Critical Reasoning

Oligopoly is the state where there are many competitors within a single market. The Pepsi Company realizes that its operations are in competitive industries. Which of the following conclusions may be inferred from the above?

People in a South African tribe have observed that heavy rains are usually preceded by claps of thunder. They are convinced that the heavy rains are somehow caused by the claps of thunder. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the tribals, conviction?

Professor Krithileshwar Jhamb argued that that the method of evaluation for teachers, used at IIM Bangalore where students evaluated the teachers, was not a valid measure of teaching quality. Students should fill out questionnaires at the end of the term when the courses have been completed. Which of the following, if true, provides support for Professor Jhamb’s proposal?

PM Manmohan Singh lobbied for the inclusion of India amongst the set of ASEAN countries. This would help develop and liberalize trade with countries such as Japan, China and other prominent members of the ASEAN group. Each of the following, if true, could account for the above, except:

“If the islanders are doomed to have local self governance—and it is the islanders who have determined this—then they should be ready to bear the negative consequences of local self governance,” said a British colonist as he left the shores of the island he was governing. Which of the following, if true, would weaken his argument?

Amrinder Singh is no big catch for the Tongress Party in Uttam Pradesh. Even though he is the brother of the Chief Minister of the opposing Bhrasthwadi Party, he himself has no political clout and was not even important organizationally for his own party. Which of the following statements is inconsistent with the above?

Stock market analyst Dhirubhai Mehta: “We believe that company’s stock will appreciate at 35% a year for the next 10–12 years. The company just became the leader in its industry and we expect its sales to continue to grow at 8% a year over this period.” Investor: “But how can the stock’s price be expected to grow more quickly than the company’s underlying sales?”
Which of the following facts would best support the stock analyst?

A car magazine report: ‘The average mileage in the small car market was found to be 18 kilometers per litre. The average mileage was calculated by taking cars of all manufacturers in the segment, filling them with 10 litres of fuel and driving them along the Mumbai-Pune expressway. However, for the Karuti, the mileage was 22 kilometers per litre. Clearly, if you want to buy a new car, you should buy the Karuti.’ Which of the following assumptions does the magazine make?

For the above question, which of the following additional information makes the argument stronger?
I. Petrol prices have touched the sky, and hence the reader should be primarily interested in saving on fuel costs while purchasing a new car.
II. Besides mileage, Karuti scored the best on 9 out of 10 performance indicators used by the survey.
III. The article is titled—“Your first Car”

Per-capita income in India last year was Rs 17,600. Real median income for female headed families was Rs. 38,000. Therefore, women wage-earners are paid more than the national average. Which of the following would, if true, weaken the above conclusion?

The head of the NCAER was quoted as saying that the Consumer Price Index (CL) will go down next month because of a recent drop in the price of petrol and steel. Which of the following cannot be inferred from the statement?

“There has been a high incidence of traffic accident related deaths last year.” Hence, the chairman of the CBDT suggested that excise taxes on cars and automobiles should not be reduced as planned by the government.
Which of the above statements weakens the argument above?

The Incandescent brand fruit juice claims to be the most original fruit juice available on the market today. To prove this claim, the company marketing Incandescent called 10 people and asked them about their thoughts on fruit juices available on the market today. Nine of them stated that they unequivocally drink Incandescent brand fruit juices on a regular basis because it is closest to the taste of real fruits. Which of the following would most weaken this argument?

For the above question, which of the options actually strengthen the argument?

Chewing tobacco has many benefits. However, the primary benefits occur in the area of mental health. The habit originates in a search for contentment. The life expectancy of our people has increased greatly in recent years; it is possible that the relaxation and contentment and enjoyment produced by tobacco chewing has lengthened many lives. Hence, Chewing Tobacco is beneficial. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the above conclusion?

Which of the following if true would best support the above argument?

Many of the junk foods on the market today, doughnuts, burgers and pizza, have less nutrients than natural foods, which were dominant a decade or two ago. Many nutritionists claim that pizza and doughnuts give less nourishment than natural foods. A spokesman of a leading junk food Company—Pizza House —stated recently that an examination of grade-school students shows less nutritional deficiency than in their parents’ time. Hence, junk foods are not as bad as made out to be. Which of the following, if true, would tend to strengthen the view of the spokesman?

My neighbour, Mr. Kohli’s dogs bark and howl every time he lets them outside. My class teacher told me that dogs tend to bark and howl when they see other dogs eating biscuits sitting in their owner’s laps. I personally believe they bark and howl because they enjoy disrupting my meditations. Which of the following can be inferred from the preceding passage?

The argument for liberalization which answers the worries of the left parties about the possible trade deficits created by the opening up of the Indian economy goes thus: ‘In today’s economic scenario, where there are many trading countries, the trade between two specific countries need not be balanced. The differing demands of goods and services and the differing productive capabilities of the same among different countries will cause a country like India to have trade deficits with some countries and surpluses with other countries. On the whole, the trade deficits and surpluses will balance out in order to give a trade balance’. Which of the following conclusions best summarises the argument presented in the passage above?

Most citizens are very conscientious about observing a law when they can see the reason behind it. For instance, there has been very little need to actively enforce the recently- implemented law that increased the penalty for godmen duping people of their money by playing with their emotions. This is because citizens are very conscientious about duping someone in the name of religion, as it leaves their religious gurus with a bad name. Which of the following statements would the author of this passage be most likely to believe?

Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, net increases in Indian direct investments in the Far East (funds outflows) exceeded net new Far East direct investment in India. Each of the following, if true, could help to account for this trend except:

Inflation can only be fundamentally caused by two factors—Supply side factors and demand side factors. These factors are either reductions in the supply of goods and services or increases in demand due to either the increased availability of money or the reallocation of demand. Unless other compensating changes also occur, inflation is bound to result if either of this occurs. In economies prior to the introduction of banks (a pre banking economy) the quantity of money available, and hence, the level of demand, was equivalent to the quantity of gold available. If the statements above are true, then it is also true that in a pre banking economy

Which of the following best completes the argument below? One effect of the FM radio was a collapse in the market for audio cassettes. Formerly, people had to buy audio cassettes in order to listen to their favorite music, but the advent of FM radio changed all that by ‘giving people music on tap’. Similarly, the introduction of crops genetically engineered to be resistant to pests will

Most large retail stores of all goods and brands hold discount sales in the month of November. The original idea of price reduction campaigns in November became popular when it was realized that the sales of products would generally slow down following the Diwali rush, were it not for some incentive. The lack of demand could be solved by the simple solution of reducing prices. There is now an increasing tendency among major chains of stores across the country to have their “November sales” begin before Diwali. The idea behind this trend is to endeavor to sell the maximum amount of stock at a profit, even if that may not be at the maximum profit. Which of the following conclusions cannot be drawn from the above?

Of the world’s largest AIDS cases countries in 2010, three had the same share of world AIDS patients as they had in 2000. These three countries may serve as examples of countries that succeeded in holding steady their share of the AIDS disease. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the idea that these countries serve as examples as described above?

In a famous experiment at the IISC campus, when a cat smelled milk, it salivated. In the experiment, a bell was rung whenever food was placed near the cat. After a number of trials, only the bell was rung, whereupon the cat would salivate even though no food was present. Such behaviour has been observed in other animals such as dogs, monkeys, etc. and is a vital input for training domesticated animals. Which of the following conclusions may be drawn from the above experiment?

At a rally in the Moinul Haque Stadium, candidate Laloo exclaimed: “Nearly everyone at the rally is behind me. It looks like I am going to be elected.” Which of the following statements, if true, best supports the above conclusion?

Ram is a terrible driver. He has had at least five traffic violations in the past year. Which of the following can be said about the above claim?

Since the late 1970s, there has been a dramatic decline in the incidence of traditional childhood diseases such as chicken pox, in India. This decline has been accompanied by an increased incidence of scleroid malaria, a hitherto rare viral infection among children. Few adults, however, have been affected by the disease. Which of the following, if true, would best help to explain the increased incidence of scleroid malaria among children?

In using the results of the survey described above, in order to make conclusions about illegal drug use in the teenage population as a whole, which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the relevance of the survey results?

Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for concluding from the survey results described above that the use of illegal drugs by people below the age of 20 is declining?

The local education authorities in India have recently issued a “prescribed” list of books that are approved for reading in schools by children aged between 5 and 11. A furor has arisen among many parents because an authoress by the name of Pooja Mehta, very popular with children, has been omitted from the said list. When asked to comment on the omission, the head of the committee that was responsible for preparing the list of books said that the books of Mrs Pooja Mehta have been omitted because “we thought they are of an inferior quality and do not sufficiently stimulate the children’s intellectual ability and not because they contain characters which are stereotypes or may show racial prejudice.” Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the above paragraph?

All televisions emit sounds. And all radios emit sounds. Therefore, I conclude that all televisions are radios. The argument above is invalid because

In elections in a democratic set up, the proper role of the press is to cover only those factors in the campaign which bear on the eventual outcome. Since the outcome is invariably a victory for the candidate of one of two major parties, the press should not cover the campaigns of candidates of minor parties. The argument above relies on which of the following assumption ?

The daily journey from his home to his office takes Shyam on an average fifty five minutes by car. Shyam learns about a different route from a neighbour. This route is longer in distance, but will only take thirty five minutes on the average, because it contains stretches of roads where it is possible to drive at higher speeds. Shyam ‘s only consideration apart from the time factor, is the cost. He calculates that his car will consume 10% less gasoline if he takes the suggested new route. Shyam decides to take the new route for the next two weeks as an experiment. If the above were the only considerations, which one of the following may have an effect on the decision Shyam has made?

The cost of housing in many urban parts of India has become so excessive that many young couples, with above-average salaries, can only afford small apartments. EMI and rent commitments are so huge that they cannot consider the possibility of starting a family since a new baby would probably mean either the mother or father giving up a well-paid position— something they can ill afford. The lack of or great cost of child-care facilities further precludes the return of both parents to work. Which of the following adjustments could practically be made to the situation described above which would allow young couples to improve their housing prospects?

By the early 1990s, the services sector contributed approximately 20 percent of India’s GDP. Still, no coherent system of rules, principles, and procedures exist to govern the service sector. Which of the following best summarises the argument?

In 1980, Uttam Pradesh earned Rs. 17 million in tourist revenue. By 1990, tourist revenue doubled and in 2000, it reached the sum of Rs. 132 million. Each of the following, if true, may explain the trend in tourist revenue except:

Following the massive earthquake in Gujarat, building rules in Gujarat required all apartment buildings constructed after 2002 to have earthquake resistant designs. From which of the following can the statement above be inferred?

In 1980, the average per capita telephone consumption in India was one telephone per hundred people. By 2005, the figure became one telephone per 8 people. Each of the following, if true, could explain this trend except: