A．Sales of higher-priced houses were unaffected by the sales drop because their purchasers have fewer constraints limiting the total amount they pay.
B．Labor agreements of builders with construction unions are not due to expire until the next January.
C．The prices of new houses have been rising slowly over the past three years because there is an increasing shortage of housing.
D．There was a greater amount of moderate-priced housing available for resale by owners during January than in the preceding three months.
E．Interest rates for home mortgages are expected to rise sharply later in the year if predictions of increased business activity in general prove to be accurate.

A．the value of a car that is bought new declines much more rapidly than does the value of a car that is bought used
B．after someone has bought a car, it might be several years before that person next buys a car
C．a decline in the proportion of car buyers who buy new cars must necessarily mean that the proportion who buy used cars has increased
D．the relative increase in used-car sales might be explained by the decisions of only a small proportion of all car buyers
E．the change in the average price paid for a new car could result solely from more people’s rejecting inexpensive new cars in favor of used cars

A．The type of music most popular for use in commercials has changed from a type that requires a large number of instruments to a type that requires very few instruments.
B．There has been an increase in the number of commercials that use only the spoken word and sound effects, rather than musical accompaniment.
C．There has been an increase in the number of commercials that use a synthesizer, an instrument on which one musician can reproduce the sound of many musicians playing together.
D．There has been an increase in the number of commercials that use prerecorded music as their only source of music.
E．There has been an increase in the number of commercials that use musicians just starting in the music industry rather than musicians experienced in accompanying commercials.

A．Prices for palm fruit fell between 1980 and 1984 following the rise in production and a concurrent fall in demand.
B．Imported trees are often more productive than native trees because the imported ones have left behind their pests and diseases in their native lands.
C．Rapid increases in productivity tend to deplete trees of nutrients needed for the development of the fruit-producing female flowers.
D．The weevil population in Asia remained at approximately the same level between 1980 and 1984.
E．Prior to 1980 another species of insect pollinated the Asian palm trees, but not as efficiently as the species of weevil that was introduced in 1980.

A．Many more desktop computers are sold each year in the United States market than are sold in the Swedish market.
B．The manufacturer does not want its competitors to become aware of the means by which the company has achieved this advance in technology.
C．Most business and scientific purchasers of desktop computers expect to replace such equipment eventually as better technology becomes available on the market.
D．An emphasis on the comparative safety of the new screen would call into question the safety of the many screens the manufacturer has already sold in the United States.
E．Concern has been expressed in the United States over the health effects of the large electromagnetic fields surrounding electric power lines.

A．The surveys questioned people who regularly watch prime-time television, and an innovative weekly primetime television series called "Wonders of Science" had been steadily winning viewers since its widely seen premiere in January 1992.
B．The surveys questioned college-educated adults, and a report called "The State of the Nation’s Schools." published in June 1992, noted an increase in students’ interest in science courses since 1982.
C．The surveys were conducted in a suburban shopping area near a company that ceased operation in April 1992 as a result of lawsuits arising from unexpected toxic effects of the company’s products.
D．Both survey forms were mailed to equally large samples of the population, after returning the 1991 survey forms, respondents were sent discount coupons for food products, and after returning the 1992 survey forms, respondents were sent a pamphlet on recycling.
E．The surveys questioned first-year college students across the country, and the people who did the questioning were all research scientists.

A．The neurons of the brain react less when a subject is trying to recognize patterns than when the subject is doing other kinds of reasoning.
B．Those who performed best in the experiment experienced more satisfaction when working with abstract patterns than did those who performed less well.
C．People who are better at abstract pattern recognition have more energy-efficient neural connections.
D．The energy expenditure of the subjects brains increases when a design that completes the initially recognized pattern is determined.
E．The task of completing a given design is more capable performed by athletes, whose energy expenditure is lower when they are at rest than is that of the general population.

A．When a pottery piece from any batch was broken during finishing, Stone Age people sometimes deliberately smashed the rest of that batch, perhaps to avert bad luck.
B．The composition of clay, which affects the durability of any pottery made from it, varies greatly from one area of the world to another.
C．Pottery was invented in the Stone Age, and techniques for making pottery were mastered well before those required for delicate ceramic work.
D．Stone Age potters drafted pottery figurines as frequently as they did ceramic pieces.
E．Many Stone Age rituals involved the destruction of a pottery figurine, perhaps as a sacrifice to the gods.

A.Major episodes of extinction can result from widespread environmental disturbances that affect numerous different species.
B.Certain extinction episodes selectively affect organisms with particular sets of characteristics unique to their species.
C.Some species become extinct because of accumulated gradual changes in their local environments.
D.In geologically recent times, for which there is no fossil record, human intervention has changed the pattern of extinction.
E.Species that are widely dispersed are the least likely to become extinct.

A．Fewer food products are packaged in nonrecyclable plasticstoday than were so packaged a year ago.
B．The new ordinance affects only plastic food packaging and not other products packaged in plastic, many of which are sold in Gorenton.
C．Grocery and other stores in nearby suburban areas patronized by many Gorenton residents are unaffected by the new ordinance.
D．Many food products formerly packaged in nonrecyclable plastics are now specially packaged in recyclable plastic before being shipped so that they can be sold in Gorenton.
E．The total amount of both Gorenton’s trash and its plastic waste grew considerably over the past year.