| Critical Reasoning Butler: June 2025 |
| June 26 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Tom: The unemployment rate has dropped below 5 percent, and that is good news for America. A lower unemployment rate is better for almost everyone.
Shelly: Actually, a low unemployment rate is good for most workers but not for everyone. Workers are certainly happy to have jobs, but many businesses are negatively affected by a low unemployment rate because they have fewer applicants for jobs, and to expand their workforce, they have to hire workers they would not usually hire. The wealthiest Americans also privately complain about the inability to get good gardeners, housecleaners, and nannies when most Americans are already employed. So a low unemployment rate is not, in fact, good for America.
Shelly’s conclusion that “a low unemployment rate is not, in fact, good for America” relies on the assumption that
(A) What is bad for businesses owners and the wealthy is bad for America.
(B) Fluctuations in the unemployment rate affect the number of applicants for job openings.
(C) Wealthy Americans rarely employ other Americans as housecleaners or nannies.
(D) Business owners always want what is best for their workers even when it negatively impacts the bottom line.
(E) Low unemployment hurts some workers because they would prefer to stay at home and collect unemployment checks.
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CR 2 Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing occurs in many countries, jeopardizing the sustainability of marine resources and threatening the economic, social, and political stability of coastal states and communities. Such illegal activity is notoriously difficult to curb, and years can pass with little progress made. However, in a visionary move that should rapidly reduce IUU fishing in the country’s waters, Togolese authorities have suspended the registration of fishing vessels and the issuance of fishing licenses to foreign vessels.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the prediction made above?
A. In Togo, IUU fishing occurs less frequently now than it did in the 1970s and 1980s.
B. Vessel registration expires annually in Togo.
C. Illegal fishing continues unchecked in some West African countries.
D. IUU fishing is also known to be detrimental to the food security of affected countries.
E. Several vessels flying the Togolese flag are suspected of illegal fishing in the waters of other countries.