The most common bird in Stillwater Marsh is a species of marsh hen, yet this species is rarely seen, even by experienced bird-watchers who seek it. In fact, this bird is seen far less frequently than any other bird inhabiting the marsh, including those that are much smaller and much less abundant.Each of the following, if true, helps to reconcile the statements above EXCEPT:
Answer(s): B
What would plausibly explain that the most common bird species is seen much less often than smaller and less numerous birds? Option [The coloration of the marsh hen...] would -- it's camouflaged by the environment.Option [Unlike many small marsh birds...] would it stands still a lot, unlike other species that dash. Option [Many marsh birds are most active...] would -- it's active at night, unlike other species that are diurnal. And [Although many small marsh birds fly...] would -- it flies alone and infrequently, unlike the others that fly often and in packs. But depending on how you look at it, option [The marsh hen's call is harsh] either falls outside the scope (if the calls are irrelevant to the visual cues that the stimulus is interested in) or deepens the paradox (if the obnoxious call of the marsh hen makes it more likely to be identified and spotted than less so).
Limited research indicates that therapeutic intervention before the onset of mental disorders can mitigate factors identified as major contributors to them. But a much more comprehensive research program is needed to verify these results and allow for the design of specific health care measures. Thus, in order to explore a potential means of cost-effectively helping people prone to mental disorders, we should increase funding for intervention research.Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
Answer(s): C
The author believes that more funding for intervention research is needed to see whether those with mental disorders can be cost-effectively helped. The key is that phrase "cost-effectively," because the cost issue is raised only in the conclusion and not in the evidence. All we get as evidence is the statement that early identification of risk factors through intervention can "mitigate" those factors. The argument, therefore, lacks support that such mitigation will be more cost-effective, which is what option [Reducing known risk factors for...] provides -- evidence that the author's recommended course of action may end up cheaper than the alternative.
The radiation absorbed by someone during an ordinary commercial airline flight is no more dangerous than that received during an ordinary dental X-ray. Since a dental X-ray does negligible harm to a person, we can conclude that the radiation absorbed by members of commercial airline flight crews will also do them negligible harm.A flaw in the argument is its failure to consider that
Answer(s): D
The comparison between airline flight and dental X-rays should seem fairly familiar, so perhaps the flaw in the conclusion will be fairly easily spotted. A dental X-ray is a one time thing, but airline employees fly for sustained periods. The equivalence of radiation dosages about which the author speaks so confidently may be wiped out, in the airplanes, over extended time.
The recent cleaning of frescoes in the Sistine Chapel has raised important aesthetic issues. Art historians are now acutely aware that the colors of the works they study may differ from the works' original colors. Art historians have concluded from this that interpretations of the frescoes that seemed appropriate before the frescoes' restoration may no longer be appropriate.Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the art historians' reasoning?
The art historians feel that in light of the cleaned and hence differently-colored Sistine Chapel frescoes, previous interpretations may no longer be valid. To justify such a position, it would have to be true that the colors within those frescoes have some pertinence to the frescoes' interpretation. Correct choice [The colors of an artwork are...] generalizes from that specific case to a general principle to which the art historians' argument is perfectly applicable.
Unlike newspapers in the old days, today's newspapers and televised news programs are full of stories about murders and assaults in our city. One can only conclude from this change that violent crime is now out of control, and, to be safe from personal attack, one should not leave one's home except for absolute necessities.Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the conclusion?
Answer(s): A
The conclusion here is rather hysterical given the relatively straightforward evidence. Simply on the grounds that the media are full of violent stories, the author concludes that there's an epidemic of violent crime going on that should keep all of us behind locked doors as much as possible. But if the increase in media crime coverage is actually due to some factor of taste or readership, then the link between the media coverage and the incidence of crime is severed. Option [Newspapers and televised news...] defines the greater crime coverage as a media policy rather than a reflection of daily reality on the street.
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