| Critical Reasoning Butler: July 2026 |
| July 1 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Incumbent candidate for governor: As the people of our great state know, my administration has created unprecedented economic prosperity and job growth. Just look at the unemployment rate, which has reached its lowest point in nearly twenty years!
Opposing candidate for governor: That’s preposterous. You overlook the fact that the unemployment rate is just as much a function of the number of people in the labor market as much as it is of the number of people employed. Your greatest contribution to the economy has been a series of retirement parties and moves to other states!
The opposing candidate’s reply to the incumbent proceeds by:
(A) Supplying a statistic that undermines the incumbent’s conclusion.
(B) Suggesting that the incumbent’s statistic is factually inaccurate.
(C) Offering a statistic that sheds additional light on the statistic supplied by the incumbent.
(D) Claiming that the incumbent used a statistic irrelevant to his conclusion.
(E) Pointing out that the incumbent cited a statistic that does not necessarily support his conclusion.
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CR 2 Professor Edwards must have revealed information that was embarrassing to the university. After all, to have been publicly censured by the head of the university, as Edwards was, a professor must either have revealed information that embarrassed the university or have been guilty of gross professional negligence, and Edwards’s professional behavior is impeccable.
Which one of the following arguments exhibits a pattern of reasoning most similar to that in the argument above?
(A) According to company policy, employees who are either frequently absent without notice or who are habitually late receive an official warning. Since Ms. Jensen has never received such a warning, rumors that she is habitually late must be false.
(B) Any employee of Wilkins, Waddel, and Sloan, who discussed a client with a member of the press will either be fired or demoted. But since Wilkins employees never discuss their clients at all, no Wilkins employee will ever be demoted.
(C) Anyone promoted to supervisor must either have worked on the shop floor for three years or have an influential sponsor. Daniels, therefore, has an influential sponsor, since he was promoted to supervisor after a year on the shop floor.
(D) To earn a merit salary increase, an employee of TGX must either bring in new clients or develop innovative products. No innovative products were developed at TGX this year, so TGX employees must have brought in many new clients.
(E) Anyone who is either awarded a letter of commendation or who receives a bonus must be recommended by a company officer. Simon has been recommended by a company officer and will receive a bonus, so he must not have been awarded a letter of commendation.