121. Observatory director: Some say that funding the mega telescope will benefit only the astronomers who will work with it. This dangerous point of view, applied to the work of Maxwell, Newton, or Einstein, would have satisfied their research and deprived the world of beneficial applications, such as the development of radio, that followed from that research.
If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the mega telescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?
A. It appeals to the authority of experts who cannot have known all the issues involved in construction of the megatelescope.
B. It does not identify those opposed to development of the megatelescope.
C. It launches a personal attack on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.
D. It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual senses of “benefit”.
E. It does not show that the proposed mega telescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications.
参考思路：指出推论错误。
(E) It does not show that the proposed mega telescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications. 举的例子不具有可比性
122. Photovoltaic power plants produce electricity from sunlight. As a result of astonishing recent technological advances, the cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic power plants, allowing for both construction and operating costs, it one-tenth of what it was 20 years ago, whereas the corresponding cost for traditional plants, which burn fossil fuels, has increased. Thus, photovoltaic power plants offer a less expensive approach to meeting demand for electricity than do traditional power plants.
The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn it which one of the following is assumed?
A. the cost of producing electric power at traditional plants has increased over the past 20 years.
B. Twenty years ago, traditional power plants were producing 10 times more electric power than were photovoltaic plants.
C. None of the recent technological advances in producing electric power at photovoltaic plants can be applied to producing power at traditional plants.
D. Twenty years ago, the cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic plants was less than 10 times the cost of producing power at traditional plants.
E. The cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic plants is expected to decrease further, while the cost of producing power at traditional plants is not expected to decrease.
参考答案：D
This question requires to be identified an assumption that would allow the argument’s conclusion to be properly drawn. As the argument is stated, there is a logical gap between the information given in the premises and the claim made in the conclusion:
Premise1: The cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic power plants is one-tenth of what it was 20 years ago.
Premise 2: The corresponding cost for traditional plants has increased.
Conclusion: Photovoltaic power plants offer a less expensive approach to meeting demand for electricity than do tranditional power plants.
From the fact that one cost has gone down while another has risen, it does not necessarily follow that the first is now lower than the second. In particular, if the cost of producing electric power at photovoltaic power plants twenty years ago was more than then times the corresponding cost for traditional plants, then the fact that it is now one-tenth what it was is not sufficient to show that it is now lower than the corresponding cost for traditional plants, even though we are told in Premise 2 that the cost for traditional plants has increased. To conclude from the premises given in the argument that photovoltaic power plants now offer a less expensive approach than do traditional power plants, we need to know how the costs of the two methods of production were related 20 years ago – specifically that the cost of producing power at photovoltaic plants was less than 10 times the cost of producing it at traditional plants. (D) gives this information and is, thus, the credited response.
A. is incorrect because it tells us about only one of the two costs, not about how the two were related 20 years ago. It in effect restates premise 2, and premises 1 and 2 together are not sufficient for drawing the conclusion.
B. is incorrect. The amount of electricity produced by the different kinds of plants is not at issue.
C. is incorrect. While it is relevant tothe discussion, (C) does not provide the information about the comparative costs of the two kinds of plants 20 years ago that allows the conclusion to be properly drawn.
D. is incorrect because the conclusion in the argument is about the present only. Whether or not the change described in (E) is expected to take place has no bearing on the claim in the conclusion that the one kind of plant offers a less expensive approach at present.
123. When a group of children who have been watching television programs that include acts of violence is sent to play with a group of children who have been watching programs that do not include acts of violence, the children who have been watching violent programs commit a much greater number of violent acts in their play than do the children who have been watching nonviolent programs. Therefore, children at play can be prevented from commiting violent acts by not being allowed to watch violence on television.
The argument in the passage assumes which one of the following?
A. Television has a harmful effect on society.
B. Parents are responsible for the acts of their children.
C. Violent actions and passive observation of violent actions are not related.
D. There are no other differences between the two groups of children that might account for the difference in violent behavior.
E. Children who are treated violently will respond with violence.
参考答案：D
This question requires to be identified an assumption that would allow the argument’s conclusion to be properly drawn. As the argument is stated, there is a logical fallacy in the line of reasoning and need to be fixed by the assumption. The fallacy here is: Denial of the antecedent. (原名题之否命题不必然成立)
Premiss: Watching acts of violence in TV, the children commit much a greater number of violent acts in play.
Conclusion: Not being allowed to watch violence on television, children at play can be prevented from committing violent acts.
There should be many ways to address this fallacy to make the argument established. One of them is to make an assumption by utilizing the contra productive (逆否命题). It makes good sense that if the contra productive of an conclusion is sound, the conclusion itself will be sound naturally. Here let’s get down to the conclusion above, its contra productive is:
“If children’s violent acts can not be prevented, they must have been allowed to watch violent acts on TV;”
Since this is the only thing we can conclude, no any other things account for it. (D) offers what we are looking for.
(A) is way too much out of scope, we only know from the information we have been given in the passage that children watching too much violent acts developed a greater number of violent behavior, we don’t know and can’t conclude that the TV as a whole harms the society. Phrase this out.
(B) Parents’ responsibility over the matters has no bearing on the causality we discuss here.
(C) is opposite from what we learn from the passage. We are try to establish the causality between observation of violent action and violent action committed by children, the fact they are related is the first thing we can ensure from the passage.
(E) this may be correct, but just as (B), how the way the children are treated relates to their corresponding action is not the issue at point.
124. It is repeatedly claimed that the dumping of nuclear waste poses no treat to people living nearby. If this claim could be made with certainty, there would be no reason for not locating sites in areas of dense population. But the policy of dumping nuclear waste only in the more sparsely populated regions indicates, at the very least, some misgiving about safety on the part of those responsible for policy.
Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument?
A. Evacuation plants in the event of an accident could not be guaranteed to work perfectly except where the population is small.
B. In the event of an accident, it is certain that fewer people would be harmed in a sparsely populated than in a densely populated area.
C. Dumping of nuclear waste poses fewer economic and bureaucratic problems in sparsely populated than in densely populated areas.
D. There are dangers associated with chemical waste, and it, too, is dumped away from areas of dense population.
E. Until there is no shred of doubt that nuclear dumps are safe, it makes sense to situate them where they pose the least threat to the public.
the answer is c.
as the passage suggests, the author thinks there must be considerations of safety in the choose of dumping places. So the answer should give another reason instead of that.
A, B, D and E are all concerned about safety, and only c tell us that the shopping of places is out of a concern of cost .so C is the right answer.
125. A society’s infant mortality rate is an accepted indicator of that society’s general health status. Even though in some localities in the United States the rate is higher than in many developing countries. In the United States, overall the rate has been steadily declining. This declines does not necessarily indicate, however, that babies in the United States are now, on the average, healthier at birth than they were in the past.
Which one of the following reasons, if true, most strongly supports the claim made above about the implications of the decline?
A. The figure for infant mortality is compiled as an overall rate and thus masks deficiencies in particular localities.
B. Low birth weight is a contributing factor in more than half of the infant deaths in the United States.
C. The United States has been developing and his achieved extremely sophisticated technology for saving premature and low-birth-weight babies, most of whom require extended hospital stays.
D. In eleven states of the United States, the infant mortality rate declined last year.
E. Babies who do not receive adequate attention from a caregiver fail to thrive and so they gain weight slowly.
as the passage suggests, the decline, in the author's opinion, does not indicate that the babies are healthier than b4.so ,in support of this conclusion ,we must show that though the babies are not healthier but they survive.
A is skeptical about the accuracy of the statistics .
B gives us a piece of irrelevant information.
D is also irrelevant. So is e.
C tells us why unhealthy babies can survive and the death rate declines.
C is the right answer.