Time-35minutes

25 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 . the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. After you have chosen the best answer blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

1. Terry： If you want to get a decent job, you should go to college.

Mark： That is not true. There are other reasons to go to college than wanting to get a good job.

Mark's response shows that he interpreted Terry's remarks to mean that

（A） college is one of many places to get trained for a job

（B） decent jobs are obtained only by persons who have gone to college

（C） wanting to get a decent job is the only reason for going to college

（D） training for decent jobs is available only at colleges

（E） all people who want decent jobs go to college

2. Several studies have shown that hospitals are not all equally successful： patients are much more likely to die in some of them than in others, Since the hospitals in the studies had approximately equal per-patient funding, differences in the quality of care provided by hospital staff are probably responsible for the differences in mortality rates.

Which one of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above？

（A） The staff in some of the hospitals studied had earned more advanced degrees, on average, than the staff in the other hospitals.

（B） Patient populations vary substantially in average severity of illness from hospital to hospital.

（C） The average number of years that staff members stay on at a given job varies considerably from one hospital to another.

（D） Approximately the same surgical procedures were performed in each of the hospitals covered in the studies.

（E） Mortality rates for hospital patients do not vary considerably from one region of the country to anther.

Questions 3-4

The United States government generally tries to Protect valuable natural resources. But one resource has been ignored for too long. In the United States, each bushel of corn produced might result in the loss of as much as two bushels of topsoil. Moreover. In the last 100 years, the topsoil in many states. Which once was about fourteen inches thick, has been eroded to only six or eight inches. Nonetheless, federal expenditures for nationwide soil conservation programs have remained at ridiculously low levels. Total federal expenditures for nationwide soil conservation programs have been less than the allocations of some individual states.

3. Which one of the following best expresses the main point of the argument？

（A） Corn is not a cost-effective product and substitutes should be found where possible.

（B） A layer of topsoil only six to eight inches thick cannot support the continued cultivation of corn.

（C） Soil conservation is a responsibility of the federal government. not the states.

（D） The federal government's expenditures for soil conservation in the various states have been inequitable.

（E） The federal government should spend much more on soil conservation than it has been spending.

4. In stating the argument. The author does which one of the following？

（A） makes a detailed statistical projection of future topsoil loss

（B） makes a generalization about total reduction in topsoil depth in all states

（C） assumes that the United States government does not place a high value on its natural resources

（D） refrains from using slanted language concerning the level of federal expenditures

（E） compares state expenditures with federal expenditures

5. Animals with a certain behavioral disorder have unusually high level of aluminum in their brain tissue. Since a silicon-based compound binds to aluminum and prevents it from affecting the brain tissue. Animals can be cured of the disorder by being treated with the compound.

The argument is based on which one of the following assumptions？

（A） Animals with the disorder have unusually high but invariable levels of aluminum in their brain tissue.

（B） Aluminum is the cause of the disorder rather than merely an effect of it.

（C） Introducing the compound into the brain tissue has no side effects.

（D） The amount of the compound needed to neutralize the aluminum in an animal's brain tissue varies depending upon the species.

（E） Aluminum is never present in normal brain tissue.