| Critical Reasoning Butler: August 2025 |
| August 14 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Domestic agriculture is struggling because agriculture from overseas is available at lower prices. Since improved agrarian technology would enable domestic farmers to produce agriculture at more competitive costs, to improve the competitiveness of domestic agriculture, the government plans to subsidize domestic farmers, because as it pays subsidies directly to these domestic farmers, the farmers will have the funds they need to invest in technology.
Which of the following, if true, raises the most serious doubt regarding the effectiveness of the government's plan to improve the competitiveness of domestic agriculture?
A. The cost benefits of investing in agrarian technology could take several years to manifest.
B. Overseas farmers might have some competitive advantage over domestic farmers other than price competitiveness.
C. Domestic producers of agriculture have some incentive not use the subsidies to invest in agrarian technology.
D. The technological enhancement will be valid only for two years, after which competitors in other countries would have outpaced the capabilities of domestic agriculture.
E. The subsidies paid to domestic farmers will come out of national tax funds that would be better spent in other ways.
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CR 2 World-class marathon runners do not run more than six miles per day when they are training. Therefore, if you run more than six miles per day, you are not world-class.
Which of the following statements supports its conclusion in the same manner as the argument above?
A. Sprinters always run in the morning. If it is morning, and you see someone running, it will not be a sprinter.
B. Paint never dries in less than three hours. If it dries in less than three hours, it is not paint.
C. Little League games are more fun for the parents than for the children who actually play. Therefore, the parents should be made to play.
D. If a car starts in the morning, chances are it will start again that evening. Our car always starts in the morning, and it always starts in the evening as well.
E. If you sleep less than four hours per night, you may be doing yourself a disservice. Studies have shown that the most valuable sleep occurs in the fifth hour.