QOD 30/1/2012

If p₁ and p₂ are the populations and r₁ and r₂ are the numbers of representatives of District 1 and District 2, respectively, the ratio of the population to the number of representatives is greater for which of the two districts ?

‍(1) p₁ > p₂

‍(2) r₂ > r₁

What digit does t represent in the decimal 0.t73 ?

(1) t < 5

(2) 0.t73 <

QOD 29/1/2012

1.

Excavations on the now uninhabited isle of Kelton reveal a scene typical of towns decimated by volcanic ash.  Archaeologists have hypothesized that the destruction was due to volcanic activity known to have occurred in the vicinity of the island in 160 B. C.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the archarologist’ hypothesis?

A. No coins minted after 160 B.C. were found in Kelton , but coincs minted before that year were found in abundance.

B. Pieces of gold and pearl jewelery that are often found in graves dating from years preceding and following 160 B.C. were also found in several graves on the island.

C.  Most modern histories of the region mention that  several major volcanoe erruptions occurred near the island in 160 B.C.

D.  Several small jugs carved in styles poplular in the region in the certury between 200 B.C. and 100 B.C. were found in Kelton.

E.  Drawings of the styles that was definitely used in the region after 160 B.C. were found in Kelton.

2.

With the proliferation of private companies that specialize in genetic research, it was feared that they would impose silence on the results of in-house research.  This constraint, in turn, would slow the progress of genetic engineering to alleviate patient suffering.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the prediction of scientific secrecy above?

A.  Genetic research funded by industry has reached some conclusions that are of major scientific importance.

B.  When the results of scientific research are kept secret, independent researcher are unable to build on those results.

C. To enhance the companies’ standing in the community, the genetic companies encourage employees to publish their results, especially results that are important.

D.  Since the research priorities of companies that specialize in genetic research are not the same as those of academic institutions, the financial support of research by such companies distorts the research agenda

E.  Companies that specialize in genetic research devote some of their research resources to problems that are of fundamental scientific importance and that are not expected to produce immediate practical applications.

QOD 28/1/2012

1.

Although perioral dermatitis rashes are believed to be caused by reactions to Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) found in shampoos and other personal care products, instructing patients to eliminate all products with SLS frequently does not stop the perioral dermatitis.  Obviously, some other cause of perioral dermatitis besides reactions to SLS must exist. 

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weakens the conclusion above?

A.  Many personal care products elicit an allergic skin response only after several days, making it very difficult to observe links between specific products patients use and the perioral dermatitis they develop.

B.  Skin allergies affect many people who never develop the symptom of perioral dermatitis.

C.  Many patients report that the personal care products that cause them perioral dermatitis are among the products they most enjoy using.

D.  Very few patients have allergic skin reactions as children and then live rash-free adult lives once they have eliminated products to which they have been demonstrated to be allergic. 

E.  Very rarely do personal care products cause patients to suffer a symptom more severe than that of perioral dermatitis rashes.

2.

In a psychological experiment conducted at Southbay University, groups of men with various levels of education read stories in which people caused harm, some of them doing so intentionally, and some accidentally.   When asked about appropriate penalization for those who had caused harm, the less educated men, unlike the educated ones, assigned punishments that did not vary according to whether the harm was done intentionally or accidentally.  Uneducated men, then, do not regard people’s intentions as relevant to penalization.  

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?

A. In these stories, the severity of the harm produced was clearly stated.

B. In interpreting these stories, the listeners had to draw on a relatively feminine sense of human psychology in order to tell whether harm was produced intentionally or accidentally.

C.  Relatively uneducated men are as likely to produce harm unintentionally as are more educated men.

D.  The more educated men assigned penalization in a way that closely resembled the way women had assign penalization in a similar experiment.

E.  The less educated men assigned penalization that varied according to the severity of the harm done by the agents in the stories. 

QOD 27/1/2012

1.

The black hole has entered the popular imagination as

  an object too massive that neither light nor matter can

  escape its gravitational pull.

  (A) too massive that neither light nor matter can escape its

  (B) too massive for either allowing light or matter to

      escape its

  (C) massive enough that either light or matter cannot

      escape their

  (D) so massive that neither light nor matter could

      escape their

  (E) so massive that neither light nor matter can escape its

2.

Selling several hundred thousand copies in six months,

  the publication of “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 was an

  instant hit, helping to establish Scott Joplin as the

  preeminent ragtime composer.

  (A) Selling several hundred thousand copies in six

      months, the publication of “Maple Leaf Rag”

      in 1899 was an instant hit, helping to establish

      Scott Joplin as the preeminent ragtime

      composer.

  (B) The publication in 1899 of “Maple Leaf Rag”

      was an instant hit: in six months they sold

      several hundred thousand copies and it helped

      establish Scott Joplin as the preeminent ragtime

      composer.

  (C)) Helping to establish Scott Joplin as the preemi-

       nent ragtime composer was the publication of

       “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899, which was an

       instant hit: it sold several hundred thousand

       copies in six months.

  (D) “Maple Leaf Rag” was an instant hit: it helped

       establish Scott Joplin as the preeminent ragtime

       composer, published in 1899 and selling sev-

       eral hundred thousand copies in six months.

  (E) Published in 1899, “Maple Leaf Rag” was an

      instant hit, selling several hundred thousand

      copies in six months: it helped establish Scott

      Joplin as the preeminent ragtime composer.

Link to sample AWA essays

http://gmatclub.com/forum/awa-compilations-223-essays-86274.html