Assumption

1. Speakers of the Caronian language constitute a minority of the population in several large
countries. An international body has recommended that the regions where Caronian-speakers live be
granted autonomy as an independent nation in which Caronian-speakers would form a majority. But
Caronian-speakers live in several, wildly scattered areas that cannot be united within a single
continuous boundary while at the same time allowing Caronian-speakers to be the majority
population. Hence, the recommendation cannot be satisfied.
The argument relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(A) A nation once existed in which Caronian-speakers formed the majority of the population.
(B) Caronian-speakers tend to perceive themselves as constituting a single community.
(C) The recommendation would not be satisfied by the creation of a nation formed of disconnected
regions.
(D) The new Caronian nation will not include as citizens anyone who does not speak Caronian.
(E) In most nations several different languages are spoken.

1
2. Commercial passenger airplanes can be equipped with a collision-avoidance radar system that
provide with information about the proximity of other airplanes. Because the system warns pilots to
take evasive action when it indicates a possible collision, passengers are safer on airplanes equipped
with the system than on comparable airplanes not so equipped, even though the system frequently
warms pilots to evade phantom airplanes.
. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Passengers feel no safer on airplanes equipped with the radar system than on comparable airplanes
not so equipped.
(B) Warnings given by a collision-avoidance system about phantom airplanes are not caused by
distorted radar signals.
(C) The frequency of invalid warnings will not cause pilots routinely to disregard the system’s
warnings.
(D) Commercial passenger airplanes are not the only planes that can be equipped with collision-
avoidance system.
(E) The greatest safety risk for passengers traveling on commercial passenger airplanes is that of a
midair collision.

2
3. Most students are bored by history courses as they are usually taught, primarily because a large
amount of time is spent teaching dates and statistic. The best way to teach history, therefore, is to
spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures and very little on dates and statistics.
Each of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends EXCEPT:
(A) One should avoid boring one’s students when teaching a history course.
(B) It is not incompatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend very little class time
on dates and statistics.
(C) It is possible to recount the lives of historical figures without referring to dates and statistics.
(D) It is compatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend most class time recounting
the lives of historical figures.
(E) Students are more bored by history courses as they are usually taught than they would be by
courses that spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures.

4. Scientific and technological discoveries have considerable effects on the development of any
society. It follows that predictions of the future condition of societies in which scientific and
technological discovery is particularly frequent are particularly untrustworthy.
The argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
(A) Predictions of scientific and technological discoveries, or predictions of their effects, have
harmful consequences in some societies.
(B) The development of a society requires scientific and technological discoveries.
(C) Forecasts of scientific and technological discoveries, or forecasts of their effects, are not entirely
reliable.
(D) An advanced scientific and technological society frequently benefits from new discoveries.
(E) It is not as difficult to predict scientific and technological discoveries in a technologically more
advanced society as it is in a technologically less advanced society.

5. Linsey has been judged to be a bad songwriter simply because her lyrics typically are disjointed
and subjective. This judgment is ill founded, however, since the writings of many modern novelists
typically are disjointed and subjective and yet these novelists are widely held to be good writers.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Disjointed and subjective writing has a comparable effect in modern novels and in songs.
(B) Some readers do not appreciate the subtleties of the disjointed and subjective style adopted by
modern novelists.
(C) Song lyrics that are disjointed and subjective have at least as much narrative structure as any other
song lyrics do.
(D) A disjointed and subjective style of writing is usually more suitable for novels and song lyrics
than it is for any other written works.
(E) The quality of Linsey’s songs is better judged by quality of their lyrics than by the quality of their
musical form.

3
6. The companies that are the prime purchasers of computer software will not buy a software package
if the costs of training staff to use it are high, and we know that it is expensive to teach people a
software package that demands the memorization of unfamiliar commands. As a result, to be
successful, commercial computer software cannot require users to memorize unfamiliar commands.
The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) If more prime purchasers of computer software buy a software product, that product will
successful.
(B) Commercial computers software that does not require users to memorize unfamiliar commands is
no more expensive than software that does.
(C) Commercial computer software will not be successful unless prime purchasers buy it.
(D) If the initial cost of computer software is high, but the cost of training users is low, prime
purchases will still buy that software.
(E) The more difficult it is to learn how to use a piece of software, the more expensive it is to teach a
person to use that software

7. Having an efficient, attractive subway system makes good economic sense. So, the city needs to
purchase new subway cars, since the city should always do what makes good economic sense.
The conclusion drawn above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?
(A) The city should invest in an efficient, attractive subway system.
(B) Cost-effective subway cars are an integral part of an efficient subway system.
(C) Investment in new subway cars makes better economic sense than many of the other investment
options open to the city.
(D) New subway cars are financially affordable.
(E) New subway cars are required in order for the city to have a subway system that is efficient and
attractive.

8. Essayist: One of the claims of laissez-faire economics is that increasing the minimum wage reduces
the total number of minimum-wage jobs available. In a recent study, however, it was found that after
an increase in the minimum wage, fast-food restaurants kept on roughly the same number of
minimum-wage employees as before the increase. Therefore, laissez-faire economics is not entirely
accurate.
The essayist’s argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
(A) If Laissez-faire economics makes an incorrect prediction about the minimum wages, then all the
doctrines of laissez-faire economics are inaccurate.
(B) Minimum-wage job availability at fast-food restaurants included in the study was representative
of minimum-wage job availability in general.
(C) No study has ever found that a business has decreased the number of its minimum-wage
employees after an increase in the minimum wage.
(D) The fast-food restaurants included in the study did not increase the average wage paid to
employees.
(E) The national unemployment rate did not increase following the increase in the minimum wage
4
9. Camera manufacturers typically advertise their products by citing the resolution of their camera’
lenses, the resolution of a lens being the degree of detail the lens is capable of reproducing in the
image it projects onto the film. Differences between cameras in this respect are irrelevant for practical
photography, however, since all modern lenses are so excellent that they project far more detail onto
the film than any photographic film is capable of reproducing in a developed image.
Camera manufacturers typically advertise their products by citing the resolution of their camera’
lenses, the resolution of a lens being the degree of detail the lens is capable of reproducing in the
image it projects onto the film. Differences between cameras in this respect are irrelevant for practical
photography, however, since all modern lenses are so excellent that they project far more detail onto
the film than any photographic film is capable of reproducing in a developed image.
The argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
(A) The definition of the term “resolution” does not capture an important determinant of the quality
of photographic instruments and materials.
(B) In determining the amount of detail reproduced in the developed photographic image, differences
in the resolutions of available lenses do not compound the deficiencies of available film.
(C) Variations in the method used to process the film do not have any significant effect on the film’s
resolution.
(D) Flawless photographic technique is needed to achieve the maximum image resolution possible
with the materials and equipment being used.
(E) The only factors important in determining the degree of detail reproduced in the final photographic
print are the resolution of the camera’s lens and the resolution of the film.

10. Professor Chan: The literature department’s undergraduate courses should cover only true literary
works, and not such frivolous material as advertisements.
Professor Wigmore: Advertisements might or might not be true literary works but they do have a
powerfully detrimental effect on society—largely because people cannot discern their real messages.
The literature department’s courses give students the critical skills to analyze and understand texts.
Therefore, it is the literature department’s responsibility to include the study of advertisements in its
undergraduate courses.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which Professor Wigmore’s argument depends?
(A) Texts that are true literary works never have a detrimental effect on society.
(B) Courses offered by the literature department cannot include both true literary works and material
such as advertisement.
(C) Students who take courses in the literature department do not get from those courses other skills
besides those needed to analyze and understand texts.
(D) Forms of advertising that convey their message entirely through visual images do not have a
detrimental effect on society.
(E) The literature department’s responsibility is not limited to teaching students how to analyze true
literary works.
5
11. As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapon in the propaganda war
against our foes, I am distressed by reports of “disinformation” campaigns by American intelligence
agents in Western Europe. In a disinformation campaign, untruths are disseminated through gullible
local journalists in order to damage the interests of our enemies and protect our own. Those who
defend this practice say that lying is necessary to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns aimed at
damaging America’s political interests. These apologists contend that one must fight fire with fire. I
would point out to the apologists that the fire department finds water more effective.
10. The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?
(A) A circular definition of “disinformation”
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war
(C) An analogy between truth and water
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

12. To avoid a hostile takeover attempt, the board of directors of Wellco, Inc., a provider of life and
health insurance, planned to take out large loans and use them to purchase a publishing company, a
chocolate factory, and a nationwide chain of movie theaters. The directors anticipated that these
purchase initially would plunge the corporation deep into debt, rendering it unattractive to those who
wanted to take it over, but that steadily rising insurance rates would allow the company to pay off the
debt within five years. Meanwhile, revenues from the three new businesses would enable the
corporation as a whole to continue to meet its increased operating expenses. Ultimately, according o
the directors’ plan, the diversification would strengthen the corporation by varying the sources and
schedules of its annual revenues.
Which of the following, assuming that all are equally possible, would most enhance the chances of
the plan’s success?
(A) A widespread drought decreases the availability of cacao beans, from which chocolate is
manufacture, diving up chocolate prices worldwide.
(B) New government regulations require a 30 percent across-the-board rate rollback of all insurance
companies, to begin immediately and to be completed within a five-year period.
(C) Congress enacts a statute, effective after six months, making it illegal for any parent not to carry
health insurance coverage for his or her child.
(D) Large-screen televisions drop dramatically in price due to surprise alterations in trade barriers
with Japan; movie theater attendance dwindles as a consequence.
(E) A new, inexpensive process is discovered for making paper pulp, and paper prices fall to 60
percent of their former level.

6
13. A light bulb company produces 2,000 light bulbs per week. The manager wants to ensure that
standards of quality remain constant from week to week. The manager, therefore, claims that out of
2,000 light bulbs produced per week, 500 light bulbs are rejected.
Of the following, the best criticism of the manager’s plan is that the plan assumes that
(A) light bulb manufacturers cannot accept all light bulbs that produced
(B) the overall quality of the light bulbs would not be improved if the total number of light bulbs
produced were reduced
(C) each light bulb that is reviewed is worthy of being reviewed
(D) it is difficult to judge the quality of a light bulb
(E) the 1,500 light bulbs that are accepted will be of the same quality from week to week

14. Of those person who became teachers in 1968 and who later left the profession, 30 percent today
earn salaries above $35,000 a year: of those who became teachers in 1968 and have remained in the
profession, only 15 percent today earn salaries above $35,000 a year. These figures indicate how
underpaid teachers are today.
The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions about the persons for whom
statistics are cited?
(A) At least one-third of the group of persons who have remained in teaching would today be earning
more than $35,000 a year if they had left teaching.
(B) The group of persons who left teaching and the group who did not are comparable in terms of
factors that determine how much people outside the teaching profession are paid.
(C) Most of those persons who left teaching did so entirely because of the low salaries teachers earn.
(D) As a group, those persons who have remained in teaching are abler and more dedicated than the
group of persons who left teaching.
(E) The group of persons who left teaching and who today earn more than $35,000 a year were more
capable teachers than the group who remained in the profession.

15. The government should stop permitting tobacco companies to subtract advertising expenses from
their revenues in calculating taxable income. Tobacco companies would then have to pay more taxes.
As a consequence, they would raise the prices of their products and this price increase would raise the
prices of their products and this price increase would discourage tobacco use.
Which of the following is an additional premise required by the argument above?
(A) Tobacco companies would not offset the payment of extra taxes by reducing costs in other areas.
(B) Tobacco companies would not continue to advertise if they were forced to pay higher taxes.
(C) People would not continue to buy tobacco products if these products were no longer advertised.
(D) The money the government would gain as a result of the increase in tobacco companies’ taxable
income would be used to educate the public about the dangers of tobacco use.
(E) The increase in taxes paid by tobacco companies would be equal to the additional income
generated by raising prices.

7
16. Instead of blaming an airline accident on pilot error, investigators should find out why the error
was made by analyzing airplane design, airline management, and pilot-training programs. For only
then can changes be made to ensure that the same type of error does not recur and cause another
accident.
Which of the following is a presupposition of the argument above?
(A) Pilot error is not a contributing factor in most airline accidents.
(B) Airline companies themselves should be the agents who investigate airline accidents.
(C) Stricter government regulation of airline companies will make air travel significantly safer.
(D) Investigators of airline accidents should contribute to the prevention of future accidents.
(E) Most pilots who make errors in flying will repeat their errors unless they are retrained.

17. The Asian American History Association receives approximately 1,000 proposals each year from
individuals who wish to present papers at its annual meeting. The association’s officers would like to
ensure constant standards of quality in the presentations from year to year. The officers have therefore
decided to accept for presentation each year only the best 300 papers selected on the basis of the
quality of the proposals submitted.
Of the following, the best criticism of the officers’ plan is that the plan assumes that
(A) Professional associations cannot accept all papers submitted for presentation at their annual
meetings.
(B) The total number of proposals submitted to the association will remain at approximately 1,000 in
future years.
(C) Each proposal submitted to the association deserves to be considered a serious candidate for
presentation.
(D) It is difficult to judge the quality of a paper on the basis of the proposal alone.
(E) The best 300 papers submitted to the association for presentation will be of the same quality from
year to year.

18. Two groups of laboratory mice were injected with cancerous cells. One group’s cages were rotated
in a disorienting manner. Two-thirds of these mice developed cancers. One-tenth of the mice in
stationary cages developed cancers. The researchers concluded that stress enhances the development
of cancer in laboratory mice.
The researchers’ conclusion logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Rotating the cages in disorienting manner produced stress in the mice in those cages.
(B) The injections given to the two groups of mice were not of equal strength.
(C) Injecting the mice with cancerous cells caused stress in the mice.
(D) Even without the injections the mice in the rotated cages would have developed cancers.
(E) Even the rotation of cages in a manner that is not disorienting is likely to produce stress in mice
in those cages.

8
19. The president of a consulting firm analyzed the decisions made about marketing by her clients
and concluded that the decisions were correct only about half of the time.
The conclusion above depends on the presupposition that
(A) companies can be successful even when about half of the decisions they make about marketing
prove to be wrong
(B) companies hiring her consulting firm make no more incorrect marketing decisions than do
companies in general
(C) executives consistently making correct marketing decisions rarely enlist the aid of a consulting
firm
(D) marketing decision are just as likely to be correct as they are to be incorrect
(E) it is possible to classify a marketing decision properly as being either right or wrong

20. Companies considering new cost-cutting manufacturing processes often compare the projected
results of making the investment against the alternative of not making the investment with costs,
selling prices, and share of market remaining constant.
Which of the following, assuming that each is a realistic possibility, constitutes the most serious
disadvantage for companies of using the method above for evaluating the financial benefit of new
manufacturing processes?
(A) The costs of materials required by the new process might not be known with certainty.
(B) In several years interest rates might go down, reducing the interest costs of borrowing money to
pay for the investment.
(C) Some cost-cutting processes might require such expensive investments that there would be no net
gain for many years, until the investment was paid for by savings in the manufacturing process.
(D) Competitors that do invest in a new process might reduce their selling prices and thus take market
share away from companies that do not.
(E) The period of year chosen for averaging out the cost of the investment might be somewhat longer
or shorter, thus affecting the result.

21. If the airspace around centrally located airports were restricted to commercial airliners and only
those private planes equipped with radar, most of the private-plane traffic would be forced to use
outlying airfields. Such a reduction in the amount of private-plane traffic would reduce the risk of
midair collision around the centrally located airports.
The conclusion drawn in the first sentence depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Outlying airfields would be as convenient as centrally located airports for most pilots of private
planes.
(B) Most outlying airfields are not equipped to handle commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Most private planes that use centrally located airports are not equipped with radar.
(D) Commercial airliners are at greater risk of becoming involved in midair collisions than are private
planes.
(E) A reduction in the risk of midair collision would eventually lead to increases in commercial-airline
traffic.
9
22. A researcher discovered that people who have low levels of immune-system activity tend to score
much lower on tests of mental health than do people with normal or high immune-system activity.
The researcher concluded from this experiment that the immune system protects against mental illness
as well as against physical disease.
The researcher’s conclusion depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) High immune-system activity protects against mental illness better than normal immune-system
activity does.
(B) Mental illness is similar to physical disease in its effects on body system.
(C) People with high immune-system activity cannot develop mental illness.
(D) Mental illness does not cause people’s immune-system activity to decrease.
(E) Psychological treatment of mental illness is not as effective as is medical treatment.

23. A famous singer recently won a lawsuit against an advertising firm for using another singer in a
commercial to evoke the famous singer’s well-known rendition of a certain song. As a result of the
lawsuit, advertising firms will stop using imitators in commercials. Therefore, advertising costs will
rise, since famous singers’ services cost more than those of their imitators.
The conclusion above is based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Most people are unable to distinguish a famous singer’s rendition of a song from a good imitator’s
rendition of the same song.
(B) Commercials using famous singers are usually more effective than commercials using imitators
of famous singers.
(C) The original versions of some well-known songs are unavailable for use in commercials.
(D) Advertising firms will continue to use imitators to mimic the physical mannerisms of famous
singers.
(E) The advertising industry will use well-known renditions of songs in commercials.

24. The program to control the entry of illegal drugs into the country was a failure in 1987. If the
program had been successful, the wholesale price of most illegal drugs would not have dropped
substantially in 1987.
The argument in the passage depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) The supply of illegal drugs dropped substantially in 1987.
(B) The price paid for most illegal drugs by the average consumer did not drop substantially in 1987.
(C) Domestic production of illegal drugs increased at a higher rate than did the entry of such drugs
into the country.
(D) The wholesale price of a few illegal drugs increased substantially in 1987.
(E) A drop in demand for most illegal drugs in 1987 was not the sole cause of the drop in their
wholesale price.

10
25. The interview is an essential part of a successful hiring program because, with it, job applicants
who have personalities that are unsuited to the requirements of the job will be eliminated from
consideration.
The argument above logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) A hiring program will be successful if it includes interviews.
(B) The interview is a more important part of a successful hiring program than is the development of
a job description.
(C) Interviewers can accurately identify applicants whose personalities are unsuited to the
requirements of the job.
(D) The only purpose of an interview is to evaluate whether job applicants’ personalities are suited to
the requirements of the job.
(E) The fit of job applicants’ personalities to the requirements of the job was once the most important
factor in making hiring decisions.

26. Because no employee wants to be associated with bad news in the eyes of a superior, information
about serious problems at lower levels is progressively softened and distorted as it goes up each step
in the management hierarchy. The chief executive is, therefore, less well informed about problems at
lower levels than are his or her subordinates at those levels.
The conclusion drawn above is based on the assumption that
(A) problems should be solved at the level in the management hierarchy at which they occur
(B) employees should be rewarded for accurately reporting problems to their superiors
(C) problem-solving ability is more important at higher levels than it is at lower levels of the
management hierarchy
(D) chief executives obtain information about problems at lower levels from no source other than
their subordinates
(E) some employees are more concerned about truth than about the way they are perceived by their
superiors

11
27. A recent report determined that although only three percent of drivers on Maryland highways
equipped their vehicles with radar detectors, thirty-three percent of all vehicles ticketed for exceeding
the speed limit were equipped with them. Clearly, drivers who equip their vehicles with radar
detectors are more likely to exceed the speed limit regularly than are drivers who do not.
The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Drivers who equip their vehicles with radar detectors are less likely to be ticketed for exceeding
the speed limit than are drivers who do not.
(B) Drivers who are ticketed for exceeding the speed limit are more likely to exceed the speed limit
regularly than are drivers who are not ticketed.
(C) The number of vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit was greater than the
number of vehicles that were equipped with radar detectors.
(D) Many of the vehicles that were ticketed for exceeding the speed limit were ticketed more than
once in the time period covered by the report.
(E) Drivers on Maryland highways exceeded the speed limit more often than did drivers on other state
highways not covered in the report.

28. Researchers have found that when very overweight people, who tend to have relatively low
metabolic rates, lose weight primarily through dieting, their metabolisms generally remain
unchanged. They will thus burn significantly fewer calories at the new weight than do people whose
weight is normally at that level. Such newly thin persons will, therefore, ultimately regain weight
until their body size again matches their metabolic rate.
The conclusion of the argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Relatively few very overweight people who have dieted down to a new weight tend to continue
to consume substantially fewer calories than do people whose normal weight is at that level.
(B) The metabolisms of people who are usually not overweight are much more able to vary than the
metabolisms of people who have been very overweight.
(C) The amount of calories that a person usually burns in a day is determined more by the amount
that is consumed that day than by the current weight of the individual.
(D) Researchers have not yet determined whether the metabolic rates of formerly very overweight
individuals can be accelerated by means of chemical agents.
(E) Because of the constancy of their metabolic rates, people who are at their usual weight normally
have as much difficulty gaining weight as they do losing it.

12
29. Previous studies have indicated that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart
disease. However, a new, more reliable study has indicated that eating chocolate does not increase the
likelihood of getting heart disease. When the results of the new study become known, consumption
of chocolate will undoubtedly increase.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion above is based?
(A) Most people who eat a great deal of chocolate will not get heart disease.
(B) Although they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease, some
people still eat as much chocolate as they want.
(C) People who have heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease do
not believe it.
(D) There are people who currently eat as much chocolate as they want because they have not heard
that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.
(E) There are people who currently limit their consumption of chocolate only because they believe
that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.

30. In 1990 all of the people who applied for a job at Evco also applied for a job at Radeco, and Evco
and Radeco each offered jobs to half of these applicants. Therefore, every one of these applicants
must have been offered a job in 1990.
The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions about these job applicants?
(A) All of the applicants were very well qualified for a job at either Evco or Radeco.
(B) All of the applicants accepted a job at either Evco or Radeco.
(C) None of the applicants was offered a job by both Evco and Radeco.
(D) None of the applicants had applied for jobs at places other than Evco and Radeco.
(E) None of the applicants had previously worked for either Evco or Radeco.

1. C
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. A
6. C
7. E
8. B
9. B
10. B
11. C
12. C
13. E
14. B
15. A
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16. D
17. E
18. A
19. E
20. D
21. C
22. D
23. E
24. E
25. C
26. D
27. B
28. A
29. E
30. C

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