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LOGICAL REASONING

INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL REASONING + ASSUMPTIONS

1. 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:
(a) Newspaper stories exposed as fabrications are a recent phenomenon.
(b) Everything a newspaper prints must be factually verifiable.
(c) Fact-checking is more comprehensive for minor publications than for major ones.
(d) Only recently have newspapers admitted to publishing intentionally fraudulent stories.
(e) The publishers of newspapers are the people who decide what to print in their newspapers.

2. In recent years many cabinetmakers have been winning acclaim as artists. But since furniture must be
useful, cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product. For this
reason, cabinetmaking is not art.
Which of the following is an assumption that supports drawing the conclusion above from the reason given
for that conclusion?
(a) Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where it will not be used by anyone.
(b) Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others with the practical utility of the
products they produce.
(c) Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the practical utility of their products than
they currently are.
(d) An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention to the object’s practical utility.
(e) Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of their products.
3. Because no employee wants to be associated with bad news in the eyes of a superior, information about
serious problems at lower levels is progressively softened and distorted as it goes up each step in the
management hierarchy. The chief executive is, therefore, less well informed about problems at lower levels
than are his or her subordinates at those levels.
The conclusion drawn above is based on the assumption that:
(a) problems should be solved at the level in the management hierarchy at which they occur
(b) employees should be rewarded for accurately reporting problems to their superiors
(c) problem-solving ability is more important at higher levels than it is at lower levels of the management
hierarchy
(d) chief executives obtain information about problems at lower levels from no source other than their
subordinates
(e) some employees are more concerned about truth than about the way they are perceived by their
superiors
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4. Mayor of Plainsville: In order to help the economy of Plainsville, I am using some of our tax revenues to
help bring a major highway through the town and thereby attract new business to Plainsville. Citizens’
group: You must have interests other than our economy in mind. If you were really interested in helping
our economy, you would instead allocate the revenues to building a new business park, since it would bring
in twice the business that your highway would.
The argument by the citizens’ group relies on which one of the following assumptions?
(a) Plainsville presently has no major highways running through it.
(b) The mayor accepts that a new business park would bring in more new business than would the new
highway.
(c) The new highway would have no benefits for Plainsville other than attracting new business.
(d) The mayor is required to get approval for all tax revenue allocation plans from the city council.
(e) Plainsville’s economy will not be helped unless a new business park of the sort envisioned by the
citizens’ group is built.

5. The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they are
trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle
racers. Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what authorities will accept as standard
for purposes of competition in bicycle races.
Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?
(a) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot expand unless the market for high performance
competition bicycles expands.
(b) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved more as a result of technological innovations
developed in small workshops than as a result of technological innovations developed in major
manufacturing concerns.
(c) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for innovations that fall outside what is officially
recognized as standard for purposes of competition.
(d) The technological conservatism of bicycle manufacturers results primarily from their desire to
manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered to suit different national markets.

6. Installing scrubbers in smokestacks and switching to cleaner-burning fuel are the two methods available
to Northern Power for reducing harmful emissions from its plants. Scrubbers will reduce harmful
emissions more than cleaner-burning fuels will. Therefore, by installing scrubbers, Northern Power will be
doing the most that can be done to reduce harmful emissions from its plants.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(a) Switching to cleaner-burning fuel will not be more expensive than installing scrubbers.
(b) Northern Power can choose from among various kinds of scrubbers, some of which are more effective
than others.
(c) Northern Power is not necessarily committed to reducing harmful emissions from its plants.
(d) Harmful emissions from Northern Power’s plants cannot be reduced more by using both methods
together than by the installation of scrubbers alone.

7. Studies of fatal automobile accidents reveal that, in the majority of cases in which one occupant of an
automobile is killed while another survives, it is the passenger, not the driver, who is killed. It is ironic that
the innocent passenger should suffer for the driver’s carelessness, while the driver often suffers only minor
injuries or none at all.
Which of the following is an assumption underlying the reasoning in the passage above?
(a) In most fatal automobile accidents, the driver of a car in which an occupant is killed is at fault.
(b) Drivers of automobiles are rarely killed in auto accidents.
(c) Most deaths in fatal automobile accidents are suffered by occupants of cars rather than by pedestrians.
(d) Auto safety experts should increase their efforts to provide protection for those in the passenger seats
of automobiles.
(e) Automobile passengers sometimes play a contributing role in causing auto accidents.

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8. The earth’s resources are being depleted much too fast. To correct this, the United States must keep its
resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.
The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(a) Per capita resource consumption in the United States is at an all-time high.
(b) The United States wastes resources.
(c) The United States uses more resources than any other country.
(d) The United States imports most of the resources it uses.
(e) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion.

9. In the years since the city of London imposed strict air-pollution regulations on local industry, the number
of bird species seen in and around London has increased dramatically. Similar air pollution rules should be
imposed in other major cities.
Each of the following is an assumption made in the argument above EXCEPT:
(a) In most major cities, air pollution problems are caused almost entirely by local industry.
(b) Air pollution regulations on industry have a significant impact on the quality of the air.
(c) The air pollution problems of other major cities are basically similar to those once suffered by London.
(d) An increase in the number of bird species in and around a city is desirable.
(e) The increased sightings of bird species in and around London reflect an actual increase in the number
of species in the area.

10. The upcoming presidential election in the West African republic of Ganelon is of grave concern to the U.S.
State Department. Ganelon presently has strong political and military ties to the United States. However,
the Socialist party is widely expected to win the election, leading to fears that Ganelon will soon break away
from the pro-American bloc and adopt a nonaligned or openly anti-American stance.
Which of the following is an assumption made in the passage above?
(a) A Socialist party government in Ganelon is more likely to oppose the United States than is a nonsocialist
party government.
(b) The people of the United States recognize their nation’s interest in the political stability of West Africa.
(c) A weakening of U.S. political ties with Ganelon could have serious consequences for U.S. relations with
other African nations.
(d) The Socialist party leaders in Ganelon believe that their nation’s interests would best be served by an
alliance with anti-American forces.
(e) The Socialist party will win the upcoming election in Ganelon.

11. The U.S. census is not perfect: thousands of Americans probably go uncounted. However, the basic
statistical portrait of the nation painted by the census is accurate. Certainly, some of the poor go uncounted,
particularly the homeless; but some of the rich go uncounted as well because they are often abroad or
traveling between one residence and another.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?
(a) Both the rich and the poor have personal and economic reasons to avoid being counted by the census.
(b) All Americans may reasonably be classified as either poor or rich.
(c) The percentage of poor Americans uncounted by the census is close to the percentage of rich Americans
uncounted.
(d) The number of homeless Americans is approximately equal to the number of rich Americans.
(e) The primary purpose of the census is to analyze the economic status of the American population.

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12. We have heard a good deal in recent years about the declining importance of the two major political parties.
It is the mass media, we are told, that decide the outcome of elections, not the power of the parties. But it
is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent
years, and in the last nationwide campaign, the two major parties raised and spent more money than ever
before in support of their candidates and platforms. It seems clear that reports of the imminent demise of
the two-party system are premature at best.
Which of the following is an assumption made in the argument above?
(a) The amount of money raised and spent by a political party is one valid criterion for judging the influence
of the party.
(b) A significant increase in the number of third-party candidates would be evidence of a decline in the
importance of the two major parties.
(c) The two-party system has contributed significantly to the stability of the American political structure.
(d) The mass media tend to favor an independent or third-party candidate over a candidate from one of
the two major parties.
(e) The mass media are relatively unimportant in deciding the outcome of most elections.

ANSWER KEY

1. e 2. d 3. d 4. b 5. c 6. d
7. a 8. e 9. a 10. a 11. c 12. a

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