Scientist: Venus contains a hot molten core, like that of Earth. Also like Earth, Venus must expel the excess heat the core generates. On Earth, this occurs entirely through active volcanos and fissures created when tectonic plates separate. Yet Venus has neither active volcanos nor fissures caused by the movement of tectonic plates.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
How does Venus expel the excess heat that its core generates, even though it doesn’t expel that heat through active volcanos or fissures caused by the movement of tectonic plates?
Objective
The correct answer should provide a way for Venus to expel excess heat from its core through means besides active volcanos or fissures caused by the movement of tectonic plates.
A
Rock on the surface of Venus remains solid at much higher temperatures than does rock on Earth.
The temperature at which Venus’s rocks remain solid doesn’t have a clear relationship to the ability to expel excess heat from the core.
B
The surface of Venus is relatively thin, allowing internally produced heat to radiate into space.
This describes a way Venus might expel excess heat. The heat might be expelled through the thin surface into space.
C
The interior of Venus undergoes greater fluctuations in temperature than does that of Earth.
Varying temperatures doesn’t change the fact that Venus still needs to expel excess heat. This doesn’t provide a theory about how Venus expels such heat.
D
Though Venus lacks active volcanoes and heat-diffusing fissures, it has surface movement somewhat like that of Earth.
Having surface movement doesn’t clearly relate to expelling excess heat. Does surface movement by itself help expel heat? We don’t know.
E
The atmosphere of Venus is significantly hotter than that of Earth.
The temperature of the outside atmosphere doesn’t suggest a method that allows Venus to expel heat from its core. The outside air might be hotter, but how did it become hotter? From the core’s heat? How did that heat get expelled? We don’t know.
Columnist: The managers of some companies routinely donate a certain percentage of their companies’ profits each year to charity. Although this practice may seem totally justified and even admirable, it is not. After all, corporate profits are not the property of the managers, but of the companies’ owners. The legendary Robin Hood may have stolen from the rich to give to the poor, but he was nevertheless stealing.
Summarize Argument
The columnist concludes that company managers’ decision to donate company profits to charity is not justified or admirable. She supports this by drawing an analogy between the managers and Robin Hood. Just as Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, the managers, who are not the owners of company profits, are stealing from company owners to give to charity.
Notable Assumptions
For her analogy to support her conclusion, the columnist must assume that company managers donating profits to charities are similar in all relevant ways to Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor. In other words, she must believe there are no relevant differences or dissimilarities between the two scenarios.
A
The profits that a company makes in a given year are, in part, returned to the owners of the company.
The fact that part of the profits are returned to company owners doesn’t weaken the conclusion that donating some of the profits to charity is not justified. (A) also doesn’t provide a relevant difference between the managers’ donations and Robin Hood’s stealing.
B
Managers who routinely donate a certain percentage of corporate profits to charity do so with the owners’ tacit consent.
This points out a relevant difference between managers’ donations and Robin Hood’s theft. To draw an analogy between the two, the columnist must assume the owners don’t consent to the donations, just as the rich don’t consent to Robin Hood’s theft. (B) attacks that assumption.
C
Company managers often donate part of their own income to charities or other philanthropic organizations.
The author assumes that managers are stealing when they donate company profits that they don’t own. Whether managers also donate from their own income is irrelevant, since it wouldn’t amount to stealing and doesn’t highlight a relevant difference between managers and Robin Hood.
D
Any charity that accepts corporate donations needs to be able to account for how that money is spent.
The argument is about what company managers do in regard to charitable donations, rather than about what the charities themselves should or shouldn’t do. Thus, (D) doesn’t weaken the columnist’s conclusion or provide a relevant difference between the managers and Robin Hood.
E
Charities often solicit contributions from companies as well as private individuals.
Like (D), this misses the point of the columnist’s argument and fails to provide a relevant difference between managers and Robin Hood. The actions of charities are irrelevant to the conclusion that company managers’ donations amount to stealing.
A
More people are willing to see a film more than once than are willing to watch a television show more than once.
B
There is no analog in television to the large profits that owners of movie theaters make by selling refreshments to their customers.
C
The average cost of producing an hour of film is much greater than the average cost of producing an hour of television.
D
Television shows make their profits from sponsors, who are chiefly concerned with the purchasing power of the people who watch a television show.
E
Over half of the most popular television shows are shows that viewers do not have to pay to watch.
If temperatures increase, more organic molecules in exposed shale and similar sediments will be consumed by these microbes.
If temperatures increase, more carbon dioxide will be produced by certain microbes.
If temperatures increase, these microbes will worsen global warming.
A
The microbes’ activity will soon diminish as the organic molecules in exposed sediments are depleted.
B
Every organism that generates carbon dioxide reproduces more quickly at high temperatures.
C
If global warming occurs, it will be exacerbated by the activity of the microbes.
D
The microbes do not remove any element other than oxygen from the atmosphere.
E
A significant portion of the carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere was produced by the microbes.
A
Any particular individual will be allergic to some breeds of cat but not to others.
B
No cat is capable of causing an allergic reaction in all types of allergy sufferers.
C
Not all cats are identical with respect to the proteins contained in their skin secretions and saliva.
D
The allergic reactions of some people who are allergic to cats are more intense than the allergic reactions of other allergy sufferers.
E
There is no way to predict whether a given cat will produce an allergic reaction in a particular allergy sufferer.