The Alphabet

GRE Big Book Critical Reasoning Test 45

Jimmy Wang
12/04/2024

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.

During the month of July in City X, the humidity was always 80 percent or higher whenever the temperature was 75° F or higher. Temperatures that month ranged from 65° to 95° F.

#1

Anyone who has owned a car knows that saving money in the short run by skimping on relatively minor repairs and routine maintenance will prove very costly in the long run. However, this basic truth is often forgotten by those who call for reduced government spending on social programs.

#2

Which of the following is NOT implied by the analogy above as a point of comparison?

In order to keep operating, cars will normally need some work.

Money that is spent on repairs and maintenance helps to ensure the continued functioning of a car.

A car will last for only a limited period of time and then must be replaced.

The problems with a car will become worse if they are not attended to.

Owners can take chances on not maintaining or repairing their cars.

If athletes want better performances, they should train at high altitudes. At higher altitudes, the body has more red blood cells per unit volume of blood than at sea level. The red blood cells transport oxygen, which will improve performance if available in greater amounts. The blood of an athlete who trains at high attitudes will transport more oxygen per unit volume of blood, improving the athlete’s performance.

#3

Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above, provided that the athlete's heart rate is the same at high and low altitudes?

At altitudes above 5,500 feet, middle-distance runners often better their sea-level running times by several seconds.

Scientists have found that an athlete’s heart requires a period of time to adjust to working at high altitudes.

The performances of athletes in competitions at all altitudes have improved markedly during the past twenty years,

Scientists have found that the body’s total volume of blood declines by as much as 25 percent at high altitudes.

Middle-distance runners who train at high altitudes sometimes lose races to middle distance runners who train at sea level.

M is heavier than Q, but it is lighter than R. S is heavier than Q and it is also heavier than R. U is heavier than Q and it is also heavier than R.

#4

The cost of the average computer logic device is falling at the rate of 25 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.

#5

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

The relative durability of logic devices and memory devices

The actual prices charged for the average computer logic device arid the average computer memory device

The average number of logic devices and memory devices needed for an average computer system

The number of logic devices and memory devices projected to be purchased during the next three years

The compatibility of different manufacturers’ logic devices and memory devices

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and unusual weather have caused many more natural disasters adversely affecting people in the past decade than in previous decades. We can conclude that the planet Earth as a natural environment has become more inhospitable and dangerous, and we should employ the weather and earth sciences to look for causes of this trend.

#6

The conclusion drawn above is most seriously weakened if which of the following is true?

There have been no changes in the past decade in people’s land-use practices that could have affected the climate.

The weather and earth sciences have provided better early warning systems for natural disasters in the past decade than in previous decades .

Population pressures and poverty have forced increasing numbers of people to live in areas prone to natural disasters.

International relief efforts for victims of natural disasters have been better organized in the past decade than in previous decades.

There are records of major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, landslides, and floods occurring in the distant past, as well as in the recent past.