| Critical Reasoning Butler: June 2026 |
| June 23 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Paleontologists have difficulty accurately reconstructing early Cambrian ecosystems, since most animal species in the early Cambrian era lacked hardened body parts. When an animal dies, its soft parts decayed very rapidly, leaving only the harder parts, typically bones, teeth, or shell. If the animal is buried quickly enough after death, these parts can become fossilized. If an animal lacked hardened body parts, its remains only become fossilized under exceptional circumstances.
If the above is true, which of the following can be properly concluded from these statements?
A. When reconstructing an early Cambrian ecosystem, paleontologists must take into account that some animals that lived in that ecosystem may have left no trace in the fossil record.
B. There were more living species with hardened body parts than with only soft body parts in the early Cambrian era.
C. There are no traces in the fossil record of early Cambrian animals that lacked bones,teeth, or shell.
D. In an early Cambrian ecosystem containing hard-shelled trilobites and soft bodied priapullid worms, only the remains of the trilobites would be preserved in the fossil record.
E. It is impossible to reconstruct early Cambrian ecosystems accurately
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CR 2 Techniques to increase productivity in the performance of discrete tasks, by requiring less human labor in each step of the production process, are widely utilized. Consultants on productivity enhancement point out, however, that although these techniques achieve their specific goal, they are not without drawbacks. They often instill enough resentment in the workforce eventually to lead to a slowdown in the production process as a whole.
Which of the following can be reasonably inferred from the statements above?
A. Productivity enhancement techniques do not attain their intended purpose and should not be employed in the workplace.
B. The fact that productivity enhancement techniques are so widely employed has led to a decline in the ability of American businesses to compete abroad.
C. If productivity enhancement consultants continue to utilize these techniques, complete work stoppages will eventually result.
D. Ironically, an increase in the productivity of discrete tasks may result in a decrease in the productivity of the whole production process.
E. Production managers are dissatisfied with the efforts that productivity enhancement consultants have made to increase productivity.