Critical Reasoning for CAT/GMAT '08

[ud4u]

Originally Posted by SudhaDuddukuri

Hi,
Could anyone help me solve these questions.
1. According to doctors, once medical problems are ruled out, the other reasons for putting on excess wieight are lack of activity and input being more than output. Doctors the world over opine that as far as the problem of obesity in children is concerned, the parents must ensure that they themselves adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Which of the following could be the most appropriate reason for the opinion?
(1) Obesity is a hereditary problem.
(2) Mothers are so tired after the day’s work that they order junk food rather than cook a meal.
(3) A child’s unhealthy environment leads to obesity.
(4) Eating habits of parents have an impact on their children
(5) Children learn from, and ape their parents.

2. Country X grows 5% of the world’s tea and 3% of the world’s coffee. It can be concluded from this that the country’s soil and temperature conditions are better suited to production of tea than coffee.
Which of the following would contribute to the conclusion arrived at?
(1) Global tea production is 11/4 times that of coffee production.
(2) More tea is exported by the country than coffee.
(3) The country does not export less coffee than tea.
(4) Tea and coffee are the only plantation crops grown in the country.
(5) Tea and coffee grow under different soil and temperature conditions.
Regards,
Sudha.

my take
1. 5
2. 5

please post ur ans now...

[anil.iitkgp]

why so less posts r here...

[nimisha_2009]

i'm posting some CR questions from last years' questions..i've got answers for them but no explanations so plz post explanation along with answers..
and if ppl show interest in this threat, i'll post 5 questions daily..

so here goes..

1. Insurance industry statistics demonstrate that cars with alarms or other antitheft devices are more likely to be stolen or broken into than cars without such devices or alarms. Therefore antitheft devices do not protect cars against thieves.
The pattern of flawed reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?
(A) Since surveys reveal that communities with flourishing public libraries have, on average, better-educated citizens, it follows that good schools are typically found in communities with public libraries.
(B) Most public libraries are obviously intended to serve the interests of the casual reader, because most public libraries contain large collections of fiction and relatively small reference collections.
(C) Studies reveal that people who are regular users of libraries purchase more books per year than do people who do not use libraries regularly. Hence using libraries regularly does not reduce the number of books that library patrons purchase.
(D) Since youngsters who read voraciously are more likely to have defective vision than youngsters who do not read very much, it follows that children who do not like to read usually have perfect vision.
(E) Societies that support free public libraries are more likely to support free public universities than are societies without free public libraries. Hence a society that wished to establish a free public university should first establish a free public library.


2. A long-term health study that followed a group of people who were age 35 in 1950 found that those whose weight increased by approximately half a kilogram or one pound per year after the age of 35 tended, on the whole, to live longer than those who maintained the weight they had at age 35. This finding seems at variance with other studies that have associated weight gain with a host of health problems that tend to lower life expectancy.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparently conflicting findings?
(A) As people age, muscle and bone tissue tends to make up a smaller and smaller proportion of total body weight.
(B) Individuals who reduce their cholesterol levels by losing weight can thereby also reduce their risk of dying from heart attacks or strokes.
(C) Smokers, who tend to be leaner than nonsmokers, tend to have shorter life spans than nonsmokers.
(D) The normal deterioration of the human immune system with age can be slowed down by a reduction in the number of calories consumed.
(E) Diets that tend to lead to weight gain often contain not only excess fat but also unhealthful concentrations of sugar and sodium.


Question 3&4
Two alternative drugs are available to prevent blood clots from developing after a heart attack. According to two major studies, drug Y does this no more effectively than the more expensive drug Z, but drug Z is either no more or only slightly more effective than drug Y. Drug Z’s manufacturer, which has engaged in questionable marketing practices such as offering stock options to doctors who participate in clinical trials of drug Z, does not contest the results of the studies but claims that they do not reveal drug Z’s advantages. However, since drug Z does not clearly treat the problem more effectively than drug Y, there is no established medical reason for doctors to use drug Z rather than drug Y on their heart-attack victims.

3. A major flaw in the argument is that the argument
(A) does not consider drugs or treatments other than drug Y and Z that may be used to prevent blood clotting in heart-attack patients
(B) neglects to compare the marketing practices of drug Y’s manufacturer with those of drug Z’s manufacturer
(C) fails to recognize that there may be medical criteria relevant to the choice between the two drugs other than their effectiveness as a treatment
(D) assumes without proof that the two drugs are similar in their effectiveness as treatments because they are similar in their chemical composition
(E) confuses economic reasons for selecting a treatment with medical reasons

4. Which one of the following principles, if established, would most help to justify a doctor’s decision to use drug Z rather than drug Y when treating a patient?
(A) Only patients to whom the cost of an expensive treatment will not be a financial hardship should receive that treatment rather than a less expensive alternative one.
(B) Doctors who are willing to assist in research on the relative effectiveness of drugs by participating in clinical trials deserve fair remuneration for that participation.
(C) The decision to use a particular drug when treating a patient should not be influenced by the marketing practices employed by the company manufacturing that drug.
(D) A drug company’s criticism of studies of its product that do not report favorably on that product is unavoidably biased and therefore invalid.
(E) Where alternative treatments exist and there is a chance that one is more effective than the other, the possibly more effective one should be employed, regardless of cost.


guys..plz sho some interest...CR is not at all an unimportant topic that we are ignoring it..

[ud4u]

i too feel this thread needs to be more active than it currently is...
looking forward to more participation...
i will post my answers soon...

[ud4u]

question : 1
my take E.

i solved it my elimination...
i would have chosen A if the word "typically" had not been there..
eliminated B, since i found no relation.
for D, "like to read" phrase made me to eliminate it.
i still doubt about C but will go on to say E

thanx for the questions...

[ud4u]

question : 2
only C seems to remove the contradiction...
all others are in some way supportint the contradiction.

[ud4u]

question : 3
ans - E

question : 4
the fifth option seems to be incomplete...
but i will mark the option C.


please put ur answers now...

[nimisha_2009]

Hey..

let me wait for sometime if some ppl still wish to reply

[nimisha_2009]

hey..i've correted the 5th option of last question. sorry for the mistake. u can see if u want to modify ur ans.

[gunjan-ahuja]

my take
E,C,E,C
not so confident