Critical Reasoning

26 January 2024 10:14 AM

Causes & Effects

a) if statement A is the cause and statement B is it's effect

b) if statement B' is the cause and statement A is it's effect
c) if both the statements A and B are independent causes
d) if both the statements A and B are effects of independent causes
e) if both the statements A and B are effects of some common causes

A. The government has increased number of buses

plying between Mumbai and Surat.

B. The government has allowed private bus

owners to operate between Mumbai and Surat.

A. The association of management colleges

conducted a combined admission exam for all
the institutes this year.

B. As the dates for entrance exam for many

management colleges clashed last year,
many candidates complained that they could
not appear for a number of entrance exams

A. The departmental store owner put cameras for

surveillance of the store.

B. Many products were reported missing by the

staff working in the departmental store.
 A. Asthma cases in the city are on a continuous
rise since last year.

B. The number of commonly found animals such

as sparrows, squirrels and pigeons in the city
has continuously dwindled since last year.

A. Prices of food grains in India has increased

substantially.

B. Lakhs of farmers have quit farming owing to

the lack of governmental support in the form
of subsidies.

A. The university decided to postpone the final

exams for course X by a month.

B. Nearly twenty five students out of sixty

students in course X failed to pass the final
exams last year.

Effect The temple at the religious site wears a

deserted look will with the number of devotees
trickling down. Which of the following can be a
possible cause of the above effect ?
a) A structural engineer had visited the temple
a month back and had declared the structure
unsafe
b) The temple is facing a drastic depletion of its
funds which had accumulated over the years
 due to offerings made by devotees
c) The local corporation decided to donate a huge
amount of money to the temple for its
renovations
d) The village housing the religious site has
qualified priests to perform religious
ceremonies
e) A famous actor recently visited the temple and
paid his respects to the deity

Statement : The income tax authorities carried

out raids at three different business houses in the
city last week.
Which of the following can be a possible effect of
the above statement ?
a) The three business houses are regular
defaulters in payment of their income tax
b) The income tax department had received a
tip off about the illegal activities going on in
the three business houses
c) The government decided to look into the matter
and has appointed an inquiry committee
d) Other business houses took immediate action
to clear off all their income tax dues, in order
to avoid a raid on their establishments
e) The authorities intend to conduct raids in
several other business houses in the vicinity

Effect As a step to regulate private hospitals, the

state health department is framing rules to ensure
all such hospitals are registered with it.
Which of the following can be a possible cause of
the above statement ?
a) The department realised that private
hospitals charge much less for treatment as
compared to government hospitals
b) Private run hospitals do not maintain the
same standards as Government hospitals
c) The department realised that several hospitals
were rejecting cases stating lack of
infrastructure
d) Apart from the number of doctors, nurses and
beds, the kind of procedure a hospital can carry
out based on its infrastructure will also be
registered and detailed
e) Private hospitals not registering with the
department shall be forced to do so and will
have to pay hefty penalties

Courses of Action

a) if only I follows
b) if only II follows
c) if either I or II follows
d) if neither I nor II follows
e) if both I and II follow

Statement : People see tax as a burden and thus

devise ways to underpay or avoid it altogether.
Courses of action :
I. Govt, should educate & inform citizens about
the ways in which taxes help in development
of the nation.
II. Tax rates should be increased so that the under-
recovery in collection is compensated.

Statement : There is no motivation among today's

generation to join the armed forces owing to
frequent transfers to risky areas. Perhaps they
are not aware of the good side of it.
Courses of action :
I. Short term internship should be introduced at
high school level to give students a peek into
the adventurous life of the forces and
provide a more realistic job preview.
II. The salary levels of the defense forces should
 be increased with immediate effect.

Statement : Number of hospital beds per 1000

people in India, which is a key indicator of
healthcare infrastructure, is much lower than many
other nations which are. thought to be poorer than
India.
Courses of action :
I. The expenditure of importing costly medicines
should be borne by the State.
II. Incentives should be given to encourage entry
of private players into building of healthcare
infrastructure.

Statement : The sales of ball-point pens

manufactured by company Lixus have gone down
considerably ever since the same company
introduced a gel-ink pen in the market.
Courses of Action :
I. Ball-point pens should not be manufactured by
Lixus any more.
II. Lixus should immediately withdraw all gel-ink
pens from the market so as to force people to
buy ball-point pens.

Statement : Nearly 26 per cent of all engineering

graduated have been left unemployed owing to
severe recession worldwide.
Courses of Action :
I. All the unemployed students should be advised
to take up jobs in foreign countries.
II. The unemployed students should be advised
to take up jobs only after the recession is
II. The unemployed students should be advised
to take up jobs only after the recession is
over.

Implicit Statements

Statement : 'Do not enter-avoid the risk of getting

infected with the ABC disease'- written outside
the quarantine ward no. 2 (meant only for ABC
disease) of a hospital.
I. Disease ABC' is contagious.
II. All the patients in ward no. 2 suffer from
disease ABC.

a) if one I is implicit
b) if one II is implicit
c) if either I or II is implicit
d) if neither I nor II is implicit
e) if both I and II are implicit

Statement : In city Z, people prefer to buy Car X

instead of Car Y as Car X has German technology
which is very advanced.
I. Cars with German technology are perceived
to be better than other cars in city Z.
II. Had German technology been present in Car
Y also, its sales would have crossed car X's
sales

Statement : Railway does not provide concession

to any one for travelling to certain holiday
destinations.
 I. Railway services are available for travelling to
these holiday destinations.
II. Railways provides concession to certain
persons for travelling to places other than
these holiday destinations.

Statement : "Travellers with a ticket for the

second class if found travelling in the first class
compartments would be penalized" - Notice in the
compartments of a train.
I. Travellers with a ticket for the first class are
also not allowed to travel in the second class
compartments.
II. Inspections are carried out in the train to check
the tickets.

Statement : The prices of petrol and diesel have

remained unchanged only in Nigeria since the past
three years.
I. Petrol and-diesel prices have changed
elsewhere in the world during these three
years.
II. Before this three years period, petrol and diesel
were available at a price different from the
present rates.

Statement : If parking space is not available in

office, park your vehicles in the mall and walk to
the office.
Assumptions :
I. The mall is at a walkable distance from the
office.
II. The office does not allow visitors' vehicles in
its premises.

Statement : Farmers must immediately switch

over to organic fertilizers from chemical fertilizers
for better yield.
Assumptions :
I. All the farmers use only chemical fertilizers.
II. Organic fertilizers are readily available to the
farmers.

Statement : An advertisement by bank X-'Our

interest rates for education loans are lower than
any other bank'.
Assumptions :
I. Some other banks also provide education loans.
II. Interest rates charged on education loans are
different for different banks.

Statement : For any kind of problem with your

mobile phone, contact our help desk immediately.
Assumptions :
I. Help desk has a solution to all kinds of problems
related to mobile phones or will guide
accordingly.
II. Unless the problem is reported immediately, ::
cannot be solved.

Statement : Use our medicine to fight the problem

of obesity.
Assumptions :
I. Other slimming medicines available in the
market do not reduce weight.
II. Obesity cannot be controlled without
medicines.

Statement : A government advertisement in

public interest-For a child's better mental health,
admit him/ her to a school only after five years of
age.
I. A child cannot learn before he/she turns five.
II. Some school admit children who are below five
years of age.

Statement : Although he has done MBA through

a correspondence course, he is as smart as a
person from college X.
I. Students from college X are known for their
smartness.
II. Students should do MBA through
correspondence in order to become smart.

Statements & Arguments

Real estate builders have refused to bring down

the property prices as proposed by the government
this year.
Which of the following arguments would
strengthen the stance taken by the builders?
a) Very few people ventured into buying
properties this year owing to exorbitant
prices set by the builder?
b) With the ever increasing cost of basic
materials such as cement and steel, the profit
of the builders
has gone down by 48% this year
c) The builders have earned huge profit in a
governmental scheme for building low cost
housing societies
d) In a report published by a national daily, the
margin of profit earned by a builder per square
foot is as much as eighty per cent of its cost
price
e) The builders have to necessarily abide by the
decree of the government which controls the
prices of the real estate
The ministry of sports has been advised by a
committee to take the highest award in the field
of sports back from two players who were
allegedly involved in match-fixing.
Which of the following statements would weaken
the argument put forward by the committee to
the sports ministry ?
a) A good conduct in the past and a lack of
evidence against the players make the case
against them very weak
b) The ministry of sports has never declined the
recommendations made by the committee
earlier
c) Taking the award back from the players would
set a good example to other players for avoiding
such actions in the future
d) There have been past cases where the
award had to be taken back from the players
owing to some misconduct later on
e) The committee is constituted of some of the
most respected and esteemed members from
the fields of sports and politics

Many organizations have been resorting to

recruitment based upon performance at graduate/
post-graduate level exams rather than conducting
exams for the same purpose.
Which of the following statements would
strengthen the argument given in the above
statement ?
a) A recent study shows no link of past perfor-
mance with the performance in recruitment
exams
b) The graduate/post-graduate exams are
considered to be severely deficient in training
in job related environment
c) Organizations which had undertaken
recruitment on the basis of graduate/post
graduate exams report a significant drop in
the quality of the recruited employees
d) Such policies would did to unemployment
among students having below average
performance in graduation or post-graduation
e) Such policies could save time, money and
resources of the organization which are wasted
in the conduct of recruitment examinations
According to a recent government directive, all
bank branches in rural areas should be
computerised. Which of the following statements
would weaken the government's argument ?
a) Computerisation of bank branches in urban
areas has helped in making their perfor-
mance more efficient and fast
b) Lack of skilled and qualified manpower has
been suitably substituted by computers in
banks
c) Non-computerised bank branches in the rural
areas have been proved to be as efficient as
their computerised counterparts
d) The government has introduced a special
test for computer knowledge in all recruit-
ment exams for banks
e) Unemployment in the rural areas could be
controlled by training more and more
professionals in computers

Statement : The government has decided to

instruct the banks to open new branches in such a
way that there is one branch of any of the banks
in every village of population 1000 and above or a
cluster of villages with population less than 1000
to provide banking services to all the citizens.
Which of the following will weaken the step taken
by the government?
a) The private sector banks in India have stepped
up their branch expansion activities in rural
India
b) Many government owned banks have surplus
manpower in its urban branches
c) All the banks including those in private sector
will follow the government directive
d) Large number of branches of many
government owned banks in the rural areas
are making huge losses every year due to
lack of adequate business activities
e) None of the above

Statement : Should road repair work in big cities

be carried out only late at night?
Arguments :
A) No, this way the work will never get completed.
b) No, there will be unnecessary use of electricity.
C) Yes. the commuters will face lot of problems
due to repair work during the day.
a) None is strong b) Only (A) is strong
c) Only (C) is strong
d) Only (B) and (C) are strong
e) Only (A) and (B) are strong

Statement : Should there be complete ban on

setting up of thermal power plants in India?
Arguments :
A) Yes, this is the only way to arrest further
addition to environmental pollution.
B) No, there is a huge shortage of electricity in
most parts of the country and hence
generation of electricity needs to be
augmented.
C) No, many developed countries continue to set
up thermal power plants in their countries.
a) None is strong
b) Only (A) is strong
c) Only (B) is strong
d) Only (C) is strong
e) Only either (A) or (B) is strong

Statement : Should there be a cap on drawing

groundwater for irrigation purposes in India?
Arguments :
A) No, irrigation is of prime importance for food
production in India and it is heavily dependent
on groundwater in many parts of the country.
B) Yes, water tables have gone down to
alarminglylow levels in some parts of the country
where irrigation is primarily dependent on
groundwater, which may lead to serious
environmental consequences.
C) Yes, India just cannot afford to draw
groundwater any further as the international
agencies have cautioned India against it.
groundwater any further as the international
agencies have cautioned India against it.
a) Only (A) and (B) are strong
b) Only (B) and (C) are strong
c) Only (A) and (C) are strong
d) All (A), (B) and (C) are strong
e) None of the above

Data Sufficiency

a) if the data in statement I alone are sufficient

to answer the question, while the data in
statement II alone are not sufficient to
answer the question.
b) if the data in statement II alone are
sufficient to answer the question, while the
data in statement I alone are not sufficient to
answer the question.
c) if the data in statement I alone or in
statement II alone are sufficient to answer
the question.
d) if the data in both the statements I and II are
not sufficient to answer the question.
e) if the data in both the statements I and II
together are necessary to answer the
question.
In a six storey building (consisting of floors
numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The ground floor is
numbered 1, the floor above it is numbered 2 and
so on) the third floor is unoccupied. The building
houses different people viz. P, Q, R, S and T, each
living on a different floor. On which of the floors
does T live?
I. S lives between the floors on which R and T
live.
II. There are two floors between T's floor and
Q's floor.

How is 'see' written in the code language?

I. 'hope to see you' is written as '3692', 'do you
see that' is written as '1973'.
II. 'to pray and hope' is written as '0286' and 'hope
I do well' is written as '5467'.

Among five friends A, B, C, D and E sitting around

a circular table and facing the centre, who is sitting
to the immediate left of A?
I. A sits third to the right of B. D is not an
immediate neighbour of B.
immediate neighbour of B.
II. B is an immediate neighbour of C.

Is X the wife of Y?
I. X's daughter M is the only sister of R. R is the
son of Y.
II. The mother of Y has only one grandson R.

How many brothers does Shilpa have?

I. Deepa who is Shilpa's sister has two siblings.
II. Kaushal is the only son of Deepa's parents.
 Amongst four friends A, B, C and D seated in a
straight line facing North, who sits to the immediate
right of B?
I. A sits third to the right of B and C is not an
immediate neighbour of B.
II. C sits to immediate left of A. A sits at one of
the extreme ends. D does not sit at the
extreme end of the line.

On which day of the week did Kiran take an off?

I. Amit correctly remembers that Kiran took an
off before Thursday but after Monday.
II. Sneha correctly remembers that Kiran took an
off after Tuesday but before Friday.

Eligibility Test
with 62 percent marks. He has secured 62 percent
marks in the selection examination and 38 percent
marks in the selection interview.
3. Sabina Handa has been working for the past four
years as Deputy Marketing Manager in an
organization after completing her post graduate
diploma in marketing management with 65 percent
marks. She has secured 45 percent marks in both
selection examination and selection interview. She
has also secured 58 percent marks in B. Com.
4. Manoj Malhotra has secured 65 percent marks in
B.Sc. and 60 percent marks in post graduate degree
in Marketing Management. He has also secured 50
percent marks in both selection examination and
selection interview. He has been working in the
marketing division of an organization for the past six
years after completing his post graduation in
marketing.
5. Varsha Akolkar has secured 59 percent marks in
B.A. She has secured 42 percent marks in the
selection interview and 48 percent marks in the
selection examination. She has been working in
the Marketing division of an organization for the
past seven years after completing her post
graduation in marketing management with 57
percent marks.
6. Utpal Goswami has been working in the marketing
division of an organization for the past five years
after completing his post graduate diploma in
Marketing Management with 65 percent marks.
He is a first class science graduate with 60 percent
marks. He has secured 45 percent marks in the
selection examination and 40 percent marks in the
selection interview.
7. Anindita Ghosh has been working for the past eight
years in an organization after completing her post
graduate degree in Marketing Management with
70 percent marks. She has secured 56 percent
marks in B.A. She has also secured 50 percent
marks in the selection examination and 45 percent
marks in the selection interview.
8. Samir Phukan has been working in the marketing
division of an organization for the past five years
after completing his post graduate diploma in
management with 65 percent marks. He has
secured 60 percent marks in B.Com. He has also
secured 60 percent marks in B.Com. He has also
secured 50 percent marks in both selection
examination and selection interview.
9. Nimisha Patil has secured 59 percent marks in
B.Com. She has also secured 50 percent marks in
both selection examination and the selection
interview. She has been working as Deputy
Marketing Manager in an organization for the past
three years after completing her post graduate
degree in Marketing Management with 63 percent
marks.
10. Sadashiv Ghatge has secured 60 percent marks in
B.Com. He has been working for the past five
years in the marketing division of an organization
after completing his post graduate degree in
Marketing Management with 68 percent marks.
He has secured 35 percent marks in the selection
interview and 62 percent marks in the selection
examination.