| Critical Reasoning Butler: March 2025 |
| March 10 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Foreman: I would like to request that my team utilize the FSTS welding rigs rather than the Wayland TS rigs for the next construction project. Training new welders on the FSTS costs almost thirty percent less.
Manager: That is not especially compelling reasoning. We can simply hire only experienced welders, who can use the Wayland TS without training.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the manager's objection to using FSTS welding rigs rather than the Wayland TS rigs?
A. Experienced welders expect much higher wages than do prospective welders who are comparatively inexperienced.
B. Once welders are fully trained, they tend to be more ready than they were before to seek new employers.
C. At present, all new welders employed by the company must attend seminars on how to use Wayland TS welding rigs.
D. The mean productivity of welders in the manager’s company is below the average productivity of welders employed by its competitors.
E. FSTS welding rigs are more expensive to maintain than Wayland TS rigs, due to the high cost of replacement parts.
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CR 2 Although many athletes rely on electrolyte-enriched sports drinks, which can provide almost all of the medically recommended electrolyte requirement, to regulate their hydration level while training, a well-balanced diet, including a variety of foods, is a better source of those electrolytes than are such electrolyte-enriched sports drinks.
Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the position above?
A. Sports drinks often must be enriched with electrolytes because the natural electrolytes found within the drinks’ ingredients are removed when they are processed.
B. Athletes who regularly drink electrolyte-fortified sports drinks sometimes neglect to eat the foods in which the electrolytes naturally occur.
C. In many foods, the natural combination of electrolytes with other minerals makes those electrolytes more usable by the body than are the electrolytes added in sports drinks.
D. Unprocessed alternatives to sports drinks are naturally high in several of the electrolytes that are usually added to electrolyte-enhanced sports drinks.
E. Sports drinks containing electrolyte supplements are no harder for the body to process than similar sports drinks without added electrolytes.