| Critical Reasoning Butler: September 2025 |
| September 12 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 An anesthetic that is highly effective and has no negative side effects can be produced only from the webs of a spider species that is endangered in the wild. It takes 1,000 webs to make 1 gram of the drug. It follows, therefore, that continued production of the drug must inevitably lead to the species’ extinction.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
A. The anesthetic made from the spiders’ webs is widely distributed.
B. The anesthetic made from the spiders’ webs is expensive to manufacture.
C. Parts from the spiders are used to produce other medications.
D. Each night the spiders spin new webs and abandon the old webs.
E. The spiders live in very inaccessible places
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CR 2 Parents of high school students argue that poor attendance is the result of poor motivation. If students’ attitudes improve, regular attendance will result. The administration, they believe, should concentrate less on making stricter attendance policies and more on increasing students’ learning.
Which of the following, if true, would most effectively weaken the parents’ argument?
A. Motivation to learn can be improved at home, during time spent with parents.
B. The degree of interest in learning that a student develops is a direct result of the amount of time he or she spends in the classroom.
C. Making attendance policies stricter will merely increase students’ motivation to attend classes, not their interest in learning.
D. Showing a student how to be motivated is insufficient; the student must also accept responsibility for his or her decisions.
E. Unmotivated students do not perform as well in school as other students.