More Critical Reasoning Questions

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1. The bus stop outside New Malden police station is visited by the 131 and 265 buses. A 131 bus stops there at exactly 4p.m. What can we conclude about the people waiting at the stop at 4.01p.m. the same afternoon?
   1. They are probably not waiting for a 131 but we can't be sure.
   2. They are probably waiting for a 265.
   3. They are definitely not waiting for a 131.

   I only II only III only I and II II and III

2. An advert for InterNex Internet service states: "At InterNex we've assembled a fantastic line-up of top-celebrities writing exclusively for you! Now you can pose questions directly to Sarah Cane our Agony Aunt, catch up on all the latest games and gadgets with Craig Boone, and get in the 'Back of the Net' with Gordon Petersen our Football correspondent, debate the ethics behind the news with Joan Fern, plus enjoy a whole host of other top celebrities and online star interviews."

   The impact of this advertisement would be lessened by all of the following EXCEPT:

   A survey shows that 90% of members of the public have never heard of Joan Fern. One of the celebrities listed admitted in a newspaper article that he/she had never heard of InterNex. The people at whom this advert is targeted would probably never use the phrase "Back of the Net". Craig Boone provides services publicly for a rival Internet service. The people at whom the advert is targeted are not generally interested in football or debating ethics.

3. Last night Pete witnessed a gang of white men beating a black man up. He did not report the incident to the police. What a terrible racist he must be!

   Which of the following facts would most weaken the conclusion of this argument?

   Pete thought that the white men were very frightening. Pete works with several colleagues who are black people. The next night Pete witnessed a group of black men beating up a white man, and again, did not report the incident to the police. Pete did not know the black victim personally. Pete never tells racist jokes or makes racist comments.

4. Some zings are zangs. Some zangs are zongs. Which of the following can we conclude for sure?

   Some zings are zongs. No zongs are zings. All zings are zongs. All zongs are zangs. Some zangs are zings.

   Questions 5 and 6 refer to the following text

   E-business is gradually taking over from ordinary "bricks-and-mortar" premises. The companies listed on the NASDAQ, the stock exchange index for the new technological companies, rose on average more than twice as fast as the fastest-rising stocks listed on the Dow Jones index.

5. The argument above contains which of the following assumptions?

   The share price of e-businesses will continue to rise. The Dow Jones index only lists companies which perform badly. The NASDAQ never lists companies which are performing badly. The Dow Jones index will continue to rise less quickly than the NASDAQ. The companies listed on the NASDAQ are not also listed on the Dow Jones.

6. The argument about e-businesses would be strengthened most by which of the following?

   A report by a financial expert stating that share prices are set to rise in the future. An end-of-year statement by a company listed on the NASDAQ announcing record profits for the past year. An article in the Financial Times indicating that a larger proportion of traditional (non e-business) firms have gone bankrupt than new e-businesses. A novel by a company director about an e-business that succeeds spectacularly. A reduction in corporation tax for new e-businesses by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

7. Advert: "Veran VE90 Digital Photocopier. New digital technology makes this copier better than your average laser-jet copier. It means you get laser quality printing for only £329.99."

   The main selling point of this advertisement would be nullified if:

   Laser-jet copiers work on average more quickly than the VE90 copier. Laser-jet copiers produced inferior copies to the VE90. Laser-jet copiers cost more than £329.99. The VE90 digital photocopier cost £329.99. Laser-jet copiers cost less than £329.99.

8. You can transfer your ISA to another manager but please note that you can only transfer the whole of an ISA for a current tax year to the same component of the same type of ISA. However, you can transfer some or all of the investments you hold in ISAs for previous tax years, from one component of an ISA to the same component of any mini or maxi ISA. Although we do not currently intend to make a transfer-out charge, we have the right to make a charge of £50 for each transfer.

   Which of the following operations are specifically forbidden by this regulation?

   Transferring an entire maxi ISA to the maxi ISA of another ISA manager. Transferring a mini ISA from last year to a mini ISA for this year. Transferring a maxi ISA from two years ago to a maxi ISA for this year. Transferring a maxi ISA to a mini ISA for another ISA manager. Putting extra money into either a mini or maxi ISA.

9. Headway is now targeted at a wider readership - to include all NUT members who are on the leadership salary spine. This year's NUT membership credential gave members the opportunity to identify themselves as teachers on the leadership spine and Headway will, in future, be mailed directly to all members so identified.

   From the text above, which of the following can we reasonably conclude?

   Headway is a free newspaper. Formerly, the readership of Headway did not include members on the leadership salary spine. Teachers can only be present on the leadership spine thanks to the NUT. The readership for Headway will increase in future years. Teachers cannot get access to Headway unless it is mailed to them.

   Questions 10 to 12 are based on the following text

   Helping children to establish a healthy relationship with food, so that they see it as a pleasurable aspect of life, is one of the arts of good parenting. The way to do this is not to lecture them about what's good and what's bad. Your own attitude to food is the best role model - if you take positive delight in choosing and cooking the best ingredients, it will be easy and natural for them to participate.

10. The author of the above statement is trying to

    complain congratulate warn forbid encourage

11. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

    Do as you would be done by. Don't do as I do, do as I say. Persuasion is better than compulsion. Children should be seen and not heard. Eating is a great comfort when you feel sad.

12. Complete this sentence from the same text with the most suitable choice: "A surprising number of young children are interested in ..."

    chocolate and sweets becoming a television chef vegetables, carbohydrates and proteins low fat diets cookery and learning about food

13. My car has several faults, each of which is caused by one single action. When I turn on the engine, open the door and close the sunroof, there is a clank and a bang. When I open the door, wind down the window and change gear, there is a twang and a rattle. When I close the sunroof, open the glove compartment and change gear, there is a twang and a clank.

    If I open the door, turn on the engine and open the glove compartment, what will I hear?

    a twang a clank and a bang a bang a bang and a rattle nothing

14. The Union's advice is not to fill in form A, to fill in either form B or form C, and to send whichever one of these you complete back to the Department of Education (DoE). If you have filled in form A and form C, then the Union advises you to enclose the payment demanded.

    Which of the following most closely follows the Union's advice?

    Filling in form B only and returning it to the DoE with the payment demanded. Filling in forms B and C and returning them to the DoE with no payment. Filling in form A and returning it to the DoE with the payment demanded. Filling in forms A and C and returning them to the DoE with the payment demanded. Filling in form C and returning it to the DoE with no payment.

15. The average working man takes about two minutes to shave every morning. If you added up all the time that he spends shaving in a whole year, then it comes to several hours. Just imagine how many working days are being lost every year to employers up and down the country, through the national work force shaving!

    The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?

    The national work force consists mainly of men who shave. If men didn't have to shave every morning, they would spend the time working instead. Working men shave in the morning rather than in the evening. Men don't shave at the weekend, when they probably wouldn't be at work anyway. Some men take less than two minutes to shave.

16. Titan, a moon which orbits planet Saturn, is the second largest moon in the Solar System, smaller only than Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons.

    Given that the statement above is true, we may logically conclude all of the following EXCEPT

    No moon larger than Ganymede orbits planet Saturn. Exactly one moon larger than Titan orbits planet Jupiter. Jupiter has at least one moon other than Ganymede. Saturn has at least one moon other than Titan. Titan is larger than Miranda, the largest moon of Uranus, which is another planet in the Solar System.

17. 
    

    PETER:	I reckon that James probably went to Sunday School.
    SARAH:	Oh he must have done. He's an educated person!

    The hidden assumption behind Sarah's statement is that

    All people who attended Sunday School must be educated people. Most people who are educated went to Sunday School. People should attend Sunday School in order to become educated. All people who are educated attended Sunday School. Most people who attended Sunday School are educated.

18. An extract from Cathy's school report: "Cathy has not done her written work particularly well, but has always been willing to volunteer answers when personally required to do so."

    This statement is unsatisfactory because

    it may not be accurate about Cathy's written work. it contains a contradiction. it assumes that the answers Cathy volunteers are correct. the comments about Cathy volunteering answers are incompatible with those made about her written work. it does not specify in what way Cathy's written work is deficient.

19. Consider the following family tree, and the two statements to the side of it.

    The offspring of two blue-eyed parents must have blue eyes. The offspring of two parents, one or both of whose eyes are brown, can have either blue eyes or brown eyes.

    Assuming that the statements are correct, which of the following does NOT automatically follow?

    If James and Ade both have blue eyes, then Joyce's eyes will be the same colour as Vera's. If James has brown eyes, the Cherry may have brown eyes. If James and Ade both have blue eyes, then Carlos' eyes will be the same colour as Peter's. Carlos and Peter needn't have the same eye colour as either their mother or their father. If Joyce and James both have blue eyes, it is still possible that Peter has brown eyes.

20. 
    

    TOM:	I'm sorry, Mum. I promise I won't do it again.
    MUM:	That's not good enough. If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it in the first place.

    Mum's statement is illogical because

    it ignores the possibility that Tom may have committed the same offence before. it does not specify exactly what Tom is supposed to have done wrong. it does not allow for the possibility that Tom's regret may be entirely sincere. it nullifies the promise that Tom has made. one cannot be sorry for having committed an offence before one has actually committed it.

21. The green light only ever goes on when tank A is full and tank C isn't empty. The red light is always on unless either tank A isn't full or tank B is empty.

    Given that the green light is on, we can conclude all of the following EXCEPT

    Tank A cannot be empty. The red light must be on. Tank C cannot be empty. We don't have enough information to determine whether tank B is empty or not. The red light will only be on if Tank B isn't empty.

22. Mr. Baker, Mr. Butcher and Mr. Builder are a baker, a butcher and a builder, but not in that order. No man has the same profession as his name. Mr. Builder is not a butcher. Which of the following is/are true?
    1. Mr. Baker is a butcher.
    2. Mr. Butcher is a baker.
    3. Mr. Builder is a baker.

    I only. II only. III only. I and II only. I and III only.

23. 
    

    AMY:	"Alex, I really wish you would keep your dog out of my garden shed. It's got fleas!"
    ALEX:	(to his dog) "Rex, you hear that? Keep out of Amy's garden shed. It's got fleas!"

    This short conversation relies for its humour on

    a deliberate refusal on Alex's part to comply with Amy's wishes. a contradiction. a word with a double meaning. a word with an ambiguous referrent. a failure on Alex's part to understand what Amy wants him to do.

24. Heard on an episode of You and Yours on Radio 4 (4th July, 2001): "There are about 1 million houses bought a year in Britain, but there are 9 million viewings. This suggests that most people who view houses for sale have no intention of buying."

    Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the argument presented?

    a survey indicating that a large number of people who view houses tend to like what they see. Government statistics that point to the possibility that the number of houses on sale is far fewer than the number of houses demanded by market forces. phone calls from dozens of listeners to You and Yours who disapprove of the statement made. An article in a national journal showing that house prices are steadily increasing. A questionnaire handed round to a thousand couples who have recently bought houses, indicating that they viewed on average only three houses before making their final choice.

25. I am in the process of packing boxes onto my lorry (truck). I cannot load box A onto the lorry because that would exceed the maximum weight allowance. On the other hand, if I unloaded box B from the lorry, I would be able to load box C on to the lorry without exceeding the allowance.

    Which of the following must be true?

    1. If I didn't unload any boxes (including box B), then I wouldn't be able to load box C onto the lorry.
    2. The remaining weight that can be loaded onto the lorry must be at least as big as the difference in weight between boxes B and C.
    3. The weight of box A must be bigger than the difference in weight of boxes B and C

    I only II only III only I and II only II and III only

26. In a questionnaire sent to twenty thousand recipients chosen at random from the telephone directory, one of the questions asked was "Do you like filling in questionnaires?" It was found that the majority of respondents answered yes to this question. However, it may be argued that the result rather overestimates the proportion of the population who like filling in questionnaires because

    people who didn't like filling in questionnaires are less likely to return filled-in questionnaires in the first place. people who like filling in questionnaires may well lie when answering various questions. people who dislike filling in questionnaires are more likely to answer yes to the question than might be expected. the question does not take into account the possibility that there may be respondents who neither particularly like nor dislike filling in questionnaires. there may have been an unusually high proportion of the people surveyed who enjoyed filling in questionnaires.

27. Alaister Cooke's doctor was once asked if he ever jogged. His reply was "Only when I am late attending the funeral of a patient who jogged!" Assuming the doctor's statement is true, which one of the following is the most logical conclusion we can draw:

    The doctor disapproves of people who jog. The doctor only attends funerals when the deceased is a person who jogged. The doctor only attends funerals when the deceased is an ex-patient of his. The doctor never jogs unless he is attending a funeral. The doctor is an ineffectual and dangerous one, because he disapproves of jogging.

28. Paul is shorter than Denise. Since Richard is not as short as Sally, it follows that Richard must be taller than Denise.

    Which of the following needs to be added as a premise to make the argument logical?

    Denise is taller than Paul. Denise is taller than Sally. Richard is taller than Sally. Denise and Sally are the same height. Sally is shorter than Paul.

29. Recently, several advertisers have withdrawn their advertisements from Magazine X, claiming that it was due to the fact that the editorial board of the magazine had decided to change the image that the magazine portrays from one of family values to one concerned more with sex and violence. Surely this indicates that the decision-makers in advertising companies do still have a sense of moral propriety that occasionally drives their actions.

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

    The advertisers regularly review the placement of their advertisements. It is a rare event for several advertisers to withdraw all their advertisements simultaneously from a publication. The advertisers, when questioned, admitted that their clients would lose revenue as a result of the advertisements being withdrawn. The advertisers all placed new advertisements with other publications that emphasised family values. A survey of the readership of Magazine X suggested that the majority of the readership think that the standard of the magazine's contents had falled since its transformation.

30. The University of Virginia is in the middle of the largest cheating scandal of its history, with a record number of students, 157 in all, under investigation for plagiarising term papers. Since this figure compares unfavourably with the 109 students convicted of cheating in some other universities, we may conclude that the University of Virginia has one of the worst cheating records in the United States.

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

    The University of Virginia have instituted an honour pledge to shame students into refraining from cheating. 93 of the students under investigation have been exonerated. The allegations of cheating were made after a computer program detected repeated phrases in students' assignments. Of all the students who are under investigation, only 41 so far have dropped out or been expelled. The Center for Academic Integrity at Rutger's University discovered in a survey that 40% of students admitted to cheating using the Internet.

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