One state adds a 7 percent sales tax to the price of most products purchased within its ju

ive deep below the Earth s surface, some scientists argue that there are living communities of microorganisms there that have been cut off from surface life for millions of years. These scientists base their argument on the discovery of living microorganisms in samples of material that were taken from holes drilled as deep as 1.74 miles. The scientists argument depends on which of the following assumptions?

A．The microorganisms brought up were of a species that is related to those previously known to science.

B．No holes have been drilled into the Earth" s surface to a distance deeper than 1. 74 miles.

C．The microorganisms did not come from surface soil that came into contact with the drilling equipment.

D．The stratum from which the samples came has been below the surface of the Earth ever since the Earth came into existence.

E．The temperature at the bottom of the holes drilled was not significantly hotter than that of the hottest spots on the Earth"s surface.

al value than lettuce, it follows that kale has more nutritional value than lettuce. Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an additional premise, makes the argument above logically correct EXCEPT:

A．Collard greens have more nutritional value than kale.

B．Spinach has more nutritional value than lettuce.

C．Spinach has more nutritional value than collard greens.

D．Spinach and collard greens have the same nutritional value.

E．Kale and collard greens have the same nutritional value.

ealthful(ripe fruit, for example)in preference to foods that were not healthful(unripe fruit, for example). However, now that sugar has been refined, it follows that a craving for sweets is no longer beneficial, because refined sugar is not healthful. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument above?

A．Some foods can be healthful when cooked even if they are not healthful when eaten raw.

B．Some people who crave sweets are more likely to eat a piece of ripened fruit than they are to eat a piece of candy.

C．People who crave sweets are more likely to eat a food that contains refined sugar than a naturally sweet food like ripe fruit.

D．Prehistoric humans probably were not able to distinguish between healthful foods and unhealthful foods without relying on their sense of taste.

E．Some unrefined foodstuffs are no more nutritious than their refined counterparts.

ey in what is now France depicts a number of different animals. One of the animals depicted seems to resemble the chiru, a rare antelope of the Himalayas. Which of the following, if true, best supports the hypothesis that in painting the animal that resembles a chiru the cave artist painted a chiru with which she or he was familiar?

A．There are numerous representations of imaginary animals in cave paintings of similar age.

B．Fossilized remains of a chiru, approximately 16,000 years old, have been found at the northern end of the valley.

C．The cave that contains the depiction of an animal that resembles a chiru contains stylized representations of plant life.

D．Older caves from the same region contain no representations of animals that resemble a chiru.

E．The antlers of the animal in the painting are longer than those of the mature Himalayan chiru.

e discharge of mentally ill persons from hospitals into "community care. " even though it is true that provisions for such community care are for the most part nonexistent. Which of the following, if true, best supports the claim above?

A．The policy of discharging mentally ill persons from hospitals was based on the supposition that their illnesses couldbe controlled by newly developed drugs.

B．Without supervision in a hospital setting those people whose mental illness can be controlled by medication might not actually take prescribed medication.

C．Some community-care programs for mentally ill persons did exist in the 1980" s, but those programs consisted primarily of outpatient clinics.

D．The policy of discharging significant numbers of mentally ill persons from hospitals took effect in the 1960"s.

E．There have always been some people in large cities who have led a homeless existence.

without which countless animals would succumb to starvation and disease. This defense leads to the overly hasty conclusion that sport hunting produces a healthier population of animals. Which of the following, if true, best supports the authors claim that sport hunting does not necessarily produce a healthier population of animals?

A．For many economically depressed families, hunting helps keep food on the table.

B．Wildlife species encroach on farm crops when other food supplies become scarce.

C．Overpopulation of a species causes both strong and weak animals to suffer.

D．Sport hunters tend to pursue the biggest and healthiest animals in a population.

E．Many people have strong moral objections to killing a creature for any reason other than self-defense.

bris and collapsed buildings typical of towns devastated by earthquakes. Archaeologists have hypothesized that the destruction was due to a major earthquake known to have occurred near the island in A. D. 3Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the archaeologists hypothesis?

A．Bronze ceremonial drinking vessels that are often found in graves dating from years preceding and following A. D. 365 were also found in several graves near Kourion.

B．No coins minted after A. D. 365 were found in Kourion, but coins minted before that year were found in abundance.

C．Most modern histories of Cyprus mention that an earthquake occurred near the island in A.D. 365.

D．Several small statues carved in styles current in Cyprus in the century between A. D. 300 and 400 were found in Kourion.

E．Stone inscriptions in a form. of the Greek alphabet that was definitely used in Cyprus after A. D. 365 were found in Kourion.

ed by a disregard for the actual interdependence of people. Destroying ones own life or health means not being available to help family members or the community, it means, instead, absorbing the limited resources of the community for food, health services, and education without contributing fully to the community. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the view expressed above?

A．The cost of avoidable accidents and illnesses raises health insurance rates for everyone.

B．Harm to one person can result in an indirect benefit, such as the availability of work in health-related fields, to others.

C．Life would be dull if it were necessary to abstain from all of the minor pleasures that entail some risk of harm to a person who indulges in them.

D．The contribution a person makes to the community cannot be measured by that person"s degree of health.

E．The primary damage caused by the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and unauthorized drugs is done to the person who uses those substances.

ospitals. In fact, university hospitals have a lower survival rate for patients than do other hospitals. From this it seems clear that the quality of care at university hospitals is lower than that at other hospitals. Which of the following, if true, most forcefully undermines the argument of the passage above?

A．Many doctors divide their working hours between a university and a community or private hospital.

B．Doctors at university hospitals often earn less than doctors at private hospitals.

C．University and community hospitals often cannot afford the elaborate facilities of private hospitals.

D．The emphasis at many university hospitals is on pure research rather than on the treatment and care of patients.

E．The patients who seek help at university hospitals are usually more seriously ill than those at private or community hospitals.

er source of the acidity in mountain lakes than is the acid rain that falls on these lakes. Therefore, they contend, reducing acid rain will not significantly reduce the acidity levels of mountain lakes. Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A．It is natural for mountain lakes to have acidity levels higher than those of other lakes.

B．The harmful effects of increased acidity levels in lakes have been greatly underestimated.

C．Acid rain is found in urban and heavily industrialized regions of the country.

D．There is much disagreement among soil scientists about the causes of acid rain.

E．While plant life remains, acid rain significantly increases the amount of decaying organic matter in natural environments.