Critical Reading

Analyzing the information you read

Practice 1

• Instruction: Read the question and the following answer below. Try to find the parts (in the answer)
that are not credible and need proof. What kind of proof does the writer need?

• Q: What is the best job for a business major?

• A: The business degree is one of the most popular and generic degrees you can get. You will get
exposed at the undergrad level to a little bit of management, economics, accounting, probably
some finance, marketing, project management, business law. So you will be a specialist in nothing,
but a generalist with the typical BS in Business. If you don’t have a passion for anything specific, but
know you want to work in corporate America this degree may be a good fit for you. The reality is
over 60% of people don’t work in their given field of study within 5 years, so this degree works if
you want to just dabble in different areas of business and management.
ANSWER

Practice 1

• “The business degree is one of the most popular and generic degrees you can get.”
: Because, there is no valid source for this credential, I can't find it. There are no words for that
statement either that more common credential tends to be less valuable than a less common
credential

• “The reality is over 60% of people don’t work in their given field of study within 5 years.”
Which sources can prove this statement? because I find no evidence to support that over 60% of
people don’t work in their given field of study within 5 years. I also didn't find any research if it's true.
Practice 2

• Instruction: Read the question and the following answer below. Try to find the parts (in the
answer) that are not credible and need proof. What kind of proof does the writer need?

• Q: Why do college students want to graduate as soon as possible?

• A: It's hard to say how to develop this attitude. People who are motivated usually have a clear
goal and highly driven for the final result. I'm currently a PhD student. I have found people
with work experiences before coming to grad school in general more motivated and more
capable of getting work done on time. If you have been a student all along, it is not surprising
you lack the motivation to finish things on time because there is rarely hard deadlines. Try an
internship in a dynamic working environment, that might help.
ANSWER

Practice 2

• “People who are motivated usually have a clear goal and highly driven for the final result.”
This statement is true as has been stated by Purwanto (2004), defines motivation as an effort that
consciously to move, direct, and maintain one's behavior so that he is compelled to act to do
something to achieve the result or a specific purpose.

• “I have found people with work experiences before coming to grad school in general more
motivated and more capable of getting work done on time.”
This statement is not clearly proven that people with work experience prior to coming to their
postgraduate school are more motivated and able to complete work on time.
Practice 3

• Instruction: Read the question and the following answer below. Try to find the parts (in the
answer) that are not credible and need proof. What kind of proof does the writer need?

• Q: Why is college often stressful?

• A: In my opinion stress only comes when someone is doing something repeatedly which
he/she is not loving to do or have no idea what he/she is doing. So specially in India everyone
follows the flow. If someone has no idea what to do then do engineering or BA. So now they
come to college and start doing their work and then they realize that this is not what they were
meant for and they do not love doing this. However, they cannot drop out because of what
others might think and because they had paid a lot so they become stressed.
 ANSWER

Practice 3

• “So specially in India everyone follows the flow. If someone has no idea what to do then do
engineering or BA.”
This statement does not indicate that it is based on research or surveys, so it cannot be said that this
statement is true, because there is no data to prove it.

• “However, they cannot drop out because of what others might think and because they had paid a
lot so they become stressed.”
Which sources can prove this statement? I found no evidence to support that they couldn't leave
because of what other people thought and because they had paid so much that they were stressed,
there could be other causes.