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GMAT

GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 33

in Critical Reasoning

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

1. James's grade point average puts him in the top third of the graduating class of college A. Nestor is in the top tenth of the same class. Elizabeth had the same grade point average as Nestor. Nancy has a lower grade point average than Elizabeth. If the information above is true, which of the following must also be true?

A. James has a higher grade point average than Elizabeth.
B. James has a higher grade point average than Nancy.
C. Nestor has a higher grade point average than Nancy.
D. Elizabeth and Nancy both have a higher grade point average than James.
E. Nestor and James both have a higher grade point average than Nancy.

2. The increased concentration of salt in the bay, which is the result of recent drought and high temperatures, will cause many fish to die. Shrimp, however, can tolerate high salt levels; the shrimp industry will not, therefore, be hurt by the increased concentration of salt. Which of the following statements, if true, would weaken the argument above?

A. Some fish will migrate to areas that have lower concentrations of salt.
B. Lack of rainfall for extended periods of time lowers the water level of bays.
C. The organisms on which young shrimp feed cannot survive in such salty waters.
D. Increased water temperature often causes shrimp to multiply more quickly.
E. Shrimp are more abundant in areas of the bay that are sparsely populated by fish.

3. In a political system with only two major parties, the entrance of a third-party candidate into an election race damages the chances of only one of the two major candidates. The third-party candidate always attracts some of the voters who might otherwise have voted for one of the two major candidates, but not voters who support the other candidate. Since a third-party candidacy affects the two major candidates unequally, for reasons neither of them has any control over, the practice is unfair and should not be allowed. If the factual information in the passage above is true, which of the following can be most reliably inferred from it?

A. If the political platform of the third party is a compromise position between that of the two major parties, the third party will draw its voters equally from the two major parties.
B. If, before the emergence of a third party, voters were divided equally between the two major parties, neither of the major parties is likely to capture much more than one-half of the vote.
C. A third-party candidate will not capture the votes of new voters who have never voted for candidates of either of the two major parties.
D. The political stance of a third party will be more radical than that of either of the two major parties.
E. The founders of a third party are likely to be a coalition consisting of former leaders of the two major parties.

4. Teenagers are often priced out of the labor market by the government-mandated minimum-wage level because employers cannot afford to pay that much for extra help. Therefore, if Congress institutes a subminimum wage, a new lower legal wage for teenagers, the teenage unemployment rate, which has been rising since 1960, will no longer increase. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A. Since 1960 the teenage unemployment rate has risen when the minimum wage has risen.
B. Since 1960 the teenage unemployment rate has risen even when the minimum wage remained constant.
C. Employers often hire extra help during holiday and warm weather seasons.
D. The teenage unemployment rate rose more quickly in the 1970's than it did in the 1960's.
E. The teenage unemployment rate has occasionally declined in the years since

5. Many breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin supplements. Some of these cereals provide 100 percent of the recommended daily requirement of vitamins. Nevertheless, a well-balanced breakfast, including a variety of foods, is a better source of those vitamins than are such fortified breakfast cereals alone. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the position above?

A. In many foods, the natural combination of vitamins with other nutrients makes those vitamins more usable by the body than are vitamins added in vitamin supplements.
B. People who regularly eat cereals fortified with vitamin supplements sometimes neglect to eat the foods in which the vitamins occur naturally.
C. Foods often must be fortified with vitamin supplements because naturally occurring vitamins are removed during processing.
D. Unprocessed cereals are naturally high in several of the vitamins that are usually added to fortified breakfast cereals.
E. Cereals containing vitamin supplements are no harder to digest than similar cereals without added vitamins.

6. Houses built during the last ten years have been found to contain indoor air pollution at levels that are, on average, much higher than the levels found in older houses. The reason air-pollution levels are higher in the newer houses is that many such houses are built near the sites of old waste dumps or where automobile emissions are heavy. Which of the following, if true, calls into question the explanation above?

A. Many new houses are built with air-filtration systems that remove from the house pollutants that are generated indoors.
B. The easing of standards for smokestack emissions has led to an increase in air-pollution levels in homes.
C. New houses built in secluded rural areas are relatively free of air pollutants.
D. Warm-weather conditions tend to slow down the movement of air, thus keeping pollution trapped near its source.
E. Pressboard, an inexpensive new plywood substitute now often used in the construction of houses, emits the pollutant formaldehyde into the house.

7. A report that many apples contain a cancer-causing preservative called Alar apparently had little effect on consumers. Few consumers planned to change their apple-buying habits as a result of the report. Nonetheless, sales of apples in grocery stores fell sharply in March, a month after the report was issued. Which of the following, if true, best explains the reason for the apparent discrepancy described above?

A. In March, many grocers removed apples from their shelves in order to demonstrate concern about their customers' health.
B. Because of a growing number of food-safety warnings, consumers in March were indifferent to such warnings.
C. The report was delivered on television and also appeared in newspapers.
D. The report did not mention that any other fruit contains Alar , although the preservative is used on other fruit.
E. Public health officials did not believe that apples posed a health threat because only minute traces of Alar were present in affected apples.

8. An airplane engine manufacturer developed a new engine model with safety features lacking in the earlier model, which was still being manufactured. During the first year that both were sold, the earlier model far outsold the new model; the manufacturer thus concluded that safety was not the customers' primary consideration. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the manufacturer's conclusion?

A. Both private plane owners and commercial airlines buy engines from this airplane engine manufacturer.
B. Many customers consider earlier engine models better safety risks than new engine models, since more is usually known about the safety of the earlier models.
C. Many customers of this airplane engine manufacturer also bought airplane engines from manufacturers who did not provide additional safety features in their newer models.
D. The newer engine model can be used in all planes in which the earlier engine model can be used.
E. There was no significant difference in price between the newer engine model and the earlier engine model.

9. Canadians now increasingly engage in ?out-shopping,? which is shopping across the national border, where prices are lower. Prices are lower outside of Canada in large part because the goods-and-services tax that pays for Canadian social services is not applied. Which one of the following is best supported on the basis of the information above?

A. If the upward trend in out-shopping continues at a significant level and the amounts paid by the government for Canadian social services are maintained, the Canadian goods-and-services tax will be assessed at a higher rate.
B. If Canada imposes a substantial tariff on the goods bought across the border, a reciprocal tariff on cross-border shopping in the other direction will be imposed, thereby harming Canadian businesses.
C. The amounts the Canadian government pays out to those who provide social services to Canadians are increasing.
D. The same brands of goods are available to Canadian shoppers across the border as are available in Canada.
E. Out-shopping purchases are subject to Canadian taxes when the purchaser crosses the border to bring them into Canada.

10. Many state legislatures are considering proposals to the effect that certain policies should be determined not by the legislature itself but by public referenda in which every voter can take part. Critics of the proposals argue that the outcomes of public referenda would be biased, since wealthy special-interest groups are able to influence voters' views by means of television advertisements. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the critics' argument?

A. Many state legislators regard public referenda as a way of avoiding voting on issues on which their constituents are divided.
B. During elections for members of the legislature, the number of people who vote is unaffected by whether the candidates run television advertisements or not.
C. Proponents of policies that are opposed by wealthy special-interest groups are often unable to afford advertising time on local television stations.
D. Different special-interest groups often take opposing positions on questions of which policies the state should adopt.
E. Television stations are reluctant to become associated with any one political opinion, for fear of losing viewers who do not share that opinion.