Critical Reasoning Topic 4: STRENGTHEN

1. The United States government uses only a household’s

cash income before taxes to determine whether that
household falls below the poverty line in a given year;
capital gains, noncash government benefits, and tax
credits are not included. However, yearly cash income is
not a fool-proof measure of a given household’s
disposable income. For example, retirees who live off of
capital gains from an extensive portfolio could earn
hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet be classified by the
government as living in “poverty” because this income is
not included in the calculation. Which of the
following, if true, validates the contention that
the government’s calculation methods must
be altered in order to provide statistics that
measure true poverty?
A) For more than 99% of those classified as living in
poverty, yearly cash income comprises the vast majority
of each household’s disposable income.
B) While the government’s calculation method indicated a
12.5% poverty rate in 2003, the same calculation
method indicated anywhere from a 9% to a 16% poverty
rate during the preceding decade.
C) Most established research studies conducted by the
private sector indicate that the number of people truly
living in poverty in the U.S. is less than that indicated by
the government’s calculation method.
D) Several prominent economists endorse an alternate
calculation method which incorporates all income, not
just cash income, and adjusts for taxes paid and other
core expenses.
E) The government’s calculation method also erroneously
counts those who do not earn income in a given year
but who have substantial assets on which to live during
that year.

2. Historically, the drug industry promoted its products to

physicians by educating them in their offices or at
industry conferences. In the last 10 years, it has become
much more commonplace for drug companies to
advertise prescription drugs directly to consumers, via
television advertising and other media. Some public
health advocates have become concerned that patients,
encouraged by advertising, may pursue the use of
prescription drugs that may be inappropriate for the
individual patient or situation. However, since
physicians must prescribe these medications, there is no
reason for such concern. Which of the following
pieces of information would be most helpful
in addressing the concern articulated by the
public health advocates?
A) Certain over-the-counter medications are as effective
for many common medical conditions as more powerful
nonprescription medications.
B) Prescription medication television advertisements
directed at the general public only appear on certain
programs and are not seen by many potential
consumers.
C) Physicians are also subject to prescription drug
advertisements that are directed toward consumers.
D) Physicians are not susceptible to pressure from patients
in determining appropriate courses of treatment,
including drug prescriptions.
E) Prescription medicines have been proven to be safe and
effective treatments for many patient conditions.

3. Studies in restaurants show that the tips left by

customers who pay their bill tend to be larger when the
bill is presented with the server’s name hand-written on
the bill. Psychologists hypothesize that simply seeing a
hand- written name makes many consumers feel more
of a personal identification with the server, encouraging
larger tips. Which of the following, if true, most
strongly supports the psychologists’
interpretation of the studies?
A) The effect noted in the studies applies to patrons paying
with either credit cards or cash.
B) Nametags for servers have not been shown to have any
effect on the size of the bill.
C) Greeting card companies have found that charities
which send holiday cards with handwritten signatures
are more likely to receive donations than those which
send cards with printed signatures.
D) The studies indicated much larger average tips if the
customer ordered alcoholic beverages with his or her
meal.
E) Many of the restaurants in which the studies were
conducted are located in tourist areas, where people are
traveling for leisure activities.
4. Analyst: The pace of technological development brings a
constant stream of new devices to the market, and
many of them enjoy commercial success. But
announcing new technology too soon after the
introduction of a successful device can backfire. Once
consumers hear about the new device, they may stop
buying the one currently on sale. So, if a company
wishes to announce the upcoming sale of a new device,
it should wait until purchases of the old device have
begun to decline. Which of the following, if true,
would best support the analyst’s main
assertion?
A) New technology often becomes less expensive after an
initial surge in sales.
B) Media outlets, such as television programs and
magazines, often report on the planned introduction of
new devices while the sales of old devices are still
strong.
C) Many consumers are unable to determine whether new
technology is superior to current technology.
D) Surveys have shown that some consumers make only
one or two technology purchases per year, whereas
others make more frequent purchases.
E) Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies
whose products they enjoy using.

5. More and more companies have begun to consume less

energy by making themselves more efficient. Over time,
these efforts could place the United States at the
forefront of an emerging global market for cleaner
technologies. Such efforts are also essential to tackling
 the two big energy-related issues of the age: global
warming and the dependence on precarious supplies of
oil. The federal government should encourage these
efforts by providing the necessary incentives, whether
as loans, direct grants or targeted tax breaks. Which of
the following, if true, provides the most
effective support for the argument?
A) On the average, Canadian companies are more energy
efficient than those in the United States.
B) Experts believe that energy efficiency could lower the
energy use of the United States to the level of 1995.
C) In the past, government incentives have made advances
in energy conservation feasible, especially in the auto
industry.
D) The dependence on foreign oil is a greater problem in
the present than global warming.
E) The market for cleaner technologies is currently
relatively small because of the infrastructure
requirements.

6. State X recently decided to cut state funding for the

public library system in County X. To help counteract
this cut in funding, the county library system has
increased library late fees from $.10 per day to $.12 per
day. Since the fee increase, library administrators have
seen no decline in the number of overdue books. The
director of the county library system concludes that the
fee hike has helped to counteract the cut in state
funding. Which of the following statements, if
true, most strengthens the director’s claim?
A) Since the fee increase, library administrators have noted
a significant decrease in the number of books borrowed
each day.
B) The library system incurred minor costs to make its
visitors aware of the late fee increase.
C) Since the fee increase, there has been no significant
change in the average number of days that books are
overdue before they are returned.
D) The library system in County X tracks its books through a
very advanced database system, allowing library
administrators to have access to very accurate statistics
on the number of overdue books at any given time.
E) Since the reduction in state funding, the library system
in County X has eliminated 10% of its staff, creating a 2%
reduction in costs.

7. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was believed in many

coastal American cities that the waterfront was an
undesirable location for residential buildings. As a result,
much of the waterfront in these cities was never
developed aesthetically and instead was left to industry
and commerce. Today, however, waterfront properties
are generally seen as prestigious, as evidenced by the
large sums paid for homes along the beach front. A
developer who wishes to make a large profit would be
wise to buy urban waterfront lots and erect residential
buildings on them. Which of the following, if true,
most strongly supports the claim made about
urban waterfront properties?
A) People today have more money, relatively speaking, to
spend on real estate than they did in previous centuries.
B) Homeowners will be willing to spend large sums on
residential properties in traditionally industrial or
commercial districts.
C) Many urban waterfront lots are available for purchase.
D) Many coastal American cities are encouraging
developers to rehabilitate the waterfront through tax
incentives.
E) Properties in interior residential districts in coastal
American cities are significantly more expensive than
those along the waterfront.

8. Charter schools are independent public schools that are

given greater autonomy in exchange for increased
accountability. Charter school operators are freed from
many of the regulations of the traditional public school
bureaucracy, thereby allowing them to pursue more
innovative educational ideas than non-charter public
schools can pursue. At the same time, charter schools
are held accountable for achieving specific educational
outcomes and are closed down if those outcomes are
not met. Which of the following, if true, best
supports the assertion that students
attending charter schools will, on average,
perform better on assessments of writing
ability than students attending traditional
public schools?
A) Students who attend schools that emphasize order and
discipline perform worse on assessments of writing
ability than students who attend schools that do not
emphasize order and discipline.
B) The majority of students who score in the 99th
percentile on assessments of writing ability attend
charter schools.
C) Public schools that operate outside of the traditional
public school bureaucracy spend more time teaching
students writing than do traditional public schools.
D) Students who attend schools that are allowed to
experiment with their writing curricula perform better
on assessments of writing ability than students who
attend schools that have less flexible curricula.
E) There are far more students attending non-charter
public schools than students attending charter schools.

9. Officials of the Youth Hockey League and parents of

players in the league have become concerned with the
number of flagrant fouls occurring during league games.
This past season, the number of flagrant fouls was
double the number from the season before. League
officials plan to reduce the number of such fouls during
the coming season by implementing mandatory
suspensions for players who commit flagrant fouls.
Which of the following statements, if true,
provides the best evidence that the officials’
plan will be effective?
A) Most serious injuries occurring during league games are
a direct result of flagrant fouls.
B) League referees have been trained to recognize flagrant
fouls and to report incidents involving such fouls.
C) Parents of players in the league are in support of
mandatory suspensions for flagrant fouls.
D) A similar league suspends players for committing
flagrant fouls; this league has a relatively low incidence
of flagrant fouls when compared with the Youth Hockey
League.
E) Most players in the league strive to be selected for the
All-Star team, and league rules state that no player with
a record of suspension shall be selected for the All-Star
team.

10. Almost every modern kitchen today is equipped

with a microwave oven, mainly because microwave
ovens offer a fast and convenient way of cooking and
reheating food. Indeed, it has become a standard
appliance in most households. Studies have shown,
however, that microwave ovens are not completely safe
and their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury.
Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that
microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a
standard appliance until they can be certified to be
completely safe. Which of the following, if true,
would most strengthen the argument of the
consumer advocates?
A) Microwave ovens have taken much of the joy out of
cooking.
B) There have been many reported incidences of people
who have been scalded by liquids superheated in
microwave ovens.
C) Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an
appliance should be judged to be acceptable as
“standard.”
D) There is no such thing as a completely safe appliance.
E) Stoves and ovens that use natural gas consume energy
much more efficiently than microwave ovens.

11. One feature of the global food economy is the

simultaneous import and export of the same items, a
phenomenon known as “redundant trade.” In California,
for example, domestic cherries are exported to Canada
and Japan, while a nearly equivalent number of cherries
are imported from Chile, Italy, and Germany. California
also exports and imports nearly identical amounts of
lettuce and almonds. Although shipping fresh fruits and
vegetables is an expensive undertaking, there is a
justifiable economic rationale for redundant trade.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly
supports the conclusion above?
A) Establishing international ties through trade facilitates
access to other desired goods that are more efficiently
produced abroad.
B) Undertaking free trade with one’s political allies helps to
maintain international goodwill.
C) In recent years, consumers in California boycotted
domestic cherries, demanding better working conditions
for agricultural laborers in the state.
D) Local growers could sell their products at a premium in
domestic markets.
E) The economic globalization of redundant trade allows
for the sharing of cultural norms and values.
12. Wide dissemination of wireless networks in cities is
a practical way to meet the needs of city households,
schools and businesses. Rural communities have found
that wireless networks are both more reliable and
cheaper than land-based networks. Which of the
following would most likely be cited by a
supporter of the argument?
A) Urban areas do not pose additional problems for the
effective operation of wireless networks.
B) Wireless networks work far better where population
density is low.
C) Iceland, a very rural country, successfully uses wireless
networks.
D) The expenses of wireless transmission in areas with
large buildings is much higher.
E) Poor neighborhoods have less access to cable internet
than do educators or businesses.

13. Surveys reveal that the vast majority of hotel

guests in the United States resent the high prices of the
items in the mini-bars in their hotel rooms.These guests
would prefer to have an empty refrigerator in their
rooms in order to have space to put their own food and
beverages, although a large percentage of these guests
would still make at least one purchase from their in-
room mini-bar. After analyzing the results of the study,
the management of Hotel T decided that it would be
more profitable to eliminate the mini-bar and install
empty refrigerators in each room. Which of the
following, if true, would support Hotel T’s
 plan to increase profitability by eliminating in
room mini- bars in favor of empty
refrigerators?
A) There is currently some space available in Hotel T’s in-
room mini-bars for guests to put their own items.
B) Hotel T is located in the United States.
C) Some guests of Hotel T do not make any purchases from
their in-room mini-bars.
D) The money that Hotel T makes from the mini-bar
purchases of its guests is less than the money that Hotel
T loses from discarding mini-bar items that have not sold
by their expiration dates.
E) It will cost Hotel T less money to maintain empty
refrigerators in its guest rooms than to maintain stocked
mini- bars in those rooms.

14. There is only one major road, Freeway Z, that links

County X and County Y. The border of the two counties
is primarily defined by a mountain range, over which the
construction of new roads is severely restricted by
environmental laws. A cost-effective solution to the
problem of traffic congestion on Freeway Z is to build a
commuter train tunnel through the mountain range. The
successful implementation of this plan would cost far
less than expanding the existing freeway and would also
reduce the number of cars clogging the roads in both
counties. Which of the following, if true, could
proponents of the plan above most
appropriately cite as a piece of evidence for
the soundness of their plan?
A) An effective commuter train tunnel between the
counties would require major investment in mass transit
within both counties.
B) The majority of all vehicles on the nation’s freeways are
traveling from one state to another.
C) 60% of the cars on Freeway Z are driven by people who
live in County Y and work in County X.
D) Many new freeways are being built in areas that are
presently served by commuter trains.
E) A large proportion of the vehicles on Freeway Z are
commercial trucks carrying transcontinental shipments.

15. In January of last year, Fastfood King started using a

new lowfat oil to cook its Fast Fries, instead of the less
healthful corn oil that it had been using. Now Fastfood
King is planning to switch back, saying that the change
has hurt sales of Fast Fries. However, this claim is
incorrect, since according to Fastfood King’s own sales
figures, Fastfood King sold 10 percent more Fast Fries
last year than in the previous year. Which of the
following, if true, most strongly supports the
argument against Fastfood King’s claim?
A) Total sales of all foods at Fastfood King’s locations
increased by less than 10 percent last year.
B) Fastfood King enjoys higher profit margins on its Soft
Drinks than it does on Fast Fries.
C) Fastfood King’s customers prefer the taste of Fast Fries
cooked in corn oil to Fast Fries cooked in lowfat oil.
D) The number of customers that visited Fastfood King
locations was more than 20 percent higher last year
than the year before.
E) The year before last, Fastfood King experienced a 20
percent increase in Fast Fries sales over the previous
year.

16. The West Indian manatee, a distant relative of the

elephant, returned to the sea some 50 million years ago.
These thousand-pound herbivores inhabit the warm
coastal waters where Americans like to play. Despite
conservation efforts, criminal penalties for harming
these creatures, and an overabundance of SAVE THE
MANATEE! bumper stickers, none of these animals can
be considered safe. Which of the following, if
true, most strongly supports the argument
above?
A) Last year, several manatees were mysteriously killed by
an unidentified toxin.
B) All manatees swim at depths than make them
vulnerable to the blades of motorboat engines.
C) Most tourists are unaware of the ongoing efforts to save
the manatee.
D) The population of manatees in the wild has dwindled to
fewer than 2,500 animals.
E) Although dozens of manatee deaths are documented
each year, many more deaths go unreported.
17. 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) Some people who bet on sports are convicted criminals.
C) People who bet on sports sometimes can ill afford to
lose the amounts they wager.
D) No police officer should ever gamble.
E) Many philosophers consider gambling to be immoral.

18. Ethanol is a derivative of corn and other grains.

When burned as fuel, it emits significantly lower levels
of carbon monoxide, a major atmospheric pollutant,
than does gasoline. For that reason, environmentalists
claim that ethanol is a better source of energy than
gasoline. Which of the following, if true, most
strongly supports the environmentalists’
claim?
A) When burned as fuel, ethanol does not release any
pollutants at higher levels than does gasoline.
B) Ethanol is comparable in price to gasoline.
C) Available supplies of corn are sufficient to supply several
years’ worth of ethanol.
D) Most gasoline companies already possess the
technology to produce ethanol.
E) Ethanol can be used as heating fuel.
19. Medical education in the United States has focused
almost exclusively on curative medicine, while
preventive care has been given scant attention. This is
misguided. Medical schools should invest as much time
in teaching their students how to prevent illness as in
teaching them how to cure it. Which of the
following, if true, most strengthens the
argument above?
A) Many contagious diseases can be prevented with
vaccines.
B) In 1988, for every three cents the United States spent on
prevention, it spent 97 cents on curative treatment.
C) The number of students enrolled in medical school is the
highest it has ever been.
D) More people die each year from disease than from
accidental causes.
E) As the population grows, the number of doctors in
certain specialties has not been keeping pace.

20. Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African

grey parrots, seem to exhibit cognitive functions
typically associated with higher-order primates such as
chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Some parrots, for
example, have vocabularies of hundreds of words that
they can string together in a comprehensible syntax.
This clearly shows that humans and primates are not the
only animals capable of using language to communicate.
One parrot, named Alex, has been known to ask to be
 petted or kissed and will exhibit aggression if the
gesture offered is not the specific one requested.
Which of the following, if true, would most
strengthen the conclusion above?
A) Dolphins can be trained to assist divers in ocean rescues.
B) Gorillas in captivity often learn hand signals for food and
water.
C) Dogs are capable of sensing their owners’ moods and
often exhibit concern if they sense sadness.
D) Chimpanzees can memorize long sequences of key
punches on machines that dispense food.
E) Alex does not exhibit aggression when offered a gesture
that he specifically requested.

21. To prevent overcrowding, last month the town

zoning board limited the number of new buildings that
can be constructed in the town in any given year. The
board claims that doing so will preserve open spaces
and lessen the strain on municipal resources such as
schools and garbage disposal. Critics of the changes
argue that the plan will harm the community or, at the
very least, will fail in its purpose. Which of the following
most supports the claims of the critics of the plan?
1. Other towns have had mixed success with similar zoning
plans.
2. No new schools have been built in the town in ten years.
3. Property taxes in the town are higher than in
neighboring towns.
4. Under the new plan, developers may still erect
apartment buildings.
5. The nearest garbage dump is several miles away from
the town.

22. At any given time, approximately fifteen percent of

all homes in Florida are on the market. In Texas,
however, only seven percent of all homes are on the
market at any given time. Therefore, one will have a
wider selection of homes to choose from if one looks for
a home in Florida rather than in Texas. Which of the
following, if true, would most seriously
strengthen the argument above?
A) Homes in Florida tend to be less expensive than those in
Texas.
B) Mortgages are easier to obtain for homes in Florida than
for homes in Texas.
C) The construction industry in Texas has reported
significant growth over the past year.
D) The cost of constructing new homes in Texas is higher
than in Florida.
E) The total number of homes in Florida is three times
greater than the total number in Texas.