CR Questions Flashcards
Recent research has indicated that married people are not only happier than unmarried people, but also healthier. This study has been widely reported by the media, with most commentators concluding that being married is good for one’s health and attitude.
The conclusion of the media commentators depends on which of the following assumptions?
A. Married people cannot get depressed.
B. Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.
Correct - B
Wrong - A:
- too extreme
- one could reasonably conclude from the research that the cause and effect are the reverse: being happy and healthy makes a person more likely to get married.
Assumptions must support the CAUSAL DIRECTION of the causal relationship. “A –> B, and NOT B –> A”
The media claim that the economy is entering a phase of growth and prosperity. They point to lower unemployment rates and increased productivity. This analysis is false, though. The number of people filing for bankruptcy has increased every month for the last six months, and bankruptcy lawyers report that they are busier than they have been in years.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. Economic growth cannot be measured in terms of productivity.
B. Legislation has not been recently passed to make legal bankruptcy easier to obtain.
C. There has not been an increase in the number of bankruptcy lawyers.
Correct - B
A - media can be wrong about other things
C - an increase in the number of lawyers would not explain an increase in number of bankruptcies.
The popular notion that a tree’s age can be determined by counting the number of internal rings in its trunk is generally true. However, to help regulate the internal temperature of the tree, the outermost layers of wood of the Brazilian ash often peel away when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving the tree with fewer rings than it would otherwise have. So only if the temperature in the Brazilian ash’s environment never exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit will its rings be a reliable measure of the tree’s age.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?
A. One day of temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit will cause the Brazilian ash to lose one ring.
B. The number of rings that will be lost when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit is not predictable.
Correct - B
A - Weakens the claim. If we know that B-ash loses one ring/day that exceeds 95F, then we can still rely on the popular notion.
Since the new publisher took control, a news magazine’s covers have featured only models and movie stars. Previously, the covers had displayed only politicians, soldiers, and business leaders. A leading gossip columnist claimed that the changes made the magazine relevant again. However, many newspaper editorials disagreed and suggested that the new publisher is more interested in boosting sales than in reporting important news events.
Which of the following is an assumption necessary for the argument made by the gossip columnist’s opponents?
A. Final authority for choosing the cover subject of the magazine lies with the publisher.
B. Magazine issues with models or movie stars on the covers are purchased at a rate more than three times greater than is the case with issues featuring politicians on the covers.
Correct - A
B is wrong because:
- While it is true that the editorials must assume model and movie star covers are likely to sell more copies, it does not have to be assumed that such covers will result in the sale of triple the number of copies, or any other specific number.
Smoking is a known cause of certain serious health problems, including emphysema and lung cancer. Now, an additional concern can be added to the list of maladies caused by smoking. A recent study surveyed both smokers and nonsmokers, and found that smokers are significantly more anxious and nervous than nonsmokers.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument rests?
A. Anxiety and nervousness can lead to serious health problems.
B. Anxiety and nervousness do not make individuals more likely to start smoking.
Correct - B
A - arg concludes that smoking leads to anxiety and nervousness. Whether they lead to more serious health issue is not our concern.
Any assumption in a causal argument must support the causal “direction” of the conclusion, that A causes B as opposed to some other explanation. Often, assumptions support a causal conclusion either by eliminating an alternate cause for the conclusion (that C did not cause B) or by demonstrating that the causation, if one exists, is in the proper direction (that B did not cause A).
Joanne: An increasing number of online retailers now allow customers to create “wish lists” of items they would like to receive as gifts. Such lists are certainly useful, but these retailers should also explore other ways to suggest gift purchases for these customers. In particular, without revealing the specifics of a customer’s purchase history, a website could quickly analyze a retailer’s entire inventory, select a list of items similar to those the customer has already purchased, and then e-mail that list to a group of contacts specified by the customer. Such a system would suggest gifts that, because of their similarity to the customer’s prior purchases, would be extremely likely to appeal to the customer.
What does Joanne assume? State our goal
Joanne assumes:
- customers want something similar to what they have already purchased
- customer’s purchase history reflects what he/she wants
From the answer:
To justify the premise that a customer’s purchase history should reflect what that customer wants for himself or herself, Joanne must assume that the purchase history does not consist mostly of items bought for other people. It must also assume that a customer wants things similar to what they already own.
Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.
Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children.
Lucy’s argument relies on the assumption that ______.
A. normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded.
B. the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such medication.
C. the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
Correct - C
If there is no difference between children and adults on the matter of antipsychotic drug use, then Lucy can legitimately use information about adult use of such drugs to imply that the lower rate of antipsychotic drug use by children must also be normal. On the other hand, if this assumption were not valid – for example, if children responded differently to the drugs, or if the rate of the drug use by adults is considered too high for children – then Lucy’s statement would not be enough to address Antoine’s alarm.
Wrong:
A - frequency of level exceeded is not relevant
B - Lucy’s assumption does not require the assumption that that will always be the case.
Everyone who has graduated from TopNotch High School has an intelligence quotient (IQ) of over 120. Most students with an IQ of over 120 and all students with an IQ of over 150 who apply to one or more Ivy League universities are accepted by at least one of them.
The statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions?
A. If a person is a high-school graduate and has an IQ of less than 100, he or she could not have been a student at TopNotch High School.
B. If a person has an IQ of 130 and is attending an Ivy-League university, it is possible for him or her to have graduated from TopNotch High School.
Correct - B
Wrong:
A - the student could’ve transferred out of TopNotch.
On Monday, Daisy’s Lemonade Stand sold lemonade at 20 cents per cup. The Lemon Shack sold lemonade at 30 cents per cup. At the end of the day, Daisy’s Lemonade Stand and the Lemon Shack reported identical revenues and identical profits.
The statements above best support which of the following assertions?
A. On Monday, Daisy’s Lemonade Stand sold fewer cups of lemonade than did the Lemon Shack
B. On Monday, Daisy’s Lemonade Stand and the Lemon Shack incurred identical costs to run their businesses.
C. In general, lemonade consumers prefer the lemonade at Daisy’s Lemonade Stand to the Lemonade at the Lemon Shack
Correct - B
Wrong:
A - DLS actually sold more
C - we don’t know anything about the preference.
Columnist: The winner of this year’s national spelling bee won by correctly spelling the spoken word Ursprache, which means “fame” in German. Given the richness of our language, why must we resort to words taken from modern foreign languages to challenge our best spellers? Ursprache is listed in our dictionary, as are words from many other foreign languages, but future spelling bees should limit themselves to words in our dictionary that have been anglicized in all aspects because spelling English words, not knowledge of linguistics and international phonetics, is the point of these contests.
Which of the following can most reasonably be inferred from the argument above?
A. The spelling contest winner knew how to spell most of the anglicized words in the dictionary.
B. Foreign words are more difficult than anglicized words for all contestants to spell.
C. To spell foreign words, contestants must recognize the language and know its pronunciation
Correct - C
Wrong:
A - The winner did not have to know how to spell most of the anglicized words in the dictionary, only the ones that she was given.
B - All contestants don’t have to find foreign words more difficult. For instance, the child of German parents might find it easy to spell Ursprache.
Box office receipts for independent movies for the first half of this year have increased by 20 percent over the total receipts for independent movies for all of last year. Last year, 50 independent movies were released, while so far this year only 20 independent movies have been released. The number of independent movies slated for release in the second half of this year is roughly equal to the number released so far.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must be true?
A. The average receipts for the independent films released during the first half of this year is greater than that of all independent films released last year.
B. The number of people seeing independent movies during the first half of this year is greater than the number who saw independent movies last year.
Correct - A
Wrong:
B - same number of people but higher ticket price.
Analyst: Creative professionals, such as clothing designers, graphic designers, and decorators, often have very poor managerial skills and do not succeed when they try to run their own businesses. In fact, most of these creative types are less skilled in business than is the average white-collar professional who does not work in a creative field. Generally, creative talent and business acumen rarely go hand in hand.
If the analyst’s argument is taken as true, which of the following statements can properly be concluded?
A. Some creative types are not less skilled at business than is the average white-collar worker who is not creative.
B. Creativity precludes success in business.
Correct - A
- The passage states that most creative types are less skilled in business than the average white-collar worker who does not work in a creative field. This implies that some creative types are not less skilled than the average white-collar worker who is not creative.
Wrong:
B - takes it to an extreme
Advocates insist that health savings accounts are an efficient method to reduce medical expenses. However, widespread adoption of these accounts will soon undermine the public’s health. One reason for this is that most people will be reluctant to deplete their accounts to pay for regular preventive examinations, so that in many cases a serious illness will go undetected until it is far advanced. Another reason is that poor people, who will not be able to afford health savings accounts, will no longer receive vaccinations against infectious diseases.
The statements above, if true, most support which of the following?
A. Most diseases are detected during regular preventive examination
B. Some people without HSAs are likely to contract infectious diseases
Correct - B
- “poop ppl, who will will not be able to afford HSAs, will no longer recieve vaccinations against infectious diseases”
Wrong:
A - not enough info to conclude this.
Betting on sports, even for small stakes among friends, is a form of gambling. Therefore, no police officer should ever bet on sports.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the conclusion that no police officer should ever bet on sports?
A. Gambling is illegal in many states and countries.
B. No police should ever gamble
Correct - B
Wrong:
A - some states can be legal..
Transportation expenses accounted for a large portion of the total dollar amount spent on trips for pleasure by US residents in 1997, and about half of the total dollar amount spent on transportation was for airfare. However, the large majority of US residents who took trips for pleasure in 1997 did not travel by airplanes but used other means of transportation.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true about US residents who took trips for pleasure in 1997?
A. Per mile traveled, those who traveled by airplane tended to spend more on transportation to their destination than did those who use other means of transportation
B. Overall, people who did not travel by airplane had lower average transportation expenses than people who did.
Correct - B.
A - consider people who flew super long flights.
