CRITICAL THINKING

Young children are like scientists, busy experimenting with their environment and how their appendages
operate in the world. Doodling and eating are not fine motor skills and do not require premium
dexterity. This is probably the reason that many babies and toddlers switch between left and right hands
often masking underlying handedness. What conclusion can be drawn from the above passage?
A. Infant laterality is difficult to ascertain
B. Infants are ambidextrous
C. Infants' laterality is changeable
D. Infant experimentation requires ambidexterity.
All the things of nature are real when they are perceived by man but they cease to be real when not
perceived for there is nothing in reality but our ideas. Which of the following is the assumption of the
above theory?
A. Ideas are images of real things outside of the mind.
B. The ideas in our minds are nothing more than real things
C. Knowledge is composed of both sensible and intellectual processes.
D. Material objects are real only when they are perceived by the mind.
In social exchange theory, exchanged resources are classified into two: rewards and costs. Rewards
are exchanged resources that bring pleasure and satisfaction. Costs are exchanged resources that are
perceived as a loss or undesirable outcome. Which of the following can either be true or false?
A. None of the above
B. All of the above
C. All exchanged resources are costs
D. Some exchanged resources are costs
The emergence of European nation-states in the 19th century led to the idea that it was disloyal to
speak anything other than one’s national language. This perhaps contributed to the widely held
opinion– particularly in Britain and the US– that being bilingual was harmful to children's health.
However, a large body of research suggests that there are important benefits to being bilingual. What
conclusion is most likely to be drawn given the passage above?
A. Bilingualism is healthy and patriotic
B. Monolingualism in Britain and the US is partially for their current dominance in world politics and
economics
C. Bilingualism is beneficial and should be encouraged.
D. Since English is the international lingua franca, there is no need for English-speaking nations to
encourage bilingualism among its citizens.
Current understanding presupposes that environment and culture can and certainly do influence lateral
behaviors. However, true handedness, loaded term that may be, is believed to be wired in each person’s
brain before birth. This is only expressed or observable in toddlers when they begin developing fine
motor skills, especially writing. What conclusion can be drawn from the above passage?

A. Laterality is unpredictable

B. Environmental influence on laterality is negligible

C. Laterality only emerges a number of years after development

D. Laterality is genetically determined

Governments impose taxes to raise revenue in order to fuel its machinery. License and business permit
fees are imposed for regulatory purposes, not for revenue purposes. Because of these, the Supreme
Court ruled that licenses and business permit fees are not taxes, requiring tax-exempt organizations to
pay these fees. The conclusion is reached by:

A. Finding an exemption to a general rule

B. Arguing from a definition

C. Appealing to an authority

D. Reiterating an obligation

An assumption is something we take for granted or presuppose. It is usually something we have

previously learned and therefore do not question. It may be part of our system of beliefs and is accepted
to be true. We use our assumptions to interpret the world around us. For example, if we believe that
walking in big cities late at night is dangerous, and we are staying in Metro Manila, then we assume that
walking in Metro Manila late at night is dangerous. Which of the following is a valid assumption based
on the argument presented?

A. Darkness during evenings makes cities dangerous.

B. Metro Manila is a big city.

C. Crime happens more often late at night.

D. Big cities have high crime rates.

One of the main problems in implementing change whether far-reaching or on a more personal level, is
the adverse perception that society has in admitting ignorance. People would rather follow precedents,
rely on habits, and trust conventional wisdom than do proper inquiry and reflection. The result of course
is that innovation comes to a standstill and change never happens. Which of the following best
resembles the reasoning above?

A. Society puts a high premium on people who claim to know rather than people who claim not to know.

B. Admitting ignorance, while frowned upon by society, is the first step towards change.

C. Following precedents give way to the denial of one’s ignorance.

D. Conventional wisdom often omits proper inquiry and reflection.

In the 1930s some liberal economic thinkers proposed new (progressive) economic changes to reduce
massive unemployment in America. In reaction, other liberal economic thinkers began to call themselves
“conservatives” to signal their alarm at what they saw as the incorporation of communist ideas into
liberal thinking. Which of the following relationships characterize the above section.

A. Definition

B. Cause

C. Authority

D. Contradiction

The proposed divorce bill should not be passed. It downgrades marital commitment and destroys the
family. The moment the family is destroyed all the other social institutions will crumble. The family holds
the fabric of society together. The above argument is weak because it:

A. Is a slippery slope

B. Diverts from the main issue of discussion

C. Appeals to emotion

D. Shows ignorance of proof.

If we immerse a solid homogeneous mass into a liquid medium maintained at a constant temperature, it
will acquire at all points a temperature that is similar to that of the fluid. Which of the following
statements about that object strengthens the claim of the whole argument.

A. It was immersed for a long time

B. It was immersed in a liquid that adjusts its temperature

C. It had just been immersed

D. It was immersed in a liquid of high temperature.

Where there are import restrictions the economic cost is larger than the benefit. Import restrictions are
government regulations. It must be concluded that all government regulations result in larger economic
costs than benefits. Which of the following weakens the claim of the above argument?

A. Terms used are redundant.

B. The conclusion is sweeping.

C. The premise is inadequate.

D. The argument is unfounded.

The emergence of European nation-states in the 19th century led to the idea that it was disloyal to
speak anything other than one's national language. This perhaps contributed to the widely held opinion–
particularly in Britain and the US– that being bilingual was harmful to children's health. However, a large
body of research suggests that there are important benefits to being bilingual. Which adjective best
clarifies the underlying assumptions that impact on public opinion in the above passage?

A. Political

B. Social

C. Idiosyncratic

D. Educational

The re-imposition of the death penalty will not solve criminality. Crime is a multi-dimensional problem
which has to be attacked on different fronts like poverty, alleviation, judicial reform, police visibility, and
effectivity. The death penalty is not the antidote to the rising drug menace. Which of the following is
suggested by the information above?

A. Strengthening law enforcement is key to weakening the drug menace.

B. The poor and marginalized sectors are further disadvantaged with the death penalty.

C. The death penalty is a deterrent to criminality.

D. Criminality must be minimized at all costs.

The function of Congress is to make or amend laws. It has the necessary power, therefore, to amend the
law of supply and demand. This will make the market, especially with regard to the price of
commodities, easier to regulate. Which of the following explains the weakness of the argument above?

A. The argument uses an irrelevant term and issue.

B. The argument transfers to the whole what is true of its parts.

C. The argument makes a faulty assumption.

D. The argument employs a term with more than one meaning.

Famine can still happen, even in a situation of abundant food supply, if the enhancement of people’s
capability to acquire food is disregarded. Which of the following is not assumed by the above
statement?

A. The capability to acquire food helps resolve famine.

B. The capability of people to acquire food is not enhanced.

C. Simply increasing food supply will not eradicate famine.

D. Abundant food supply is also a factor in resolving famine.

Blood-letting was a common cure to illness for around 2,000 years. Physicians and healers would draw
the blood of patients in an effort to maintain “balance” within the body. However, modern medicine has
abandoned the practice of blood-letting. Blood-letting was said to have been the cause of (or at least
accelerated) George Washington’s death. Down with a cold and sore throat, his doctors decided to
bleed him about five pints of blood. What does the passage above show?
A. Medical advances can only happen when the new interventions are created after the evaluation of
past mistakes.

B. Well-accepted solutions, can at times, do more harm than good.

C. A negative outcome may be outweighed by its potential positive results.

D. Traditional healing practices may have wisdom but are seldom evidence-based.

Milgram designed an experiment as a way of explaining the atrocities committed by Nazi soldiers. He
tested the obedience of unknowing participants who were told by a person in a white laboratory coat to
deliver increasing amounts of electrical shocks on an unseen person doing a learning task. The
unknowing participant was led to believe that the gradually increasing electric shocks really hurt the
person in the other room, but no one was really hurt. About 61 to 66 percent of these participants
carried out their task up to the end, administering clearly labeled high voltages that could seriously harm
a person. What is the most reasonable implication of this experiment?

A. People are capable of hurting others when they are anonymous to the ones they are hurting.

B. People lack the resources to disobey authority, which can lead to perilous actions.

C. The desire for sadism is an undeniable part of human nature, and can undermine one’s so-called
decent upbringing and respect for human values.

D. Accountability and responsibility rest solely on the leader, as the chain of command ends with him or
her

Some taxes for public purposes are taxes only on land because all taxes are levied for public purposes.
Which of the following is the missing premise in the above syllogism?

A. Some funds for public purposes come from taxes.

B. Some taxes are levied only on land.

C. All taxes levied on land are for public purposes.

D. All taxes are for public purposes.

Assuming that dominant majority groups generally discriminate against cultural minorities, who is then
to blame for the discrimination against these minorities? Which of the following relationships
characterize the above assertion?

A. Authority

B. Condition

C. Prediction

D. Definition
In the great depression of the 1930s in the United States, some so-called liberal economists proposed
progressive populist policies to reduce massive unemployment. In reaction, a faction of these liberal
economists began to refer to themselves as “conservatives” as a way of warning against what they saw
as the incorporation of communist ideas into liberal thinking. Which one of the following is an
assumption about the economic “conservatives” of the 1930s?

They saw through the agenda of the so-called progressive liberals as communist sympathizers.

B. They were open-minded individuals who were not willing to compromise the values of American
democracy.

C. They were liberals who were wary of communist policies creeping their way into American
democracy.

D. They were aware of the imminent threat of communist ideology inherent in the American liberal
movement.

Despite the romantic notion that people meet and fall in love through chance or fate, the evidence
suggests that social networks are important in bringing together individuals of similar interests and
backgrounds, especially when it comes to selecting a marriage partner. Which of the following
strengthens the claim of the above argument?

A. People tend to marry those who share a similar background and live within a given radius from where
they grew up.

B. Sharing common friends or being introduced by family members increases the chances of marriage
among couples.

C. The phenomena of office romance and church-based singles groups exemplify the attraction among
people of similar interests and beliefs.

D. Married couples often have similar hobbies and activities.

Puppies that grow accustomed to biting will grow up to be dogs that bite. Consequently, dog owners go
out of their way to train their puppies to avoid biting. Spraying puppies with water every time they rear
their teeth is the most popular way of training dogs to avoid biting. Whether the puppy is being
aggressive or just playful, it is always sprayed on the face. After months of following this procedure, the
biting habits of the dog will decrease. What is the best explanation for this outcome?

A. Spraying water on the face is less physically harmful than hitting. As such, it teaches the dog to be less
aggressive.

B. The puppies associate the spraying with both aggression and playfulness. This results in the decrease
of the dog's aggression and playfulness

C. Water sprayed on the face is generally unpleasant for puppies. The puppies avoid the spraying as they
associate it with rearing their teeth.
D. The spraying of water has short-term effects during the puppies’ gnawing stages, which they outgrow
in time.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) points out that the investigation
of problems of mega-cities are often done at the national level worldwide. However, the OECD thinks
that having big cities like New York, London, and Shanghai dialogue with each other will lead to a better
understanding of these problems. Such mega-conurbations have bigger populations and economies than
many individual countries. The think tank argues that they face many challenges similar to whole
countries particularly in the transport, housing, security, employment, migration and education sectors.
In the above passage, the author reaches his conclusion by using a(n):

A. Principle

B. Condition

C. Exclusion

D. Analogy