Directions : Questions 1 and 2 are based on the following passage:
From time to time, the press indulges in outbursts of indignation over the use of false or misleading information by the U.S. government in support of its policies and programs. No one endorses needless deception. But consider this historical analogy. It is known that Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the New World, deliberately falsified the log to show a shorter sailing distance for each day out than the ships had actually traveled. In this way, Columbus was able to convince his skeptical sailors that they had not sailed past the point at which they expected to find the shores of India. Without this deception, Columbus’s sailors might well have mutinied, and the New World might never have been discovered.
1. The author of the passage above assumes each of the following EXCEPT:
a. Government deception of the press is often motivated by worthy objectives.
b. Without government deception, popular support for worthwhile government policies and programs might well fade.
c. Attacks on the government by the press are often politically motivated.
d. Deception for deception’s sake should not be condoned.
2. Which of the following is the main weakness of the historical analogy drawn in the passage above?
a. The sailors in Columbus’s crew never knew that they had been deceived, while government deception is generally uncovered by the press.
b. A ship’s log is a record intended mainly for use by the captain, while press reports are generally disseminated for use by the public at large.
c. The members of a ship’s crew are selected by the captain of the ship, while those who work in the press are self-selected.
d. In a democracy, the people are expected to participate in the nation’s political decision making, while the members of a ship’s crew are expected simply to obey the orders of the captain.
3. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Monarch butterflies, whose average life span is nine months, migrate from the mid-western United States to selected forests outside Mexico City. It takes at least three generations of monarchs to make the journey, so the great-great- grandchildren who finally arrive in the Mexican forests have never been there before. Yet they return to the same trees their forebears left. Scientists theorize that monarchs, like homing pigeons, map their routes according to the earth’s electromagnetic fields. As a first step in testing this theory, lepidopterists plan to install a low-voltage transmitter inside one grove of “butterfly trees” in the Mexican forests. If the butterflies are either especially attracted to the grove with the transmitter or especially repelled by it, lepidopterists will have evidence that
a. monarch butterflies have brains, however minuscule
b. monarch butterflies are sensitive to electricity
c. low-voltage electricity can affect butterflies, whether positively or adversely
d. monarchs map their routes according to the earth’s electromagnetic fields
4. In general, a professional athlete is offered a million-dollar contract only if he or she has just completed an unusually successful season. However, a study shows that an athlete signing such a contract usually suffers a decline in performance the following season. This study supports the theory that a million-dollar contract tends to weaken an athlete’s desire to excel by diminishing his or her economic incentive.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn above?
a. On the average, athletes whose contracts call for relatively small salaries with possible bonuses for outstanding achievement perform better than other athletes.
b. Athletes are generally offered million-dollar contracts mainly because of the increased ticket sales and other revenues they generate.
c. Many professional athletes have careers marked by year-to-year fluctuations in their overall levels of performance.
d. On the average, higher-salaried athletes tend to have longer and more successful professional careers than do lower-salaried athletes.
Correct Answers:
1. Option- d
2. Option- b
3. Option- a
4. Option- c
