Ref: CRPT1002102 CRITICAL REASONING PRACTICE TEST
(All Areas)
Directions for questions 1 to 25: Select the correct alternative from the given choices.
1. Which of the following most logically completes the
argument?
In an ideal experiment, a researcher changes only
the variables that are of interest and fixes all others.
This level of control is often impossible in the real
world and the accuracy of experiment is naturally
expected to drift over time. However, the outcomes
of the ideal experiment do have adequate plausibility
and utility, assuming that ______.
(A) ideal experiments are conducted by considering
very few variables of interest.
(B) variables fixed at a certain level are likely to be
maintained at the same level.
(C) ideal experiments cannot be performed without
changing all the variables related to the
experiment.
(D) the variables that have significant influence on
the output of the ideal experiment are almost
always considered.
2. A study of compliance with medical appointments
has shown that people who took only one medical
appointment showed a no-show rate of less than
2%, while people who took multiple appointments
with the doctors showed a no-show rate of more
than 20%. This may be at least in part because
people who paid in advance for multiple
appointments are financially less prudent than those
who took only one medical appointment.
Which of the following, if true, can offer an
alternative explanation to the one given above?
(A) Usually, people with minor ailments take one
appointment, while people with major health
problems take multiple medical appointments.
(B) Doctors lose money when a patient who has
taken an appointment does not show up at the
agreed upon time.
(C) Mostly, people who took only one medical
appointment did so immediately prior to each
medical appointment during which they visited
the doctor.
(D) Patients seeking to make multiple appointments
with specialists need to pay more per
appointment than they need to pay for a single
appointment.
3. Although we do not have the correct authorship of
the book Samhita, we know that this Sanskrit work
was written between 110 AD and 120 AD. Literary
and archaeological sources from this period mention
only three Sanskrit authors: Charaka, a royal patron
of Pallava Dynasty, Mohita, who was the minister in
a royal court and Kairav, a member of peasant
community. Given the fact that Samhita elaborately
depicts agricultural practices of the period, we can
conclude that Kairav was the author of the book.
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Which of the following is an assumption on which
the argument depends?
(A) The period to which the author of Samhita
belonged was a period of agricultural dominance.
(B) Authors who did not have direct contact with
a profession could not depict it elaborately.
(C) The literary and archaeological sources of the
period are dependable.
(D) The agricultural practices that are depicted in
the book are accurately depicted.
4. Which of the following most logically completes the
argument below?
TV 12, although the most popular news channel
covering political events in Sardonia, has recently
suffered a significant drop in its advertising revenues
because many of its viewers have started watching
its rival channel. The subscription price for TV 12 is
considered high, while the rival offers the channel
without any subscription. The management of
TV 12 has proposed to offer the channel without any
subscription, but this proposal is not likely to solve
the problem because ______.
(A) most TV viewers leaving the channel did so
because of the lower quality of programs.
(B) the collection of subscription indicates higher
program quality, for enhanced revenues can be
spent on program production.
(C) the amount advertisers choose to spend
depends on the targeted audience, rather than
on actual circulation.
(D) TV 12 channel supports, in a subtle way, a
political party that is quite dominant in Sardonia.
5. A fossilized skeleton of a baleen whale has been
discovered in Lompoc, California. The anomaly
about the fossil is that the whale was not lying
horizontally, but vertically – standing on its tail. Given
the observation that the skeleton of the animal living
25,000 years ago stands 80 feet high, we know that
rock strata of that depth would take
a million of years to form, but the carcass would
have decomposed in just months.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to
reconcile the discrepancy observed above?
(A) Baleen whales’ bodies, which weigh hundreds
of tons, contain in large proportions, fat that
decomposes quickly.
(B) Baleen whales frequently go to vertical position so
that they can reach the surface in the shortest
possible time in order to breathe using their lungs.
(C) A volcanic eruption that occurred in the area
during that period caused the baleen whale to
be catastrophically buried in the sediment.
(D) The fossil of the animal has been found in the
rock strata that belongs to a geologic age of
22,000 years ago.
CRPT1002102/1
6. Sanskrit shared many similarities with languages as
disparate as French, English, Persian and Russian.
Basing on these similarities, linguists conclude that
all these languages derived from a common
language – Indo-European. But, while North Indian
languages are predominantly Indo-European, South
Indian languages mostly belong to the Dravidian
language family. To explain this, historians
hypothesize that ancient people popularly known as
Aryans from outside India invaded, bringing with
them the proto-Sanskrit language to northern India
some 3000 years ago.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the
historians' hypothesis?
(A) Rig Veda, a Sanskrit religious text that has been
dated at 1700 BC, was written in India.
(B) Linguists' views have differed significantly from
the views of historians, especially in relation
with dating of ancient texts.
(C) Genetic studies prove that the genetic
composition of Aryans was not identical to that of
people speaking languages similar to Sanskrit.
(D) Indo-European languages are spoken in far
more areas than those mentioned in the
argument.
7. Industrial pollution in industrial districts of Sardonia
are an increasing problem for local residents – the
air pollution in those districts has doubled the
incidence of respiratory problems among the
residents. In order to address this problem, the
government plans to increase pollution tax by 600%
when the pollutant levels are beyond a certain limit,
a limit currently in force, but not followed by most
industries.
Which of the following, if true, would most strongly
indicate that the plan will be successful?
(A) Approximately one-fourth of industries in
Sardonia release pollutants beyond the limit
mandated by the Sardonian government.
(B) In other industrial districts, high pollution taxes
have strongly encouraged industries to upgrade
their production technologies, significantly
reducing pollutants.
(C) Government officials expect that without the
enhanced penalties, pollution is likely to grow by
3 percent in the next five years.
(D) The government's revenue from penalties
increases significantly after the implementation
of enhanced penalties for pollution.
8. Biodiversity has an effect on the transmission of
disease-causing organisms (pathogens) such as
bacteria, because most pathogens are generalists –
they infect more than one species of host. In many
cases, the hosts are abundant and resilient to
disturbances caused by humans. Consequently,
these host species tend to persist when diversity is
reduced, increasing in abundance relative to other
species. Species living in ecological communities
with high diversity tend to dilute the effect of hosts.
Which of the following conclusions can most
logically be drawn from the above?
(A) Pathogens that are generalists spread more
rapidly than those that infect specific host
species.
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(B) The spread of a pathogen is not related to the
extent of biodiversity present.
(C) The abundance of specific species results in
change in biodiversity.
(D) Humans are less prone to infections when the
biodiversity is protected.
9. Many countries are encouraging their citizens to
reduce the release of greenhouse gases, which
cause global warming. One proposal is to replace
the existing manufacturing facilities with eco-friendly
machinery that actually increase production, but
reduce greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, this
switch to modern machinery will help reduce
atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the
argument?
(A) The production cost of eco-friendly machinery,
which is currently high, has shown a fall as its
demand increased due to environmental
concerns.
(B) Eco-friendly machines require the same raw
materials for production of a product as those
used by existing manufacturing facilities.
(C) The manufacture of eco-friendly machinery
does not release greenhouse gases in more
quantities than does that of existing
manufacturing machinery.
(D) Most manufacturing industries are either
unaware of the advantages of latest
technologies or disinclined to change their
manufacturing processes.
10. Psychologists say that, when people face problems
that are difficult to solve, setting them aside can lead
to new ideas or even flashes of insight. They argue
that this process, generally called incubation,
frequently reduces the time required to solve the
problem or induces creative thinking that helps find
an innovative solution.
All of the following, if true, would explain the above
EXCEPT
(A) Human mind requires some rest when it faces
a serious problem that needs solution.
(B) If the initial approach is inaccurate, the more
people stick to the idea, the more they are
actually suppressing other ideas.
(C) When people stop thinking about a demanding
problem, they get from the environment clues
that help solve the problem.
(D) Even when people stop thinking about
a problem, their subconscious mind explores
the problem without any bias, resulting in
a possible solution.
11. Advertisement: When you are worried about
obesity, any major brand will minimize its potential
incidence as well as our Slim-on. When the
consumer is prone to pulmonary hypertension, as is
the case for most, it is a different story: Slim-on
contains a special variant of fenfluramine,
a common medicine used to prevent obesity,
a variant greatly effective with such proneness. So, if
you want better medicine for obesity prevention, you
should use Slim-on.
 Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the
argument in the advertisement?
(A) Slim-on provides above-average level
prevention for people who are not prone to
pulmonary hypertension.
(B) Slim-on is frequently provided free of cost to
patients who visit doctors to prevent obesity.
(C) The market share of Slim-on increased by over
150% during the past five years after the
product was launched.
(D) Fenfluramine, generally used in all obesity
prevention medicines, is far better at preventing
obesity than other appetite-suppressants.
12. Which of the following most logically completes the
argument below?
Sardinia's farmers are currently deciding between
growing organic vegetables (vegetables grown
without using pesticides) and conventional
vegetables. Both crops are equally profitable under
normal conditions. Because of the recent government
regulations, farmers cannot use pesticides beyond
a certain level, a limitation that may reduce the per
acre yield of conventional vegetables. But we cannot
conclude that growing organic vegetables is more
profitable because ______.
(A) the smaller-than-average size of conventional
vegetables may be compensated by higher
prices for those vegetables.
(B) growing organic vegetables might require higher
investment in other investments such as that on
irrigation.
(C) both conventional vegetables and organic
vegetables require equal amounts of investment.
(D) the conventional vegetables that farmers grow
are well-adapted to the soil in which the
vegetables are grown.
13. The Life of Dorian was written in 1220 and is
universally accepted to be a biography of the king of
ancient Bravia. Some scholars, however, question
this gender attribution because they argue that the
name Dorian was commonly given both for baby
boys and baby girls. They quote the historical
evidence that the kingdom of Bravia was ruled by
a queen, not a king.
Which of the following, if true, most supports the
scholars' argument?
(A) It was quite common that many women ruled
ancient Bravia when there was no male heir to
the throne.
(B) Literary evidence from that period described the
ruler of Bravia using words used only for the
fairer gender.
(C) In a translation of the work, some masculine
and some feminine pronouns are used to
describe the ruler's life.
(D) A minimum of five queens supposedly ruled
ancient Bravia between 1100 AD and 1200 AD.
14. In order to increase its sales tax collection, the
government of Catalonia has mandated that every
registered company pay for the services bought only
through bank transactions, which are automatically
listed as sales. But a year after the policy was
implemented, recent tax reports found that Catalonia’s
overall tax collection had actually decreased.
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Which of the following, if true, best explains why the
policy produced the reverse of its intended effect?
(A) After the policy was implemented, more
registered companies paid through bank
transactions than they did before the
implementation of the policy.
(B) Service providers, most of whom are from
unorganized sectors, offered their services to
non-registered companies to avoid sales tax.
(C) Before the implementation of the policy, many
companies that paid petty amounts for services
purchased paid in cash.
(D) Sales tax constitutes only a minor portion of the
total tax collection undertaken by the Catalonian
government.
15. Government's programs to create awareness about
diabetes and about the reasons for the disease have
been ineffective, with fewer people starting to
undertake or undertaking physical exercise, which is
quite useful in preventing the incidence of the
disease. Thus, an effective way for the government is
to improve citizens' response rate by targeting the
programs at the citizens that are prone to the disease.
Which of the following, if true, would most support
the recommendation above?
(A) There are other cost-effective ways using which
the government can increase the awareness
about diabetes among citizens of Sardonia.
(B) Many other governments are already using this
kind of programs successfully by undertaking
the targeting process.
(C) Improvements in targeting audience improves
the quality of awareness program, prompting to
people to attend more of such programs.
(D) Response rates to carefully targeted programs
are considerably higher, on average, than the
response rates to other forms of awareness
creation programs.
16. Health department officials assert that the extreme
measures of the government to minimize
expenditure during the last year so that revenue
deficit is minimized has done nothing to impair the
provision of healthcare for the under-privileged.
However, critics of the government contend that the
recent incidence of preventable diseases among the
under-privileged across the state is traceable to the
government's cost-cutting measures.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the
strongest support for the position held by health
department officials?
(A) The government benefits by preventing
diseases as the government has to spend more
on treatment of those preventable diseases
than on their prevention.
(B) The opposition parties in the country recently
demanded that more funds be allocated to
healthcare as the funds already allocated were
not adequate.
(C) Despite major cutbacks in most other areas of
governance, the government has devoted more
funds to healthcare for the under-privileged
people than it did in the preceding year.
(D) There has been evidence that the prevalence of
the preventable diseases could have been
minimized, if the government had released
more funds.
17. In setting goals for welfare programs to advance
education among the poor, it is inadvisable to
conduct longitudinal surveys to understand the
needs of the population, because these surveys
require a lot of time and manpower, making them
the costliest of all surveys. So, it would be
reasonable instead to set goals by taking into
account all of the current and future goals of such
welfare programs.
The argument given concerning the reasonable way
to set goals presupposes that
(A) current welfare programs currently meet the
goals that have been set after use of
longitudinal surveys.
(B) there are effective ways to estimate all of the
goals that are to be realized to advance
education among the poor.
(C) the only goals worth achieving are achieved by
welfare programs to advance education among
the poor.
(D) ambitious goals in relation to educating the poor
are likely to be unachievable.
21. Which of the following most logically completes the
18. Which of the following most logically completes the
argument below?
A photograph of the sky during night is taken with
the camera shutter open for a longer period of time.
In such photographs, moving stars are seen as
streaks of light, while those very stars appear to
humans on the earth as bright spots. In one such
photograph taken recently, a star was depicted as
a very bright spot, rather than as a streak of light.
Still the scientists believe that the star was moving at
far higher speeds than were the other stars that
were moving, because ______.
(A) the length of a streak depends on the camera
exposure time.
(B) cameras whose shutters are open for short time
cannot film stars.
(C) the star was far brighter than the other stars that
were depicted as streaks.
(D) the star was moving directly toward the Earth.
22. When an innovative product is to be launched,
19. Analyst: In biological research, the number of new
species reported or discovered every year has been
steadily declining in the recent decades. Several of
these biological 'explorers' are running out of areas
to research on. So, it is likely that the discovery
of the fewer number of species every year is due to
the exhaustion of un-discovered species present
on the Earth.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously
undermines the analyst's argument?
(A) In some areas, the number of species
discovered is more that in other areas.
(B) The average time required for the discovery of
one species has been longer now than in the
past.
(C) Discovery of new species in deep ocean that is
the habitat of 80% of the Earth has been mostly
unexplored.
(D) The same species may be discovered by
different biologists at different locations.
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20. Power Generation Department official: Annual
demand for power has been increasing by
a minimum of 4% and the fossil fuel deposits are
fast declining. We should therefore begin to curtail the
power usage, which is why the government plans to
propose passing ordinances mandating power
conservation in all areas of power consumption.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls
into question the plan of the government?
(A) The proportion of power generated from fossil
fuels has significantly been decreasing during
the last few years.
(B) Most citizens and institutions do not minimize
power consumption in the absence of forceful
conservation measures.
(C) Residential consumers were less responsible
for the increase in demand for power than are
industrial consumers.
(D) The proposed ordinance will not have significant
impact on the economic development of the
country.
argument below?
For Sardonian government, imposing general import
tariff to preserve the scanty foreign exchange
reserves is difficult: how to protect the interest of
companies that increase foreign exchange reserves.
For at least some industries, imposing tariffs on
some imports is essential. This disadvantage
gradually wears off as the industries mature.
Therefore, the import tariffs will be especially useful
when the industries ______.
(A) require technology up-gradation that generally
happens overseas.
(B) need to import machinery initially, but earn
foreign exchange in the long run.
(C) cater to the needs of the consumers within the
boundaries of the country.
(D) need to import more machinery that requires
frequent replacement than do others.
producers of that product usually overestimate the
market penetration of that product and develop
targets accordingly. They seldom try to conduct
a market survey, even though it is its consumers in
the market, not the product itself, that decide the
commercial success of the product.
Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the
ignorance of the market reaction to an innovative
product?
(A) If an innovative product succeeds, the
commercial benefits accrue to the producers,
not to the consumers.
(B) In the modern market with great diversity and
technology, developing an innovative product
requires huge investments.
(C) The manufacturers of an innovative products
cannot accurately predict the reaction of the
market to an innovative product.
(D) A truly innovative product that is to be
introduced to the market has no current
consumers.
23. A software company has developed a software that
identifies bugs present in a code. Programmers who
used this software recently found fewer bugs in their
programs and still were able to complete programs
comparable to those they would have developed
without using the software. The usual coding of the
program, however, requires more resources and
what they were able to save by using the new
software is hardly any more than what they saved
employing fewer resources. Therefore, using the
new software extensively would be unlikely to
increase financial benefit.
Which of the following would be most useful in order
to evaluate the argument?
(A) Whether there are specific type of bugs that
delay the final products, but against which both
regular programming and the current software
are equally ineffective.
(B) Whether most of the programmers who used
the software in the past found fewer bugs in the
coding than the usual number of bugs before
using the software.
(C) Whether the revenues the programmers receive
for coding have remained constant or not.
(D) Whether, for programmers who do not use the
software, programming is an economically
viable option.
24. In the past, Sardonia's population heavily depended
on orange roughy, a unique Sardonian fish that has
a lifespan of 100 years and thus have very slow
maturation speed. Sardonia now consumes fewer
orange roughy fish than its territorial waters produce,
making it likely for their populations
to increase, and people are increasingly shifting
to other varieties of fish for consumption. Therefore,
the orange roughy populations are likely to increase
soon.
Which of the following would it be most useful to
establish in evaluating the argument?
(A) Are the people who switch to other fish varieties
for sustenance getting equally good nutritional
values?
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(B) Does the mature population of orange roughy
constitute a major chunk of all types of mature
fish populations?
(C) Are the exports of orange roughy that constitute
a major portion of marine export revenue of the
country increasing?
(D) Are the Sardonian government's efforts to save
endangered species more effective than those
of other countries?
25. Confronted with sectoral evidence that increased
expenditures on IT over time have coincided
with stagnant productivity, Bowen suggested that
without the currently high level of IT investment, the
productivity trend might have been even more
dismal. This is a perfectly tenable rejoinder
to sectoral studies, but it fails to explain why in inter-
industry studies, industries with higher levels of
IT investment tend to have lower levels of
productivity improvement than industries with far
less IT investment, or why in several studies of firms
within one industry, IT-intensive firms perform no
better than low-IT firms. Thus, findings on IT and
productivity that hold across all three levels of
analysis should be more convincing than
findings limited to one type of study design.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface
play which of the following roles?
(A) The first is the empirical observation that
engenders some questions, while the second is
an important consideration in answering those
questions.
(B) The first is a hypothesis that explains a trend,
while the second is a relevant point to make that
hypothesis useful.
(C) The first is a premise that supports the main
conclusion, while the second is the main
conclusion of that argument.
(D) The first is the main conclusion of the argument,
while the second is a qualification to that main
conclusion.