QUESTION: 209

Which of the following best completes the passage below?
In today’s pluralistic society, textbook publishers find themselves in an increasingly uncomfortable position. Since the schools are regarded as a repository of society’s moral and cultural values, each group within society wishes to prevent any material that offends its own values from appearing in textbooks. As a result, stance on an issue is certain to run afoul of one group or another. And since textbook publishers must rely on community goodwill to sell their books, it is inevitable that

fewer and fewer publishers will be willing to enter the financially uncertain textbook industry
the ethical and moral content of textbooks will become increasingly neutral and bland
more and more pressure groups will arise that seek to influence the content of textbooks
the government will be forced to intervene in the increasingly rancorous debate over the content of textbooks
school boards, teachers, and principals will find it nearly impossible to choose among the variety of textbooks being offered

Answer(s): B

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QUESTION: 210

We have heard a good deal in recent years about the declining importance of the two major political parties. It is the mass media, we are told, that decide the outcome of elections, not the power of the parties. But it is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent years, and in the last nationwide campaign, the two major parties raised and spent more money than ever before in support of their candidates and platforms. It seems clear that reports of the imminent demise of the two-party system are premature at best.

Which of the following is an assumption made in the argument above?

The amount of money raised and spent by a political party is one valid criterion for judging the influence of the party.
A significant increase in the number of third-party candidates would be evidence of a decline in the importance of the two major parties.
The two-party system has contributed significantly to the stability of the American political structure.
The mass media tend to favor an independent or third-party candidate over a candidate from one of the two major parties.
The mass media are relatively unimportant in deciding the outcome of most elections.

Answer(s): A

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QUESTION: 211

The percentage of voters registered as independents is higher today than ever before.
In a recent presidential campaign, for the first time ever, an independent candidate was invited to appear in a televised debate with the major-party candidates.
Every current member of the U.S. Senate was elected as the candidate of one of the two major parties.
In a recent opinion poll, most voters stated that a candidate’s party affiliation was an insignificant factor in judging his or her fitness for office.
In the last four years, the outcome of several statewide elections has been determined by the strength of the third-party vote.

Answer(s): C

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QUESTION: 212

Psychologists conducted a series of experiments to test the effect upon schoolchildren of violence in films. In the first experiment, grammar school children were shown a film that included scenes of a male teenager engaging in violent acts against others, such as punching, pushing, and kicking. During a free-play session following the film viewing, 42 percent of the children were observed to engage in one or more violent acts similar to those in the film. In a second experiment, a different group of children was shown a similar film featuring a female teenager. Only 14 percent of the children were observed behaving violently afterward. The psychologists concluded that children are more likely to imitate violent behavior on film when a male model is shown than when a female model is shown.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the psychologists’ conclusion?

In both experiments, the victims of the filmed violence included both males and females.
In the second experiment, 28 percent of the children appeared upset during the viewing the violent film scenes.
The first group included 19 male students and 20 female students; the second group included 20 male students and 21 female students.
In the first group, 58 percent of the children appeared bored during the showing of the film, and 12 percent fell asleep.
The percentage of children known to have discipline problems prior to the experiment was greater in the first group than in the second group.

Answer(s): E

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