Critical Reasoning Butler: May 2025 |
May 12 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Language development specialists have discovered that most children learn languages best before puberty. During the years leading up to puberty, children’s brains are capable of absorbing new languages with less effort than the brains of children who are post-pubescent. As a result, pre-pubescent children are able to think in a new language far more quickly than their post-pubescent counterparts, and children prior to puberty are also able to retain those languages more easily than if they learn the languages after puberty. Funding is limited for second language programs, so schools in this country tend to delay the study of modern languages until high school; but young children would benefit from second language programs in the elementary years.
Which of the following best summarizes the main point of the passage?
(A) Children learn languages best before puberty because their brains absorb new languages more easily than the brains of those who are post-pubescent.
(B) There is currently not enough government funding to provide for second language programs at the elementary level.
(C) Because of a difference in brain development, children before puberty can learn to think in a new language more quickly than children after puberty.
(D) It is a mistake to delay the teaching of second languages until high school, as there is little chance that students will be able to retain a second language.
(E) Because children learn languages more easily before puberty, schools should adopt second language programs at the elementary level.
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CR 2 Operations at the Green Hills Gold Mine are continuously releasing mercury into the headwaters of the Apache River, and most fish in the Apache River now have mercury levels at or above the legal limit for human consumption. With the price of gold rising, forcing more and more mining at Green Hills, there seems no hope for food fishing along the Apache River.
Which of the following plans, if feasible, would allow the state to assist the food fishing industries along the Apache?
(A) State workers will test the algae and underwater plants for mercury, removing those above a certain mercury threshold. These algae and plants are the principal food source of the food fish.
(B) The state bank will start to buy up large amounts of gold, preferentially buying directly from the Green Hills mines.
(C) Every six months, the state will send testers to twelve locations along the upper and lower Apache River, to test the mercury content in the water and in fish.
(D) The state will mount a public awareness campaign, educating private citizen and restaurateurs about the dangers of high levels of mercury in food fish.
(E) Immediately downstream from Green Hills, the state will install a sophisticated ionic filtration plant, which will substantially reduce the level of heavy metals (including mercury) in the water.