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GMAT 1 (CR)

GMAT Critical Reasoning Online Preparation and Practice Test and this test is also useful for MBA CAT, XAT, MAT and Other Entrance Exams

13 Questions Published
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Questions

Question 1 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Police statistics often show that those most likely to be robbed are those who have not recently been robbed and those most likely to have their homes burgled are those who have not recently suffered a burglary. Consequently, a study of robberies and burglaries in a particular neighborhood since 1988 has greatly upset the residents of a certain apartment complex, as that complex is shown to have been virtually crime free since 1990, although the neighborhood itself is not very safe.
Based solely on the information contained in the statements above, which of the following groups of residents of the apartment complex are LEAST likely to be robbed or burgled?

  1. Residents who have been burgled, but not robbed, since 1990.
  2. Residents who have never been robbed or had their homes burgled.
  3. Residents who either were robbed or had their homes burgled before 1990, but not since 1990.
  4. Residents who either have been robbed or had their homes burgled since 1990.
  5. Residents who have been both robbed and had their homes burgled since 1990.
Question 2 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

A few decades ago it was popular to link dramatic increases in urban antisocial behavior with high population density, and to support this with studies of laboratory rats, which exhibit randomly violent behavior under conditions of extreme overcrowding. It has since become obvious that the analogy between rats and humans is simplistic at best, and leaves out considerations like human adaptability and cultural factors which are of key importance in determining human behavior.
Which of the following, if true, best support the conclusion the author presents in the passage above?

  1. Testing new products on laboratory rats has sometimes led to unnecessary alarm about their adverse effects on human health.
  2. Rats thrive in the crowded condition of human urban society.
  3. Rats also exhibit unnatural behavior in conditions of extreme isolation.
  4. Although rat behavior does change in crowded conditions, what results is not random violence but a new, radically different social order.
  5. In some extremely crowded cities there is relatively little antisocial behavior, whereas some rural communities have very high rates of such behavior.
Question 3 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Professor Branch, who is chairman of the sociology department, claims she saw a flying saucer the other night. But since she is a sociologist instead of a physicist, she cannot possibly be acquainted with the most recent writings of our finest scientists that tend to discount such sightings, so we can conclude her report is unreliable.
Which of the following would be the most appropriate criticism of the author's analysis?

  1. He makes an irrelevant attack on Professor Branch's credentials.
  2. He himself may not be a physicist, and therefore may not be familiar with the writings he cites.
  3. Even the U.S. Air Force cannot explain all of the sightings of UFOs which are reported to them each year.
  4. A sociologist is sufficiently well educated that he can probably read and understand scientific literature in a field other than his own.
  5. It is impossible to get complete agreement on matters such as the possibility of life on other planets.
Question 4 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Why pay outrageously high prices for imported sparkling water when there is now an inexpensive water carbonated and bottled here in the United States at its source Cold Springs, Vermont. Neither you nor your guests will taste the difference, but if you would be embarrassed if it were learned that you were serving a domestic sparkling water, then serve Cold Springs Water but serve it in a leaded crystal decanter.
The advertisement rests on which of the following assumptions?
I. It is difficult if not impossible to distinguish Cold Springs Water from imported competitors on the basis of taste.
II. Most sparkling waters are not bottled at the source.
III. Some people may purchase an imported sparkling water over a domestic one as a status symbol.

  1. I only
  2. II only
  3. III only
  4. I and II only
  5. I and III only
Question 5 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Daily Post newspaper reporter Roger Nightingale let it be known that Andrea Johnson, the key figure in his award-winning series of articles on prostitution and drug abuse, was a composite of many persons and not a single, real person, and so he was the subject of much criticism by fellow journalists for having failed to disclose that information when the articles were first published. But these were the same critics who voted Nightingale a prize for his magazine serial General, which was a much dramatized and fictionalized account of a Korean War military leader whose character was obviously patterned closely after that of Douglas MacArthur.
In which of the following ways might the critics mentioned in the paragraph argue that they were NOT inconsistent in their treatment of Nightingale's works?


I. Fictionalization is an accepted journalistic technique for reporting on sensitive subject matter such as prostitution.

II. Critic disapproval is one of the most important ways members of the writing community have for ensuring that reporting is accurate and to the point. III. There is a critical difference between dramatizing events in a piece of fiction and presenting distortions of the truth as actual fact.
  1. I only
  2. I and II only
  3. II and III only
  4. III only
Question 6 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Amusement parks create an illusion of safety for both children and their parents. Normally conscientious parents will leave children at an amusement park, not realizing the risks they are taking. Understaffing, broken or unguarded rides, and children who are too small for certain rides all increase the likelihood of accidents.
Parents must be present to ensure that their children are safe
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's argument?.

  1. Understaffing, broken rides, and unenforced height and weight requirements for rides are the fault of the amusement park, not the parent.
  2. Some parents who would leave their children at an amusement park are unlikely to ensure their children's safety even if present.
  3. The overwhelming majority of accidents to children at amusement parks occur when parents are with their children.
  4. Most of the injuries that children suffer at amusement parks are the result of falls or collisions with other children.
  5. Unaccompanied children are not permitted on most amusement park rides.
Question 7 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Since 1990, the Japanese professional baseball league has permitted the use of a special bat made from a combination of wood and plastic. In each subsequent year, the Japanese league has reported fewer instances of bat breakage than has U.S. major league baseball. Based solely on this information, American team owners have enthusiastically reported to the Commissioner of American Baseball that the plastic-wood bats are more durable and break less easily than American all-wood bats.
The conclusion drawn by the team owners assumes each of the following EXCEPT that

  1. the Japanese baseball season is not comprised of significantly fewer baseball games
  2. in both the U.S. and Japanese baseball leagues, batters are equally strong and pitchers throw equally fast
  3. the plastic-wood bat differs from all wood bats only in its durability, and would not otherwise significantly alter the game of baseball
  4. the reported instances of bat breakage in both the U.S. and Japanese baseball leagues accurately reflect the true ratio of Japanese-to-U.S. bat breakage
  5. since the Japanese league has permitted the use of the new bat, it has been used by a significant number of batters
Question 8 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

For years, scientists have believed that a certain hormone produced by the human liver was triggered by Enzyme U, which is released in the pancreas. Recently, however, researchers in Belgium discovered that Enzyme U is always preceded by the release of Enzyme W in the brain, and hypothesized that Enzyme W, not Enzyme U, triggers the release of the liver hormone.
If a second research project were set up to verify the findings of the Belgian researchers, which of the following test results would most seriously weaken their hypothesis?

  1. Enzyme W is released, but not followed by the release of Enzyme U, although the liver hormone is released.
  2. Enzyme U is released, but neither preceded by the release of Enzyme W, nor followed by the release of the liver hormone.
  3. Neither Enzyme W nor Enzyme U is released and the liver hormone is not released.
  4. Enzyme W is released, followed by the release of Enzyme U and the release of the liver hormone.
  5. Enzyme U is released and followed by the release of the liver hormone, although enzyme W is not released
Question 9 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

The authorship of the English epic poem Beowulf will never be recovered. We know the poem through a single surviving text written centuries after the poem was created, but the origins of the epic even whether or not it was largely the work of a single person - are lost. Unfortunately, since Beowulf was among the first poems written in Old English, it is highly unlikely that we will find written records identifying someone as the author.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support to the conclusion drawn above?

  1. When the surviving text of Beowulf was written down in Christian England, many of its pagan references were deleted.
  2. While few poems had been written in Old English prior to Beowulf, certain Old English records of important events were kept.
  3. The Beowulf story is based on legends from regions that are in present day Denmark and Sweden.
  4. No written records of literature in any language were kept during that period of English history.
  5. Any author draws from multiple sources when writing, and so no artistic creation can be called wholly the artist's.
Question 10 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Statistics show that more than half of the nation's murder victims knew their assailants: in fact, 24 percent last year were killed by relatives. Surprisingly, most people are more likely to fear being killed by a stranger in an unfamiliar situation than by a friend or relative at home.
Which of the following, if true, provides the best explanation for the reaction of most people to the likelihood of being murdered by someone they know?

  1. Most people have very little fear of being killed by a stranger in an unfamiliar situation.
  2. When faced with traumatic events such as murder and assault, most people are more likely to react emotionally than rationally.
  3. Many people find the likelihood of being killed by a relative far greater than that of being killed by an unrelated friend or acquaintance.
  4. Most people do not believe they are in high risk groups where murder occurs frequently among relations, but do see themselves as susceptible to random violence.
  5. Nearly half of the people murdered last year were killed by strangers.
Question 11 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

The water table in an arid region had dropped for years due mainly to the many farms that relied on water pumped from the underlying aquifer. Water conservation measures were taken five years ago when residents realized that soon no water would be available for human use. The water table has since stabilized, but has not significantly risen. Accordingly, in order to replenish the aquifer and return the water table to its normal level, new water conservation measures need to be taken.
The argument above would be most weakened if it were true that?

  1. A reduced but stable aquifer is not a serious threat to human life or agricultural productivity.
  2. Aquifers in arid regions replenish very slowly over centuries, if at all.
  3. The growth of a major city in the region has meant that agricultural demands for water are now a smaller portion of the total demand.
  4. It takes rainwater approximately one year to filter down to the aquifer and affect the level of the water table.
  5. More drastic water conservation measures would cause great personal and economic hardships on the people of the region, leading some to leave it entirely.
Question 12 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

If the world is deterministic, then everything is caused to happen according to physical laws. If human beings have free will, then some things are caused by human decisions. But human decisions result from a process of reasoning, which means they cannot be caused by physical laws. Therefore, if human beings have free will, then the world is not deterministic, and if the world is deterministic, then human beings have no free will.
If the claims in the argument above are true, which of the following must be false?

  1. It is possible that the world is not deterministic and human beings have no free will.
  2. Evidence of quantum-phenomena in physics suggests that some things have no discoverable causes at all.
  3. Some things can be caused by both human decisions and physical laws simultaneously.
  4. Many philosophers and theologians disagree about what would establish that human beings have free will.
  5. It is a fundamental belief of certain religions that human beings have free will, and a fundamental belief of other religions that they do not.
Question 13 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows it.

Early European explorers of the Tropics discovered what they misnamed a louse line. As they went closer to the equator, at some point fleas would abandon the explorers. One explanation is that the heat became too much for the fleas, which may be killed by temperatures even a few degrees higher than 98.6 Fahrenheit, the temperature of a healthy human body. The problem with this explanation is that fleas had been observed abandoning even healthy people when the air temperature in the Tropics was below 98.6 degrees.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the original explanation which the author doubts?

  1. Some species of fleas which occasionally feed on humans can survive at temperatures over 100 degrees.
  2. The so-called louse line was not a latitudinal line like the Tropic of Cancer, but a geographically variable point at which a specific biocritical phenomenon was observed.
  3. For those not acclimated to tropical weather, rises in air temperature cause significant increases in body temperature starting when the air temperature is as low as 85 degrees.
  4. Changes that occurred as the explorers entered the tropics triggered mechanisms in the fleas that were designed to protect the fleas from sick human hosts.
  5. Fleas generally attempt to minimize exposure to the outside elements by hiding under clothes, in hair, and in folds of skin.
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