GRE Big Book Critical Reasoning Test 8

GRE Critical Reasoning
Directions

Critical Reasoning questions test the ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate arguments. Some of the abilities tested by specific questions include identifying the roles played by specific phrases or sentences in an argument, recognizing the point of an argument, recognizing assumptions on which an argument is based" drawing conclusions and forming hypotheses, identifying methods of argumentation, evaluating arguments and counter-arguments, and analyzing evidence.

Each of the Critical Reasoning questions is based on a short argument, a set of statements, or a plan of action. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.

 

Mass transit authorities in large cities are struggling with deficits. Riders complain about delays and breakdowns, cuts in service, and fares higher than they are accustomed to paying. For all these reasons and because the price of gasoline is still not prohibitive, the number of passengers using public transportation has fallen, adding to the deficits.

#1
Which of the following statements about the relationship between the number of riders using public transportation and the price of gasoline is best supported by the passage above?

The popular notion that teachers are generally apathetic about microcomputer technology is false, or at least dated: a recently published survey indicates that 86 percent of the 5,000 teachers who responded to survey questionnaires expressed a high level of interest in microcomputers.

#2
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?

In March 300 college students turned out inWashington to protest against proposed cuts in student loan funds. Another 350,000 collegians flocked to Florida’s sun-drenched beaches during March for “spring break.” Since the Florida sun-seekers were more numerous, they were more representative of today’s students than those who protested in Washington, and therefore Congress need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.

#3
The argument above makes which of the following assumptions?

Some doomsayers are warning that long-range warming or cooling trends in weather patterns will drastically reduce grain production. More optimistic reports, however, point out that, even if such drifts in average temperature do occur, we should expect little change in grain production because there is little evidence that changes in rainfall pat- terns will occur. Moreover, for most crops, climate- induced yield trends will be masked by both the year-to-year fluctuation of yields and by the enhancement of yields because of technological factors.

#4
Which of the following is an assumption on which the more optimistic reports mentioned in the passage are based?

Noting that the number of crimes committed in a certain city had decreased in 1982 by 5.2 percent in comparison with 1981, the police chief of the city said, “We see here the result of the innovative police program put into effect in the city at the beginning of 1982.”

#5
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn by the police chief?

A child watching television experiences a procession of sights and sounds that flash from the screen just long enough for the eyes and ears to take them in. Unlike the pages of a book, which can be read as slowly or as quickly as the child wishes, television images appear with a relentless velocity that stunts rather than enhances the child’s powers of imagination.

#6
The view expressed above is based on an assumption. Of the following, which can best serve as that assumption?

It is true that increasing demand for a limited number of products drives up the price of those products. However, if we cut tax rates, then people will retain a higher percentage of their income and will be encouraged to work harder and produce more. Therefore, the increase in demand resulting from greater disposable income will not higher prices for the products available.

#7
In the passage above, the author makes following arguments?

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