| Critical Reasoning Butler: February 2025 |
| February 6 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
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CR 1 Saltation is a sudden and large mutational change taking place over a single generation of a species and depends on a variety of factors related to the habitat and biology of the species. These factors differ in how they affect different species, meaning they should produce a random pattern of mutational change. Yet, careful paleontological study has shown that saltation occurs in a surprisingly consistent pattern, with many species changing at the same time.
Which of the following, if true, forms the best basis for at least a partial explanation of the patterned saltation revealed by the paleontological study?
A. In geologically recent times, for which paleontological study is impossible, human intervention has changed the pattern of saltation.
B. In certain instances, saltation selectively affects organisms with certain unique, species-specific sets of characteristics.
C. Some species experience saltation because of sudden changes in their food chain.
D. Saltation is sometimes a result of wide-ranging environmental disturbances that affect many different species.
E. Widely dispersed species are the least likely to experience saltation.
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CR 2 As part of an effort to lower operating costs, Daedlus Webhosting Services plans to conduct routine maintenance on its server farm’s cooling system once every fortnight, rather than once every three months – the standard maintenance schedule for such technology. With a more robust maintenance schedule, Daedlus can postpone complete system overhauls, which put the servers out of commission for up to seven months. Moreover, routine maintenance procedures reduce the cooling system’s power consumption by roughly three percent.
The webhosting company’s plan assumes that
A. electricity rates are likely to rise soon and thus, reducing electricity consumption is a high priority
B. cooling system maintenance does not put a server farm out of commission
C. in the long run, fortnightly maintenance of a server farm’s cooling system does not cost much more than a complete system overhaul does
D. Daedlus Webhosting Services has had more severe issues regarding server farm cooling system overhauls and electricity consumption than other webhosting services have
E. conducting routine maintenance on the server farm’s cooling system once a fortnight will give Daedlus Webhosting Services a competitive advantage over other webhosting services