Rale of o Statement euestians

Role of a Statement Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based g1 th" reasoning contained in brief statements
or passages.

For some
questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answerthe qiestion.
However, you are to choose the best answer; that
is' the response that most accurately and completely answers the question.
You shotrld not make assumptions that are by
commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage.

1.

Governmentofficial: Asatisfactorywayof
eliminating chronic food shortages in our
country is not easily achievable. Direct aid
from other countries in the form of food
shipments tends to undermine our prospects
for long-term agricultural self-sufficiency. If
external sources of food are delivered
effectively by external institutions, local food
producers and suppliers are forced out of
business. On the other hand, foreign capital
funneled to long-term development proyects
would inject so much cash into our economy
that inflation would drive the price of food
beyond the reach of most of our citizens.

2.

The claim that bureaucratic mechanisms are

engineered to resist change plays which one of the
following roles in the argument?

(A)
(B)
(C)

The claim that foreign capital funneled into the

economywould cause inflation plays which one of the
following roles in the government official's argument?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)

(D)
(E)

It supports the claim that the of,&cial,s country

must someday be agriculturally self-suffi cient.
is no easy
solution to the problem of chronic food
shortages in the of8cial's country.
It is supported by the claim that the official,s
country must someday be agriculturally selfsufficient.
It supports the claim that donations of food
from other countries will not end the chronic

Bureaucratic mechanisms are engineered to resist

change. Thus, despite growing dissatisfaction with
complex bureaucratic systems, it is unlikelv that
bureaucracies will be simplified.

It supports the claim that there

food shortages in the offi.cial's country.

is supported by the claim that food
producers and suppliers in the official's
country may be forced out of business by

It

donations of food from other countries.

3.

It

is a premise offered in support of the claim

that it is unlikely that bureaucracies will be
sirnplified.
It is a conclusion for which the onJy supporr
offered is the claim that dissarisfaitio" *itt
complex bureaucratic systems is growing.
It is cited as evidence that bureauciatic systems
are becoming more and more complex.
It is used to weaken the claim that
bureaucracies should be simplified.
It is a conclusion for which the claim that
bureaucracies are unlikely to be simplified is
offered as support.

Few politicians

will support legislation that conflicts

with their own self-interest. A

case

in point is August

Frenson, who throughout his eight terms in offici

consistently opposed measures limiting the advantage
incumbents enjoy over their challengers. Therefore, if
such measures are to be enacted, they must result
from direct popular vote rather than from legislative
action.
The case ofAugust Frenson plays which one ofthe
following roles in the argument?

(A)

It provides evidence, the falsity of which would

(B)

It is cited

guarantee the falsity of the author's conclusion.

(D)

as an example illustrating the

generalization that is invoked.
It gives essential background information
concerning a measure being advocated.
It demonstrates the extent to which incumbents

tE)

It

(C)

have the advantage over challengers.

gives an example of the limits of direct

popular vote.

Eources: PrepTest 36, Sectlon S, euesilon 6

fuepT*t 35, Section 4, euesilon 2

PrcpTest !O, Sectlon 4, euesilon 13

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4.

Pradice

Researcher: The rate of psychological problems is

higher among children of divorced parents than
among other children. But it would be a mistake
to conclude that these problems are caused by
the difficulty the children have adjusting to
divorce. It is just as reasonable to infer that
certain behaviors that increase the likelihood of
divorce--hostility, distrust, lack of empathyare learned by children from their parents, and
that it is these learned behaviors, rather than the
difficulty of adjusting to divorce, that cause the
children

psychological problems.

The assertion that children of divorced parents have

a higher rate of psychological problems than other
children figures in the argument in which one of the

following

ways?

6.

Curator:

The decision to restore the cloak ofthe

central figure in Veronese's painting from its
present red to the green found underneath is
fully justified. Reliable x-ray and chemical tests
show that the red pigment was applied after
the painting had been completed, and that the
red paint was not mixed in Veronese's
workshop. Hence it appears likely that an artist
other than Veronese tampered with Veronese's
painting after its completion.

Art

critic:

But in a copy of Veronese's pairting

made shortly after Veronese died, the cloak is
red. It is highly unlikely that a copyist would
have made so major a change so soon after
Veronese's death.
The assertion that a later artist tampered with
Veronese's painting serves which one of the following
functions in the curator's argument?

(A)
(B)
(C)

It
It
It

(D)

It

is offered as evidence for the claim that

certain behaviors are often responsible for

(C)

a;

(E)

divorce.
It is cited as an established finding for which
the argument proposes an explanation.

(D)

6
IE
o
g,

Geneticist: Ethicists have fears, many of them

*
*
a0

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-o

is the conclusion of the argument.

is the claim that the argument tries to refute.
is offered as evidence for the claim that
divorce is harmful to the children of the

divorcing parents.

reasonable, about the prospect of cloning

human beings, that is, producing exact genetic
duplicates. But the horror-movie image of a
wealthy person creating an army of exact
duplicates is completely unrealistic. Clones
must be raised and educated, a long-term
process that could never produce adults
identical to the original in terms of outlook,
personaliry or goals. More realistic is the
possibility that wealthy individuals might use
clones as living "organ banks."

tE

I
BO
o
J

II

The claim that cloning will not produce adults with

identical personalities plays which one of the
following roles in the geneticist's argument?

(A)

It is a reason for dismissing the various

(B)

raised by ethicists regarding the cloning of

human beings.
It is evidence that genetic clones will never be

(c)
(D)

(E)

fears

produced successfully.
It illustrates the claim that only wealthy people
would be able to have genetic duplicates made
of themselves.
It is evidence for the claim that wealthy people
might use genetic duplicates of themselves as
sources of compatible organs for
transplantation.
It is a reason for discounting one possible fear
concerning the cloning of human beings.

42o qll9

(A)
(B)

(E)

It

is the main point toward which the

argument as a whole is directed.
It is a subsidiary conclusion that supports the
argumentt main conclusion.
It is a clarification of a key term of the
argument.
It is a particular instance of the general
position to be defended.
It is a reiteration of the main point that is
made for the sake of emphasis.

A university should not be entitled to patent the

inventions of its faculty members. Universities, as
guarantors of intellectual freedom, should encourage
the free flow of ideas and the general dissemination
of knowledge. Yet a university that retains the right
to patent the inventions of its faculty members has a
motive to suppress information about a potentially
valuable discovery until the patent for it has been
secured. Clearly, suppressing information concerning
such discoveries is incompatible with the university's
obligation to promote the free flow of ideas.
The claim that a university should not be entitled to
patent the inventions of its faculty mernbers plays
which one of the following roles in the argument?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)

It is the conclusion of the argument.

It

is a principle from which the conclusion is

derived.
It is an explicit assumption.
It is additional but nonessential information in
support of one of the premises.
It is a claim that must be demonstrated to be
false in order to establish the conclusion.

Sources: Prepfest 35, Seetlon 7, Questlon 9

PtepTelt 35, Sectlon 4, Questlon 75
Prcplest 2O, Sectlon 4, Questlon
PrepTest 9, Sectlon 2, Questlon 20

Role of

Statement euestions

Of every 100 burglar alarms police answer, 99 are

false alarms. This situation causes an enormous and
dangerous drain on increasingly scarce public
resources. Each false alarm wastes an average of 45
minutes of police time. As a result police ari
consistently taken away from responding to other
legitimate calls for service, and a disprofortionate
share of police service goes to alarmsys-tem users,
who are mostly businesses and affluent homeowners.
Howeve6 burglar alarm systems, unlike car alarm
systems, are effective in deterring burglaries, so the
only acceptable solution is to fine burglar alarm
system owners the cost of 45 minutes of police time
for each false alarm their systems generate.

*
*
*
*

The statement that burglar alarm systems, unlike car

alarm systems, are effective in deterring burglaries
plays which one of the following roles in the
argument?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)

It justifies placing more restrictions on owners

of burglar alarms than on owners of car alarms.
It provides background information needed to
make plausible the claim that the number of
bwglar alarms police are called on to answer is
great enough to be a drain on public resources.
It provides a basis for excluding as
unacceptable one obvious alternative to the
proposal of fining owners of burglar alarm

0
g{l
F'
or

systems for false alarms.

gives a reason why police might be more

It

inclined to respond to burglar alarms than to

(E)

(D

It
gl
o
I

car alarms.

It explains why

disproportionate number of

the burglar alarms responded to by police come

from alarm systems owned by businisses.

5'

cq

Source: PrepTest

g, Sectlon 4,

Ques$on

20

421