A recent study reveals that television advertising does not significantly affect children’s preferences for breakfast cereals. The study compared two groups of children. One group had watched no television, and the other group had watched average amounts of television and its advertising. Both groups strongly preferred the sugary cereals heavily advertised on television.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most weakens the argument?

No one with a serious medical problem would rely on the average person to prescribe treatment. Similarly, since a good public servant has the interest of the public at heart, ________.

Which one of the following statements would most reasonably complete the argument?

Loggerhead turtles live and breed in distinct groups, of which some are in the Pacific Ocean and some are in the Atlantic. New evidence suggests that juvenile Pacific loggerheads that feed near the Baja peninsula hatch in Japanese waters 10,000 kilometers away. Ninety-five percent of the DNA samples taken from the Baja turtles match those taken from turtles at the Japanese nesting sites.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the reasoning above?

Shy adolescents often devote themselves totally to a hobby to help distract them from the loneliness brought on by their shyness. Sometimes they are able to become friends with others who share their hobby. But if they lose interest in that hobby, their loneliness may be exacerbated. So developing an all-consuming hobby is not a successful strategy for overcoming adolescent loneliness.

Which one of the following assumptions does the argument depend on?

Political scientist: As a political system, democracy does not promote political freedom. There are historical examples of democracies that ultimately resulted in some of the most oppressive societies. Likewise, there have been enlightened despotisms and oligarchies that have provided a remarkable level of political freedom to their subjects.

The reasoning in the political scientist’s argument is flawed because it

In humans, ingested protein is broken down into amino acids, all of which must compete to enter the brain. Subsequent ingestion of sugars leads to the production of insulin, a hormone that breaks down the sugars and also rids the bloodstream of residual amino acids, except for tryptophan. Tryptophan then slips into the brain uncontested and is transformed into the chemical serotonin, increasing the brain’s serotonin level. Thus, sugars can play a major role in mood elevation, helping one to feel relaxed and anxiety-free.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Most land-dwelling vertebrates have rotating limbs terminating in digits, a characteristic useful for land movement. Biologists who assume that this characteristic evolved only after animals abandoned aquatic environments must consider the Acanthostega, a newly discovered ancestor of all land vertebrates. It possessed rotating limbs terminating in digits, but its skeleton was too feeble for land movement. It also breathed using only internal gills, indicating that it and its predecessors were exclusively aquatic.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

Conscientiousness is high on most firms’ list of traits they want in employees. Yet a recent study found that laid-off conscientious individuals are less likely to find jobs within five months than are their peers who shirked their workplace responsibilities.

Each of the following, if true, helps to resolve the apparent paradox above EXCEPT:

In response to office workers’ worries about the health risks associated with using video display terminals (VDTs), researchers asked office workers to estimate both the amount of time they had spent using VDTs and how often they had suffered headaches over the previous year. According to the survey, frequent VDT users suffered from headaches more often than other office workers did, leading researchers to conclude that VDTs cause headaches.

Which one of the following, if true. most undermines the researchers’ conclusion?

Literary critic: The meaning of a literary work is not fixed but fluid, and therefore a number of equally valid interpretations of it may be offered. Interpretations primarily involve imposing meaning on a literary work rather than discovering meaning in it, so interpretations need not consider the writer’s intentions. Thus, any interpretation of a literary work tells more about the critic than about the writer.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the literary critic’s argument?

We are in a new industrial revolution that requires management trainees to develop “action learning” from real experience within business and industry, rather than getting tied up with theory and academia. Business schools seem unable, on their own, to tear themselves away from their largely academic roots and move closer to the realities of today’s business and industry; too often, trainees in business schools find themselves studying hypothetical cases instead of real ones. Furthermore, business schools have been slow to respond to the needs of business. Therefore, business schools should allow business executives to set curricula for management trainees that could then be taught by academics.

The argument relies on which one of the following assumptions?

A safety report indicates that, on average, traffic fatalities decline by about 7 percent in those areas in which strict laws requiring drivers and passengers to wear seat belts have been passed. In a certain city, seat belt laws have been in effect for two years, but the city’s public safety records show that the number of traffic deaths per year has remained the same.

Which one of the following, if true, does NOT help resolve the apparent discrepancy between the safety report and the city’s public safety records?