All practice questions

Financial Columnist: In 2015, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers accounted for 80 percent of all retail corporate bankruptcies, while online-only retailers accounted for the remaining 20 percent. Since then, the total number of online-only retailers operating in the market has quadrupled. Last year, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers accounted for only 55 percent of all retail corporate bankruptcies, whereas online-only retailers accounted for 45 percent. It is clear from these figures that the financial stability of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers has improved since 2015, as they are now experiencing fewer bankruptcies annually than they did previously.

Which of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the financial columnist's reasoning?

Marine biologist: In the coastal waters of the Vespian Sea, significant increases in the ghost jellyfish population consistently occur shortly after periods of unusually heavy rainfall. Heavy rainfall washes large quantities of agricultural runoff into the sea, resulting in massive blooms of phytoplankton. Because phytoplankton is the primary food source for ghost jellyfish, we can conclude that these phytoplankton blooms are the cause of the periodic surges in the jellyfish population.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the marine biologist's argument depends?

Match each everyday argument to the formal valid deduction pattern that accurately describes its logical structure.

Match each logical argument with the specific piece of additional evidence that would most strongly support its conclusion by addressing its underlying logical vulnerability.

Sociologist: A society can only be considered free if its citizens are not subject to systemic coercion. As modern neuroscience has demonstrated, every human action is the inevitable result of prior neurological states governed by inflexible natural laws. Since our actions are dictated by these inescapable natural laws, they are completely determined by forces outside our control. Thus, we are constantly subject to systemic coercion. Therefore, no human society can truly be considered free.

Which of the following accurately describe a logical flaw in the sociologist's reasoning? Select all that apply.

City Council Member: Over the past fifteen years, our city's transition to using a new synthetic asphalt binder has directly caused a steady decrease in our annual road maintenance costs. Since we plan to continue using this synthetic binder exclusively, we can confidently project that our annual road maintenance costs will continue to decrease over the next ten years.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the city council member's reasoning?

Ethicist: A society's moral progress regarding a specific issue is accurately measured by the extent to which its citizens apply informal social sanctions, such as boycotts, to harmful behavior. In Oakhaven, legislative penalties for corporate pollution have grown significantly stricter over the past decade. However, Oakhaven's citizens currently rarely apply informal social sanctions to companies that pollute. Therefore, Oakhaven has not made any moral progress regarding environmental protection over the past decade.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the ethicist's argument?

Music historian: A newly discovered manuscript of symphonies attributed to the 18th-century composer Antonietta contains complex harmonic progressions previously thought to have been invented decades later. Chemical analysis definitively dates both the paper and the ink to the 1720s, during Antonietta's active years. Therefore, Antonietta pioneered these advanced harmonic progressions.

The argument above depends on the assumption that Antonietta did not simply transcribe the innovative compositions of an uncredited contemporary.

In the province of Veridia, a new agricultural policy heavily taxed the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural runoff. Three years later, official environmental audits show that the total volume of nitrogen runoff originating from Veridian farms has increased significantly. This increase occurred even though the total acreage of farmed land in the province remained constant and the average amount of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applied per acre decreased by 30 percent.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?

Conservationist: The drastic drop in local almond yields over the last two years was caused by the introduction of a new pesticide that devastated the native honeybee population, which had been the primary pollinator of the almonds. To solve this problem, we should release the Blue Orchard mason bee into our almond orchards. The Blue Orchard mason bee is highly resistant to this new pesticide. Therefore, releasing the Blue Orchard mason bee will successfully restore almond yields to their previous levels.

Which of the following statements, if logically negated, would fatally undermine the conservationist's central conclusion? Select all that apply.

Ornithologist: In the past few decades, populations of the crested scrub-jay living in urban areas have developed significantly shorter beaks than those living in surrounding rural woodlands. This morphological change is an evolutionary adaptation. Shorter beaks are better suited for scavenging human food scraps from flat surfaces, which are abundant in urban areas, whereas the longer beaks of rural jays are necessary for extracting insects from deep crevices in tree bark.

Which of the following statements, if true, strengthen the ornithologist's argument? (Select all that apply.)

Analyze the four conditional arguments below. Match each argument (left) with the specific missing assumption (right) that is logically sufficient to bridge the gap between the argument's premises and its conclusion.

Epidemiologist: To defend against novel pathogens, our health agency is exclusively funding the rapid sequencing of viral genomes to facilitate the swift creation of targeted vaccines. However, targeted vaccines are efficacious only if a critical mass of the population undergoes inoculation. Recent extensive polling reveals a historically unprecedented decline in the public's willingness to accept novel vaccines. Consequently, because of this decline, the agency's funding strategy will inevitably fail to provide an efficacious defense against novel pathogens.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the epidemiologist's argument?

City Planner: To alleviate the severe traffic congestion in the downtown area, the city council has proposed implementing a substantial toll for vehicles entering the district during peak hours. This toll will certainly cause a dramatic reduction in the number of private passenger vehicles entering the downtown area during these hours. Therefore, implementing this toll will successfully result in significantly shorter commute times for those individuals who continue to drive into the downtown area.

Which of the following statements are assumptions required by the city planner's argument? Select all that apply.

Analyze the following arguments drawn from various corporate and public policy contexts. Pair each argument with the abstract description that most accurately identifies its specific error in reasoning regarding numbers and percentages.

A city introduced a substantial congestion charge aimed at reducing the number of passenger vehicles entering the downtown area during peak hours. However, six months after the charge's implementation, the number of passenger vehicles entering the downtown area during peak hours had actually increased by 15 percent.

The apparent discrepancy is successfully resolved by the additional fact that surveys show most downtown commuters consider the new congestion charge to be a severe financial burden.

Medical researcher: When evaluated against a placebo in our most recent large-scale trial, the experimental allergy medication reduced the frequency of symptomatic episodes by a statistically significant margin. Therefore, health professionals should recommend this medication as a replacement for current over-the-counter treatments, because patients will obviously benefit from experiencing such a significant improvement in their daily routines.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the medical researcher's reasoning?

Botanist: The rare Moonflower typically blooms only when exposed to a specific ultrasonic frequency produced by the wings of the Silver Moth. However, a thriving population of blooming Moonflowers was recently discovered on a remote island where Silver Moths are completely absent. Clearly, another species of insect on this island must produce this same ultrasonic frequency, thereby triggering the flowers to bloom.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the botanist's argument?

Analyze the four brief arguments below. Pair each argument with the abstract description that best characterizes its flaw in reasoning regarding numerical or proportional evidence.

Consider the following argument:

Architect: A building cannot be considered a modernist masterpiece unless it prioritizes functional utility over ornamentation and utilizes industrial materials like steel or glass. The new municipal library clearly utilizes industrial materials, featuring a striking glass facade supported by a steel frame. Furthermore, its interior layout was strictly dictated by the practical requirements of storing and accessing books.
Therefore, the new municipal library is a modernist masterpiece.

Statement: The assumption 'Any building whose interior layout is strictly dictated by practical requirements prioritizes functional utility over ornamentation' is sufficient to logically guarantee the architect's conclusion.