For many people in the United States who are concerned about the cost of heating homes and

c oil prices in open-market countries such as the United States will rise as well, whether such countries import all or none of their oil. If the statement above concerning oil-supply disruptions is true, which of the following policies in an open-market nation is most likely to reduce the long-term economic impact on that nation of sharp and unexpected increases in international oil prices?

A．Maintaining the quantity of oil imported at constant yearly levels.

B．Increasing the number of oil tankers in its fleet.

C．Suspending diplomatic relations with major oil-producing nations.

D．Decreasing oil consumption through conservation.

E．Decreasing domestic production of oil.

while urging retention of an executive order requiring some federal contractors to set numerical goals for hiring minorities and women. "Diversity in work force participation has produced new ideas in management, product development, and marketing, " the association claimed. The association s argument as it is presented in the passage above would be most strengthened if which of the following were true?

A．The percentage of minority and women workers in business has increased more slowly than many minority and women"s groups would prefer.

B．Those businesses with the highest percentages of minority and women workers are those that have been the most innovative and profitable.

C．Disposable income has been rising as fast among minorities and women as among the population as a whole.

D．The biggest growth in sales in the manufacturing sector has come in industries that market the most innovative products.

E．Recent improvements in management practices have allowed many manufacturers to experience enormous gains in worker productivity.

try poses more serious hardships for big businesses than for small ones. Since large companies do everything on a more massive scale, they must alter more complex operations and spend much more money to meet governmental requirements. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A．Small companies are less likely than large companies to have the capital reserves for improvements.

B．The operations of small companies frequently rely on the same technologies as the operations of large companies.

C．Safety regulation codes are uniform, established without reference to size of company.

D．Large companies typically have more of their profits invested in other businesses than do small companies.

E．Large companies are in general more likely than small companies to diversify their markets and products.

that in a free society people have the right to take risks as long as the people do not harm others as a result of taking the risks. As a result, they conclude that it should be each person s decision whether or not to wear a seat belt. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn above?

A．Many new cars are built with seat belts that automatically fasten when someone sits in the front seat.

B．Automobile insurance rates for all automobile owners are higher because of the need to pay for the increased injuries or deaths of people not wearing seat belts.

C．Passengers in airplanes are required to wear seat belts during takeoffs and landings.

D．The rate of automobile fatalities in states that do not have mandatory seat-belt laws is greater than the rate of fatalities in states that do have such laws.

E．In automobile accidents, a greater number of passengers who do not wear seat belts are injured than are passengers who do wear seat belts.

status. Even though in some localities in the United vStates the rate is higher than in many developing countries, in the United States overall the rate has been steadily declining. This decline does not necessarily indicate, however, that babies in the United States are now, on the average, healthier at birth than they were in the past. Which one of the following reasons, if true, most strongly supports the claim made above about the implications of the decline?

A．The figure for infant mortality is compiled as an overall rate and thus masks deficiencies in particular localities.

B．Low birth weight is a contributing factor in more than half of the infant deaths in the United States.

C．The United States has been developing and has achieved extremely sophisticated technology for saving premature and low-birth-weight babies, most of whom require extended hospital stays.

D．In eleven states of the United States, the infant mortality rate declined last year.

E．Babies who do not receive adequate attention from a caregiver fail to thrive and so they gain weight slowly.

pproaching extinction on the South Island. But since South Island tuatara were thought to be of the same species as North Island tuatara there was no need to protect them. But new research indicates that the South Island tuatara are a distinct species, found only in that location. Because it is now known that if the South Island tuatara are lost an entire species will thereby be lost, human beings are now obliged to prevent their extinction, even if it means killing many of their unendangered natural predators. Which one of the following principles most helps to justify the naturalists argumentation?

A．In order to maximize the number of living things on Earth, steps should be taken to preserve all local populations of animals.

B．When an animal is in danger of dying, there is an obligation to help save its life, if doing so would not interfere with the health or well-being of other animals or people.

C．The threat of local extinction imposes no obligation to try to prevent that extinction, whereas the threat of global extinction does impose such an obligation.

D．Human activities that either intentionally or unintentionally threaten the survival of an animal species ought to be curtailed.

E．Species that are found in only one circumscribed geographical region ought to be given more care and attention than are other species because they are more vulnerable to extinction.

able trash. Flan 1—Residents will deposit recyclable trash in municipal dumpsters located in the parking lot. The trash will be collected on the first and the fifteenth days of each month. Plan 2—Residents will be given individual containers for recyclable trash. The containers will be placed at the curb twice a week for trash collection. Which of the following points raised at a meeting of the residents, if valid, would most favor one of the recycling plans over the other?

A.Residents will be required to exercise care in separating recyclable trash from nonrecyclable trash.

B.For trash recycling to be successful, residents must separate recyclable bottles and cans from recyclable paper products.

C.Penalties will be levied against residents who fail to sort their trash correctly.

D.Individual recycling containers will need to be made of a strong and durable material.

E.Recyclable trash that is allowed to accumulate for two weeks will attract rodents.

tage of this increase, Mammoth Industries plans to expand production of its own model of telephone, while continuing its already very extensive advertising of this product. Which of the following, if true, provides most support for the view that Mammoth Industries cannot increase its sales of telephones by adopting the plan outlined above?

A．Although it sells all of the telephones that it produces, Mammoth Industries" share of all telephone sales has declined over the last year.

B．Mammoth Industries" average inventory of telephones awaiting shipment to retailers has declined slightly over the last year.

C．Advertising has made the brand name of Mammoth Industries" telephones widely known, but few consumers know that Mammoth industries owns this brand.

D．Mammoth Industries" telephone is one of the three brands of telephone that have together accounted for the bulk of the last year"s increase in sales.

E．Despite a slight decline in the retail price, sales of Mammoth Industries" telephones have fallen in the last year.

ief that

A．the space between the galaxies is devoid of matter.

B．the space between galaxies is occupied by stars that cannot be detected by optical photographs.

C．galaxies have decreased in mass by half since their formation.

D．galaxies contain stars, each the size of Jupiter, which form. clusters.

E．galaxies are being penetrated by gas forced out of other galaxies by supernova explosions.

the British colonists

A．collected tribute from the native population.

B．kept records from a very early date.

C．drove Native Americans off the land.

D．were unable to provide medical care against epidemic disease.

E．enslaved the native populations in America.