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GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 27

in Critical Reasoning

Read the passage and choose the option that best answer the question.

1. As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?

A. The new council must have the support of the nation's labor leaders if it is to succeed.
B. During his years as a labor leader, Grayson established a record of good relations with business leaders.
C. The chair of the new council must be a person who can communicate directly with the leaders of the nation's largest labor unions.
D. Most of the other members of the new council will be representatives of business management interests.
E. An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.

2. Since the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit was mandated on our highways, both money and human lives have been saved. All of the following, if true, would strengthen the claim above EXCEPT:

A. Most highway users find that travel times are not appreciably lengthened by the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit.
B. Highway driving at 55 miles per hour or less is more fuel-efficient than high-speed driving.
C. Nearly all highway safety experts agree that more accidents occur at speeds over 55 miles per hour than at lower speeds.
D. The percentage of fatalities occurring in highway accidents at speeds greater than 55 miles per hour is higher than that for low-speed accidents.
E. Automobiles last longer and require fewer repairs when driven at consistently lower speeds.

3. Mr. Primm : If hospitals were private enterprises, dependent on profits for their survival, there would be no teaching hospitals, because of the intrinsically high cost of running such hospitals. Ms. Nakai : I disagree. The medical challenges provided by teaching hospitals attract the very best physicians. This, in turn, enables those hospitals to concentrate on nonroutine cases. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Ms. Nakai's attempt to refute Mr. Primm's claim?

A. Doctors at teaching hospitals command high salaries.
B. Sophisticated, nonroutine medical care commands a high price.
C. Existing teaching hospitals derive some revenue from public subsidies.
D. The patient mortality rate at teaching hospitals is high.
E. The modern trend among physicians is to become highly specialized.

4. Company Alpha buys free-travel coupons from people who are awarded the coupons by Bravo Airlines for flying frequently on Bravo airplanes. The coupons are sold to people who pay less for the coupons than they would pay by purchasing tickets from Bravo. This marketing of coupons results in lost revenue for Bravo. To discourage the buying and selling of free-travel coupons, it would be best for Bravo Airlines to restrict the

A. number of coupons that a person can be awarded in a particular year
B. use of the coupons to those who were awarded the coupons and members of their immediate families
C. days that the coupons can be used to Monday through Friday
D. amount of time that the coupons can be used after they are issued
E. number of routes on which travelers can use the coupons

5. Previous studies have indicated that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease. However, a new, more reliable study has indicated that eating chocolate does not increase the likelihood of getting heart disease. When the results of the new study become known, consumption of chocolate will undoubtedly increase. Which of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion above is based?

A. Most people who eat a great deal of chocolate will not get heart disease.
B. Although they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease, some people still eat as much chocolate as they want.
C. People who have heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease do not believe it.
D. There are people who currently eat as much chocolate as they want because they have not heard that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.
E. There are people who currently limit their consumption of chocolate only because they believe that eating chocolate increases the likelihood of getting heart disease.

6. Many plant varieties used in industrially developed nations to improve cultivated crops come from less developed nations. No compensation is paid on the grounds that the plants used are ?the common heritage of humanity.? Such reasoning is, however, flawed. After all, no one suggests that coal, oil, and ores should be extracted without payment. Which of the following best describes an aspect of the method used by the author in the argument above?

A. The author proceeds from a number of specific observations to a tentative generalization.
B. The author applies to the case under discussion facts about phenomena assumed to be similar in some relevant respect.
C. A position is strengthened by showing that the opposite of that position would have logically absurd consequences.
D. A line of reasoning is called into question on the grounds that it confuses cause and effect in a causal relation.
E. An argument is analyzed by separating statements of fact from individual value judgments.

7. A new law gives ownership of patents?documents providing exclusive right to make and sell an invention?to universities, not the government, when those patents result from government-sponsored university research. Administrators at Logos University plan to sell any patents they acquire to corporations in order to fund programs to improve undergraduate teaching. Which of the following, if true, would cast most doubt on the viability of the college administrators' plan described above?

A. Profit-making corporations interested in developing products based on patents held by universities are likely to try to serve as exclusive sponsors of ongoing university research projects.
B. Corporate sponsors of research in university facilities are entitled to tax credits under new federal tax-code guidelines.
C. Research scientists at Logos University have few or no teaching responsibilities and participate little if at all in the undergraduate programs in their field.
D. Government-sponsored research conducted at Logos University for the most part duplicates research already completed by several profit-making corporations.
E. Logos University is unlikely to attract corporate sponsorship of its scientific research.

8. Normally, increases in the price of a product decrease its sales except when the price increase accompanies an improvement in the product. Wine is unusual, however. Often increases in the price of a particular producer's wine will result in increased sales, even when the wine itself is unchanged. Which of the following, if true, does most to explain the anomaly described above?

A. The retail wine market is characterized by an extremely wide range of competing products.
B. Many consumers make decisions about which wines to purchase on the basis of reviews of wine published in books and periodicals.
C. Consumers selecting wine in a store often use the price charged as their main guide to the wine's quality.
D. Wine retailers and producers can generally increase the sales of a particular wine temporarily by introducing a price discount.
E. Consumers who purchase wine regularly generally have strong opinions about which wines they prefer.

9. A computer equipped with signature-recognition software, which restricts access to a computer to those people whose signatures are on file, identifies a person's signature by analyzing not only the form of the signature but also such characteristics as pen pressure and signing speed. Even the most adept forgers cannot duplicate all of the characteristics the program analyzes. Which of the following can be logically concluded from the passage above?

A. The time it takes to record and analyze a signature makes the software impractical for everyday use.
B. Computers equipped with the software will soon be installed in most banks.
C. Nobody can gain access to a computer equipped with the software solely by virtue of skill at forging signatures.
D. Signature-recognition software has taken many years to develop and perfect.
E. In many cases even authorized users are denied legitimate access to computers equipped with the software.

10. Last year in the United States , women who ran for state and national offices were about as likely to win as men. However, only about fifteen percent of the candidates for these offices were women. Therefore, the reason there are so few women who win elections for these offices is not that women have difficulty winning elections but that so few women want to run. Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the conclusion given?

A. Last year the proportion of women incumbents who won reelection was smaller than the proportion of men incumbents who won reelection.
B. Few women who run for state and national offices run against other women.
C. Most women who have no strong desire to be politicians never run for state and national offices.
D. The proportion of people holding local offices who are women is smaller than the proportion of people holding state and national offices who are women.
E. Many more women than men who want to run for state and national offices do not because they cannot get adequate funding for their campaigns.