Practice MCQ Questions and Answer on Analyzing Arguments

31.

Generation Xers are those people born roughly between 1965 and 1981. As employees, Generation Xers tend to be more challenged when they can carry out tasks independently. This makes Generation Xers the most entrepreneurial generation in history.
This paragraph best supports the statement that Generation Xers

• (A) work harder than people from other generations.
• (B) have a tendency to be self-directed workers.
• (C) have an interest in making history.
• (D) tend to work in jobs that require risk-taking behavior.

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 The support for choice b is given in the second sentence of the paragraph. Generation Xers like to work independently, which means they are self-directed. No support is given for either choice a or choice c. Choice d is not related to the paragraph. Although the paragraph mentions that Generation Xers like to be challenged, it does not say they like to challenge their bosses attitudes; therefore, choice e can be ruled out.

32.

It is well known that the world urgently needs adequate distribution of food, so that everyone gets enough. Adequate distribution of medicine is just as urgent. Medical expertise and medical supplies need to be redistributed throughout the world so that people in emerging nations will have proper medical care.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) the majority of the people in the world have never been seen by a doctor.
• (B) food production in emerging nations has slowed during the past several years.
• (C) most of the world's doctors are selfish about giving time and money to the poor.
• (D) the medical-supply industry should step up production of its products.

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Answer & Solution Answer: Option E Solution: This answer is implied by the statement that redistribution is needed so that people in emerging nations can have proper medical care. Choices a, b, and c are not mentioned in the passage. Choice d is also incorrect—the passage indicates that the distribution of medicine, not its production, is inadequate.

33.

Walk into any supermarket or pharmacy and you will find several shelves of products designed to protect adults and children from the sun. Additionally, a host of public health campaigns have been created, including National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, that warn us about the sun's damaging UV rays and provide guidelines about protecting ourselves. While warnings about the sun's dangers are frequent, a recent survey found that fewer than half of all adults adequately protect themselves from the sun.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) children are better protected from the sun's dangerous rays than adults
• (B) sales of sun protection products are at an all-time high.
• (C) adults are not heeding the warnings about the dangers of sun exposure seriously enough.
• (D) more adults have skin cancer now than ever before.

Show Answer

 The last sentence gives direct support for this response. Although children might be better protected from the sun than adults, the paragraph does not specifically cite statistics about children, so we can't know for sure, ruling out choice a. There is no evidence provided in the paragraph to support choices b and d. Choice e is incorrect since the last sentence tells us that warnings about the sun's dangers are frequent.

34.

Close-up images of Mars by the Mariner 9 probe indicated networks of valleys that looked like the stream beds on Earth. These images also implied that Mars once had an atmosphere that was thick enough to trap the sun's heat. If this were true, something happened to Mars billions of years ago that stripped away the planet's atmosphere.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) Mars now has little or no atmosphere.
• (B) Mars once had a thicker atmosphere than Earth does.
• (C) the Mariner 9 probe took the first pictures of Mars.
• (D) Mars is closer to the sun than Earth is.

Show Answer

 The paragraph states that Mars once had a thick atmosphere, but that it was stripped away. The other choices, true or not, cannot be found in the passage.

35.

Today's high school students spend too much time thinking about trivial and distracting matters such as fashion. Additionally, they often dress inappropriately on school grounds. Rather than spending time writing another detailed dress policy, we should make school uniforms mandatory. If students were required to wear uniforms, it would increase a sense of community and harmony in our schools and it would instill a sense of discipline in our students. Another positive effect would be that teachers and administrators would no longer have to act as clothing police, freeing them up to focus on more important issues.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) inappropriate clothing leads to failing grades.
• (B) students who wear school uniforms get into better colleges.
• (C) teachers and administrators spend at least 25% of their time enforcing the dress code.
• (D) students are not interested in being part of a community.

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Answer & Solution Answer: Option E Solution: The support for choice e is in the third sentence "we should make school uniforms mandatory". There is no evidence provided to support choices a, b, and d. And although we know that teachers and administrators are spending some of their time enforcing dress code, the paragraph does not quantify how much of their time is spent that way, so there is no support for choice c.

36.

There are no effective boundaries when it comes to pollutants. Studies have shown that toxic insecticides that have been banned in many countries are riding the wind from countries where they remain legal. Compounds such as DDT and toxaphene have been found in remote places like the Yukon and other Arctic regions.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) toxic insecticides such as DDT have not been banned throughout the world.
• (B) more pollutants find their way into polar climates than they do into warmer areas.
• (C) studies have proven that many countries have ignored their own antipollution laws.
• (D) DDT and toxaphene are the two most toxic insecticides in the world.

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 The support for this choice is in the second sentence, which states that in some countries, toxic insecticides are still legal. Choice b is incorrect because even though polar regions are mentioned in the paragraph, there is no support for the idea that warmer regions are not just as affected. There is no support for choice c. Choice d can be ruled out because there is nothing to indicate that DDT and toxaphene are the most toxic. Choice e is illogical.

37.

By the time they reach adulthood, most people can perform many different activities involving motor skills. Motor skills involve such diverse tasks as riding a bicycle, threading a needle, and cooking a dinner. What all these activities have in common is their dependence on precision and timing of muscular movement.
This paragraph best supports the statement that

• (A) most adults have not refined their motor skills.
• (B) all adults know how to ride a bicycle.
• (C) refined motor skills are specifically limited to adults.
• (D) children perform fewer fine motor activities in a day than adults do.

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Answer & Solution Answer: Option E Solution: The second sentence states that threading a needle involves motor skill. The other choices are not in the paragraph.