Reading - 4 Topic Covered © Critical Reasoning - 2 Number of Questions :| 30 Directions for questions 1 to 30: Read each of the arguments and answer the questions that follow. 1 Plato said, “A state arises, as | conceive, out of the needs of mankind; no one is self- sufficing, but all of us have many wants” His statement is contradicted by one of the statements given below. Identify that statement (1) The realization that man needs more than he can fend for himself marks the need fora state. (2) State has nothing to do with self- sufficiency; the first is ridiculously unnecessary and the second is positively achievable. (8) A good state provides equally for all its subjects. (4) The concept of state is not redundant even if man can do away with some surplus needs. (6) None of the above. 2. Atul: This shoe is costly to make. We should switch to a less costly brand of leather for this product. Shreya: But the shoe sells so well because of its tenacity. No other material performs as well. We should stick with what we know we can sell, Z Career nZ “© Launcher VARC CEX-V-0250/24 The speakers above disagree over which one of the following issues? (1) Whether they should make the shoe from a different brand of leather. (2) Whether other leather materials perform as well as the material currently used (3) Whether customer priorities should factor into product development questions. (4) Whether the leather used for this material is more expensive than other available materials. ©) Whether the pricing of the finished product governs the sale of that product. In New York, advocates are pressing for the passing of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which would give these workers the rights that others have long taken for granted, as well as seek badly needed improvements in safety and sanitary conditions in the fields. Domestic workers, meanwhile, are seeking a “Bill of Rights” in Albany covering things like overtime pay, cost-of-living raises and health benefits. Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the proposed legislations? (1) These two classes are the worst sufferers of physical violence by their employers. (2) The advocates will get an upper hand in the issues pertaining to human rights. Reading - 4 => Z Career “@*\ Launcher Ney Page 1(3) The farm workers and the domestic workers have suffered long enough and they should be given their dues by way of legislations. : (4) There is some ulterior motive behind the lawyers’ move. (©) Certain rights should be given to everyone equally. The Pay Commission's recommendations are indeed a bonanza for Central government employees. At the same time, one cannot help wonderf checks and balances have been put in place to effectively enforce accountability and deal with corruption stringently. While the people, | am sure, will not grudge the increase in the salaries of government employees, they certainly would mind if they still have to deal with non- accountability and corruption. After all, itis the taxpayers’ money. Which of the following, if true, forms the basis, of the author's apprehension? (1) The hike in the pay- scales would make the Government officials indifferent towards social concerns. (2) Without stringent methods to check corruption and enforce accountability, the taxpayers’ money can be misused. (8) The taxpayers’ liability would increase in providing for high salaries and it would lead to resentment from the general populace. (4) Non-accountability has been an inherent part of bureaucracy. (6) Salary hikes would mean an increase in misappropriation of funds in the absence of a proper law. In his new book ‘Beauty off Poetry’, Neil Patrick argues that modem poets in English lack the skills to beautify the language unlike the poets in the olden times. In stating this, Patrick must be right as he analyses 200 poems, 100 old and 100 new. The analysis justifies convincingly that none of the new poems are written as beautifully as the old poems. Which of the following exposes a discrepancy in the above argument? (1) None of the new poets have been to a grammar school in their childhood, hence lacking a grasp on the syntax. (2) The poems chosen for analysis by Patrick could be those that support the book's claim. (3) Theextensive media coverage of the book might have led the readers to believe Patrick. (4) The lack of interest shown by the modern society towards poetry might have encouraged the poets to write ina simple language. (6) Authors of such books should not focus only on one criterion to judge the skills of the poets. The recent decline in the value of rupee was triggered by a prediction of slower economic growth in the coming year. This prediction would not have adversely affected the rupee but for the government's huge budget deficit. Budget deficit should, therefore, be decreased to prevent future currency declines, Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion about how to prevent future currency declines? (1) The government has made little attempt to reduce the budget deficit. (2) The budget deficit has not caused a slowdown in economic growth. (3) The value of rupee declined several times in the year prior to the recent Prediction of slower economic growth. Launcher Reading -4Reading - 4 (4) Before there was a large budget deficit, predictions of slower economic growth frequently caused declines in rupee's value. (® It is very difficult to reduce the budget deficit because of corruption in the system. Classical economists were in favour of ‘balanced budget’. In their view, surplus budget is undesirable. Surplus generated through additional taxation stabilises government expenditure and takes away the resources, which would otherwise have been spared, for productive investment in the private sector. Which of the following, if true, would further strengthen the classical economists’ view? (1) Fresh doses of taxation imply flow of resources from private sector to public sector, which is unproductive. (2) Monetary benefits occurring from additional taxes will be helpful for public sector funding. (8) Government-backed enterprises should not rely upon surplus budgeting for their fiscal requirements. (4) Modern economists also believe that balanced budget is better than surplus or deficit budget. (©) Most of the economists these days are not classical economists in the true sense. The trend towards downsizing has left many experienced professionals without a worthwhile regular job. But the good news is that work continues to grow and fewer jobs does not mean less work. Instead of having a lot of people on the payroll earning their keep in busy times, but being a dead weight inthe overhead in slack times, organizations will turn to ‘just in time’ and ‘as and when! human resourcing. > Z Career Launcher Which of the following, if true, would weaken the argument above? (1) Busy time in most organisations is not more than five-six months. (2) Most organisations give poor remuneration to freelancers (3) Most organisations get only about 10 per cent of their work done through freelancing. (4) Organizations prefer to squeeze in the busy time jobs into the calendars of the regular employees. (6) Freelancers do not enjoy many of the benefits enjoyed by employees on payroll. Many have wondered whether itis worth the effort to understand the sometimes frustratingly difficult writings of Jacques Derida, but Christina Howells has no such doubts. The reward for one’s efforts may be a mind-expanding delight giving access to dazzling readings of philosophy, literature and psychoanalysis. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument of Christina Howells? (1) Different readers have different expectations and what may be a pleasure to one may not be so to another. (2) Derida’s writings have often confused readers in their attempt to understand Philosophy. (3) Christina Howells read Derida’s books thrice before she could grasp the articles therein. (4) Formost readers, philosophy, literature and psycho-analysis do not make worthwhile reading, () There are readers who abhor philosophical books and even if coaxed will not pick them up. Page 3(© There is a maternity hospital in 10. The forces that generate conditions conducive to crime and riots are stronger in urban Rampur which has 100 beds and a communities than in rural areas. Urban living state of the art research division. is more anonymous living. It often releases individuals from community restraints. But | 12, Property taxes bid ee set at a flat more freedom from constraints also provides rate per Rs. 20,000 of the officially greater freedom to deviate. assessed value. Reassessments should be frequent in order to remove distortions Which of the statements below, if true, shall that arise when property values change at mitigate the validity of the argument above? differential rates. In practice, however, (1) More crimes have been reported from reassessments typically occur when they tural areas than from urban areas. benefit the government, i.e. when their (2) Urbanites not bound by social constraint effect is to increase total tax revenue. use the freedom for socio-economic eens - If the above statement is true, which of the @) Cities have more clubs, societies and following describes a situation in which a associations than do villages. reassessment should occur but the (4) Rural life is more akin to community life government is unlikely to do so? because of the small size of the villages. (1) Property values have risen sharply (©) Cities have technologically advanced and uniformly. tcaent systems as compared to (2) Property values have all risen — oi some very sharply, some less so. 44. Some communities in Rampur are populated @) oe ree ae ot the ie almost exclusively by retired people and part risen sharply; yet some have contain few, if any families with small children 7 ee slightly Yet these communities are home to thriving (4) Property values have for the most businesses specializing in the rental of part dropped significantly; yet some furniture for infants and small children. a nme inal slightly. roperty values have fallen Which of the following, if true, best reconciles. drastically. the seeming discrepancy described above? (1) The businesses specializing in the | 13 Care are sefer than trains. Thirty percent of rental of children’s furniture buy their rain accidents result in death, while only two furniture from distributors outside of percent of car accidents result in death. Rampur. (2) The few children who do reside in Which of the following, if true, would most these communities all know each seriously weaken the argument above? other and often make ovemight visits (1) Trains are inspected more often than to one other's houses. cars. (@) Many residents of these communities (2) The number of car accidents is several who move frequently prefer renting times higher than the number of train their furniture, to buying it outright. accidents. (4) Many residents of these communities @) Train drivers i i must provide for the needs of visiting ihflieet never onve/unce i ce of alcohol, while car drivers grandchildren several weeks a year. often do. Career w Launcher Reading -4a 14. 15. (4) Train accidents are usually the fault of missing fishplates, not drivers. (6) Train drivers have to have a minimum educational qualification which is not necessary for car drivers. lilusions refer to propositions or set of propositions people judge to be true that in actuality are false. From this point of view, illusions are always intellectual and inadvertent. Being blind to accuracy, we unwittingly give illusions the status of truth and bestow on illusions all the respect and honor accorded to truth and honesty. It is hard to unravel an illusion because the illusion is. assumed to be true. The above passage could be used to strengthen which of the following arguments? (1) People do not deliberately seek illusions. (2) Some illusions are worse than others. 3) Although the ramifications of an illusion may be sweeping, an illusion does not affect every judgement (4) The more we become curious, the more we are likely to suffer from illusions. (6) Our inaccurate assumptions make it difficult to unravel an illusion. Many religious people as well have committed atrocities and similarly are to be found lacking in the realm of morality and ethics. Religion can only do so much to establish morality, there comes a point when inner strength, conscience or whatever else there is special about humans must provide for the rest of a person's moral development. The above passage could be used to strengthen which of the following arguments? (1) Gross violence and dishonesty have been perpetrated by many atheists throughout history. (2) Religion does not guarantee complete moral development of an individual. 16. 17. (3) Moral and ethical constructions existed in the minds of many people prior to their knowledge of God. (4) Without a religious basis, all activities can be considered moral. (6) Religious institutions change in response to societal shifts of the moral and ethical sort. Nagendra: Research shows that when horses are castrated in early foalhood, their leg bones usually do not develop properly which, in turn, leads to the horses developing arthritis as they grow older. Thus, if a horse has to be protected from arthritis it should never be castrated until itis full-grown. Which of the following is a criticism to which Nagendra’s argument is most vulnerable? (1) Itfails to address the effects of castrating in middle or late foalhood. (2) Itdoes not state clearly what percentage of horses castrated in early foalhood suffer improper bone development. (3) It does not consider the possibility that arthritis can affect horses with properly developed bones. (4) The recent research indicates that horses can be genetically suffering from arthritis. (8) None of above The International Monetary Fund, which has 2,370 employees, most based in Washington, has repositioned itself periodically since its creation after World War IL Its initial focus was to oversee the exchange rate system established under the Bretton Woods agreements. That role ended in the 1970s. In the 1980s, it emerged as the manager of the Latin American debt crisis. In the 1990s, it stepped in to deal with the Mexican and East Asian financial crises. Reading - 4 Career Launcher Page 518. 19. The information above most strongly supports Which one of the following? (1) The Intemational Monetary Fund has been ineffective in most its dealings. (2) Changing roles too often has eared a bad name for the International Monetary Fund. (3) The Intemational Monetary Fund has been receptive to the changes in economic environment of the world and adapted itself accordingly. (4) The IMF isa panacea of all the problems that ail the world economy. (6) In future the IMF might get headiong into extracting the world out of its current morass. We will have to take more interest in hydro- electric projects. As the prices of oil have increased, it has become vital that such renewable sources of energy are tapped. The: ‘assumption/assumptions of the argument is/are which of the following? |. Hydro electric power is a renewable source of energy. |. Hydro electric power is comparatively cheaper. (1) Only! (2)only tt (3) Both | and Il (4) Neither I nor I! Throughout the Kyakya Island community, pressure is exerted on people who win the jackpot to share their fortune with their neighbours. When people living in countryside win the jackpot, they invariably throw neighbourhood feasts often wiping out all of their jackpot winnings. However, in the cities, jackpot winners frequently use their winnings for their own good rather than sharing their 900d fortune with their neighbours. Which one of the following, if true, contributes Most to an explanation of the difference 20. EE EE between the behaviour of jackpot winners in countryside and those in cities? (1) It is observed that people in the urban communities socialize more than people in the rural areas. (2) Kyakyan city dwellers tend to buy several jackpot tickets at a time, but they buy tickets less frequently than do people in countryside. (3) Twice as many jackpot tickets are sold in countryside as are sold in the city. (4) Families in countryside in the Kyakya may contain seventeen to eighteen people, but city families average nine or ten. (6) Jackpot winners in countryside are notified of winning by public posting of list of winners but notification in the city is by private mail. Nishant’s grandmother gave him her will: asking him to make it public when she died: he promised to do so. After her death, Nishant looked at the will; it stipulated that all her Money go to her friend Rishi. Nishant knew that if he made the will public, Rishi would waste the money, benefiting neither Rishi nor anyone else. Nishant also knew that if he did not make the will public, the money would go tohis own mother, who would use it to benefit herself and others, harming no one. After consideration, he decided not to make the will public. Which one of the following principles, if valid would require Nishant to act as he did in the situation described? (1) A promise does not remain obligatory when the person to whom the promise was made is no longer living. (2) When faced with choices it is obligatory to choose whichever one will benefit the Greatest number of people. @) Duties to family members take precedence over duties to people who are not family members. a Page 6 > Z Career Launcher Reading - 4(4) Violating a promise is not permissible whenever doing so would become public. (6) One must go for a choice that benefits some and harms no one over a choice that harms some and benefits no one. 21. Inacustomer satisfaction survey, customers of the Taj Hotel have demanded that they should be given empty refrigerators in place of the provided mini-bars. Although, a large number of customers buy at least one product from the mini-bars, they want to keep their ‘own food and beverages in place of the products provided by the hotel. After doing some research and after analyzing the data, the management of the Taj Hotel arrived at a conclusion that installing empty refrigerators in each room is more profitable than the already provided mini-bars. Which of the following, if true, would best support the Taj Hotel's plan to increase profitability by replacing mini-bars with empty refrigerators? (1) The Taj Hotel gets maximum business through recommendations from its current customers. Maximizing recommendations may help the Taj Hotel to increase profits. (2) Maintaining empty refrigerators in the hotel rooms will be less costly than maintaining fully stocked mini-bars in the hotel rooms. (8) The earnings from mini-bar purchases of customers are less than the losses incurred by the hotel in disposing off expired goods. (4) Visitors often purchase food and beverages from the shops endorsed by the Hotels. (5) The Oberai Hotel, which is the main competitor of the Taj Hotel has adopted a similar strategy. Profits of the Oberai Hotel are higher than those of the Taj Hotel Reproduction in the hammerhead shark occurs once a year and each litter contains 20 to 40 pups. Unlike many other shark species, the hammerhead shark has internal fertilization which creates a safe environment for the sperm to unite with the egg. The embryo develops within the female inside a placenta and is fed through an umbilical cord, similar to mammals. The gestation period is 40 to 12 months. Aworld-record 1,280 pound (680 kg) pregnant female hammerhead shark was caught off Boca Grande, Florida on May 23, 2006. The shark was carrying 55 pups, which suggested that scientists had previously underestimated the number of pups per gestation. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion that the scientists had previously underestimated the number of pups per gestation? (1) There is a direct correlation observed between the gestation period undergone bya female shark and the number of pups it can carry; the shark in question went through the normal gestation period of 10- 12 months. (2) There is a direct correlation observed between the weight of a female shark and the number of pups it can carry per gestation; most hammerhead sharks weigh less than 580 kgs (3) There is a direct correlation observed between how far north up the US Atlantic coast a hammerhead shark is caught and the number of pups it carries in a litter; Florida is located towards the southern tip of the US Atlantic coast. (4) There is no observed correlation between the weight of a female shark and the number of pups it can carry per gestation; most hammerhead sharks weigh ‘somewhat less than 580 kgs Reading - 4 JZ Career a Launcher Page 724, ‘The spinning jenny is a multi-spool spinning wheel. It was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves. The device dramatically reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn, with a single worker able to work eight or more spools at once. In 1778, Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule combining the spinning jenny with Richard Arkwright's spinning frame and again dramatically increasing yarn production. The spinning jenny was so effective in increasing the efforts of a worker's labor that Karl Marx cited it as one of the causes behind the elimination of slavery. Which of the following statements, if true, would most significantly strengthen the Conclusion drawn by Karl Marx in the passage? (1) Before the invention of the spinning jenny the number of slaves employed in the cotton plantations for harvesting raw cotton had been on the rise. (2) Before the invention of the jenny more slaves were employed in cotton plantations for producing yarn than for harvesting raw cotton, (3) After the invention of the jenny, the number of slaves employed in producing yarn in cotton plantations fell dramatically compared to the number employed in other jobs on such plantations. (4) The invention of the spinning jenny made it possible for workers using it to charge more for their skills. The ban on smoking in public placesis growing stricter, although it hasn't helped much. Despite the heavy penalties people find a way to smoke and they also argue ‘when it is there itis meant to be consumed’. Statistics show that the number of smokers is growing day- by-day. The number of women taking up ‘smoking is alarming. The NGOs are worried 25. iia about the situation and see the bans only as Populist measures adopted by the government. Which of the following, if true, could help resolve the paradox and bring relief to the NGOs? (1) The ban should be supervised closely and offenders should be penalised heavily, (2). The government should start a licensing policy for the sale of cigarettes and regulate the supply to women. (3) Parents should give up smoking and set an example to the kids. (4) Girls who smoke should be viewed as a curse to the society and should be reprimanded publicly. (5) Instead of a ban on smoking, the government should place a ban on the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and allied tobacco products. ‘The Hidden Eye’ magazine must have misquoted the remarks of the visiting diplomat from Pretzelstein about our country. Since the dignitary has sued it for libel, the magazine must have had either planted a deliberate falsehood to embarrass Pretzelstein or misquoted the diplomat's remarks, and the good relations ‘The Hidden Eye’ enjoys with Government of Pretzelstein are well known. Which one of the following arguments exhibits @ pattern of reasoning most similar to that in the argument above? (1) According to the company policy of The Hidden Eye’, employees who are either frequently absent without notice or who are habitually late receive an official warning. Since Suneeta has never received such a warning, rumours that she is habitually late must be false. @) Any diplomat of Pretzelstein, who discusses a confidential state matter with Page 8 Career Launcher Reading -4a member of the press will be either fired or removed from his assignment. But since no diplomat of Pretzelstein ever discusses any confidential state matter with a member of the press, no diplomat of Pretzelstein will ever be removed from his assignment. {@) Anyone promoted to senior copy editor at ‘The Hidden Eye’ must have either worked in the copy department for three years or have an influential sponsor. Raman, therefore, has an influential sponsor, since he was promoted to senior copy editor after a year on the shop floor. (4) To earn a merit salary increase, an advertising executive of ‘The Hidden Eye’ must either bring in new clients or develop innovative supplements. No innovative supplements were developed at ‘The Hidden Eye’ this year, so advertising ‘executives of ‘The Hidden Eye’ must have brought in many new clients. (6) Any diplomat of Pretzelstein who is either awarded the Order of the Pretzel or becomes a Minister of State has to be recommended by a Member of the Cabinet. Since Von Sterling has been recommended by a Member of the Cabinet and has become a Minister of State, he must not have been awarded the Order of the Pretzel 28. The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extra-terrestrial Civilizations and the lack of evidence for or contact with such civilizations. Stated formally, Fermi's paradox states : the size and age of the universe suggest that many technologically advanced extraterrestrial Civilizations ought to exist. However, this belief seems logically inconsistent with the lack of observational evidence to support it. 27. Which of the following statements if true would most help to explain/resolve the Fermi paradox? (1) Life forms do arise and evolve elsewhere but events such as ice ages, asteroid impacts as experienced on earth destroy life before complex life forms can evolve. (2) Some scientists believe that the conditions needed for complex life to evolve are unique to earth and hence the likelihood of extraterrestrial life is marginal 3) Technological civilizations may destroy themselves before or shortly after radio or space flight technology through nuclear or biological warfare or accidental contamination. (4) According to Judeo-Christian belief, God has placed human beings as the only intelligent life in the universe. (6) Itmaybe that advanced civilizations exist in our galaxy but they are simply too far apart for two-way communication to be effective. The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems. So far, the research has been done only on animals. But scientists say this memory system is likely to work almost identically in people. If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on their basis? (1) Human beings always respond the way the animals do. (2) Animals always respond the way the human beings do. (3) The above described substance can be developed in laboratory. (4) Similar impact of the enhancement of the substance must have been expected on the humans as in animals. Reading -4 c Page 9 a? Tauncher28. During winters, Brandy sales in the hilly regions of Uttrakhand are high. Brandy is selling well in the hilly regions of Uttrakhand today, so it must be winter. Which of the following is logically most similar tothe argument above? (1) Proficiency at logical thinking is enough to ensure success in the CAT teaching domain. But there are no CAT teachers among my friends, so they must be illogical. (2) Someone who thinks logically can become a CAT teacher. Ujwala thinks very logically, so she can become an excellent CAT teacher. (3) A CAT teacher must be able to think logically. Vijay is a very logical person, so he must be a CAT teacher. (4) Skill in thinking logically is one guarantee of success at CAT teaching: a 99.9 percentile score in CAT is another. 29, The company encourages its managers to interact regularly, without a pre-set agenda, to discuss issues concerning the company and society. This idea has been borrowed from the ancient Indian concept of religious. congregation, called satsang. Designations are forgotten during these meetings; hence, itis not uncommon in these meetings to find a sales engineer questioning the CEO on some corporate policy or his knowledge of customers. Based on the information provided in the above passage, it can be inferred that (1) the company is concerned about its reputation with its employees. nS 30, (2) the company believes in fostering the spirit of dialogue without degenerating it into a Positioning based debate. (8) the company had some inter-personnel problems in the past due to which it felt the need for these corporate satsangs, (4) Alll of these The effect produced on the mind by travelling depends entirely on the mind of the traveller and on the way in which he conducts himself. The chief idea of one very common type of traveller is to see as many objects of interest as he possibly can. If he can only after his return home say that he has seen such and such temple, castle, picture gallery, or museum, he is perfectly satisfied. Far different is the effect of travels upon those who leave their country with a mind prepared by culture to feel intelligent admiration for all the beauties of nature and art to be found in foreign lands. When they visit a new place, instead of hurrying from temple to museum to picture gallery, they allow the spirit of the place to sink into their minds, and only visit such monuments as the time they have at their disposal allows them to contemplate without irreverent haste. It can be inferred from the above passage that (1) the writer prefers the second type of traveller. (2) the first type of travellers the lay traveller who does not understand the worth of any place he travels to. (8) the objective of the second type of traveller is not to see much, but to see well. (4) Allof these Visit “aspiration. Page 10 >Z Career Launcher Reading -4