11. The average cable television company offers its customers 50 channels, but new fiber-optic lines will enable telephone companies to provide 100 to 150 television channels to their customers for the same price as cable companies charge for 50. Therefore, the new companies will displace cable companies within a few years.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to strengthen the argument?
A. The initial cost per household of installing new fiber-optic television service will exceed the current cost of installing cable television service.
B. The most popular movies and programs on channels carried by cable companies will also be offered on channels carried by the fiber-optic lines owned by the telephone companies.
C. Cable television companies will respond to competition from the telephone companies by increasing the number of channels they offer.
D. Some telephone companies own cable companies in areas other than those in which they provide telephone services.
E. The new fiber-optic services offered by telephone companies will be subject to more stringent governmental programming regulations than those to which cable companies are now subject.
The correct answer is B.
See: Strengthen question
Think: I need the choice that confirms the central assumption. In other words, Strengthen the argument = Strengthen the assumption.
Do:
Conclusion: The “what” of an argument
In this case:
Cable companies will be displaced by the new companies within a few years.
.
Evidence: The “Why” of an argument
In this case:
The average cable television company offers its customers 50 channels, but new fiber-optic lines will enable telephone companies to provide 100 to 150 television channels to their customers for the same price as cable companies charge for 50.
Assumption: Facts or ideas, not stated in the passage. The assumption must be true if the argument is to be considered valid. The assumption typical directly links the evidence with the conclusion. The best way to tackle it is to negate it.
In this case:
The channels, if not all, the most of them must be overlapped from both providers.
The choice B, only B, confirms the central assumption. So it’s the correct answer.
12. The only physical factor preventing a human journey to Mars has been weight. Carrying enough fuel to propel a conventional spacecraft to Mars and back would make even the lightest craft too heavy to be launched from Earth. A device has recently been invented, however, that allows an otherwise conventional spacecraft to refill the craft’s fuel tanks with fuel manufactured from the Martian atmosphere for the return trip. Therefore, it is possible for people to go to Mars in a spacecraft that carries this device and then return.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The amount of fuel needed for a spacecraft to return from Mars is the same as the amount of fuel needed to travel from Earth to Mars.
B. The fuel manufactured from the Martian atmosphere would not differ in composition from the fuel used to travel to Mars.
C. The device for manufacturing fuel from the Martian atmosphere would not take up any of the spaceship crew’s living space.
D. A conventional spacecraft equipped with the device would not be appreciably more expensive to construct than current spacecraft typically are.
E. The device for manufacturing fuel for the return to Earth weighs less than the tanks of fuel that a conventional spacecraft would otherwise need to carry from Earth for the return trip.
The correct answer is (E)
See: Assumption question
Think: I have to find the conclusion, then the evidence, and from them figure out the central assumption.
Do:
Conclusion: The “what” of an argument
In this case:
It is possible for people to go to Mars in a spacecraft that carries this device and then return.
Evidence: The “Why” of an argument
In this case:
E1:
The only physical factor preventing a human journey to Mars has been weight. Carrying enough fuel to propel a conventional spacecraft to Mars and back would make even the lightest craft too heavy to be launched from Earth.
E2:
A device has recently been invented, however, that allows an otherwise conventional spacecraft to refill the craft’s fuel tanks with fuel manufactured from the Martian atmosphere for the return trip
Assumption: Facts or ideas, not stated in the passage. The assumption must be true if the argument is to be considered valid. The assumption typical directly links the evidence with the conclusion. The best way to tackle it is to negate it.
In this case:
The device for manufacturing fuel for the return to Earth weighs less than the tanks of fuel that a conventional spacecraft would otherwise need to carry from Earth for the return trip.
If we negate the assumption, the conclusion can’t come to pass.
The device for manufacturing fuel for the return to Earth weighs more than the tanks of fuel that a conventional spacecraft would otherwise need to carry from Earth for the return trip, then the conclusion can’t come to pass in new invented device term.
13. In 1712 the government of Country Y appointed a censor to prohibit the publication of any book critical of Country Y’s government; all new books legally published in the country after 1712 were approved by a censor. Under the first censor, one half of the book manuscripts submitted to the censor were not approved for publication. Under the next censor, only one quarter of the book manuscripts submitted were not approved, but the number of book manuscripts that were approved was the same under both censors. If the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following can be properly concluded from them?
A. More books critical of Country Y’s governments were published before the appointment of the first censor than after it.
B. The first censor and the second censor prohibited the publication of the same number of book manuscripts.
C. More book manuscripts were submitted for approval to the first censor than to the second.
D. The second censor allowed some book manuscripts to the published that the first censor would have considered critical of Country Y’s government.
E. The number of writers who wrote unpublished manuscripts was greater under the first censor than under the second.
参考思路：
同5，又是一道计算题。关键还是列出公式。
the number of book manuscripts that were approved was the same under both censors.
Numbers of the first censor checked x (1-50%) = Numbers of the second censor x (1-25%)
So
(C) More book manuscripts were submitted for approval to the first censor than to the second.
14. If the government increases its funding for civilian scientific research, private patrons and industries will believe that such research has become primarily the government’s responsibility. When they believe that research is no longer primarily their responsibility, private patrons and industries will decrease their contributions toward research. Therefore, in order to keep from depressing the overall level of funding for civilian scientific research, the government should not increase its own funding.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?
A. Governments should bear the majority of the financial burden of funding for civilian scientific research.
B. Any increase in government funding would displace more private funding for civilian scientific research than it would provide.
C. Private donations toward research are no longer welcomed by researchers whose work receives government funding.
D. Civilian scientific research cannot be conducted efficiently with more than one source of funding.
E. funding for civilian scientific research is currently at the highest possible level.
参考思路：
本题指出private funding for civilian scientific research和government funding是一增一减的关系。如果两者的增长数量是一样的，则总量不会随其中之一而变化。而如果一方的变化是另一方变化量的系数倍，则总量将会受到影响
(B) Any increase in government funding would displace more private funding for civilian scientific research than it would provide.
这个选项指出了第二钟变化趋势。Therefore, in order to keep from depressing the overall level of funding for civilian scientific research, the government should not increase its own funding. 我们应该假设Any increase in government funding would displace more private funding for civilian scientific research than it would provide.。 b is correct.
15. Dental researcher: Filling a cavity in a tooth is not a harmless procedure: it inevitably damages some of the healthy parts of the tooth. Cavities are harmful only if the decay reaches the nerves inside the tooth, and many cavities, if left untreated, never progress to that point. Therefore, dentists should not fill a cavity unless the nerves inside the tooth are in imminent danger from that cavity.
Which one of the following principles, if valid, most strongly supports the researcher’s reasoning?
A. Dentists should perform any procedure that is likely to be beneficial in the long term, but only if the procedure does not cause immediate damage.
B. Dentists should help their patients to prevent cavities rather than waiting until cavities are present to begin treatment.
C. A condition that is only potentially harmful should not be treated using a method that is definitely harmful.
D. A condition that is typically progressive should not be treated using methods that provide only temporary relief.
E. A condition that is potentially harmful should not be left untreated unless it can be kept under constant surveillance.
答案：C
思路：搭桥法，建立A与B的联系作者指出：补牙对牙齿的健康部分是一定有害的。而牙洞只有在已经露出神经后才是有害的。可是这种情形几乎不可能出现。因此牙医不应该随便给病人补牙除非牙龈神经已经露出。
A, 提到无关信息：beneficial in the long term。
B, 与题目相反
C, 有效的建立了两者的关系，即对于潜在的伤害不应用必然带来其他伤害的方法来治疗。
D, 无关信息排除
E, 没有建立起有效的连接。