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Critical Reasoning 1.1
 Critical Reasoning 1.1
Common Terms used in Critical Reasoning:

 Argument: An argument is a set of statements, out of which, one is conclusion,

another is facts and third is assumptions and the facts support the conclusion. In
order to strengthen or weaken the argument, one has to support or go against the
unstated assumption related to the question given.

 Conclusion: Conclusion is the main point of an argument, and it is based on

facts.

 Facts or premises: a premise or fact is a stated evidence that supports the

conclusion.
 Critical Reasoning 1.1
 Assumption: an unstated / hidden fact which supports the conclusion.

 Inference: An inference is something which we get or interpret from the given

statement.

In order to find conclusion or inference, we need to take out keywords from the
statement given and can fetch those keywords in the answer options.
 Critical Reasoning 1.1
Strategy to handle CR questions:

1. Break the CR passage into parts

2. Beware of answer choices, which are contradictory to the main idea given in the
question
3. Re-phrase passages into simpler words
4. Understand what is being asked
 Question 1
Between 2000 and 2008, occupancy in HG Hospital averaged 79 percent of
capacity, while admission rates remained constant, at an average of 9 admissions per
100 beds per year. Between 2008 and 2012, however, occupancy rates increased to
an average of 85 percent of capacity, while admission rates declined to 8 per 100
beds per year.

Which of the following conclusions can be most properly drawn from the
information given above?
 Question 1

A) The average stay for HG hospital patients rose between 2008 and 2012.

B) The proportion of children staying in HG hospital was greater in 2012 than in

2000.
C) The more beds a nursing home has, the higher its occupancy rate is likely to
be.
D) Hospital admission rates tend to decline whenever occupancy rates rise.
 Question 2
Based on a review of 45 studies of patients suffering from water retention, a large
majority of the patients reported that fasting eased their suffering considerably. Yet
fasting is not used to treat water retention even though the conventional medications
often have serious side effects.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the fact that fasting is not used as a
treatment for water retention?
 Question 2

A) The dramatic shifts in water retention connected with fasting have not been
traced to particular changes in brain chemistry.
B) The water retention returns in full force as soon as the fast is broken by even
a small meal.
C) For a small percentage of patients with water retention, fasting induces a
temporary sense of nausea.
D) Fasting is not advised by many doctors.
 Question 3
More political magazines are sold in Chotaville than in Badaville. Therefore, the
residents of Chotaville are better informed about all political issues and events than
are the residents of Badaville.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above EXCEPT

__________________.
 Question 3
A) Most residents of Badaville work in Chotaville and buy political magazines
there.
B) A survey says that the average resident of Chotaville spends less time reading
political magazines than does the average resident of Badaville.

C) Most of the political magazines sold in Chotaville are not having wide
coverage on political issues compared to the coverage of political magazines
in Badaville.
D) The average price of magazines sold in Chotaville is lower than the average
price of magazines in Badaville.
 Question 4
Papaya has more nutritional value than apple. But since pomegranate has more
nutritional value than muskmelon, it follows that papaya has more nutritional value
than muskmelon.

Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an additional premise,

makes the argument above logically correct EXCEPT _________________.
 Question 4

A) Papaya and pomegranate have the same nutritional value.

B) Apple has more nutritional value than pomegranate

C) Apple has more nutritional value than muskmelon

D) Pomegranate has more nutritional value than papaya
 Question 5
The manufacturing cost of leather belts in Brazil is 25% less than the manufacturing
cost of them in Cuba. Even after transportation fees and tariff charges are added, it
is still cheaper for a company to import leather belts from Brazil to Cuba than to
manufacture leather belts in Cuba.

The statements above, if true, best supports which of the following assertions?
 Question 5

A) Labour costs in Brazil are 25% below those in Cuba

B) Importing leather belts from Brazil to Cuba will eliminate 25% of the
manufacturing jobs in Cuba
C) The tariff on leather belts imported from Brazil to Cuba is less than 25% of
the cost of manufacturing leather belts in Cuba.
D) It takes 25% less time to manufacture one leather belt in Brazil than it does in
Cuba.
 Question 6
Two experimental fields were each planted with corn. Fertilizer was added to the
first field but not to the second. The first field produced 250 bushels of corn per acre
and the second field produced 180 bushels of corn per acre. Since nothing else but
water was added to either fields, the higher yield in the first field must be due to the
fertilizer.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
 Question 6

A) A small amount of the fertilizer leached into the second field.

B) Four different types of corn grown in equal proportions in each of the fields.

C) Some weeds that compete with corn cannot tolerate high amounts of fertilizer
in the soil.
D) The two experimental fields were located in different states.
 Question 7
Researcher: Bees can certainly signal each other with sounds and gestures.
However, this does not confirm the thesis that bees possess language, for it does not
prove that bees possess the ability to use sounds or gestures to refer to concrete
objects or abstract ideas.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the scientist’s argument

depends?
 Question 7

A) Bees do not have the cognitive capabilities to entertain abstract ideas.

B) If a bee’s system of sounds or gestures is not a language, then that bee is
unable to entertain abstract ideas.
C) When signalling each other with sounds and gestures, bees refer neither to
concrete objects nor abstract ideas.
D) If a system of sounds or gestures contains no expressions referring to concrete
objects or abstract ideas, then that system is not a language.
 Question 8
Amruth has just seen two sparrows; therefore, the next bird Amruth sees will be a
Sparrow.

Which of the following most strengthens the argument above?

 Question 8

A) Sparrows tend to move in flocks.

B) Sparrows generally build their nests at considerable distance from the nests of
other sparrows.
C) Amruth is in Gutson city and sparrows are occasionally seen in Gutson city.

D) Amruth has seen sparrows in other places than the place where he is now.
 Question 9
The local college recently hired a new cricket coach. Although he has several years’
worth of coaching experience and is a diligent student of the game, he was never a
member of a collegiate cricket team. For this reason, the new coach will be unable
to build a successful program.

The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions?

 Question 9

A) The local university should have hired a former collegiate cricket player as its
new coach.
B) Coaching experience is one of the most crucial factors for coaching success.

C) To build a successful cricket program as a coach, one must be a former

collegiate cricket player.
D) The university does not plan to provide the new coach with the resources
necessary to build a successful program.
 Question 10
Brand X designs and builds custom sports shoes, one shoe at a time. It recently
announced plans to sell "Trailblazer," a sports shoe that will cost five times more to
manufacture than any other sports shoe that has ever been created.

Which of the following, if true, most supports the prediction that “Trailblazer” shoe
line will be profitable?
 Question 10
A) Because of its reputation as an original and exclusive sports shoe, the
“Trailblazer” will be favoured by fashion-conscious urban youth willing to
pay exceptionally high prices in order to standout.
B) Of the last four new sports shoes that Brand X has released, three have sold at
a rate that was higher than projected.
C) A rival brand recently declared bankruptcy and ceased manufacturing shoes.

D) The market for “Trailblazer” will not be more limited than the market for
other Brand X shoes.
 Question 11
In Hospital X, there has been a sudden increase in emergency room visits by
children under eleven with stomach disturbances. Analysis revealed that the vast
majority of the children had eaten chocolates labelled "Coconut Fun Snacks" shortly
before the onset of symptoms. The emergency room physicians concluded that it is
unsafe for children under the age of eleven to eat products containing coconut.

Which of the following, if true, would be the best reason to doubt the warning?
 Question 11

A) Coconuts contain saturated fats.

B) Some disease-causing bacteria are not detectable by any medical tests.

C) No coconuts or coconut products are used in the manufacture of "Coconut

Fun Snacks."
D) Coconuts are a favourite food of many kids.
 Question 12
The corresponding owners of a book store and a coffee shop that are located next
door to each other have decided to combine their businesses. Both owners believe
that this merger will help increase the number of customers, and therefore the total
revenue. They reason that customers who come for a cup of coffee might find
themselves glancing at the books for sale, and those who come for books might like
to sit down and start reading with a cup of coffee.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the owners’ conclusion that a merger
will increase revenue?
 Question 12
A) Books and drinks can both be considered impulse purchases; often, they are
purchased by customers without forethought.
B) Because of the way in which the two stores are currently positioned relative
to one another, many customers who come to the coffee shop never see or
notice the book store.
C) If books are damaged in a bookstore before purchase, the customers
responsible for the damage are generally not held financially accountable.

D) The coffee shop is primarily frequented by local high school students whose
parents make up a large percentage of the book store’s customer base; the
teenagers use the coffee shop as a place to mingle with their friends without
family involvement.
 Question 13
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a chemical that is highly explosive and only two
ingredients (Nitrogen powder and concentrated Toluene) are used to make it easily.
However, no terrorists are known to have ever used this Trinitrotoluene (TNT) in an
attack.

Which of the following, if true, is the most likely explanation for the discrepancy
described above?
 Question 13
A) Nitrogen powder can be bought in a grocery store, but concentrated Toluene
must be obtained from somewhat more restricted sources, such as chemical
supply houses.
B) Trinitrotoluene is only one of several powerful explosives that can be made
from Nitrogen powder.
C) Airport security devices are typically calibrated to detect nitrogen related
compounds, such as Nitrogen powder and concentrated Toluene compounds.

D) Trinitrotoluene is extremely shock sensitive and can detonate as a result of

even slight movement.
 Question 14
Nutritionist: Food producers irradiate food in order to prolong its shelf life. Five
animal studies were recently conducted to investigate whether this process alters
food in a way that could be dangerous to people who eat it. The studies concluded
that irradiated food is safe for humans to eat. However, because these studies were
subsequently found by a panel of independent scientists to be seriously flawed in
their methodology, it follows that irradiated food is not safe for human
consumption.

The reasoning in the nutritionist’s argument is flawed because that argument

_________________________.
 Question 14

A) treats a failure to prove a claim as constituting proof of the denial of that

claim
B) treats methodological flaws in past studies as proof that it is currently not
possible to devise methodologically adequate alternatives
C) fails to consider the possibility that even a study whose methodology has no
serious flaws nonetheless might provide only weak support for its conclusion

D) fails to consider the possibility that what is safe for animals might not always
be safe for human beings
 Question 15
Damming the Kaveri River would provide irrigation for the dry land in its upstream
areas; unfortunately, a dam would reduce agricultural productivity in the fertile land
downstream by reducing the availability and quality of the water there. The
productivity loss in the downstream area would be greater than the productivity gain
upstream, so building a dam would yield no overall gain in agricultural productivity
in the region as a whole.

The reasoning in the argument above most closely parallels that in which one of the
following?
 Question 15

A) Disease-causing bacteria in eggs can be destroyed by overcooking the eggs,

but the eggs then become much less appetizing; health is more important than
taste, however, it is better to overcook eggs than not to do so.

B) Increasing the price of transatlantic telephone calls will discourage many

private individuals from making them. But since most transatlantic telephone
calls are made by businesses, not by private individuals, a rate increase will
not reduce telephone company profits.
 Question 15

C) A new highway will allow suburban commuters to reach the city more
quickly, but not without causing increased delays within the city that will
more than offset any time saved on the highway. Therefore, the highway will
not reduce suburban commuters’ overall commuting time.

D) Doctors can prescribe antibiotics for many minor illnesses, but antibiotics are
expensive, and these illnesses can often be cured by rest alone. Therefore, it is
better to rest at home than to see a doctor for these illnesses.
THANK YOU