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GMAT

GMAT - Critical Reasoning - Test 11

in Critical Reasoning

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

1. Sue: Commercial flights currently contribute more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one year than does the whole of Africa. If we want to reduce global warming we need to restrict the number of flights we take.

Dave: Did you know that by taking one inter-continental flight you cause more pollution than you would in twelve months of car travel?

Dave?s response to Sue?s comment serves to

A. reinforce Sue?s contention that flights are a major contributor to increased carbon dioxide levels
B. add more weight to her contention that we should reduce the number of flights we take
C. mitigate the force of her argument by suggesting that there is an alternative approach
D. suggest an alternative that will reduce the effect of pollution
E. question whether she really understands the severity of global warming

2.

Recent studies have highlighted the harmful effects of additives in food (colors, preservatives, flavor enhancers etc.). There are no synthetic substances in the foods we produce at Munchon Foods ? we use only natural ingredients. Hence you can be sure you are safeguarding your family?s health when you buy our products.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the contention of Munchon Foods?

A. Some synthetic substances are not harmful
B. Some natural substances found in foods can be harmful
C. Food without additives is unlikely to taste good
D. Munchon Foods produces only breakfast cereals
E. Without preservatives some foods could cause harm

3. A weapons-smuggling incident recently took place in country Y. We all know that Y is a closed society. So Y's government must have known about the weapons. Which of the following is an assumption that would make the conclusion above logically correct?

A. If a government knows about a particular weapons-smuggling incident, it must have intended to use the weapons for its own purposes.
B. If a government claims that it knew nothing about a particular weapons-smuggling incident, it must have known everything about it.
C. If a government does not permit weapons to enter a country, it is a closed society.
D. If a country is a closed society, its government has a large contingent of armed guards patrolling its borders.
E. If a country is a closed society, its government has knowledge about everything that occurs in the country.

4. One analyst predicts that Hong Kong can retain its capitalist ways after it becomes part of mainland China in 1997 as long as a capitalist Hong Kong is useful to China; that a capitalist Hong Kong will be useful to China as long as Hong Kong is prosperous; and that Hong Kong will remain prosperous as long as it retains its capitalist ways. If the predictions above are correct, which of the following further predictions can logically be derived from them?

A. If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer remain part of mainland China.
B. If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.
C. If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.
D. Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997.
E. The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions placed on them by the government of mainland China.

5. Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered by the cumbersome procedure of injection under the skin. If proteins are taken orally, they are digested and cannot reach their target cells. Certain nonprotein drugs, however, contain chemical bonds that are not broken down by the digestive system. They can, thus, be taken orally. The statements above most strongly support a claim that a research procedure that successfully accomplishes which of the following would be beneficial to users of protein drugs?

A. Coating insulin with compounds that are broken down by target cells, but whose chemical bonds are resistant to digestion
B. Converting into protein compounds, by procedures that work in the laboratory, the nonprotein drugs that resist digestion
C. Removing permanently from the digestive system any substances that digest proteins
D. Determining, in a systematic way, what enzymes and bacteria are present in the normal digestive system and whether they tend to be broken down within the body
E. Determining the amount of time each nonprotein drug takes to reach its target cells

6. Since applied scientific research is required for technological advancement, many have rightly urged an increased emphasis in universities on applied research. But we must not give too little attention to basic research, even though it may have no foreseeable application, for tomorrow's applied research will depend on the basic research of today. If the statements above are true, which of the following can be most reliably inferred?

A. If future technological advancement is desired, basic research should receive greater emphasis than applied research.
B. If basic research is valued in universities, applied research should be given less emphasis than it currently has.
C. If future technological advancement is desired, research should be limited to that with some foreseeable application.
D. If too little attention is given to basic research today, future technological advancement will be jeopardized.
E. If technological advancement is given insufficient emphasis, basic research will also receive too little attention.

7. Most employees in the computer industry move from company to company, changing jobs several times in their careers. However, Summit Computers is known throughout the industry for retaining its employees. Summit credits its success in retaining employees to its informal, nonhierarchical work environment. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports Summit's explanation of its success in retaining employees?

A. Some people employed in the computer industry change jobs if they become bored with their current projects.
B. A hierarchical work environment hinders the cooperative exchange of ideas that computer industry employees consider necessary for their work.
C. Many of Summit's senior employees had previously worked at only one other computer company.
D. In a nonhierarchical work environment, people avoid behavior that might threaten group harmony and thus avoid discussing with their colleagues any dissatisfaction they might have with their jobs.
E. The cost of living near Summit is relatively low compared to areas in which some other computer companies are located.

8. Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year. Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased during the last year.
B. The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than that of the same volume of raw cotton.
C. The operating costs of the average retail clothing store have remained constant during the last year.
D. Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in wholesale prices.
E. The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the last year.

9. Biometric access-control systems?those using fingerprints, voiceprints, etc., to regulate admittance to restricted areas?work by degrees of similarity, not by identity. After all, even the same finger will rarely leave exactly identical prints. Such systems can be adjusted to minimize refusals of access to legitimate access-seekers. Such adjustments, however, increase the likelihood of admitting impostors. Which of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by the information above?

A. If a biometric access-control system were made to work by identity, it would not produce any correct admittance decisions.
B. If a biometric access-control system reliably prevents impostors from being admitted, it will sometimes turn away legitimate access-seekers.
C. Biometric access-control systems are appropriate only in situations in which admittance of impostors is less of a problem than is mistaken refusal of access.
D. Nonbiometric access-control systems?based, for example, on numerical codes?are less likely than biometric ones to admit impostors.
E. Anyone choosing an access-control system should base the choice solely on the ratio of false refusals to false admittances.

10. A 20 percent decline in lobster catches in Maine waters since 1980 can be justifiably blamed on legislation passed in 1972 to protect harbor seals. Maine's population of harbor seals is now double the level existing before protection was initiated, and these seals are known to eat both fish and lobsters. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

A. Harbor seals usually eat more fish than lobsters, but the seals are natural predators of both.
B. Although harbor seals are skillful predators of lobsters, they rarely finish eating their catch.
C. Harbor seals attract tourists to Maine's coastal areas, thus revitalizing the local economy.
D. Authors of the 1972 legislation protecting harbor seals were convinced that an increase in that animal's numbers would not have a measurably negative impact on the lobster catch.
E. The record lobster harvests of the late 1970's removed large numbers of mature lobsters from the reproductive stock.