| Critical Reasoning Butler: February 2025 |
| February 20 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 One potential solution to the problem of road congestion in Gainley county is to provide rail transit between major city centers lying 50 to 80 miles apart. Successfully implementing this plan would cost far less than expanding existing roads and would reduce the number of cars clogging up both roads and parking spaces.
Which of the following, if true, could proponents of the plan above most appropriately cite as a piece of evidence for the soundness of their plan?
A. Major repairs to Gainley’s intercity road network would be necessary for building an effective rail transit system.
B. A large proportion of drivers are from outside Gainley and are traveling over 100 miles to visit Gainley’s major city centers.
C. Over 60 percent of all drivers departing from rural areas of Gainley county are driving to rural destinations over 90 miles away.
D. Several new express roads are being built in areas that are currently served by rail transit systems.
E. The majority of vehicles leaving Gainley’s biggest city center heads for a destination in another major city center about 65 miles away.
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CR 2 Adaptive reuse is the practice of converting an existing building to serve a purpose other than its original one and is widely seen as a preferable and economical alternative to tearing down defunct buildings. Adaptive reuse is profitable, as demonstrated by the reuse programs already in operation. A city official has suggested requisitioning funds for a project that would ensure that sixty percent of all defunct buildings in the city are converted to a new purpose within ten years.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the advisability of implementing the proposal?
A. Existing adaptive reuse programs have been voluntary, with the property owners being willing to invest heavily in the projects.
B. Many of the buildings that cannot be reused are also difficult to tear down.
C. Existing adaptive reuse programs have had recurrent difficulties in finding buyers for their buildings because many buildings are far from one another and are, therefore, unsuitable for most buyers wanting to have a presence in all areas of the city.
D. Some of the buildings that are candidates for adaptive reuse are the ones that can most easily be torn down and built over.
E. Existing adaptive reuse programs have been limited to the approximate twenty-five percent of defunct buildings that can feasibly be refurbished to match new buildings in utility and price.