| Critical Reasoning Butler: January 2025 |
| January 23 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 In an interview to a business daily, a senior manager at Windsor Hotels recently stated that
the hotel is poorly managed, mentioning the hotel’s inability to modify its marketing strategy in response to a recent surge in its number of unoccupied rooms. A senior manager’s negative comments are generally detrimental to the image of the company, but
in this case, the negative comments were also unjustified. Although an increased number of unoccupied rooms at a hotel often indicates that the hotel is losing clients to competitors, in Windsor Hotels’ situation, it does not. Rather, the increase in the number of unoccupied rooms can be attributed entirely to the cancellation, earlier this year, of two of the city’s biggest events.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
(A) The first states the position opposed by the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole.
(B) The first states the position opposed by the argument as a whole; the second provides evidence to undercut the support for the position being opposed.
(C) The first states the position opposed by the argument as a whole; the second is evidence that has been used to support the position being opposed.
(D) The first is evidence that has been used to support a position opposed by the argument as a whole; the second provides information to undercut the force of that evidence.
(E) The first is evidence that has been used to support a position opposed by the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole.
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CR 2 To compete with a number of newer restaurants, Rick’s Café has begun offering a free appetizer to every customer who orders more than $40 worth of food. The manager of Rick’s Café claims that the offer has been a huge success in increasing sales, since the number of customers whose orders exceed $40 has increased by twenty-seven percent since the offer began.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the claim of the manager?
A. Most people who began eating at Rick’s Café after the offer began spending more than $40 each time they eat there.
B. Most people who typically spend less than $25 on a restaurant meal would not be persuaded to spend more by any offer.
C. Nearly all who have begun spending $40 or more at Rick’s Café since the offer began are regular patrons who have increased the average amount spent during one meal at Rick’s Café, but have begun visiting less frequently.
D. Since the offer began, most of the people who spend $40 or more at Rick’s Café are people who have never eaten there before and who always spend more than $40 when eating at restaurants.
E. Most people who received a free appetizer through the offer will continue to eat at Rick’s Café after the offer ends.