| Critical Reasoning Butler: May 2025 |
| May 6 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 The indigenous tribes of the Western Hemisphere were first introduced to horses through the Europeans. The use of horses revolutionized the hunting and transportation capabilities of these tribes. However, tribes that started using horses soon began to suffer from outbreaks of diseases such as salmonellosis, which can be transmitted from horses to humans. Yet, such outbreaks were rare among the Europeans, although they used horses more extensively.
If true, which of the statements below best explains the discrepancy in the outbreak of diseases such as salmonellosis?
A. Generational exposure to domesticated horses allowed the Europeans to develop stronger immune responses to horse borne diseases.
B. Horses raised in Europe were more susceptible to disease than those raised in the Western Hemisphere were.
C. After their introduction into the Western Hemisphere, horses became status symbols among the indigenous tribes, due to the horses’ exotic nature and impressive size.
D. Many Europeans who worked with horses were also exposed to horse borne diseases other than salmonellosis.
E. Before the discovery that horses transmit diseases such as salmonellosis, such conditions were attributed to an imbalance of fluids within the body.
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CR 2 Economist: Universal Basic Income (UBI) may help mitigate wealth disparity and alleviate socioeconomic issues caused by increased industrial automation in many countries. However, since the long-term feasibility of UBI is unknown, I do not recommend its implementation.
Cabinet Member: This position is quite different from your usual stand. You routinely recommend traditional economic measures that carry a significant risk of failure, so it seems unlikely that feasibility concerns are the true reason behind your reluctance to support UBI.
The flaw in the Cabinet Member’s argument is its failure to take into consideration that
A. the factors that affect the feasibility of UBI are different from those that affect the risk of traditional economic measures
B. the economist may not believe that UBI has been definitively proven to be effective
C. the risk of failure of established measures can be weighed against the benefits of such measures, but the risk of failure of unestablished measures cannot
D. it takes time for the feasibility risks inherent in an economic policy to become apparent
E. if wealth disparity and the socioeconomic issues caused by increased industrial automation are not addressed, they can lead to severe social unrest