Critical Reasoning

A newly discovered painting seems to be the work of one of two seventeenth-century artists, either the northern German Johannes Drechen or the Frenchman Louis Birelle, who sometimes painted in the same style as Drechen. Analysis of the carved picture frame, which has been identified as the painting�s original seventeenth-century frame, showed that it is made of wood found widely in northern Germany at the time, but rare in the part of France where Birelle lived. This shows that the painting is most likely the work of Drechen. B Drechen is unlikely to have ever visited the home region of Birelle in France. C Sometimes a painting so resembles others of its era that no expert is able to confidently decide who painted it. D The painter of the picture chose the frame for the picture. E The carving style of the picture frame is not typical of any specific region of Europe.

Last year a record number of new manufacturing jobs were created. Will this year bring another record? Well, any new manufacturing job is created either within an existing company or by the start-up of a new company. Within existing firms, new jobs have been created this year at well below last year�s record pace. At the same time, there is considerable evidence that the number of new companies starting up will be no higher this year than it was last year, and surely the new companies starting up this year will create no more jobs per company than did last year�s start-ups. Clearly, it can be concluded that the number of new jobs created this year will fall short of last year�s record. In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

Which of the following most logically completes the passage? Pecan growers get a high price for their crop when pecans are comparatively scarce, but the price drops sharply when pecans are abundant. Thus, in high-yield years, growers often hold back part of their crop in refrigerated warehouses for one or two years, hoping for higher prices in the future. This year's pecan crop was the smallest in five years. It is nonetheless quite possible that a portion of this year's crop will be held back, since ________.

Using broad-spectrum weed killers on weeds that are competing with crops for sunlight, water, and nutrients presents a difficulty: how to keep the crop from being killed along with the weeds. For at least some food crops, specially treated seed that produces plants resistant to weed killers is under development. This resistance wears off as the plants mature. Therefore, the special seed treatment will be especially useful for plants that _____________ . Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument? By competing with rodents for seeds, black ants help control rodent populations that pose a public health risk. However, a very aggressive species of black ant, the Loma ant, which has recently invaded a certain region, has a venomous sting that is often fatal to humans. Therefore, the planned introduction into that region of ant flies, which prey on Loma ants, would benefit public health, since __________.

In order to withstand tidal currents, juvenile horseshoe crabs frequently burrow in the sand. Such burrowing discourages barnacles from clinging to their shells. When fully grown, however, the crabs can readily withstand tidal currents without burrowing, and thus they acquire substantial populations of barnacles. Surprisingly, in areas where tidal currents are very weak, juvenile horseshoe crabs are found not to have significant barnacle populations, even though they seldom burrow. Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the surprising finding?

Journalist: In physics journals, the number of articles reporting the results of experiments involving particle accelerators was lower last year than it had been in previous years. Several of the particle accelerators at major research institutions were out of service the year before last for repairs, so it is likely that the low number of articles was due to the decline in availability of particle accelerators. Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the journalist�s argument?

For similar cars and comparable drivers, automobile insurance for collision damage has always cost more in Greatport than in Fairmont. Police studies, however, show that cars owned by Greatport residents are, on average, slightly less likely to be involved in a collision than cars in Fairmont. Clearly, therefore, insurance companies are making a greater profit on collision damage insurance in Greatport than in Fairmont. In evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to compare

Which of the following most logically completes the argument? The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predicted to result in a corresponding decline in television viewing. Recent studies have found that, in the United States, people who own computers watch, on average, significantly less television than people who do not own computers. In itself, however, this finding does very little to show that computer use tends to reduce television viewing time, since _______.

Physician: The hormone melatonin has shown promise as a medication for sleep disorders when taken in synthesized form. Because the long-term side effects of synthetic melatonin are unknown, however, I cannot recommend its use at this time. Patient: Your position is inconsistent with your usual practice. You prescribe many medications that you know have serious side effects, so concern about side effects cannot be the real reason you will not prescribe melatonin. The patient's argument is flawed because it fails to consider that

Sviatovin is a medieval Moringian text whose author and exact date of composition are unknown. However, the events in the life of Prince Sviatov that the text describes occurred in 1165, and in the diagram of Sviatov's family that accompanies the text his father, who died in 1167, is identified as still living. Thus Sviatovin must have been written between 1165 and 1167, assuming that _____________ .

Which of the following most logically completes the argument? The attribution of the choral work Lacrimae to the composer Pescard (1400 � 1474) has been regarded as tentative, since it was based on a single treatise from the early 1500�s that named Pescard as the composer. Recently, several musical treatises from the late 1500�s have come to light, all of which name Pescard as the composer of Lacrimae. Unfortunately, these newly discovered treatises lend no support to the attribution of Lacrimae to Pescard, since _______.

Trancorp currently transports all its goods to Burland Island by truck. The only bridge over the channel separating Burland from the mainland is congested, and trucks typically spend hours in traffic. Trains can reach the channel more quickly than trucks, and freight cars can be transported to Burland by barges that typically cross the channel in an hour. Therefore, to reduce shipping time, Trancorp plans to switch to trains and barges to transport goods to Burland. Which of the following would be most important to know in determining whether Trancorp�s plan, if implemented, is likely to achieve its goal?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below? Davison River farmers are currently deciding between planting winter wheat this fall or spring wheat next spring. Winter wheat and spring wheat are usually about equally profitable. Because of new government restrictions on the use of Davison River water for irrigation, per acre yields for winter wheat, though not for spring wheat, would be much lower than average. Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat, since_______.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition, 2009 Practice Question Question No.: CR 30 Page: 509The Eurasian ruffe, a fish species inadvertently introduced into North America�s Great Lakes in recent years, feeds on the eggs of lake whitefish, a native species, thus threatening the lakes� natural ecosystem. To help track the ruffe�s spread, government agencies have produced wallet-sized cards about the ruffe. The cards contain pictures of the ruffe and explain the danger they pose; the cards also request anglers to report any ruffe they catch. Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for the prediction that the agencies� action will have its intended effect?

A certain automaker aims to increase its market share by deeply discounting its vehicles prices for the next several months. The discounts will cut into profits, but because they will be heavily advertised the manufacturer hopes that they will attract buyers away from rival manufacturers' cars. In the longer term, the automaker envisions that customers initially attracted by the discounts may become loyal customers. B Whether the advertisements will be created by the manufacturer's current advertising agency C Whether some of the automaker's models will be more deeply discounted than others D Whether the automaker will be able to cut costs sufficiently to maintain profit margins even when the discounts are in effect E Whether an alternative strategy might enable the automaker to enhance its profitability while holding a constant or diminishing share of the market

A recent government study links the high rates of respiratory ailments in Groverston to airborne pollutants released by the Woodco plywood manufacturing plant there. To address the problem, the government imposed strict regulations on emissions which will go into effect in four years. Although Woodco plans to cut its emissions in half two years ahead of schedule, it is unlikely that the rate of respiratory ailments will decline before the regulations go into effect, since _____________ . B reducing emissions even further than planned would necessitate decreasing production at Woodco C it is difficult to make accurate, long-term predictions about emissions D not all respiratory ailments are caused by airborne pollutants E three new plywood manufacturing plants are about to go into production in Groverston

Hunter: Many people blame hunters alone for the decline in Greenrock National Forest's deer population over the past ten years. Yet clearly, black bears have also played an important role in this decline. In the past ten years, the forest's protected black bear population has risen sharply, and examination of black bears found dead in the forest during the deer hunting season showed that a number of them had recently fed on deer. In the hunter's argument, the portion in boldface plays which of the following roles?

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below? Although the number of large artificial satellites orbiting the Earth is small compared to the number of small pieces of debris in orbit, the large satellites interfere more seriously with telescope observations because of the strong reflections they produce. Because many of those large satellites have ceased to function, the proposal has recently been made to eliminate interference from nonfunctioning satellites by exploding them in space. This proposal, however, is ill conceived, since _______.

Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., the fact that the text of these Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right indicates that the Greeks adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries before these inscriptions were produced. After all, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and presumably, along with the alphabet, they also adopted the then-current Phoenician practice with respect to the direction of text. And although Phoenician writing was originally inconsistent in direction, by the eighth century B.C. Phoenician was consistently written from right to left and had been for about two centuries. In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?