Although fullerenes–spherical molecules made entirely of carbon–were first found in the laboratory, they have since been found in nature, formed in fissures of the rare mineral shungite. Since laboratory synthesis of fullerenes requires distinctive conditions of temperature and pressure, this discovery should give geologists a test case for evaluating hypotheses about the state of the Earth’s crust at the time these naturally occurring fullerenes were formed.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument?

Economist:  On average, the emergency treatment for an elderly person for injuries resulting from a fall costs $11,000.  A new therapeutic program can significantly reduce an elderly person’s chances of falling.  Though obviously desirable for many reasons, this treatment program will cost $12,500 and thus cannot be justified.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the conclusion of the argument?

To meet the rapidly rising market demand for fish and seafood, suppliers are growing fish twice as fast as their natural growth rate, cutting their feed allotment by nearly half and raising them on special diets.

Organized in 1966 by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Breeding Bird Survey uses annual roadside counts along established routes for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of more than 250 bird species, including 180 songbirds.

Less than 35 years after the release of African honeybees outside Sao Paulo, Brazil, their descendants, popularly known as killer bees, had migrated as far north as southern Texas.

The prairie vole, a small North American grassland rodent, breeds year-round, and a group of voles living together consists primarily of an extended family, often including two or more litters. Voles commonly live in large groups from late autumn through winter; from spring through early autumn, however, most voles live in far smaller groups. The seasonal variation in group size can probably be explained by a seasonal variation in mortality among young voles.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the explanation offered?

A popular beach has long had a dolphin feeding program in which fish are given to dolphins several times a day; many dolphins get as much as half of their food each day there.  Although dolphins that first benefit from the program as adults are healthy and long-lived, their offspring have a lower life expectancy than offspring of dolphins that feed exclusively in the wild.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the lower life expectancy of offspring of dolphins feeding at the beach compared to other young dolphins?

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890’s that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

The airline company, following through on recent warnings that it might start reducing service, announced that it was eliminating jet service to nine cities, closing some unneeded operations, and it grounded twenty-two planes.

The list of animals that exhibits a preference of either using the right or the left hand (i.e., claw, paw, or foot) has been expanded to include the lower vertebrates.

Tiger sharks are common in the waters surrounding Tenare Island.  Usually tiger sharks feed on smaller sharks, but sometimes they have attacked tourists swimming and surfing at Tenare’s beaches.  This has hurt Tenare’s tourism industry, which is second only to its fishing industry in annual revenues.  In order to help the economy, therefore, the mayor of the island has proposed an ongoing program to kill any tiger sharks within a mile of the beaches.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly calls into question the likelihood that implementation of the mayor’s proposal will have the desired consequence?

The country of Ertland has never imported apples in any significant quantity because consumers there generally prefer the unique texture of Ertland-grown apples.  Nevertheless, apple growers from Kosolia, a neighboring country, plan to sell their apples in Ertland by selling Kosolia-grown apples at half the price of local apples and promoting them as a nourishing, low-cost alternative.

Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the viability of the plan by Kosolia’s apple growers to sell their apples in Ertland?

As part of major renovations to Flowertown’s Main Street train station, consultants to the train company proposed moving the station’s entrance from its current valuable Main Street location to a low-rent adjoining side street and then leasing the high-rent entrance space to retail businesses.  In that way, the train company could easily pay for those and all other proposed renovations without negative impact on its tight budget.

Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the consultants’ proposal?

The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.