responsible for the increase in violent crime in Abstania during 2005? (A) Each year more violent crimi- nals are apprehended in Abstania than in Monrovia. (B) During 2005, more violent crimes were reported in Absta- nia than in Monrovia. (C) In 2005, no Monrovians mi- grated from either Monrovia or Abstania to any country other than Monrovia or Abstania. (D) In 2005, the number of unre- ported violent crimes in Absta- nia increased as well. (E) In 2005, fewer Monrovians migrated from Monrovia to Abstania than from Abstania to Monrovia. 630 PART VI: Five Practice Tests www.petersons.com ANSWER KEYS AND EXPLANATIONS See Appendix B for score conversion tables to determine your score. Be sure to keep a tally of correct and incorrect answers for each test section. Analysis of an Issue—Evaluation and Scoring Evaluate your Issue-Analysis essay on a scale of 1 to 6 (6 being the highest score) according to the following five criteria: Does your essay develop a position on the issue through the use of incisive reasons and persuasive examples? Are your essay’s ideas conveyed clearly and articulately? Does your essay maintain proper focus on the issue and is it well organized? Does your essay demonstrate proficiency, fluency, and maturity in its use of sen- tence structure, vocabulary, and idiom? Does your essay demonstrate command of the elements of Standard Written English, including grammar, word usage, spelling, and punctuation? answers practice test 6 Practice Test 6 631 www.petersons.com Analysis of an Argument—Evaluation and Scoring Evaluate your Argument-Analysis essay on a scale of 1 to 6 (6 being the highest score) according to the following five criteria: Does your essay identify the key features of the argument and analyze each one in a thoughtful manner? Does your essay support each point of its critique with insightful reasons and examples? Does your essay develop its ideas in a clear, organized manner, with appropriate transitions to help connect ideas? Does your essay demonstrate proficiency, fluency, and maturity in its use of sen- tence structure, vocabulary, and idiom? Does your essay demonstrate command of the elements of Standard Written En- glish, including grammar, word usage, spelling, and punctuation? To help you evaluate your essay in terms of criteria 1 and 2, the following series of questions serve to identify the Argument’s five distinct problems. To earn a score of 4 or higher, your essay should identify at least three of these problems and, for each one, provide at least one example or counterexample that supports your critique. (Your examples need not be the same as the ones below.) Identifying and discussing at least four of the problems would help earn you an even higher score. • Does the argument confuse cause-and-effect with mere correlation between Stribling and the success of the bands he manages? (Perhaps the actual reason for the success of these bands has nothing to do with Stribling, and Excess’s current manager is just as effective as Stribling would be.) • Is it fair to assume that hiring Stribling would be sufficient for the band to regain its popularity? (Perhaps Stribling’s specialty is managing hip-hop groups, and he would be far less effective in promoting a rock band like Excess. Also, the band’s style of music might be outdated, making it too late for a comeback, regardless of Stribling’s talent or efforts.) • Would increasing popularity as a touring band be sufficient to increase sales of the band’s CDs? (Instead of buying new CDs, the band’s old fans might just replay old Excess albums, while new, younger fans might borrow those albums or find another way to listen to the band’s songs for free.) • Does the argument unfairly limit the band to an either/or choice between two courses of action that are not necessarily mutually exclusive? (Why not hire Stribling and record new songs? If Stribling is successful, the band could promote their new songs at more concerts, sparking more CD sales.) • Are either of the two plans necessary to achieve sales goals for the band’s CDs? (The argument ignores other possible strategies—for example, publicity stunts, image makeovers, or increased television exposure—that might be equally or more effective in boosting CD sales.) 632 PART VI: Five Practice Tests www.petersons.com . with sodium monofluoride might claim. 32. Contrary to popular myth promul- gated partly by Greek classics and partly by the Hollywood movie industry, war heroes rarely earn their status by acting. reading skills. (E) The students can already read well enough to study history and science. 626 PART VI: Five Practice Tests 55 www.petersons.com 31. City Official: I cannot deny that sodium. are the only two casinos in town that claim to have the loosest slot machines of any type. 624 PART VI: Five Practice Tests www.petersons.com 24. There is the gene that causes hemophilia