Critical Reasoning Drill #1

1. The school board has responded to the new school lunch guidelines by replacing fries with fruit in a standard meal option that used to consist of a hamburger, fries, and milk. However, the guidelines specifically require that vegetables, not fruits, be included in every meal.

The information above most strongly supports which of the following conclusions?

(A) Fruit provides just as much health value to students as vegetables.

(B) Students are more likely to eat fruit than vegetables.

(C) The school board is not following the new school guidelines.

(D) The school board is responsible for the health of the student population.

(E) The new school lunch guidelines are unnecessarily strict.

2. While many people think of the lottery as a harmless way to have fun and possibly win some money, buying lottery tickets is a form of gambling. Therefore, public officials shouldn’t buy lottery tickets.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion?

(A) Individuals who play the lottery are less likely to win a big payout than they are to be killed in a car crash.

(B) Some public officials are guilty of much more serious offenses than gambling.

(C) Public officials shouldn’t gamble.

(D) Many public officials are easily tempted to violate rules governing their positions.

(E) Most lottery winners are not made as happy by their winnings as they expected.

3. Some say that Saddlebrook College provides the best value in our state. Yet, students at our state’s Tunbridge College pay less, enjoy newer buildings and smaller class sizes, and earn larger incomes after graduation.

The information above, if true, most strongly supports which of the following judgments?

(A) Tunbridge College provides the best value in our state.

(B) Tunbridge College has more stringent entrance requirements than Saddlebook College, and thus attracts students of a higher caliber.

(C) It is not true that Saddlebrook College provides the best value in our state.

(D) Student income after graduation is a valid means of judging the value of a college education.

(E) Students at Tunbridge College report higher rates of satisfaction than students at Saddlebrook College.

4. Studies have long shown that people who drive red cars receive more speeding tickets from the police than do those who drive cars of other colors. Researchers have thus concluded that the color of a car influences its driver’s behavior.

The argument depends upon which one of the following assumptions?

(A) Drivers of black cars receive the second-most speeding tickets.

(B) Red cars do not attract more attention from the police than do cars of other colors.

(C) Police officers do not drive red cars.

(D) Red cars do not receive any more parking tickets, on average, than do cars of other colors.

(E) Drivers of red cars who are ticketed for speeding are able to appeal their tickets more often than drivers of other color cars.

5. The headmaster at Leawood Day School noticed that scores on math tests were lower this year than in previous years. This year, all students took math courses during the first period of the school day; in years past, they had taken math during the final period of the day. Reasoning that the students perform better on math tests when they are fully awake, the headmaster concluded that test scores would be higher if math classes were moved to the end of the day.

The headmaster’s reasoning depends upon which of the following assumptions?

(A) It would be possible to reconfigure the school’s schedule to accommodate having math classes in the afternoon.

(B) Several schools similar to Leawood Day School hold math classes in the afternoon.

(C) The quality of the teaching has little bearing on test scores.

(D) This year the math department started using new, unfamiliar curricular materials.

(E) Students are more likely to be fully awake during the final period of the day than they are during the first period of the day.

6. When financial services companies undertake layoffs, the most valuable employees, whom the companies want to retain, often leave the company voluntarily for new jobs not long after the layoffs. ITEL Financial Services, however, has not lost any of its most valuable employees despite multiple layoffs in the past decade. ITEL credits its success in keeping valuable employees to its high tolerance for risk when employees make investment decisions.

Which of the following, if true, mostly strongly supports ITEL’s reasoning as to why the company retains its most valuable employees?

(A) People in the financial services industry are often motivated to change jobs by a significant salary increase.

(B) The way in which layoffs are handled can have a significant upward or downward impact on the morale and company loyalty of the employees who remain.

(C) Layoffs often occur during industry downturns, and it is generally much more difficult to find a new job when the industry is struggling.

(D) It is difficult to develop an objective method or definition for determining who should be considered a very valuable employee.

(E) A risk-intolerant environment impedes the entrepreneurial drive that financial services industry employees feel is a requirement to be successful.

7. Exterminator: Using poisoned food is the most effective tactic for combating a mouse infestation. The mouse will carry the food back to the nest, causing all of the mice to die, while a trap will kill only the one mouse that falls into it. If all signs of the mice disappear for three consecutive weeks after poisoned food is used, the homeowner can be sure that the poison was successful in eradicating the mice.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the exterminator’s claim that the absence of signs for three weeks means the mice have been eradicated by the poison?

(A) Because mice hide whenever they sense humans, it is very difficult to see or hear mice even when there is an active infestation.

(B) It is more humane to use “live-catch” traps that allow homeowners to release the still-living mice outside.

(C) In the spring, many mice that nest in houses begin foraging for food outside and do not return to the comfort of the house until the fall or winter.

(D) There are several different kinds of poison that could be used, some of which are more effective than others.

(E) It sometimes takes longer than three weeks for all of the mice to ingest and die from the poison.

8. Ammonium triiodide is a highly explosive chemical that is easy to make from only two ingredients, ammonia and concentrated iodine. However, no terrorists are known to have ever used ammonium triiodide in an attack.

Which of the following, if true, is the most likely explanation for the discrepancy described above?

(A) Ammonia can be bought in a grocery store, but concentrated iodine must be obtained from somewhat more restricted sources, such as chemical supply houses.

(B) Ammonium triiodide is only one of several powerful explosives that can be made from ammonia.

(C) Many terrorists have been more focused on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear or biological weapons, than on developing conventional chemical explosives.

(D) Airport security devices are typically calibrated to detect nitrogen compounds, such as ammonia and ammonium compounds.

(E) Although generally stable when wet, ammonium triiodide is unstable when dry and explodes at the slightest disturbance.

9. The recent decline in the employment rate was spurred by predictions of slow economic growth in the coming year. However, those predictions would not have affected the employment rate if it had not been for the lack of capital reserves of major industries. So if major industries increase their capital reserves, the employment rate will not decline in the future.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the validity of the argument above?

(A) Major industry foresaw the drop in employment.

(B) Some major industries had appreciable capital reserves.

(C) An increase in labor costs could adversely affect the employment rate.

(D) The government could pass legislation mandating that major industries set aside a fixed amount as capital reserves every year.

(E) The drop in the employment rate was more severe this year than last.

10. New methods of math education in this country do a disservice to our children. In the lower grades, math instruction should focus on the basic skills that students will need in higher grades to develop the ability to solve complex problems. Learning basic math skills is like learning the scales and chords that one will later use to master complicated concertos and symphonies. Increasingly, math educators in this country seem to have it backward, emphasizing in higher grades the same narrow, skills-based approach that students learned in lower grades rather than the analytical tools they will need to solve complex math problems.

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

(A) While music is common in elementary school curricula, it is rarely taught in high school.

(B) On international tests of complex math skills, high-school students in this country performed no worse than did their counterparts from countries where problem solving is emphasized in higher grades.

(C) When presented with a math problem to solve, students in higher grades are more likely to arrive at different answers than students in lower grades.

(D) Older students tend to receive higher grades in math than younger students do.

(E) Universities in this country report a steady increase in the percentage of first-year students who qualify to take courses such as engineering that require advanced math.