Inferring 01

Question 1
Two women, one living in Los Angeles, the other living in New York City, carried on a lengthy correspondence
by mail. The subject of the exchange was a dispute over certain personality traits of Winston Churchill. After
some two dozen letters, the Los Angeles resident received the following note from her New York City
correspondent: "You were right all along. Yesterday I met someone who actually close with Sir Winston, and he
confirmed your opinion."
The two women could have based their arguments on all of the following EXCEPT
(a) published biographical information
(b) old news film footage.
(c) direct personal acquaintance
(d) assumption
(e) third party reports

Question 2
The protection of the right of property by the Constitution is tenuous at best. It is true that the Fifth
Amendment states that the government may not take private property for public use without compensation, but
it is the government that defines private property.
• Which of the following is most likely the point the author is leading up to?
(a) Individual rights that are protected by the 'Supreme Court are secure against government encroachment.
(b) Private property is neither more nor less than that which the government says is private property
(c) The government has no authority to deprive an individual of his liberty.
(d) No government that acts arbitrarily can be justified.
(e) The keystone of American democracy is the Constitution.

Question 3
Why pay outrageously high prices for imported sparkling water when there is now an inexpensive water
carbonated and bottled here in the United States at its source--Cold Springs, Vermont. Neither you nor your
guests will taste the difference, but if you would be embarrassed if it were learned that you were serving a
domestic sparkling water, then serve Cold Springs Water but serve it in a leaded crystal decanter.
• The advertisement rests on which of the following assumptions?
I. It is difficult if not impossible to distinguish Cold Springs Water from imported competitors on the basis of
taste.
II. Most sparkling waters are not bottled at the source.
III. Some people may purchase an imported sparkling water over a domestic one as a status symbol.
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) III only
(d) I and I1 only
(e) I and III only.

Question 4
Parochial education serves the dual functions of education and religious instruction, and church leaders are
justifiably concerned to impart important religious values regarding relationships between the sexes. Thus,
when the administrators of a parochial school system segregate boys and girls in separate institutions, they
believe they are helping to keep the children pure by removing them from a source of temptation. If the admin-
istrators realized, however, that children would be more likely to develop the very attitudes they seek to
engender in the company of the opposite sex, they would ___________________
• Choose the best completion of the following paragraph.
 Inferring 01

(a) put an end to all parochial education

(b) no longer insist upon separate schools for boys and girls
(c) abolish all racial discrimination in the religious schools
(d) stop teaching foolish religious tripe, and concentrate instead on secular educational programs
(e) reinforce their policies of isolating the sexes in separate programs.

Question 5
MARY:All of the graduates from Midland High School go to State College.
ANN: I don't know. Some of the students at State College come from North Hills High School.
• Ann's response shows that she has interpreted Mary's remark to mean that
(a) most of the students from North Hills High School attend State College
(b) none of the students at State College are from Midland High School
(c) only students from Midland High School attend State College
(d) Midland High School is a better school than North Hills High School
(e) some Midland High School graduates do not attend college

Question 6
In the earliest stages of the common law, a party could have his case heard by a judge only upon the payment of
a fee to the court, and then only if his case fit within one of the forms for which there existed a writ. At first the
number of such formalized cases of action was very small, but judges invented new forms which brought more
cases.
• Which of the following conclusions is most strongly suggested by the paragraph above?
(a) Early judges often decided cases in an arbitrary and haphazard manner
(b) In most early cases, the plaintiff rather than the defendant prevailed.
(c) The judiciary at first had greater power than either the legislature or the executive
(d) One of the motivating forces for the early expansion in judicial power was economic considerations
(e) The first common law decisions were inconsistent with one another and did not form a coherent body of
law

Question 7
AL: If an alien species ever visited Earth, it would surely be because they were looking for other intelligent
species with whom they could communicate. Since we have not been contacted by aliens, we may conclude that
none have ever visited this planet.
AMY: Or, perhaps, they did not think human beings intelligent.
• How is Amy's response related to Al's comments?
(a) She misses Al's point entirely.
(b) She attacks Al personally rather than his reasoning.
(c) She points out that Al made an unwarranted assumption.
(d) She ignores the detailed internal development of Al's logic.
(e) She introduces an incorrect analogy