Police statistics often show that those most likely to be robbed are those who have not recently been robbed and those most likely to have their homes burgled are those who have not recently suffered a burglary. Consequently, a study of robberies and burglaries in a particular neighborhood since 1988 has greatly upset the residents of a certain apartment complex, as that complex is shown to have been virtually crime free since 1990, although the neighborhood itself is not very safe. Based solely on the information contained in the statements above, which of the following groups of residents of the apartment complex are LEAST likely to be robbed or burgled?

A few decades ago it was popular to link dramatic increases in urban antisocial behavior with high population density, and to support this with studies of laboratory rats, which exhibit randomly violent behavior under conditions of extreme overcrowding. It has since become obvious that the analogy between rats and humans is simplistic at best, and leaves out considerations like human adaptability and cultural factors which are of key importance in determining human behavior. Which of the following, if true, best support the conclusion the author presents in the passage above?

Professor Branch, who is chairman of the sociology department, claims she saw a flying saucer the other night. But since she is a sociologist instead of a physicist, she cannot possibly be acquainted with the most recent writings of our finest scientists that tend to discount such sightings, so we can conclude her report is unreliable. Which of the following would be the most appropriate criticism of the author's analysis?

Why pay outrageously high prices for imported sparkling water when there is now an inexpensive water carbonated and bottled here in the United States at its source Cold Springs, Vermont. Neither you nor your guests will taste the difference, but if you would be embarrassed if it were learned that you were serving a domestic sparkling water, then serve Cold Springs Water but serve it in a leaded crystal decanter. The advertisement rests on which of the following assumptions? I. It is difficult if not impossible to distinguish Cold Springs Water from imported competitors on the basis of taste. II. Most sparkling waters are not bottled at the source. III. Some people may purchase an imported sparkling water over a domestic one as a status symbol.

Daily Post newspaper reporter Roger Nightingale let it be known that Andrea Johnson, the key figure in his award-winning series of articles on prostitution and drug abuse, was a composite of many persons and not a single, real person, and so he was the subject of much criticism by fellow journalists for having failed to disclose that information when the articles were first published. But these were the same critics who voted Nightingale a prize for his magazine serial General, which was a much dramatized and fictionalized account of a Korean War military leader whose character was obviously patterned closely after that of Douglas MacArthur. In which of the following ways might the critics mentioned in the paragraph argue that they were NOT inconsistent in their treatment of Nightingale's works?

The blanks in the following passage indicate deletions from the text. Select the completion that is most appropriate to the context. Contemporary legal positivism depends upon the methodological assumption that a theory of law may be conceptual without, at the same time, being normative. In point of fact this assumption is a composite principle. It makes the fairly obvious claim that a conceptual theory, which strives to be descriptive rather than normative, says what the law is not what it ought to be. A conceptual theory must be supplemented by a normative theory, and the arguments in favor of a particular content for law are couched in terms of the results which are expected to flow from proposed legal acts. It is never a part of an argument for what the law ought to be, in the positivist's view, that to be a law it must have a certain content. While the normative argument refers ultimately to agreed-upon ends, it does not assert that these ends_(6)_ Rather, that they are accepted and acted upon is merely a contingent matter. The second part of the methodological premise is more subtle: A conceptual theory such as legal positivism does not claim that the particular description it offers is uniquely correct. Proponents of legal positivism regard their study of law as 'analogous to the physicists' study of the universe: They have one theory of legal institutions _(7)_.

Amusement parks create an illusion of safety for both children and their parents. Normally conscientious parents will leave children at an amusement park, not realizing the risks they are taking. Understaffing, broken or unguarded rides, and children who are too small for certain rides all increase the likelihood of accidents. Parents must be present to ensure that their children are safe Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's argument?.

Since 1990, the Japanese professional baseball league has permitted the use of a special bat made from a combination of wood and plastic. In each subsequent year, the Japanese league has reported fewer instances of bat breakage than has U.S. major league baseball. Based solely on this information, American team owners have enthusiastically reported to the Commissioner of American Baseball that the plastic-wood bats are more durable and break less easily than American all-wood bats. The conclusion drawn by the team owners assumes each of the following EXCEPT that

The blanks in the following passage indicate deletions from the text. Select the completion that is most appropriate to the context. Contemporary legal positivism depends upon the methodological assumption that a theory of law may be conceptual without, at the same time, being normative. In point of fact this assumption is a composite principle. It makes the fairly obvious claim that a conceptual theory, which strives to be descriptive rather than normative, says what the law is not what it ought to be. A conceptual theory must be supplemented by a normative theory, and the arguments in favor of a particular content for law are couched in terms of the results which are expected to flow from proposed legal acts. It is never a part of an argument for what the law ought to be, in the positivist's view, that to be a law it must have a certain content. While the normative argument refers ultimately to agreed-upon ends, it does not assert that these ends_(6)_ Rather, that they are accepted and acted upon is merely a contingent matter. The second part of the methodological premise is more subtle: A conceptual theory such as legal positivism does not claim that the particular description it offers is uniquely correct. Proponents of legal positivism regard their study of law as 'analogous to the physicists' study of the universe: They have one theory of legal institutions _(7)_.

For years, scientists have believed that a certain hormone produced by the human liver was triggered by Enzyme U, which is released in the pancreas. Recently, however, researchers in Belgium discovered that Enzyme U is always preceded by the release of Enzyme W in the brain, and hypothesized that Enzyme W, not Enzyme U, triggers the release of the liver hormone. If a second research project were set up to verify the findings of the Belgian researchers, which of the following test results would most seriously weaken their hypothesis?

The authorship of the English epic poem Beowulf will never be recovered. We know the poem through a single surviving text written centuries after the poem was created, but the origins of the epic even whether or not it was largely the work of a single person - are lost. Unfortunately, since Beowulf was among the first poems written in Old English, it is highly unlikely that we will find written records identifying someone as the author. Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support to the conclusion drawn above?

Statistics show that more than half of the nation's murder victims knew their assailants: in fact, 24 percent last year were killed by relatives. Surprisingly, most people are more likely to fear being killed by a stranger in an unfamiliar situation than by a friend or relative at home. Which of the following, if true, provides the best explanation for the reaction of most people to the likelihood of being murdered by someone they know?

The water table in an arid region had dropped for years due mainly to the many farms that relied on water pumped from the underlying aquifer. Water conservation measures were taken five years ago when residents realized that soon no water would be available for human use. The water table has since stabilized, but has not significantly risen. Accordingly, in order to replenish the aquifer and return the water table to its normal level, new water conservation measures need to be taken. The argument above would be most weakened if it were true that?

If the world is deterministic, then everything is caused to happen according to physical laws. If human beings have free will, then some things are caused by human decisions. But human decisions result from a process of reasoning, which means they cannot be caused by physical laws. Therefore, if human beings have free will, then the world is not deterministic, and if the world is deterministic, then human beings have no free will. If the claims in the argument above are true, which of the following must be false?

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows it.

Early European explorers of the Tropics discovered what they misnamed a louse line. As they went closer to the equator, at some point fleas would abandon the explorers. One explanation is that the heat became too much for the fleas, which may be killed by temperatures even a few degrees higher than 98.6 Fahrenheit, the temperature of a healthy human body. The problem with this explanation is that fleas had been observed abandoning even healthy people when the air temperature in the Tropics was below 98.6 degrees.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the original explanation which the author doubts?