GMAT Verbal Section : GMAT Sample Critical Reasoning Questions

GMAT sample critical reasoning questions are a good way to start your brain thinking before you answer the real questions.

Each GMAT sample critical reasoning question is a simplified version of a real critical reasoning question. Remember, we have used simple language in these questions so that you can focus on the logic of the questions rather than on the vocab and complex sentence structures. However, on the real test, the language and vocab will be much harder.

A nice added benefit to preparing yourself for GMAT critical reasoning questions is that this preparation will also help you in your business school studies. Many of the same techniques used to answer these test questions will come in handy when you are asked to do case analyses. (This should be an extra incentive for those of you intent on pursuing consulting careers.)

In Los Angeles, a political candidate who buys saturation radio advertising will get maximum name recognition.
The statement above logically conveys which of the following?
1. Radio advertising is the most important factor in political campaigns in Los Angeles.
2. Maximum name recognition in Los Angeles will help a candidate to win a higher percentage of votes cast in the city.
3. Saturation radio advertising reaches every demographically distinct sector of the voting population of Los Angeles.
4. For maximum name recognition a candidate need not spend on media channels other than radio advertising.
5. A candidate's record of achievement in the Los Angeles area will do little to affect his or her name recognition there.
Answer : D
The rate of violent crime in this state is up 30 percent from last year. The fault lies entirely in our court system: Recently our judges' sentences have been so lenient that criminals can now do almost anything without fear of a long prison term.
The argument above would be weakened if it were true that
1. 85 percent of the other states in the nation have lower crime rates than does this state.
2. white collar crime in this state has also increased by over 25 percent in the last year.
3. 35 percent of the police in this state have been laid off in the last year due to budget cuts.
4. polls show that 65 percent of the population in this state oppose capital punishment.
5. the state has hired 25 new judges in the last year to compensate for deaths and retirements.
Answer : C
The increase in the number of newspaper articles exposed as fabrications serves to bolster the contention that publishers are more interested in boosting circulation than in printing the truth. Even minor publications have staffs to check such obvious fraud.
The argument above assumes that
1. newspaper stories exposed as fabrications are a recent phenomenon.
2. everything a newspaper prints must be factually verifiable.
3. fact checking is more comprehensive for minor publications than for major ones.
4. only recently have newspapers admitted to publishing intentionally fraudulent stories.
5. the publishers of newspapers are the people who decide what to print in their newspapers.
Answer : E
Time and again it has been shown that students who attend colleges with low faculty/student ratios get the most well-rounded education. As a result, when my children are ready to attend college, I'll be sure they attend a school with a very small student population.
Which of the following, if true, identifies the greatest flaw in the reasoning above?
1. A low faculty/student ratio is the effect of a well-rounded education, not its source.
2. Intelligence should be considered the result of childhood environment, not advanced education.
3. A very small student population does not by itself, ensure a low faculty/student ratio.
4. Parental desires and preferences rarely determines a child's choice of a college or university.
5. Students must take advantage of the low faculty/student ratio by intentionally choosing small classes.
Answer : C
All german philosphers, except for Marx, are idealists.
From which of the following can the statement above be most properly inferred?
1. Except for Marx, if someone is an idealist philosopher, then he or she is German.
2. Marx is the only non-German philosopher who is an idealist.
3. If a German is an idealist, then he or she is a philosopher, as long as he or she is not Marx.
4. Marx is not an idealist German philosopher.
5. Aside from the philosopher Marx, if someone is a German, then he or she is an idealist.
Answer : E
Bill earns more commission than does Sandra. But since Andrew earns more commission than does Lisa, it follows that Bill earns more commission than does Lisa.
Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an additional premise, makes the argument above logically correct EXCEPT:
1. Andrew earns more commission than Bill
2. Sandra earns more commission than Lisa
3. Sandra earns more commission than Andrew
4. Sandra and Andrew earn the same amount of commission
5. Bill and Andrew earn the same amount of commission
Answer : A
During the SARS days, about 23,500 doctors who had treated SARS sufferers died and about 23,670 doctors who had not engaged in treatment for SARS sufferers died. On the basis of those figures, it can be concluded that it was not much more dangerous to participate in SARS treatment during the SARS day than it was not to participate in SARS treatment.
Which of the following would reveal most clearly the absurdity of the conclusion drawn above?
1. Counting deaths among doctors who had participated in SARS treatment in addition to deaths among doctors who had not participated in SARS treatment
2. Expressing the difference between the numbers of deaths among doctors who had treated SARS sufferers and doctors who had not treated SARS suffers as a percentage of the total number of deaths
3. Separating deaths caused by accidents during the treatment to SARS suffers from deaths caused by infect of SARS suffers.
4. Comparing death rates per thousand members of each group rather than comparing total numbers of deaths
5. Comparing deaths caused by accidents in the United States to deaths caused by infect in treating SARS suffers.
Answer : D
In 2003 an airline in United State lost more than half, on average, of the foreign passengers they had previously served each year. Researchers have alleged that this extreme drop resulted from a rise in price of tickets for international lines from $60 to $90 per 1,000 miles.
Which of the following, if feasible, offers the best prospects for alleviating the problem of the drop in passengers as the researchers assessed it?
1. Cooperating with other airlines to provide more international lines.
2. Allowing foreign passengers to pay the same as the previous international line
3. Reemphasizing the goals and mission of the airline as serving both domestic passengers and foreign passengers
4. Increasing the financial resources of the airline by raising the ticket price for domestic passengers
5. Offering superior VIP service for foreign passengers.
Answer : B
Our work proves to be very successful. In the past three years, each of our five clients has experienced the fastest growth of sales in their history. Therefore, if your company wants to increase sales, do not hesitate to call Sigma & Max, since we are the solution.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously jeopardizes the validity of the argument by the speaker above?
1. Most of the consultants at Sigma & Max hold MBA degrees.
2. Even without the help of Sigma & Max, the five clients of Sigma & Max will achieve the same growth rate in sale.
3. Sigma & Max is one of the five leading management consulting companies.
4. Sigma & Max uses an updated accounting approach to help companies to cut cost.
5. All of the five clients of Sigma & Max are doing business in financial industry.
Answer : B
A life insurance company allows people to prepay their endowment insurance at current rates. The policyholder then pays the premium every year. People should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their living after retirement.
Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for people NOT to participate in the program?
1. Peoples are unsure about which insurance company they will choose after retirement.
2. The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will be greater than the total cost of insurance when they retire.
3. The annual cost of premium is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.
4. Some of the insurance companies are contemplating large increases in premium next year.
5. The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of hospitalization.
Answer : B

Questions 11-12 are based on the following passage.

If highways were restricted to cars and only those truck with capacity of less than 8 tons, most the truck traffic would be forced to run outside highway. Such a reduction in the amount of truck traffic would reduce the risk of collision in highway.

The conclusion draw in the first sentence depends on which of the following assumptions?
1. The roads outside highway would be as convenient as highway for most drivers of truck.
2. Most roads outside highways are not ready to handle truck traffic.
3. Most trucks that are currently running in highway have a capacity of more than 8 tons.
4. Cars are at greater risk of becoming involved in collisions than are trucks.
5. A reduction in the risk of collision would eventually lead to increases in car traffic.
Answer : C
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the second sentence?
1. Cars with a capacity of more than 8 tons are already excluded outside highways.
2. Highways are experiencing overcrowded traffic primarily because of sharp increases in car traffic.
3. Many drivers of trucks would rather buy truck with a capacity of less than 8 tons than be excluded from highways.
4. The number of collisions that occur near highways has decreased in recent years.
5. Trucks that have a capacity of more than 8 tons cause a disproportionately large number of collisions in highways.
Answer : E
The price of purchasing a car in Country Q is 120 percent less than the price of purchasing a car in Country Y. Even after transportation fees and tariff charges are added, it is still cheaper for a buyer to import car from Country Q to Country Y than to buy car in Country Y.
The statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions?
1. Gasoline prices in Country Q are 120 percent below those in Country Y.
2. Importing cars from Country Q to Country Y will eliminate 120 percent of the sales of cars in Country Y.
3. The tariff on a car imported from Country Q to Country Y is less than 120 percent of the price of a car in Country Y.
4. The fee for transporting a car from Country Q to Country Y is more than 120 percent of the price of a car in Country Q.
5. It takes 120 percent less time to transport a car in Country Q than it does in Country Y.
Answer : C
In 1992, 5 percent of every dollar paid in tax went to support the unemployed citizens. In 1998, 8 percent of every dollar paid in tax went to such funds, although that unemployment rate has decreased in 1998 than in 1992.
Each of the following, if true, could explain the simultaneous increase in percent of every dollar paid in tax to support the unemployed citizens and decrease in the number of unemployment rate EXCEPT:
1. On average, each unemployed citizen received more money in 1998 than 1992.
2. On average, people paid less tax in 1998 â€than in 1992.
3. The individuals had paid more tax than did enterprises during this period.
4. Income before tax has significantly decreased since 1992.
5. The number of tax evaders rose sharply between 1992 and â€1998.
Answer : C
Something must be done to stop spam. In early days, people seldom received unsolicited email advertisement; but now that numerous bulk email software and email address finders are developed to collect email address all around the world. Advertisers use email addresses to market their products and even sell such email lists to other advertisers. As a result, almost everyone ever get junk email, and sometime several and even tens of annoying emails a day. So, relevant anti-spam regulations should be framed to stop unsolicited advertising.
The two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
1. Background that the argument depends on and conclusion that can be drawn from the argument.
2. Part of evidence that the argument includes, and inference that can be drawn from this passage.
3. Pre-evidence that the argument depends on and part of evidence that supports the conclusion.
4. Background that argument depends on and part of evidence that supports the conclusion.
5. Pre-evidence that argument includes and a method that helps to supports that conclusion.
Answer : B
Stock analyst: "We believe Company A's stock will appreciate at 35% a year for the next 5 to 7 years. Company A just became the leader in its industry and we expect its sales to grow at 8% a year."
Commentator: "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?
1. The company's expenses will be declining over the next 5 to 10 years.
2. The company just won a patent on a new product.
3. Company A's stock is currently overvalued by a significant amount.
4. The 5 to 7 year time frame is too long for anyone to accurately forecast.
5. Company A's industry peer group is expected to experience stock appreciation rates of 30% over the same time horizon.
Answer : A
Acme brand aspirin claims to be the best headache relief available on the market today. To prove this claim, Acme called 10 people and asked them their thoughts on headache relief products. All 10 of them stated that they unequivocally use Acme brand aspirin on a regular basis and that they believe it to be the best headache relief available on the market today.
Which of the following would most weaken this argument?
1. Acme brand aspirin is highly addictive.
2. The 10 people called were married to the company's top 10 executives, and they were coached on what to say.
3. Most people choose to suffer silently through their headaches and take no medicines whatsoever.
4. This survey was conducted by an independent company.
5. The 10 people were selected at random.
Answer : B
My neighbor's dogs bark and howl every time their owner lets them outside. My CPA told me that dogs tend to bark and howl when they see birds resting in the top branches of their favorite trees. I personally believe they bark and howl because they enjoy disrupting my meditations.
Which of the following can be inferred from the preceding passage?
1. The dogs must be abused by their owners.
2. The dogs' owners do not care how they are viewed by their neighbors.
3. There are many pedestrians who walk by this neighbor's house, and the dogs are starving for attention.
4. The dogs enjoy being outside.
5. The dogs will bark and howl at 3 a.m. if they are outside at that time.
Answer : D
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 motorists caught leaving a gas station without paying for gas they had pumped into their vehicles. This is because citizens are very conscientious of the high cost of gasoline and they know that stealing gas will only further increase the price of gasoline for everyone.
Which of the following statements would the author of this passage be most likely to believe?
1. The increased penalty alone is a significant motivation for most citizens to obey the law.
2. There are still too many inconsiderate citizens in the local community.
3. High gasoline prices can be brought down if everyone does his or her part and pays for the gasoline they use at the pumps.
4. Society should make an effort to teach citizens the reasons for its laws. People would be more likely to speed on a stretch of deserted highway than to not pay for gasoline.
Answer : D
Nearly one in three subscribers to Financial Forecaster is a millionaire, and over half are in top management.
Shouldn't you subscribe to Financial Forecaster now?
A reader who is neither a millionaire nor in top management would be most likely to act in accordance with the advertisement's suggestion if he or she drew which of the following questionable conclusions invited by the advertisement?
1. Among finance-related periodicals. Financial Forecaster provides the most detailed financial information.
2. Top managers cannot do their jobs properly without reading Financial Forecaster.
3. The advertisement is placed where those who will be likely to read it are millionaires.
4. The subscribers mentioned were helped to become millionaires or join top management by reading Financial Forecaster.
5. Only those who will in fact become millionaires, or at least top managers, will read the advertisement.
Answer : D

Questions 21-22 are based on the following.

Contrary to the charges made by some of its opponents, the provisions of the new deficit-reduction law for indiscriminate cuts in the federal budget are justified. Opponents should remember that the New Deal pulled this country out of great economic troubles even though some of its programs were later found to be unconstitutional.

The author's method of attacking the charges of certain opponents of the new deficit-reduction law is to
1. attack the character of the opponents rather than their claim
2. imply an analogy between the law and some New Deal programs
3. point out that the opponents' claims imply a dilemma
4. show that the opponents' reasoning leads to an absurd conclusion
5. show that the New Deal also called for indiscriminate cuts in the federal budget
Answer : B
The opponents could effectively defend their position against the author's strategy by pointing out that
1. the expertise of those opposing the law is outstanding
2. the lack of justification for the new law does not imply that those who drew it up were either inept or immoral
3. the practical application of the new law will not entail indiscriminate budget cuts
4. economic troubles present at the time of the New Deal were equal in severity to those that have led to the present law
5. the fact that certain flawed programs or laws have improved the economy does not prove that every such program can do so
Answer : E
In Millington, a city of 50,000 people, Mercedes Pedrosa, a realtor, calculated that a family with Millington's median family income, $28,000 a year, could afford to buy Millington's median-priced $77,000 house. This calculation was based on an 11.2 percent mortgage interest rate and on the realtor's assumption that a family could only afford to pay up to 25 percent of its income for housing.
Which of the following corrections of a figure appearing in the passage above, if it were the only correction that needed to be made, would yield a new calculation showing that even incomes below the median family income would enable families in Millington to afford Millington's median-priced house?
1. Millington's total population was 45,000 people.
2. Millington's median annual family income was $27,000
3. Millington's median-priced house cost $80,000
4. The rate at which people in Millington had to pay mortgage interest was only 10 percent.
5. Families in Millington could only afford to pay up to 22 percent of their annual income for housing
Answer : D
Psychological research indicates that college hockey and football players are more quickly moved to hostility and aggression than are college athletes in noncontact sports such as swimming. But the researchers' conclusion-that contact sports encourage and teach participants to be hostile and aggressive-is untenable. The football and hockey players were probably more hostile and aggressive to start with than the swimmers.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the psychological researchers?
1. The football and hockey players became more hostile and aggressive during the season and remained so during the off-season, whereas there was no increase in aggressiveness among the swimmers.
2. The football and hockey players, but not the swimmers, were aware at the start of the experiment that they were being tested for aggressiveness.
3. The same psychological research indicated that the football and hockey players had a great respect for cooperation and team play, whereas the swimmers were most concerned with excelling as individual competitors.
4. The research studies were designed to include no college athletes who participated in both contact and noncontact sports.
5. Throughout the United States, more incidents of fan violence occur at baseball games than occur at hockey or football games.
Answer : A
Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership five years ago, is clear evidence that businesses will always fare better under private than under public ownership.
Julia: Wrong. A close look at the records shows that X has been profitable since the appointment of a first-class manager, which happened while X was still in the pubic sector.
Which of the following best describes the weak point in Ross's claim on which Julia's response focuses?
1. The evidence Ross cites comes from only a single observed case, that of Company X.
2. The profitability of Company X might be only temporary.
3. Ross's statement leaves open the possibility that the cause he cites came after the effect he attributes to it.
4. No mention is made of companies that are partly government owned and partly privately owned.
5. No exact figures are given for the current profits of Company X.
Answer : C
Stronger patent laws are needed to protect inventions from being pirated. With that protection, manufacturers would be encouraged to invest in the development of new products and technologies. Such investment frequently results in an increase in a manufacturer's productivity.
Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above?
1. Stronger patent laws tend to benefit financial institutions as well as manufacturers.
2. Increased productivity in manufacturing is likely to be accompanied by the creation of more manufacturing jobs.
3. Manufacturers will decrease investment in the development of new products and technologies unless there are stronger patent laws.
4. The weakness of current patent laws has been a cause of economic recession.
5. Stronger patent laws would stimulate improvements in productivity for many manufacturers.
Answer : E
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
At large amusement parks, live shows are used very deliberately to influence crowd movements. Lunchtime performances relieve the pressure on a park's restaurants. Evening performances have a rather different purpose: to encourage visitors to stay for supper. Behind this surface divergence in immediate purpose there is the unified underlying goal of
1. keeping the lines at the various rides short by drawing off part of the crowd
2. enhancing revenue by attracting people who come only for the live shows and then leave the park
3. avoiding as far as possible traffic jams caused by visitors entering or leaving the park
4. encouraging as many people as possible to come to the park in order to eat at the restaurants
5. utilizing the restaurants at optimal levels for as much of the day as possible
Answer : E
- James weighs more than Kelly.
- Luis weighs more than Mark.
- Mark weighs less than Ned.
- Kelly and Ned are exactly the same weight.
If the information above is true, which of the following must also be true?
1. Luis weighs more than Ned.
2. Luis weighs more than James.
3. Kelly weighs less than Luis
4. James weighs more than Mark
5. Kelly weighs less than Mark.
Answer : D
Questions 29-30 are based on the following.
Partly because of bad weather, but also partly because some major pepper growers have switched to high-priced cocoa, world production of pepper has been running well below worldwide sales for three years. Pepper is consequently in relatively short supply. The price of pepper has soared in response: it now equals that of cocoa.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
1. Pepper is a profitable crop only if it is grown on a large scale.
2. World consumption of pepper has been unusually high for three years.
3. World production of pepper will return to previous levels once normal weather returns
4. Surplus stocks of pepper have been reduced in the past three years.
5. The profits that the growers of pepper have made in the past three years have been unprecedented.
Answer : D
Some observers have concluded that the rise in the price of pepper means that the switch by some growers from pepper to cocoa left those growers no better off than if none of them had switched; this conclusion, however, is unwarranted because it can be inferred to be likely that
1. those growers could not have foreseen how high the price of pepper would go
2. the initial cost involved in switching from pepper to cocoa is substantial
3. supplies of pepper would not be as low as they are if those growers had not switched crops
4. cocoa crops are as susceptible to being reduced by bad weather as are pepper crops
5. as more growers turn to growing cocoa, cocoa supplies will increase and the price of cocoa will fall precipitously.
Answer : C
Using computer techniques, researchers analyze layers of paint that lie buried beneath the surface layers of old paintings. They claim, for example, that additional mountainous scenery once appeared in Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, which was later painted over. Skeptics reply to these claims, however, that X-ray examinations of the Mona Lisa do not show hidden mountains.
Which of the following, if true, would tend most to weaken the force of the skeptics' objections?
1. There is no written or anecdotal record that Leonardo da Vinci ever painted over major areas of his Mona Lisa.
2. Painters of da Vinci's time commonly created images of mountainous scenery in the backgrounds of portraits like the Mona Lisa
3. No one knows for certain what parts of the Mona Lisa may have been painted by da Vinci's assistants rather than by da Vinci himself.
4. Infrared photography of the Mona Lisa has revealed no trace of hidden mountainous scenery.
5. Analysis relying on X-rays only has the capacity to detect lead-based white pigments in layers of paint beneath a painting's surface layers.
Answer : E
While Governor Verdant has been in office, the state's budget has increased by an average of 6 percent each year. While the previous governor was in office, the state's budget increased by an average of 11.5 percent each year. Obviously, the austere budgets during Governor Verdant's term have caused the slowdown in the growth in state spending.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn above?
1. The rate of inflation in the state averaged 10 percent each year during the previous governor's term in office and 3 percent each year during Verdant's term.
2. Both federal and state income tax rates have been lowered considerably during Verdant's term in office.
3. In each year of Verdant's term in office, the state's budget has shown some increase in spending over the previous year.
4. During Verdant's term in office, the state has either discontinued or begun to charge private citizens for numerous services that the state offered free to citizens during the previous governor's term.
5. During the previous governor's term in office, the state introduced several so-called "austerity" budgets intended to reduce the growth in state spending.
Answer : A
Technological education is worsening. People between eighteen and twenty-four, who are just emerging from their formal education, are more likely to be technologically illiterate than somewhat older adults. And yet, issues for public referenda will increasingly involve aspects of technology.
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn from the statements above?
1. If all young people are to make informed decisions on public referenda, many of them must learn more about technology.
2. Thorough studies of technological issues and innovations should be made a required part of the public and private school curriculum.
3. It should be suggested that prospective voters attend applied science courses in order to acquire a minimal competency in technical matters.
4. If young people are not to be overly influenced by famous technocrats, they must increase their knowledge of pure science.
5. On public referenda issues, young people tend to confuse real or probable technologies with impossible ideals.
Answer : A
In a political system with only two major parties, the entrance of a third-party candidate into an election race damages the chances of only one of the two major candidates. The third-party candidate always attracts some of the voters who might otherwise have voted for one of the two major candidates, but not voters who support the other candidate. Since a third-party candidacy affects the two major candidates unequally, for reasons neither of them has any control over, the practice is unfair and should not be allowed.
If the factual information in the passage above is true, which of the following can be most reliably inferred from it?
1. If the political platform of the third party is a compromise position between that of the two major parties, the third party will draw its voters equally from the two major parties.
2. If, before the emergence of a third party, voters were divided equally between the two major parties, neither of the major parties is likely to capture much more than one-half of the vote.
3. A third-party candidate will not capture the votes of new voters who have never voted for candidates of either of the two major parties.
4. The political stance of a third party will be more radical than that of either of the two major parties.
5. The founders of a third party are likely to be a coalition consisting of former leaders of the two major parties.
Answer : B
Companies considering new cost-cutting manufacturing processes often compare the projected results of making the investment against the alternative of not making the investment with costs, selling prices, and share of market remaining constant.
Which of the following, assuming that each is a realistic possibility, constitutes the most serious disadvantage for companies of using the method above for evaluating the financial benefit of new manufacturing processes?
1. The costs of materials required by the new process might not be known with certainty.
2. In several years interest rates might go down, reducing the interest costs of borrowing money to pay for the investment.
3. Some cost-cutting processes might require such expensive investments that there would be no net gain for many years, until the investment was paid for by savings in the manufacturing process.
4. Competitors that do invest in a new process might reduce their selling prices and thus take market share away from companies that do not.
5. The period of year chosen for averaging out the cost of the investment might be somewhat longer or shorter, thus affecting the result.
Answer : D

There are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt. Two million couples are currently waiting to adopt, but in 1982, the last year for which figures exist, there were only some 50,000 adoptions.
Which of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the author's claim that there are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt?
1. The number of couples waiting to adopt has increased significantly in the last decade.
2. The number of adoptions in the current year is greater than the number of adoptions in any preceding year.
3. The number of adoptions in a year is approximately equal to the number of children available for adoption in that period.
4. People who seek to adopt children often go through a long process of interviews and investigation by adoption agencies.
5. People who seek to adopt children generally make very good parents.
Answer : C
Questions 37-38 are based on the following
Archaeologists seeking the location of a legendary siege and destruction of a city are excavating in several possible places, including a middle and a lower layer of a large mound. The bottom of the middle layer contains some pieces of pottery of type 3, known to be from a later period than the time of the destruction of the city, but the lower layer does not.
Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the evidence above?
1. The lower layer contains the remains of the city where the siege took place.
2. The legend confuses stories from two different historical periods.
3. The middle layer does not represent the period of the siege.
4. The siege lasted for a long time before the city was destroyed.
5. The pottery of type 3 was imported to the city by traders.
Answer : C
The force of the evidence cited above is most seriously weakened if which of the following is true?
1. Gerbils, small animals long native to the area, dig large burrows into which objects can fall when the burrows collapse.
2. Pottery of types 1 and 2, found in the lower level, was used in the cities from which, according to the legend, the besieging forces came.
3. Several pieces of stone from a lower-layer wall have been found incorporated into the remains of a building in the middle layer.
4. Both the middle and the lower layer show evidence of large-scale destruction of habitations by fire.
5. Bronze axheads of a type used at the time of the siege were found in the lower level of excavation.
Answer : A
After the national speed limit of 55 miles per hour was imposed in 1974, the number of deaths per mile driven on a highway fell abruptly as a result. Since then, however, the average speed of vehicles on highways has risen, but the number of deaths per mile driven on a highway has continued to fall.
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn from the statements above?
1. The speed limit alone is probably not responsible for the continued reduction in highway deaths in the years after 1974.
2. People have been driving less since 1974.
3. Driver-education courses have been more effective since 1974 in teaching drivers to drive safely.
4. In recent years highway patrols have been less effective in catching drivers who speed.
5. The change in the speed limit cannot be responsible for the abrupt decline in highway deaths in 1974.
Answer : A
Neighboring landholders: Air pollution from the giant aluminum refinery that has been built next to our land is killing our plants.
Company spokesperson: The refinery is not to blame, since our study shows that the damage is due to insects and fungi.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn by the company spokesperson?
1. The study did not measure the quantity of pollutants emitted into the surrounding air by the aluminum refinery.
2. The neighboring landholders have made no change in the way they take care of their plants.
3. Air pollution from the refinery has changed the chemical balance in the plants' environment, allowing the harmful insects and fungi to thrive.
4. Pollutants that are invisible and odorless are emitted into the surrounding air by the refinery.
5. The various species of insects and fungi mentioned in the study have been occasionally found in the locality during the past hundred years.
Answer : B

Sales taxes tend to be regressive, affecting poor people more severely than wealthy people. When all purchases of consumer goods are taxed at a fixed percentage of the purchase price, poor people pay a larger proportion of their income in sales taxes than wealthy people do.
It can be correctly inferred on the basis of the statements above that which of the following is true?
1. Poor people constitute a larger proportion of the taxpaying population than wealthy people do.
2. Poor people spend a larger proportion of their income on purchases of consumer goods than wealthy people do.
3. Wealthy people pay, on average, a larger amount of sales taxes than poor people do.
4. The total amount spent by all poor people on purchases of consumer goods exceeds the total amount spent by all wealthy people on consumer goods.
5. The average purchase price of consumer goods bought by wealthy people is higher than that of consumer goods bought by poor people.
Answer : B
Reviewing historical data, medical researchers in California found that counties with the largest number of television sets per capita have had the lowest incidence of a serious brain disease, mosquito-borne encephalitis. The researchers have concluded that people in these counties stay indoors more and thus avoid exposure to the disease.
The researchers' conclusion would be most strengthened if which of the following were true?
1. Programs designed to control the size of disease-bearing mosquito populations have not affected the incidence of mosquito- borne encephalitis.
2. The occupations of county residents affect their risk of exposure to mosquito-borne encephalitis more than does television-watching.
3. The incidence of mosquito-borne encephalitis in counties with the largest number of television sets per capita is likely to decrease even further.
4. The more time people in a county spend outdoors, the greater their awareness of the dangers of mosquito-borne encephalitis.
5. The more television sets there are per capita in a county, the more time the average county resident spends watching television
Answer : E
The city's public transportation system should be removed from the jurisdiction of the municipal government, which finds it politically impossible either to raise fares or to institute cost-saving reductions in service. If public transportation were handled by a private firm, profits would be vigorously pursued, thereby eliminating the necessity for covering operating costs with government funds.
The statements above best support the conclusion that
1. the private firms that would handle public transportation would have experience in the transportation industry
2. political considerations would not prevent private firms from ensuring that revenues cover operating costs
3. private firms would receive government funding if it were needed to cover operating costs
4. the public would approve the cost-cutting actions taken by the private firm
5. the municipal government would not be resigned to accumulating merely enough income to cover costs
Answer : B
To entice customers away from competitors, Red Label supermarkets have begun offering discounts on home appliances to customers who spend $50 or more on any shopping trip to Red Label. Red Label executives claim that the discount program has been a huge success, since cash register receipts of $50 or more are up thirty percent since the beginning of the program.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the claim of the Red Label executives?
1. Most people who switched to Red Label after the program began spend more than $50 each time they shop at Red Label.
2. Most people whose average grocery bill is less than $50 would not be persuaded to spend more by any discount program.
3. Most people who received discounts on home appliances through Red Label's program will shop at Red Label after the program ends.
4. Since the beginning of the discount program, most of the people who spend $50 or more at Red Label are people who have never before shopped there and whose average grocery bill has always been higher than $50.
5. Almost all of the people who have begun spending $50 or more at Red Label since the discount program began are longtime customers who have increased the average amount of their shopping bills by making fewer trips.
Answer : E
Throughout the 1950's, there were increases in the numbers of dead birds found in agricultural areas after pesticide sprayings. Pesticide manufacturers claimed that the publicity given to bird deaths stimulated volunteers to look for dead birds, and that the increase in numbers reported was attributable to the increase in the number of people looking.
Which of the following statements, if true, would help to refute the claim of the pesticide manufacturers?
1. The publicity given to bird deaths was largely regional and never reached national proportions.
2. Pesticide sprayings were timed to coincide with various phases of the life cycles of the insects they destroyed.
3. No provision was made to ensure that a dead bird would not be reported by more than one observer.
4. Initial increases in bird deaths had been noticed by agricultural workers long before any publicity had been given to the matter.
5. Dead birds of the same species as those found in agricultural areas had been found along coastal areas where no farming took place.
Answer : D
Teenagers are often priced out of the labor market by the government-mandated minimum-wage level because employers cannot afford to pay that much for extra help. Therefore, if Congress institutes a subminimum wage, a new lower legal wage for teenagers, the teenage unemployment rate, which has been rising since 1960, will no longer increase.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
1. Since 1960 the teenage unemployment rate has risen when the minimum wage has risen.
2. Since 1960 the teenage unemployment rate has risen even when the minimum wage remained constant.
3. Employers often hire extra help during holiday and warm weather seasons.
4. The teenage unemployment rate rose more quickly in the 1970's than it did in the 1960's.
5. The teenage unemployment rate has occasionally declined in the years since 1960.
Answer : B
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
The computer industry's estimate that it loses millions of dollars when users illegally copy programs without paying for them is greatly exaggerated. Most of the illegal copying is done by people with no serious interest in the programs. Thus, the loss to the industry is much smaller than estimated because
1. many users who illegally copy programs never find any use for them
2. most of the illegally copied programs would not be purchased even if purchasing them were the only way to obtain them
3. even if the computer industry received all the revenue it claims to be losing, it would still be experiencing financial difficulties
4. the total market value of all illegal copies is low in comparison to the total revenue of the computer industry
5. the number of programs that are frequently copied illegally is low in comparison to the number of programs available for sale
Answer : B
This year the New Hampshire Division of Company X, set a new record for annual sales by that division. This record is especially surprising since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest potential market and the lowest sales of any of Company X's divisions.
Which of the following identifies a flaw in the logical coherence of the statement above?
1. If overall sales for Company X were sharply reduced, the New Hampshire Division's new sales record is irrelevant to the company's prosperity.
2. Since the division is competing against its own record, the comparison of its sales record with that of other divisions is irrelevant.
3. If this is the first year that the New Hampshire Division has been last in sales among Company X's divisions, the new record is not surprising at all.
4. If overall sales for Company X were greater than usual, it is not surprising that the New Hampshire Division was last in sales.
5. Since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest potential market, it is not surprising that it had the lowest sales.
Answer : B
Statement of a United States copper mining company: Import quotas should be imposed on the less expensive copper mined outside the country to maintain the price of copper in this country; otherwise, our companies will not be able to stay in business. Response of a United States copper wire manufacturer: United States wire and cable manufacturers purchase about 70 percent of the copper mined in the United States. If the copper prices we pay are not at the international level, our sales will drop, and then the demand for United States copper will go down.
If the factual information presented by both companies is accurate, the best assessment of the logical relationship between the two arguments is that the wire manufacturer's argument
1. is self-serving and irrelevant to the proposal of the mining company
2. is circular, presupposing what it seeks to prove about the proposal of the mining company
3. shows that the proposal of the mining company would have a negative effect on the mining company's own business
4. fails to give a reason why the proposal of the mining company should not be put into effect to alleviate the concern of the mining company for staying in business
5. establishes that even the mining company's business will prosper if the mining company's proposal is rejected
Answer : C
Y has been believed to cause Z. A new report, noting that Y and Z are often observed to be preceded by X, suggests that X, not Y, may be the cause of Z.
Which of the following further observations would best support the new report's suggestion?
1. In cases where X occurs but Y does not, X is usually followed by Z.
2. In cases where X occurs, followed by Y, Y is usually followed by Z.
3. In cases where Y occurs but X does not, Y is usually followed by Z.
4. In cases where Y occurs but Z does not, Y is usually preceded by X.
5. In cases where Z occurs, it is usually preceded by X and Y.
Answer : A

GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions

GMAT Verbal Section : GMAT Sample Critical Reasoning Questions