Home › Quizzes › Critical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning

Practice critical reasoning skills with 20 questions covering argument analysis, logical inference, and conclusion evaluation across diverse topics.

20 Questions Published
Play Quiz Practise this topic out loud

Questions

Question 1 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

Researchers who conducted a one-year study found that one marijuana cigarette deposits four times more tar in a smoker’s lungs than does one tobacco cigarette. The researchers concluded that marijuana smokers are more likely to suffer from tar–induced lung cancer than are tobacco smokers.

Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the researchers' conclusion described above?

  1. The marijuana cigarettes used in the study were substantially smaller than the marijuana cigarettes smoked by the typical users.
  2. None of the human participants in the study had ever smoked tobacco or marijuana in the past.
  3. The tobacco cigarettes smoked by the typical user contained more tar than the tobacco cigarettes used in the study.
  4. The typical user of marijuana smokes much less frequently than does the typical user of tobacco.
  5. There are far fewer marijuana smokers in the society than tobacco smokers.
Question 2 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
In 1975, 35 percent of state W's work force was employed in manufacturing jobs. That percentage dropped in each following year until in 1982 it reached 25 percent.

If the statements above are true, all of the following statements about changes in W's work force between 1975 and 1982 could also be true except that

  1. the number of people in the work force increased, while the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs decreased
  2. the number of people in the work force decreased, while the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs increased
  3. both the number of people in the work force and the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs decreased
  4. the number of people in the work force remained constant, while the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs decreased
  5. both the number of people in the work force and the number of people employed in manufacturing jobs increased, but in different proportions
Question 3 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
Public education suffers from what can be diagnosed as the sickness of an over governed society. This sickness denies many parents control over the kind of education their children receive. The power once held by parents has gravitated to professional educators. The sickness has been aggravated by increasing centralization and bureaucratization of schools.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the claim that there is continuing erosion of parents' control over their children's education?

  1. As a result of community pressure, growing numbers of school administrators follow recommendations made by parents.
  2. Number of professional educators has risen sharply over the last decade even though the number of students has declined.
  3. Parents' organizations that lobby for changes in school curriculums are generally ineffectual.
  4. More members of school boards are appointed by school administrators than are elected by the public.
  5. Of late, parents have evinced great interest in the school education of their children.
Question 4 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
In a famous experiment by Pavlov, when a dog smelled food, it salivated. Subsequently, a bell was rung whenever food was placed near the dog. After a number of trials, only the bell was rung, whereupon the dog would salivate even though no food was present.

Which of the following conclusions may be drawn from the above experiment?

  1. Dogs cannot perceive things as we humans can.
  2. Dogs are motivated as much by the sound of a bell as the smell of food.
  3. The ringing of a bell was associated with food.
  4. Two stimuli are stronger than one.
  5. Dogs salivate on the sight, sound or smell of food.
Question 5 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

We must do something about the rising cost of our state prisons. It now costs an average of $132 per day to maintain a prisoner in a double-occupancy cell in a state prison. Yet, in the most expensive cities in the world, one can find rooms in the finest hotels which rent for less than $125 per night.

The argument given above might be criticised in all of the following ways, except that

  1. it introduces an inappropriate analogy
  2. it relies on an unwarranted appeal to authority
  3. it fails to take account of costs which prisons have, but hotels do not have
  4. it misuses numerical data
  5. it does not indicate the cost of maintaining a prisoner in such other cities
Question 6 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
Multinationals have a habit of dumping their international concepts on the market place while advertising their brands in India. Some international jokers do not even change their foreign models or dub the advertisement in Indian languages.

Which of the following undermines the argument above?

  1. Many multinationals learn the hard way when the products don't sell.
  2. The burgeoning number of multinationals in India has kept the advertising agency cash registers jingling.
  3. Multinationals and advertising agencies have been passing the buck to each other for lack of creativity.
  4. Some advertising agencies adapt the foreign advertisements to the Indian culture and ethos.
  5. The multinationals also after all operate through their regional contacts only.
Question 7 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

For many people in the United States who are concerned about the cost of heating homes and businesses, wood has become an alternative energy source to coal, oil and gas. Nevertheless, wood will never supply more than a modest fraction of our continuing energy needs.

Which of the following, if true, does not support the claim made in the last sentence in the passage above?

  1. There are many competing uses for a finite supply of wood and suppliers give the lumber and paper industries a higher priority than they give individual consumers.
  2. Wood produces thick smoke while burning and its extensive use in densely populated cities would violate federal antipollution guidelines.
  3. There are relatively narrow limits to how far wood can be trucked before it becomes more economical to burn gasoline used for transportation instead of wood.
  4. Most apartment dwellers do not have adequate storage space for the amount of wood necessary to supply energy for heating.
  5. There already is a shortage of forest cover on Earth.
Question 8 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

I keep finding out that parenthood is a chronic condition. The acuteness may be episodic, but you can never quite root it out. As I write this, I’m in the midst of the highs and the hysteria, the cold sweat, the uppers of that great downer known as exams.

Which of the following can you infer?

  1. The writer is an expectant mother.
  2. The writer is sick of being a parent, and believes that the parental responsibility is burdensome.
  3. The writer is worried about her child’s forthcoming exams.
  4. The writer is worried about maintaining a balance between responsibilities of parenthood and of academic pursuits.
  5. The writer is ecstatic and melancholic at the same time and is, therefore, incoherent.
Question 9 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

It is no wonder that some domestic car companies have to attract potential buyers with rebates and low interest rates. Why don’t those companies produce cars that are more fuel-efficient? If all domestic manufacturers built cars that were as fuel-efficient as imported cars, rebates and low interest rates would not be needed.

The argument above would be most strengthened by which of the following options?

  1. The offer of rebates has always signified that an industry is in decline.
  2. For a majority of buyers of new cars, high fuel-efficiency is the most important criterion in choosing a car.
  3. Many car buyers rate operating costs as less important than initial purchase price when choosing a car.
  4. Many car buyers prefer to purchase midsize and larger cars.
  5. The non-domestic manufacturers rarely offered rebates or low interest rates.
Question 10 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
Bony Music thought that the sales of its album 'Mehbooba' were much lower than what they ought to be, considering the popularity of its tracks.

Which of the following could be an explanation for the above phenomenon?

  1. Not too many discotheques in the city played tracks from the album regularly.
  2. There has been an increase in free internet downloads of the album from certain websites.
  3. The album featured a new artiste.
  4. The marketing was mainly done through the electronic media.
  5. Bony Music overestimated the popularity of its corresponding tracks.
Question 11 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

The greater the division of labour in an economy, the greater the need for coordination. This is because increased division of labour entails a large number of specialised producers, which results in a greater burden on managers and, potentially, in a greater number of disruptions of supply and production. There is always more division of labour in market economies than in planned economies.

From the information available in the passage, we can definitely conclude that

  1. disruptions of supply and production are more frequent in planned economies than in market economies
  2. there are more specialised producers in planned economies than in market economies
  3. the need for coordination in market economies is greater than in planned economies
  4. a manager’s task is easier in a market economy than in a planned economy
  5. the market economies are more modern than the planned economies
Question 12 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

The cost of over-the-counter antibiotic drugs is decreasing by the rate of 5 percent per year, and the cost of cancer drugs is declining at the rate of 30 percent per year. It can be concluded that if these rates of cost decline remain constant for a period of three years, at the end of that time the cost of the cancer drugs will have declined by a greater amount than the cost of an over–the-counter antibiotic.

Accurate information about which of the following would be most useful in evaluating the correctness of the conclusion above?

  1. The quantities of over–the-counter antibiotic drugs and the cancer drugs projected to be purchased during the next three years
  2. The actual prices charged for the over–the-counter antibiotic drugs and the cancer drugs
  3. The relative effectiveness of over–the-counter antibiotic drugs and the cancer drugs
  4. The average dose of counter antibiotic drugs and the cancer drugs needed per patient daily
  5. The exact quantum of fall in the prices of the two types
Question 13 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.
The cost of the average computer logic device is falling at the rate of 2 percent per year, and the cost of the average computer memory device at the rate of 40 percent per year. It can be concluded that if these rates of cost decline remain constant for a period of three years, at the end of that time the cost of the average computer memory device will have declined by a greater amount than the cost of the average computer logic device.

Accurate information about which of the following would be most useful in evaluating the correctness of the conclusion above?

  1. The number of logic devices and memory devices projected to be purchased during the next three years.
  2. The actual prices charged for the average computer logic device and the average computer memory device.
  3. The compatibility of different logic devices and memory devices.
  4. The average number of logic devices and memory devices needed for an average computer system.
  5. The ratio of initial prices of logic device and memory device.
Question 14 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

In India, Bhartiya Kisan Manch (BKM) won 37 seats in the 545 seats of Parliament in 1954. It managed to win only 3 seats in the 1959 election, even though the party’s pro-agrarian reform agenda had essentially remained unchanged. This decline in the party’s fortunes clearly demonstrates that, in India, pro-agrarian reform concerns faded in significance between 1954 and 1959.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  1. Between 1954 and 1959, the number of eligible voters in India rose, but not the percentage who actually voted.
  2. Between 1954 and 1959, India’s leading political parties revised their platform, adopting a strongly pro-agrarian reform stance.
  3. The parties that ran candidates in the 1959 election in India were the same as those that had done so in the 1954 election.
  4. In 1959, the Bhartiya Kisan Manch won fewer votes in India than it had won in 1954.
  5. Between 1954 and 1959, Bhartiya Kisan Manch redefined pro-agrarian reforms.
Question 15 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

Many researchers believe that the presence of RNA in brain cells is the biochemical basis of memory, i.e. the presence of RNA enables us to remember. Because certain chemicals are known to inhibit the synthesis of RNA in the body, we can test this hypothesis. Animals that have learned particular responses can be injected with an RNA inhibitor and then tested for memory of the learned responses.

Which of the following test results would most seriously weaken the case for RNA as the basis of memory?

  1. After an injection of RNA inhibitor, a wide range of behaviours, in addition to the learned responses, were affected.
  2. After an injection of RNA inhibitor, animals that had not consistently been giving the learned responses were able to give them consistently.
  3. After injections of RNA inhibitor, some animals lost memory of the learned responses totally, but others lost it only partially.
  4. After a small injection of RNA inhibitor, animals responded well, but as the size of the injection increased, they gave fewer of the learned responses.
  5. After an injection of RNA inhibitor, animals exhibited variation in the learned responses over a period of time.
Question 16 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

At the time of independence, the total area under cultivation was only 29%. Yet for almost 2 decades, the production of food grains kept on increasing. In 1965, food grains production was increasing at the rate of 7% per annum. In 1985, the total area under cultivation was 69%, but the rate of increase in the production was less than 1.5%. It was less than the minimum increase required to feed the increasing population.

It can properly be inferred from the passage that

  1. for the production rate to be high, there must be a relatively large area under cultivation
  2. the most significant factor influencing the food grains production is whether the country is politically stable
  3. unless there are extraordinary circumstances, the rate of production will not dip below the level needed to feed the population
  4. the food production rate is not directly proportional to the area under cultivation
  5. the rate of increase of per acre yield of food grains in India has been on the decline
Question 17 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

An economist was quoted by saying that the Cost–of–Living index (COL) will go up next month because of a recent increase in the price of fruits and vegetables.

Which of the following cannot be inferred from the statement?

  1. The cost of fruits and vegetables has risen sharply.
  2. Consumers have decreased their consumption of fruits and vegetables.
  3. The cost of fruit and vegetables is a major item in the COL.
  4. Other items that make up the COL have not significantly decreased in price.
  5. COL is used to measure economic well-being.
Question 18 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

Till the late 80’s, the whole trading for the world was based on the commodity trading. Although intellectuals’ rights, like patents, had some commercial value, it was generally felt that only tangible things had commercial value. It is one of the permanent gains of information revolution that we have been rid of such prejudices.

It can be inferred from the passage that information revolution of the 80’s has had which of the following effects?

  1. It de-emphasised the notion of ‘physicality’ as evaluative criterion for fixing commercial value.
  2. It reinforced the traditional way of looking at and judging great art.
  3. It permitted market analysts to appreciate the changes in the market.
  4. It allowed market analysts to understand the evolution and nature of trading.
  5. It brought the role of the intellectuals to the forefront.
Question 19 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

The new laws require Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills to move their operations outside the Agra city limits as they are a major source of air pollutants. The laws require that each manufacturer presents a detailed plan explaining the steps he plans to take in future to reduce pollutants in the city. Clearly, the regulations will not result in significant pollution reduction, however, as the regulations do not force manufacturers to implement their plans.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?

  1. Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills are not the only source of pollution there.
  2. Detailed plans would reveal that measures to reduce released pollutants would also reduce manufacturers’ costs for materials, waste disposal, and legal services.
  3. Pollutants that manufacturing processes create but that are not released directly into the environment must nonetheless be collected and prepared for disposal.
  4. Any reductions in pollutants released from Agra’s manufacturing plants would not be noticeable for at least five years.
  5. Agra’s steel smelting and re-rolling mills have had a general track record of compliance with punitive regulations.
Question 20 Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows:

Government borrowing from RBI, viz. printing of notes, has substituted for other ways of increasing reserve money for keeping monetary growth from slowing excessively in the context of slowing growth of net forex assets. This increasing monetisation of government debt can act only as an interim solution.

Which of the following expresses an idea concurrent to the above?

  1. The current government policy would not do as a long term solution.
  2. The main reason why the economy expands is the problem of credit.
  3. More monetisation is necessary to alleviate the liquidity crunch.
  4. RBI is responsible for the government deficit.
  5. Forex assets are an important source of fiscal growth.
← Back to Quizzes