The number of people 85 or older in the United States started increasing dramatically duri

een are functionally illiterate. Therefore, if the projection that there will be 250 million United States citizens over sixteen in the year 2000 is correct, we project that 25 million of these citizens will be functionally illiterate. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn by the author of the passage above?

A．The percentage of high school graduates who do not go on to college has grown steadily over the past two decades.

B．From 1975 to 1980 there was a three-percent decrease in the rate of functional illiteracy among United States citizens over the age of sixteen.

C．Many United States citizens included in the 1980 survey would also be included in a survey conducted in the year 2000.

D．Surveys that are improperly designed usually provide inaccurate results.

E．In 1980 sixty-five percent of all United States citizens were over the age of sixteen.

percent in comparison with 1981 , the police chief of the city said, "We see here the result of the innovative police program put into effect in the city at the beginning of 19" Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn by the police chief?

A．Several cities that have recently increased spending for police programs experienced no decrease in crime in 1982, as compared with 1981.

B．The number of crimes committed in the city is estimated , by the same method each year, from the number of crimes reported.

C．The number of crimes committed in the suburban areas surrounding the city rose by about 5 percent in 1982 over the figure for 1981 and were nearly equal in number to those in the city in 1982.

D．The number of crimes committed in the city in 1982 was 10 percent higher than the number committed in 1972.

E．The size of the age group most likely to commit crimes decreased considerably in the city in 1982, as against 1981, because of a declining birth rate.

rning automobile traffic into the midtown area of the city has decreased seven percent. During the same period, there has been an equivalent rise in the number of persons riding buses into the midtown area. Obviously, the mayors publicity campaign has convinced many people to leave their cars at home and ride the bus to work. Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

A．Fares for all bus routes in Greenville have risen an average of five percent during the past six months.

B．The mayor of Greenville rides the bus to City Hall in the city"s midtown area.

C．Road reconstruction has greatly reduced the number of lanes available to commuters in major streets leading to the midtown area during the past six months.

D．The number of buses entering the midtown area of Greenville during the morning hours is exactly the same now as it was one year ago.

E．Surveys show that longtime bus riders are no more satisfied with the Greenville bus service than they were before the mayor"s publicity campaign began.

08,000 members of the United States armed forces died overseas. On the basis of those figures, it can be concluded that it was not much more dangerous to be overseas in the armed forces during the Second World War than it was to stay at home as a civilian. Which of the following would reveal most clearly the absurdity of the conclusion drawn above?

A.Counting deaths among members of the armed forces who served in the United States in addition to deaths among members of the armed forces serving overseas.

B.Expressing the difference between the numbers of deaths among civilians and members of the armed forces as a percentage of the total number of deaths.

C.Separating deaths caused by accidents during service in the armed forces from deaths caused by combat injuries.

D.Comparing death rates per thousand members of each group rather than comparing total numbers of deaths.

E.Comparing deaths caused by accidents in the United States to deaths caused by combat in the armed forces.

an invention—to universities , not the government, when those patents result from government-sponsored university research. Administrators at Logos University plan to sell any patents they acquire to corporations in order to fund programs to improve undergraduate teaching. Which of the following, if true, would cast most doubt on the viability of the college administrators plan described above?

A．Profit-making corporations interested in developing products based on patents held by universities are likely to try to serve as exclusive sponsors of ongoing university research projects.

B．Corporate sponsors of research in university facilities are entitled to tax credits under new federal tax-code guidelines.

C．Research scientists at Logos University have few or no teaching responsibilities and participate little if at all in the undergraduate programs in their field.

D．Government-sponsored research conducted at Logos University for the most part duplicates research already completed by several profit-making corporations.

E．Logos University is unlikely to attract corporate sponsorship of its scientific research.

potential exhibit. In truth, however, donated objects require storage space, which is not free, and routine conservation, which is rather expensive. Therefore, such gifts exacerbate rather than lighten the demands made on a museum s financial resources. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A．To keep patrons well disposed, a museum will find it advisable to put at least some donated objects on exhibit rather than merely in storage.

B．The people who are most likely to donate valuable objects to a museum are also the people who are most likely to make cash gifts to it.

C．A museum cannot save money by resorting to cheap storage under less than adequate conditions, because so doing would drive up the cost of conservation.

D．Patrons expect a museum to keep donated objects in its possession rather than to raise cash by selling them.

E．Objects donated by a patron to a museum are often of such importance that the museum would be obliged to add them to its collection through purchase if necessary.

agricultural production in(Country X since its new government came to power. Neighboring(Country Y has experienced the same climatic conditions, but while agricultural production has been falling in Country X, it has been rising in Country Y. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A．Industrial production also is declining in Country X.

B．Whereas(Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport.

C．Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.

D．The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.

E．Gauntry X" s new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods.

the bacteria that form. the shrimps diet can be found. Because the geysers emit a faint light, scientists have concluded that the shrimps light sensitive dorsal patches were developed to locate the geysers and thereby find food. Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the scientists conclusion?

A．The light to which the shrimps are sensitive is not the sort of light that the geysers emit.

B．The light given off by the geysers too faint to be detected by the human eye.

C．The heat inside a geyser"s stream is sufficient to kill instantly any bacteria that move into it.

D．Most other types of shrimp use eyes located at the end of eyestalks in order to see.

E．In other types of shrimp a heat-sensing organ has developed that could serve the same geyser-detecting purposes as the light sensitive patches are said to serve.

d is a renewable resource and can always be kept in constant supply, the use of wood instead of oil for home heating would be one way to assure the availability of energy resources in the future. The argument above would be most seriously weakened if which of the following were true?

A．In every country that uses wood for heating, wood is used to provide only part, not all, of the heat for a home.

B．Every country that has ever used wood for heating has depleted its forests before the forests were able to regenerate themselves.

C．Every country that has used wood for home heating has done so only because it possessed a limited amount of other natural resources.

D．Many countries that use wood primarily for heating have a high incidence of fires that are due to improperly installed wood stoves.

E．In some countries the wood that would be used for home heating is owned by the government.

based on evidence that a cloud of dust from the impact blocked off sunlight around the globe for months, reducing temperatures and destroying the dinosaurs food supply. Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the theory above?

A．Dinosaurs are believed to have been cold-blooded and thus very sensitive to any temperature change.

B．Some dinosaurs lived in regions where their food supply was not well adapted for long periods of cold and darkness.

C．Many large animals that existed during the time of the dinosaurs and shared a common food supply with them continued to populate the Earth long after the extinction of the dinosaurs.

D．A large volcanic explosion that strewed dust in the air and blocked out sunlight was the cause of death of animals within hundreds of miles of the eruption.

E．Many of the largest dinosaurs were herbivorous relying exclusively on vegetation for their dietary needs.