Critical Reasoning for CAT/GMAT '08

[ud4u]

Originally Posted by 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..

where r the next set of questions... please post ur answers in a day or two otherwise the thread becomes stagnant...
only if there is some regularity the thread will attract more people...

[nimisha_2009]

hey..the answers i have are:
1) C
2) C
3) C
4) E

i'm not convinved with the option C as answers to "Q2". Do try, if anybody of you can come up with an explanation for being C as the right answer..

[nimisha_2009]

Today's set...

5. Chlorofluorocarbons are the best possible solvents to have in car engines for cleaning the electronic sensors in modern automobile ignition systems. These solvents have contributed significantly to automakers’ ability to meet legally mandated emission standards. Now automakers will have to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbons at the same time that emission standards are becoming more stringent.

If under the circumstances described above cars continue to meet emission standards, which one of the following is the most strongly supported inference?

(A) As emission standards become more stringent, automakers will increasingly cooperate with each other in the area of emission control.
(B) Car engines will be radically redesigned so as to do away with the need for cleaning the electronic ignition sensors.
(C) There will be a marked shift toward smaller, lighter cars that will have less powerful engines but will use their fuel more efficiently.
(D) The solvents developed to replace chlorofluorocarbons in car engines will be only marginally less effective than the chlorofluorocarbons themselves.
(E) Something other than the cleansers for electronic ignition sensors will make a relatively greater contribution to meeting emission standards than at present.

6. A history book written hundreds of years ago contains several inconsistencies. Some scholars argue that because the book contains inconsistencies, the author must have been getting information from more than one source.

The conclusion cited does not follow unless

(A) authors generally try to reconcile discrepancies between sources
(B) the inconsistencies would be apparent to the average reader of the history book at the present time
(C) the history book’s author used no source that contained inconsistencies repeated in the history book
(D) the author of the history book was aware of the kinds of inconsistencies that can arise when multiple sources are consulted.
(E) the author of the history book was familiar with all of the available source material that was relevant to the history book

7. Some games, such as chess and soccer, are competitive and played according to rules, but others, such as children’s games of make believe, are neither. Therefore, being competitive and involving rules are not essential to being a game.

Which one of following is most similar in its logical features to the argument above?

(A) Both the gourmet and the glutton enjoy eating. However, one can be a glutton, but not a gourmet, without having an educated palate. Therefore, having an educated palate is essential to being a gourmet, but enjoying food is not.
(B) All North American bears eat meat. Some taxonomists, however, have theorized that the giant panda, which eats only bamboo shoots, is a kind of bear. Either there taxonomists are wrong or eating meat is not essential to being a bear.
(C) It is true that dogs occasionally eat vegetation, but if dogs were not carnivorous they would be shaped quite differently from the way they are. Therefore, being carnivorous is essential to being a dog.
(D) Most automobiles, and nearly all of those produced today, are gasoline-fueled and four-wheeled, but others, such as some experimental electric cars, are neither. Therefore, being gasoline-fueled and having four wheels are not essential to being an automobile.
(E) Montreal’s most vaunted characteristics, such as its cosmopolitanism and its vitality, are all to be found in many other cities. Therefore, cosmopolitanism and vitality are not essential properties of Montreal.

8. The region’s water authority is responding to the current drought by restricting residential water use. Yet reservoir levels are now at the same height they were during the drought ten years ago when no restrictions were put into effect and none proved necessary. Therefore, imposing restriction now is clearly premature.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously calls the conclusion above into question?

(A) There are now more water storage reservoirs in the region than there were ten years ago.
(B) The population of the region is approximately three times greater than it was ten years ago.
(C) The region currently has more sources outside the drought-stricken area from which to draw water than it did ten years ago.
(D) The water-consuming home appliances and fixtures sold today are designed to use water more efficiently than those sold ten years ago.
(E) The price of water for residential use is significantly higher in the region than it is in regions that are not drought-stricken.

[ud4u]

Originally Posted by nimisha_2009

hey..the answers i have are:
1) C
2) C
3) C
4) E

i'm not convinved with the option C as answers to "Q2". Do try, if anybody of you can come up with an explanation for being C as the right answer..

hey this is not fair u have not provided the explanations...

and are u sure about the other answers..???
one more thing where do u get these wonderful questions.. i mean it would be great if u could provide the source...

[ud4u]

question : 5
ans - A
i eliminated B & C because they both r almost the same and they are too radical to be implemented..
option D cant be the inference..
still confused about E but i will mark A by gut feeling...

[ud4u]

question 6
only option A seems close...

[ud4u]

i still find solving critical reasoning problems very confusing...
can someone please post tips and tricks to eliminate options or something like that... i have already read the tips given at the beginning of the thread...

it would be better if anyone could paste useful links for some materials of CR along with solutions...
thanx in advance...

[nimisha_2009]

well dear..i cud give you the link but that wud defeat the entire purpose of my posting the questions here.
If u wish i'll surely give u the link, and then i can stop posting the questions here cz either was u'll have the answers then. you can discuss any doubts you have..

[nimisha_2009]

And i'd mentioned in the beginning only tht i have got the answers and not the explanations but i can give my explanations..u can see if u find them to be of any use.

1) C...options A and B dont seem to have ny direct relation. Options C,D, and E all seem correct but nowhere is the word "study" or "research" is mentioned in D and E which forms the basis the above para. so C seems to be the appropriate option.

2)C.. No clue why..

3)C..to answer this question, we have to first underline the argument which is "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."

Now C seems to be the best presenting presenting a flaw in the above argument which ahs completely ignored other relevant medical facts for using drug Z (for eg: drug Y has a component which is unsuitable for asthama patients etc..)

4)E..this is cz first thing a doctor would be concerned with is the effectiveness of a medicine and wud want to use the BEST alternative(even if slightly better). other options seem to be too subjective opinions.

If nybody has better explanations, u r most welcome to share them.

[nimisha_2009]

I'll post the next set and answers to previous set tom in case somebody still replies..