| Critical Reasoning Butler: August 2026 |
| August 28 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 A telephone poll conducted in two states asked respondents whether their homes were cold during the winter months. Ninety-nine percent of respondents said their houses were always warm during the winter. The pollsters published their findings, concluding that ninety-nine percent of all homes in the United States have adequate heating.
Which of the following most accurately describes a questionable technique employed by the pollsters in drawing their conclusion?
A. The poll wrongly ascribes the underlying causes of the problem.
B. The poll assumes conditions in the two states are representative of the entire country.
C. The pollsters conducted the poll by telephone, thereby relying on the veracity of respondents.
D. The pollsters didn’t visit respondents’ houses in person, so no measure of the temperature in a subject’s home was actually made.
E. The pollsters never defined the term “cold” in terms of a specific temperature.
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CR 2 In 2008, the world’s airlines reported an increase in the total number of passengers carried, but a decrease in total revenues, even though prices for airline tickets on all routes remained unchanged from the year before.
Which of the following resolves the paradox described above?
A. The airline industry was a victim of the recession in 2008.
B. Total passenger miles were up in 2008.
C. Fuel costs remained constant from 2007 to 2008.
D. Passengers traveled shorter distances on less expensive flights in 2008.
E. No new aircraft were purchased by any carrier in 2008.