| Critical Reasoning Butler: November 2025 |
| November 6 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a mandate to operate more efficiently. However, if taxpayers did not have a respectful fear of the IRS, the timely collection of taxes could not be maintained. For the last 10 years, polls have shown that most American taxpayers fear the fines and late fees that can follow an IRS audit.
The statements above, if true, would best serve as an argument that
(A) Most American taxpayers are not concerned with receiving tax credits or refunds
(B) Those American taxpayers who comply voluntarily with the tax laws do not fear the potential consequences of an audit
(C) Projecting a friendlier public image would likely be counterproductive for the IRS
(D) More American taxpayers fear the IRS today than feared it 10 years ago
(E) Collecting delinquent taxes costs the IRS more than does collecting taxes on time
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CR 2 The proliferation of colloquialisms is degrading the English language. A phrase such as she was like, "no way!" you know?—a meaningless collection of English words just a few decades ago—is commonly understood by most today to mean she was doubtful. No language can admit imprecise word usage on a large scale without a corresponding decrease in quality.
The argument relies on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Colloquialisms always evolve out of a meaningless collection of words.
(B) The colloquialisms appearing in the English language introduce imprecision into the language on what would be considered a large scale.
(C) The Russian, French, and German languages cannot admit imprecise word usage on a large scale without an inevitable decrease in the quality of those languages.
(D) The English language would not be degraded if there did not exist an alternative informal way to express the sentiment "she was doubtful."
(E) The widespread use of colloquialisms represents the most serious form of language degradation.