After successfully completing the CAT 2016 sprint series and the SNAP 2016 sprint series, we are back with the XAT 2017 – Critical Reasoning, Decision Making Marathon – 6 to boost your prep. This series will consist of 15 sets of questions that will test your reasoning skills and will enable you to do well in the crucial Decision Making section of XAT 2017.
You may check out the entire series here: XAT 2017 – Critical Reasoning, Decision Making Marathon
XAT 2017 – Critical Reasoning, Decision Making Marathon – 6
Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. After you have chosen the best answer, blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.
1. To discover what percentage of teenagers believe in telekinesis—the psychic ability to move objects without physically touching them—a recent survey asked a representative sample of teenagers whether they agreed with the following statement: “A person’s thoughts can influence the movement of physical objects.” But because this statement is particularly ambiguous and is amenable to a naturalistic, uncontroversial interpretation, the survey’s responses are also ambiguous.
The reasoning above conforms most closely to which one of the following general propositions?
(A) Uncontroversial statements are useless in surveys.
(B) Every statement is amenable to several interpretations.
(C) Responses to surveys are always unambiguous if the survey’s questions are well phrased.
(D) Responses people give to poorly phrased questions are likely to be ambiguous.
(E) Statements about psychic phenomena can always be given naturalistic interpretations.
2. A recent study of perfect pitch—the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated musical note—found that a high percentage of people who have perfect pitch are related to someone else who has it. Among those without perfect pitch, the percentage was much lower. This shows that having perfect pitch is a consequence of genetic factors.
Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
(A) People who have relatives with perfect pitch generally receive no more musical training than do others.
(B) All of the researchers conducting the study had perfect pitch.
(C) People with perfect pitch are more likely than others to choose music as a career.
(D) People with perfect pitch are more likely than others to make sure that their children receive musical training.
(E) People who have some training in music are more likely to have perfect pitch than those with no such training.
3. Paleontologists recently excavated two corresponding sets of dinosaur tracks, one left by a large grazing dinosaur and the other by a smaller predatory dinosaur. The two sets of tracks make abrupt turns repeatedly in tandem, suggesting that the predator was following the grazing dinosaur and had matched its stride. Modern predatory mammals, such as lions, usually match the stride of prey they are chasing immediately before they strike those prey. This suggests that the predatory dinosaur was chasing the grazing dinosaur and attacked immediately afterwards.
Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the statement that the predatory dinosaur was following the grazing dinosaur and had matched its stride?
(A) It helps establish the scientific importance of the argument’s overall conclusion, but is not offered as evidence for that conclusion.
(B) It is a hypothesis that is rejected in favor of the hypothesis stated in the argument’s overall conclusion.
(C) It provides the basis for an analogy used in support of the argument’s overall conclusion.
(D) It is presented to counteract a possible objection to the argument’s overall conclusion.
(E) It is the overall conclusion of the argument.
4. Researchers announced recently that over the past 25 years the incidence of skin cancer caused by exposure to harmful rays from the sun has continued to grow in spite of the increasingly widespread use of sunscreens. This shows that using sunscreen is unlikely to reduce a person’s risk of developing such skin cancer.
Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?
(A) Most people who purchase a sunscreen product will not purchase the most expensive brand available.
(B) Skin cancer generally develops among the very old as a result of sunburns experienced when very young.
(C) The development of sunscreens by pharmaceutical companies was based upon research conducted by dermatologists.
(D) People who know that they are especially susceptible to skin cancer are generally disinclined to spend a large amount of time in the sun.
(E) Those who use sunscreens most regularly are people who believe themselves to be most susceptible to skin cancer.
5. University administrator: Any proposal for a new department will not be funded if there are fewer than 50 people per year available for hire in that field and the proposed department would duplicate more than 25 percent of the material covered in one of our existing departments. The proposed Area Studies Department will duplicate more than 25 percent of the material covered in our existing Anthropology Department. However, we will fund the new department.
Which one of the following statements follows logically from the university administrator’s statements?
(A) The field of Area Studies has at least 50 people per year available for hire.
(B) The proposed Area Studies Department would not duplicate more than 25 percent of the material covered in any existing department other than Anthropology.
(C) If the proposed Area Studies Department did not duplicate more than 25 percent of the material covered in Anthropology, then the new department would not be funded.
(D) The Anthropology Department duplicates more than 25 percent of the material covered in the proposed Area Studies Department.
(E) The field of Area Studies has fewer than 50 people per year available for hire.
6. Researcher: Over the course of three decades, we kept records of the average beak size of two populations of the same species of bird, one wild population, the other captive. During this period, the average beak size of the captive birds did not change, while the average beak size of the wild birds decreased significantly.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the researcher’s findings?
(A) The small-beaked wild birds were easier to capture and measure than the large-beaked wild birds.
(B) The large-beaked wild birds were easier to capture and measure than the small-beaked wild birds.
(C) Changes in the wild birds’ food supply during the study period favored the survival of
small-beaked birds over large-beaked birds.
(D) The average body size of the captive birds remained the same over the study period.
(E) The researcher measured the beaks of some of the wild birds on more than one occasion.
7. Storytelling appears to be a universal aspect of both past and present cultures. Comparative study of traditional narratives from widely separated epochs and diverse cultures reveals common themes such as creation, tribal origin, mystical beings and quasi-historical figures, and common story types such as fables and tales in which animals assume human personalities.
The evidence cited above from the study of traditional narratives most supports which one of the following statements?
(A) Storytellers routinely borrow themes from other cultures.
(B) Storytellers have long understood that the narrative is a universal aspect of human culture.
(C) Certain human concerns and interests arise in all of the world’s cultures.
(D) Storytelling was no less important in ancient cultures than it is in modern cultures.
(E) The best way to understand a culture is to understand what motivates its storytellers.
8. If a mother’s first child is born before its due date, it is likely that her second child will be also. Jackie’s second child was not born before its due date, so it is likely that Jackie’s first child was not born before its due date either.
The questionable reasoning in the argument above is most similar in its reasoning to which one of the following?
(A) Artisans who finish their projects before the craft fair will probably go to the craft fair. Ben will not finish his project before the fair. So he probably will not go to the craft fair.
(B) All responsible pet owners are likely to be good with children. So anyone who is good with children is probably a responsible pet owner.
(C) If a movie is a box-office hit, it is likely that its sequel will be also. Hawkman II, the sequel to Hawkman I, was not a box-office hit, so Hawkman I was probably not a box-office hit.
(D) If a business is likely to fail, people will not invest in it. Pallid Starr is likely to fail, therefore no one is likely to invest in it.
(E) Tai will go sailing only if the weather is nice. The weather will be nice, thus Tai will probably go sailing.
9. Science journalist: Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is covered with ice. Data recently transmitted by a spacecraft strongly suggest that there are oceans of liquid water deep under the ice. Life as we know it could evolve only in the presence of liquid water. Hence, it is likely that at least primitive life has evolved on Europa.
The science journalist’s argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it
(A) takes for granted that if a condition would be necessary for the evolution of life as we know it, then such life could not have evolved anywhere that this condition does not hold
(B) fails to address adequately the possibility that there are conditions necessary for the evolution of life in addition to the presence of liquid water
(C) takes for granted that life is likely to be present on Europa if, but only if, life evolved on Europa
(D) overlooks the possibility that there could be unfamiliar forms of life that have evolved without the presence of liquid water
(E) takes for granted that no conditions on Europa other than the supposed presence of liquid water could have accounted for the data transmitted by the spacecraft
10. A bacterial species will inevitably develop greater resistance within a few years to any antibiotics used against it, unless those antibiotics eliminate that species completely. However, no single antibiotic now on the market is powerful enough to eliminate bacterial species X completely.
Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the statements above?
(A) It is unlikely that any antibiotic can be developed that will completely eliminate bacterial species X.
(B) If any antibiotic now on the market is used against bacterial species X, that species will develop greater resistance to it within a few years.
(C) The only way of completely eliminating bacterial species X is by a combination of two or more antibiotics now on the market.
(D) Bacterial species X will inevitably become more virulent in the course of time.
(E) Bacterial species X is more resistant to at least some antibiotics that have been used against it than it was before those antibiotics were used against it.
Answer key:
1. D
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. C
8. C
9. B
10. B
Meanwhile, for those who want to solve quality questions from past year XAT papers, you may check out our ongoing XAT 2017 Sprint Preparation Series.
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