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GRE Big Book Critical Reasoning Test 3

Jimmy Wang
03/12/2024

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.

Beca,use incumbent members of Congress are given a great deal of attention by the news media and because they enjoy such perquisites as free mail privileges and generous travel allowances, incumbents enjoy an overwhelming advantage over their challengers in elections for the United States Congress.

#1

Which of the following, if true, best supports the claim above?

The support that political action committees provide to challengers for congressional seats often compensates for the perquisites enjoyed by incumbent members of Congress.

Incumbent members of Congress are frequently critical of the amount of attention given to them by the news media.

In the last congressional elections, incumbents met with a larger number of lobbyists than did challengers.

Of all incumbent senators surveyed before the last congressional ele~tions, 78 percent said that their challengers did not pose a serious threat to their chances for reelection.

In the last congressional elections, 98 percent of .the incumbents in the House of Representatives who were seeking reelection won.

Instead of relying on general tax revenue, as it now does, the government should rely more heavily on passenger fares to finance public bus and train service. In order for public transportation to be maintained without cutting service, users should pay all the operating costs even if these costs should increase. Such charges would be fair since only users benefit from public transportation.

#2

Which of the following is a principle on which the position above could be based?

If necessary, general taxes should be raised to ensure that public transportation services are provided.

General tax revenues should not be used to finance public services that benefit a limited number of people.

The number of users of a public service should determine the amount of governmental financial support for the service.

The amount of public transportation provided should be dependent on the operating cost of each transportation service.

The government should provide support from general tax revenue to any transportation industry that has passenger service available to the public.

When the manufacturer of Voltage, a major soft drink, changed its secret formula last year, the export earnings of an island in the Indian Ocean began to fall. This island’s only export comprises more than half of the world’s supply of vanilla beans. Analysts concluded that the original formula of Voltage contained vanilla from beans, but the new formula did not.

#3

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the analysts?

A new process for synthesizing vanilla was under development in a laboratory in the United States.

There were decreases in sales of several widely sold products that were known to contain vanilla.

The vanilla-bean plantings of a nearby island were beginning to produce crops.

The island’s trade agreement, under which the vanilla beans were exported to the country that manufactures Voltage, had lapsed.

Imports of vanilla beans dropped in countries where Voltage is made.

Carol is shorter than Juan, but she is taller than Ed. Sandra is shorter than Juan, and she is shorter than Ed. Wallie is taller than Sandra, but shorter than Juan.

#4

Private ownership of services traditionally considered to be the responsibility of the government will typically improve those services. The turnpike system in the United States of the nineteenth century demonstrates the truth of this principle; the system, which had previously been controlled by thegovernment, became a more reliable system when taken over by private organizations.

#5

Which of the following describes a significant flaw in the author's argument above?

The author defends the conclusion by appealing to a person of authority.

The author attributes two very different meanings to the same word.

The author distorts an opposing view in trying to show its weaknesses.

The author defends what the author perceives as a wrong action by pointing out another perceived wrong action.

The author generalizes from a sample not representative enough to establish the conclusion.

A recent state survey of human resources found that the age to which secretarial school graduates are expected to live is four years in excess of the age to which other graduates of high school are expected to live. One possible conclusion is that secretarial school.attendance is beneficial to one’s health.

#6

To evaluate the conclusion above, it would be most important to know the answer to which of the following questions?

Do some secretarial school graduates have college degrees?

Has the proportion of high school graduates who attend secretarial school increased in recent years?

Have the average age o f new high school gradu- ates and the average age of new secretarial school graduates recently increased?

Given that women have a greater life expectancy than men, what proportion of all women attend secretarial school?

Given that women have a greater life expectancy than men, what are the relative propor- tions of men and women among high school and secretarial school graduates?

Some insects are able to feed on the leaves of milk-weed, a toxic plant, by first cutting and draining the vein that secretes the toxin. This method of detoxification guarantees that some insects will always be able to eat milkweed, because the plant could never evolve to produce a toxin that is lethal in the trace amounts left after the vein is cut.

#7

The conclusion drawn in the passage above depends on which of the following assumptions?

The toxin-carrying veins of the milkweed plant can never evolve in such a way that insects cannot cut through.

There are insects that use means other than draining the toxin in order to feed on toxic plants.

Unlike milkweed, other kinds of toxic plants would be able to overcome their vulnerabilities to predators through evolutionary changes.

The insects that successfully detoxify milkweed are not able to undergo the evolutionary changes necessary to allow them to detoxify other plants.

The method of detoxification used by insect predators of milkweed would not successfully detoxify other kinds of toxic plants.

# GRE Critical Reasoning

GRE Critical Reasoning

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