10. Auto industry executive： Statistics show that cars that were built smaller after 1977 to make them more fuel-efficient had a higher incidence of accident-related fatalities than did their earlier larger counterparts. For this reason we oppose recent guidelines that would require us to produce cars with higher fuel efficiency.

Which of the following, if true, would constitute the strongest objection to the executive's argument？

（A） Even after 1977, large automobiles were frequently involved in accidents that caused death or serious injury.

（B） Although fatalities in accidents involving small cars have increased since 1977, the number of accidents has decreased.

（C） New computerized fuel systems can enable large cars to meet fuel efficiency standards established by the recent guidelines.

（D） Modern technology can make small cars more fuel-efficient today than at any other time in their production history.

（E） Fuel efficiency in models of large cars rose immediately after 1977 but has been declining ever since.

11. No one who lacks knowledge of a subject is competent to pass judgment on that subject. Since political know-how is a matter, not of adhering to technical rules, but of insight and style learned trough apprenticeship and experience, only seasoned politicians are competent to judge whether a particular political policy is fair to all.

A major weakness of the argument is that it

（A） relies on a generalization about the characteristic that makes someone competent to pass judgment

（B） fails to give specific examples to illustrate how political know-how can be acquired

（C） uses the term "apprenticeship" to describe what is seldom a formalized relationship

（D） equates political know-how with understanding the social implications of political policies

（E） assumes that when inexperienced politicians set policy they are guided by the advice of more experienced politicians

12. Impact craters caused by meteorites smashing into Earth have been found all around the globe, but they have been found in the greatest density in geologically stable regions. This relatively greater abundance of securely identified crater in geologically stable regions must be explained by the lower rates of destructive geophysical processes in those regions.

The conclusion is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed？

（A） A meteorite that strikes exactly the same spot as an earlier meteorite will obliterate all traces of the earlier impact.

（B） Rates of destructive geophysical processes within any given region vary markedly throughout geological time.

（C） The rate at which the Earth is struck by meteorites has greatly increased in geologically recent times.

（D） Actual meteorite impacts have been scattered fairly evenly over the Earth's surface in the course of Earth's geological history.

（E） The Earth's geologically stable regions have been studied more intensively by geologists than have its less stable regions.

13. That the policy of nuclear deterrence has worked thus far is unquestionable. Since the end of the Second World War, the very fact that there were nuclear armaments in existence has kept major powers from using nuclear weapons, for fear of starting a worldwide nuclear exchange that would make the land of the power initiating it uninhabitable. The proof is that a third world war between superpowers has not happened.

Which one of the following, if true, indicates a flaw in the argument？

（A） Maintaining a high level of nuclear armaments represents a significant drain on a country's economy.

（B） From what has happened in the past, it is impossible to infer with certainty what will happen in the future, so an accident could still trigger a third world war between superpowers.

（C） Continuing to produce nuclear weapons beyond the minimum needed for deterrence increases the likelihood of a nuclear accident.

（D） The major powers have engaged in many smaller-scale military operations since the end of the Second World War, while refraining from a nuclear confrontation.

（E） It cannot be known whether it was nuclear deterrence that worked, or some other factor, such as a recognition of the economic value of remaining at peace.

14. A survey of alumni of the class of 1960 at Aurora University yielded puzzling results. When asked to indicate their academic rank, half of the respondents reported that they were in the top quarter of the graduating class in 1960.

Which one of the following most helps account for the apparent contradiction above？

（A） A disproportionately large number of high-ranking alumni responded to the survey.

（B） Few, if any, respondents were mistaken about their class rank.

（C） Not all the alumni who were actually in the top quarter responded to the survey.

（D） Almost all of the alumni who graduated in 1960 responded to the survey.

（E） Academic rank at Aurora University was based on a number of considerations in addition to average grades.

15. M： It is almost impossible to find a person between the ages of 85 an 90 who primarily uses the left hand.

Q： Seventy to ninety years ago, however, children were published for using their left hands to eat or to write and were forced to use their right hands.

Q's response serves to counter any use by M of the evidence about 85 to 90 year olds in supports of which one of the following hypotheses？

（A） Being born right-handed confers a survival advantage.

（B） Societal attitudes toward handedness differ at different times.

（C） Forcing a person to switch from a preferred hand is harmless.

（D） Handedness is a product of both genetic predisposition and social pressures.

（E） Physical habits learned in school often persist in old age.

16. The seventeenth-century physicist Sir Isaac Newton is remembered chiefly for his treaties on motion and gravity. But Newton also conducted experiments secretly for many years based on the arcane theories of alchemy, trying unsuccessfully to transmute common metals into gold and produce rejuvenating elixirs. If the alchemists of the seventeenth century had published the results of their experiments, chemistry in the eighteenth century would have been more advanced that it actually was.

Which one of the following assumptions would allow the conclusion concerning eighteenth-century chemistry to be properly drawn？

（A） Scientific progress is retarded by the reluctance of historians to acknowledge the failures of some of the great scientists.

（B） Advances in science are hastened when reports of experiments, whether successful or not, are available for review by other scientists.

（C） Newton's work on motion and gravity would not have gained wide acceptance if the results of his work in alchemy had also been make public.

（D） Increasing specialization within the sciences makes it difficult for scientists in one field to understand the principles of other fields.

（E） The seventeenth-century alchemists could have achieved their goals only if their experiments had been subjected to public scrutiny.

17. Sedimentary rock hardens within the earth's crust as lavers of matter accumulate and the pressure of the layers above converts the layers below into rock. One particular layer of sedimentary rock that contains an unusual amount of the element iridium has been presented as support for a theory that a meteorite collided with the earth some sixty million years ago. Meteorites are rich in iridium compared to the earth's crust, and geologists theorize that a meteorite's collision with the earth raised a huge cloud of iridium-laden dust. The dust they say, eventually settled to earth where it combined with other matter, and as new layers accumulated above it, it formed a layer of iridium-rich rock.

Which one of the following, if true, would counter the claim that the iridium-rich layer described in the passage is evidence for the meteorite collision theory？

（A） The huge dust clo8ud described in the passage would have blocked the transmission of sunlight and lowered the earth's temperature.

（B） A layer of sedimentary rock takes millions of years to harden.

（C） Layers of sedimentary rock are used to determine the dates of prehistoric events whether or not they contain iridium.

（D） Sixty million years ago there was a surge in volcanic activity in which the matter spewed from the volcanoes formed huge iridium-rich dust clouds.

（E） The iridium deposit occurred at about the same time that many animal species became extinct and some scientists have theorized that mass dinosaur extinctions were caused by a meteorite collision.

18. Mary, a veterinary student, has been assigned an experiment in mammalian physiology that would require her to take a healthy, anesthetized dog and subject it to a drastic blood loss in order to observe the physiological consequences of shock. The dog would neither regain consciousness nor survive the experiment. Mary decides not to do this assignment.

Mary's decision most closely accords with which one of the following principles？

（A） All other things being equal, gratuitously causing any animal to suffer pain is unjustified.

（B） Taking the life of an animal is not justifiable unless doing so would immediately assist in saving several animal lives or in protecting the health of a person.

（C） The only sufficient justification for experimenting on animals is that future animal suffering is thereby prevented.

（D） Practicing veterinarians have a professional obligation to strive to prevent the unnecessary death of an animal except in cases of severely ill or injured animals whose prospects for recovery are dim.

（E） No one is ever justified in acting with the sole intention of causing the death of a living thing, be it animal or human