Main menu

  2. Home
  3. Critical Reasoning
  4. GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 10

GMAT

GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 10

in Critical Reasoning

Read the passage and choose the option that best answer the question.

1. When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of the nation's political opposition had died of a mysterious illness in prison, few seasoned observers of the regime were surprised. As the police captain in an old movie remarked when asked about the condition of a prisoner, ?We're trying to decide whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.? The statements above invite which of the following conclusions?

A. The opposition leader was probably killed trying to escape from prison.
B. The opposition leader may not be dead at all.
C. It is unlikely that the head of the regime knows the true cause of the opposition leader's death.
D. The opposition leader probably killed himself.
E. The regime very likely was responsible for the death of the opposition leader.

2. The following proposal to amend the bylaws of an organization was circulated to its members for comment. When more than one nominee is to be named for an office, prospective nominees must consent to nomination and before giving such consent must be told who the other nominees will be. Which of the following comments concerning the logic of the proposal is accurate if it cannot be known who the actual nominees are until prospective nominees have given their consent to be nominated?

A. The proposal would make it possible for each of several nominees for an office to be aware of who all of the other nominees are.
B. The proposal would widen the choice available to those choosing among the nominees.
C. If there are several prospective nominees, the proposal would deny the last nominee equal treatment with the first.
D. The proposal would enable a prospective nominee to withdraw from competition with a specific person without making that withdrawal known.
E. If there is more than one prospective nominee, the proposal would make it impossible for anyone to become a nominee.

3. Which of the following best completes the passage below? In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest, because______

A. some dishonest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be honest
B. some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be dishonest
C. some people who claimed on the survey to be at least a little dishonest may be very dishonest
D. some people who claimed on the survey to be dishonest may have been answering honestly
E. some people who are not job applicants are probably at least a little dishonest

4. When limitations were in effect on nuclear-arms testing, people tended to save more of their money, but when nuclear-arms testing increased, people tended to spend more of their money. The perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe, therefore, decreases the willingness of people to postpone consumption for the sake of saving money. The argument above assumes that

A. the perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe has increased over the years
B. most people supported the development of nuclear arms
C. people's perception of the threat of nuclear catastrophe depends on the amount of nuclear-arms testing being done
D. the people who saved the most money when nuclear-arms testing was limited were the ones who supported such limitations
E. there are more consumer goods available when nuclear-arms testing increases

5. Radio interferometry is a technique for studying details of celestial objects that combines signals intercepted by widely spaced radio telescopes. This technique requires ultraprecise timing, exact knowledge of the locations of the telescopes, and sophisticated computer programs. The successful interferometric linking of an Earth-based radio telescope with a radio telescope on an orbiting satellite was therefore a significant technological accomplishment. Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?

A. Special care was taken in the launching of the satellite so that the calculations of its orbit would be facilitated.
B. The signals received on the satellite are stronger than those received by a terrestrial telescope.
C. The resolution of detail achieved by the satellite-Earth interferometer system is inferior to that achieved by exclusively terrestrial systems.
D. The computer programs required for making use of the signals received by the satellite required a long time for development.
E. The location of an orbiting satellite relative to locations on Earth can be well enough known for interferometric purposes.

6. Many institutions of higher education suffer declining enrollments during periods of economic slowdown. At two-year community colleges, however, enrollment figures boom during these periods when many people have less money and there is more competition for jobs. Each of the following, if true, helps to explain the enrollment increases in two-year community colleges described above EXCEPT:

A. During periods of economic slowdown, two-year community colleges are more likely than four-year colleges to prepare their students for the jobs that are still available.
B. During periods of economic prosperity, graduates of two-year community colleges often continue their studies at four-year colleges.
C. Tuition at most two-year community colleges is a fraction of that at four-year colleges.
D. Two-year community colleges devote more resources than do other colleges to attracting those students especially affected by economic slowdowns.
E. Students at two-year community colleges, but not those at most four-year colleges, can control the cost of their studies by choosing the number of courses they take each term.

7. A manufacturer of men's dress socks sought to increase profits by increasing sales. The size of its customer pool was remaining steady, with the average customer buying twelve pairs of dress socks per year. The company's plan was to increase the number of promotional discount-sale periods to one every six months. Which of the following, if it is a realistic possibility, casts the most serious doubt on the viability of the company's plan?

A. New manufacturing capacity would not be required if the company were to increase the number of pairs of socks sold.
B. Inventory stocks of merchandise ready for sale would be high preceding the increase in the number of discount-sale periods.
C. The manufacturer's competitors would match its discounts during sale periods, and its customers would learn to wait for those times to make their purchases.
D. New styles and colors would increase customers' consciousness of fashion in dress socks, but the customers' requirements for older styles and colors would not be reduced.
E. The cost of the manufacturer's raw materials would remain steady, and its customers would have more disposable income.

8. A researcher studying drug addicts found that, on average, they tend to manipulate other people a great deal more than nonaddicts do. The researcher concluded that people who frequently manipulate other people are likely to become addicts. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the researcher's conclusion?

A. After becoming addicted to drugs, drug addicts learn to manipulate other people as a way of obtaining drugs.
B. When they are imprisoned, drug addicts often use their ability to manipulate other people to obtain better living conditions.
C. Some nonaddicts manipulate other people more than some addicts do.
D. People who are likely to become addicts exhibit unusual behavior patterns other than frequent manipulation of other people.
E. The addicts that the researcher studied were often unsuccessful in obtaining what they wanted when they manipulated other people.

9. Contrary to earlier predictions, demand for sugarcane has not increased in recent years. Yet, even though prices and production amounts have also been stable during the last three years, sugarcane growers last year increased their profits by more than ten percent over the previous year's level. Any of the following statements, if true, about last year, helps to explain the rise in profits EXCEPT:

A. Many countries that are large consumers of sugarcane increased their production of sugarcane-based ethanol, yet their overall consumption of sugarcane decreased.
B. Sugarcane growers have saved money on wages by switching from paying laborers an hourly wage to paying them by the amount harvested.
C. The price of oil, the major energy source used by sugarcane growers in harvesting their crops, dropped by over twenty percent.
D. Many small sugarcane growers joined together to form an association of sugarcane producers and began to buy supplies at low group rates.
E. Rainfall in sugarcane-growing regions was higher than it had been during the previous year, allowing the growers to save money on expensive artificial irrigation.

10. Mud from a lake on an uninhabited wooded island in northern Lake Superior contains toxic chemicals, including toxaphene , a banned pesticide for cotton that previously was manufactured and used, not in nearby regions of Canada or the northern United States , but in the southern United States . No dumping has occurred on the island. The island lake is sufficiently elevated that water from Lake Superior does not reach it. The statements above, if true, most strongly support which of the following hypotheses?

A. The waters of the island lake are more severely polluted than those of Lake Superior .
B. The toxaphene was carried to the island in the atmosphere by winds.
C. Banning chemicals such as toxaphene does not aid the natural environment.
D. Toxaphene has adverse effects on human beings but not on other organisms.
E. Concentrations of toxaphene in the soil of cotton-growing regions are not sufficient of be measurable.