| Critical Reasoning Butler: February 2025 |
| February 5 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Not long ago, the brown tree snake was inadvertently introduced, via a cargo ship hailing from Papua New Guinea, into the jungles of Guam. In this new environment, the tree snake became an apex predator and began to threaten the local bird populations, particularly that of the white-throated ground dove. To help track the tree snake’s spread, wildlife agencies have informed local bird watching societies of the danger posed by the brown tree snake and asked them to report any tree snakes they saw.
Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for the prediction that the agencies’ action will have its intended effect?
A. Most recreational bird watchers in Guam are interested in the preservation of the white-throated ground dove because it is a rare bird, whose sightings are highly prized.
B. Tree snakes generally hunt nocturnally, but most recreational bird watchers in Guam practice their hobby during the day.
C. The brown tree snake has an aggressive nature that makes it unattractive as prey.
D. The tree snake is one of the multiple nonnative species on Guam that threaten the survival of white-throated ground dove populations there.
E. The bird calls that most people use when trying to spot a white-throated ground dove on Guam do not attract the tree snake.
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CR 2 Subscription Banner: Subscribing to paid news websites is more secure than reading “free” news sites. Remember, if a product is free, the consumer is the real product. Most “free” sites harvest their readers’ browsing data and sell it to marketing firms.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the position espoused by the subscription banner?
A. Consumers who do not read news websites are less likely to be influenced by online marketing than consumers who do read news websites.
B. Paid news websites engage in data harvesting just as often as free news websites do.
C. For locations with poor internet connectivity, paid news websites can guarantee faster loading times and video quality than free news websites can.
D. Subscription to paid news websites includes access to certain digital news services that do not deal with data harvesting in any way.
E. Subscribers to paid news websites can choose what level of access they want to the site and pay accordingly.
Apr 28
03 Feb 2026, 09:25
