TEST2CRITICALREASONING1

Section II

Time-35 minutes

24 Questions

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions, More than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, You are to choose the best answer; that is the response that most accurately¹ and completely answers the questions. You should not make assumptions that are by commonsense² standards implausible, superfluous³. or incompatible⁴ with the passage. After you have chosen the best answer; blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

1. Some people believe that witnessing violence in movies will discharge aggressive energy. Does watching someone else eat fill one’s own stomach?

In which one of the following does the reasoning most closely parallel that employed in the passage?

(A) Some people think appropriating supplies at work for their won personal use is morally wrong. Isn’t shoplifting morally wrong?

(B) Some people think nationalism is defensible. Hasn’t nationalism been the excuse for committing abominable⁵ crimes?

(C) Some people that boxing is fixed⁶ just because wrestling usually is. Are the two sports managed by the same sort of people?

(D) Some people think that economists⁷ can control inflation. Can meteorologists make the sun shine?

(E) Some people think workaholics are compensating⁸ for a lack of interpersonal skills. However, aren’t most doctors workaholics?

2. Ann: All the campers at Camp Winnehatchee go to Tri-Cities High School

Bill: That’s not true. Some Tri-Cities students are campers at Camp Lakemont.

Bill’s answer can be best explained on the assumption that he has interpreted Ann’s remark to mean that

(A) most of the campers at Camp Lakemont come from high schools other than Tri-Cities

(B) most Tri-Cities High School students are campers at Camp Winnehatchee

(C) some Tri-Cities High School students have withdrawn⁹ from Camp Lakemont

(D) all Tri-Cities High School students have withdrawn from Camp Lakemont

(E) only campers at Camp Winnehatchee are students at Tri-Cities High School

3. More than a year ago, the city announced that police would crack down on illegally parked cars and that resources would be diverted from writing speeding tickets to ticketing illegally parked cars. But no crackdown has taken place. The police chief claims that resources have had to be diverted from writing speeding tickets to combating the city’s staggering drug problem. Yet the police are still writing as many speeding tickets as ever. Therefore, the excuse about resources being tied up in fighting drug-related crime simply is not true.

The conclusion in the passage depends on the assumption that

(A) every member of the police force is qualified¹⁰ to work on combating the city’s drug problem

(B) drug-related crime is not as serious a problem for the city as the police chief claims it is

(C) writing speeding tickets should be as important a priority for the city as combating drug-related crime

(D) the police could be cracking down on illegally parked cars and combating the drug problem without having to reduce writing speeding tickets

(E) the police cannot continue writing as many speeding tickets as ever while diverting resources to combating drug-related crime

4. Dried grass clippings mixed into garden soil gradually decompose¹¹, providing nutrients¹² for beneficial soil bacteria. This results in better-than-average plant growth. Yet mixing fresh grass clippings into garden soil usually causes poorer-than-average plant growth