| Critical Reasoning Butler: June 2025 |
| June 6 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 A proposal has recently been floated by the government to increase road use tax rates across the country. This will lead to an increase in operating costs for trucking companies, who will then most likely increase their freight rates. The higher freight rates will, in turn, lead to a consequent increase in the prices of goods and commodities of daily use such as vegetable and grocery items. Thus, if the proposal is passed, it will actively contribute to inflation in the country.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly indicates that the logic of the prediction above is flawed?
(A) It assumes that there is no other way in which inflation can increase apart from increased road use taxes.
(B) It mistakes a likely outcome for a confirmed outcome.
(C) It resorts to addressing peripheral issues while ignoring the deeper fundamental problems with the economy.
(D) It assumes that inflation will not increase if the road tax is not increased.
(E) It mistakes a correlation for a cause and effect relation.
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CR 2 It is not uncommon for close synonyms to be understood to share the same meaning. The difference between words like hard and difficult, for example, goes tragically unnoticed. One may employ one or the other with complete indifference, postulating no discrepancy between them. In general, this is well and good; most people lack the scrupulous pedanticalness to quibble over such trifles. Nevertheless, for those
people with ample compulsiveness (and time), it is of significant value to comprehend such nuances.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
(A) The first is the primary conclusion of the argument; the second mentions a group of people who are in favor of such a conclusion.
(B) The first is a general statement that is supported by evidence provided in the rest of the argument; the second is one such piece of evidence.
(C) The first states the conclusion of the argument; the second calls that conclusion into question.
(D) The first is a point of view that the argument claims most people will agree with; the second mentions a group of people who would disagree with that point of view.
(E) The first is a claim, the accuracy of which is at issue in the argument; the second mentions evidence falsifying such a claim.