| Critical Reasoning Butler: May 2026 |
| May 22 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 The Bangor Eats restaurant chain opened five new locations in the city of Derry last year. However, despite favorable reviews and excellent ambiance, the revenue bought in by the Derry locations has remained two-thirds below the chain’s most conservative expectations. For its own sake, the chain should scrap plans to add two more locations in Derry this year.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest support for the author’s conclusion?
A. The eventual opening of another two restaurants will add greatly to the city’s sales tax revenue.
B. A local news paper’s opinion poll found that most restaurant-goers among Derry residents prioritize affordability over ambiance.
C. Residents of Derry have registered several complaints about the increase in traffic caused by the restaurants.
D. Recent census data indicates that mean income in Derry has been steadily declining over the last eight years, sharply decreasing the frequency with which residents visit restaurants.
E. The cuisine of the proposed additional locations will be slightly more adventurous, in order to attract potential customers.
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CR 2 Citizen: Our city currently has an extensive system of suggestion boxes through which citizens can anonymously air their grievances and suggest solutions. However, the mayor intends to remove the suggestion boxes, under the rationale that most people now have email and can send such grievances to the city offices via email. However, the poorest parts of the city, which house the most disaffected residents, have few internet-equipped households, so some of the suggestion boxes are still needed.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the citizen’s argument?
A. The cost to the city of maintaining the suggestion boxes is more than three million dollars annually.
B. On average, almost twenty percent of the internet connections in the city are out of order at any given time.
C. The city offices get less information from the suggestion boxes than they do from emails.
D. The city offices are located much closer to the affluent parts of the city than to the poorest parts of the city.
E. Welfare checks are routinely conducted in the poorest parts of the city by officers who relay the residents’ grievances to the city offices.