Intermediate Thinking Skills

Term 2 Week 4

Name: _______________________

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Assumptions

Many questions that you will find in Thinking Skills tests are based around assumptions. Basically,
assumption questions are simply flaw questions in disguise. Any time an author has made a mistake in
thinking that the presented evidence is enough to reach the given conclusion, it has been assumed that
the evidence is enough to reach the conclusion.

Example Question 1:

Sandy has gotten straight As all through high school. Therefore, she will be her school's dux.

The conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. Sandy did not get any grades lower than an A.

B. It is exceedingly rare for individuals to get all As through high school.
C. Some school duxes do not get all As.
D. If a student gets all As through high school, that person will be named the school dux.

Solution: When you first read the stimulus, you should be looking for the gap in logic. If you thought
about it correctly, you should already have an answer very similar to D in mind as you scan the
answer choices.

Certain answer options have no direct relation to the stimulus (B), some have no connection to the
point (A), and some play a different, or unclear, role relative to the reasoning issue (C). Note that the
right answer (D) leaves NO holes in the argument.

As you go through an argument for the first time, try to get a sense of the overall flow of the reasoning.
In particular, pay attention to whether you have a more typical support-to-conclusion relationship
(which may be clouded in background and fluff), or if you have a series of supporting premises that
are meant to link together. If it's the latter, you know that the gap, or flaw in reasoning, has to do with
some sort of missing link in the chain. All of this should be done in a fairly cursory way. As always,
your primary task during your first read-through is to identify the conclusion.

Example Question 2:

Arthur: "An early entomologist observed ants carrying particles to neighbouring ant colonies and
inferred that the ants were bringing food to their neighbours. Further research, however, revealed
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that the ants were emptying their own colony's dumping site. Thus, the early entomologist was
wrong."

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Arthur's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. Ant societies do not interact in all the same ways that human societies interact.
B. There is only weak evidence for the view that ants have the capacity to make use of objects as gifts.
C. Ant dumping sites do not contain particles that could be used as food.
D. The ants to whom the particles were brought never carried the particles into their own colonies.

Solution: We have to find an argument and figure out what's wrong with it. Then we need an answer
that plugs that gap. The argument is something along the lines of "ants do not bring food to their
neighbours." The support for this is that there is research showing that ants are dumping their trash,
so Arthur is taking for granted that the trash does not consist of food. We need to find an answer that
proves this is the case.

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(A) is the type of answer a strong sense of task can help you eliminate quickly. (B) too. Neither prove
anything about food. (C) is exactly what we need. Let's keep it. (D) is unrelated to the point.

(C) is the only answer left standing, and seems like a great hole filler. Let's read through it one more
time. If (C) is true, then we know for sure that what the ants are taking to their neighbours has no food
in it. (C) is correct.

Assumptions - Questions

1. Megan has gotten into great shape recently. She must be going to the gym regularly.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

A. Megan goes to the gym the same number of days each week.
B. Going to the gym is one of the best ways to get in shape.
C. Megan did not get into great shape solely by doing yoga in her home.
D. Different people have the same sense of what being in great shape means.

2. Sweeto, an artificial sweetener used only in soft drinks, has been found to be dangerous but only
when it is consumed in very large quantities. A person would have to drink 25 cans of Sweeto-
sweetened soft drinks per day in order to experience any dangerous effects. For that reason, Sweeto is
in fact safe for people.

In order for the conclusion above to be properly drawn, which of the following must be assumed?

A. Drinking soft drinks is never bad for one's health.

B. If all food additives that are currently used in foods were tested, some would be found to be
dangerous.
C. People drink fewer than 25 cans of Sweeto-sweetened soft drinks per day.
D. People can obtain important health benefits by controlling their weight through the use of
artificially sweetened soft drinks.

3. A fashion designer’s winter clothing line for women utilising new soft fabrics broke all sales records
last year. In order to achieve even more success this winter, the designer plans to launch a line of
clothing for men this year that makes use of the same new soft fabrics.

The designer’s plan assumes that

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A. other designers are not planning to introduce new lines for men utilising the same soft fabrics.
B. men will be as interested in the new soft fabrics as women were the year before.

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C. the designer will have time to develop new lines for both men and women.
D. the line for men will be considered innovative and daring because of its use of fabrics.

4. This produce stand sells fruits and vegetables. All fruits are delicious, and all vegetables are rich in
vitamins. Every food that is rich in vitamins is delicious, so everything sold at this stand is delicious.

Which one of the following assumptions is necessary to make the conclusion in the argument above
logically correct?

A. The stand sells many fruits and vegetables.

B. This produce stand sells only fruits and vegetables.
C. Something cannot be both vitamin-rich and delicious.
D. Some stands sell fruits that are not delicious.

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5. There are no edible fish in the streams of this county because there are no pesticide controls.

Which one of the following assumptions must be made before the conclusion above can be reached?

A. Edible fish cannot be found in areas where there are no pesticide controls.
B. If there are pesticide controls, there will be many edible fish.
C. With pesticide controls, the fish population will rapidly increase.
D. If there are pesticide controls, there will be some edible fish.

6. Any government census is not perfect: thousands of people probably go uncounted. However, the
basic statistical portrait of the nation painted by the census is accurate. Certainly some of the poor go
uncounted, particularly the homeless; but some of the rich go uncounted as well, because they are
often abroad or travelling between one residence and another.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?

A. Both the rich and the poor have personal and economic reasons to avoid being counted by the
census.
B. All people may reasonably be classified as either poor or rich.
C. The percentage of poor people uncounted by the census is close to the percentage of rich people
uncounted.
D. The number of homeless people is approximately equal to the number of rich people.

7. In 2022 all of the people who applied for a job at Evco also applied for a job at Radeco, and Evco and
Radeco each offered jobs to half of these applicants. Therefore, every one of these applicants must
have been offered a job in 2022.

The argument above is based on which of the following assumptions about these job applicants?

A. None of the applicants had previously worked for either Evco or Radeco.
B. All of the applicants accepted a job at either Evco or Radeco.
C. None of the applicants was offered a job by both Evco and Radeco.
D. None of the applicants had applied for jobs at places other than Evco and Radeco.

8. When a person is under intense psychological stress, his or her cardiovascular response is the same
as it is during vigorous physical exercise. Psychological stress, then, must be beneficial for the heart as
is vigorous physical exercise.
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The argument above relies on which of the following assumptions?

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A. Exercise is an effective means of relieving psychological stress.
B. The body’s short-term cardiovascular response to any activity indicates that activity’s long-term
effect on the body.
C. Cardiovascular response during an activity is an adequate measure of how beneficial the activity is
for the heart.
D. Psychological stress can have a positive effect on the body.

9. Handwriting analysis—also known as graphology—is a poor way to predict personality types. In a

recent study, five graphologists scored no better than chance in predicting the occupations of forty
professionals.

Which one of the following is an assumption necessary to the argument?

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A. There is a correspondence between type of personality and choice of occupation.
B. People in the same occupation usually do not have the same personality type.
C. Graphology is an effective means of predicting personality types in non-business contexts.
D. There are several other techniques for predicting personality types that are more accurate than
graphology.

10. The number of people killed each year by grizzly bears is about the same as the number of people
killed by lightning on golf courses. And the number of people killed by lightning on golf courses each
year is about the same as the number of people electrocuted by electric blenders. Therefore, a grizzly
bear is in fact about as dangerous as an electric blender or a game of golf.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the author relies upon in the passage?

A. Most incidents involving grizzly bears are fatal.

B. Grizzly bears are no longer the danger they once were.
C. The number of fatalities per year is an adequate indication of something’s dangerousness.
D. A golf course is a particularly dangerous place to be in a thunderstorm.

11. Advertisement: "Clark brand-name parts are made for cars manufactured in this country. They
satisfy all of our government automotive test—the toughest such tests in the world. With foreign-
made parts, you never know which might be reliable and which are cheap look-alikes that are poorly
constructed and liable to cost you hundreds of dollars in repairs. Therefore, be smart and insist on
brand-name parts by Clark for your car."

The argument requires the assumption that

A. Clark parts are available only in this country.

B. foreign-made parts are not suitable for cars manufactured in this country.
C. no foreign-made parts satisfy our government standards.
D. parts that satisfy our government standards are not as poorly constructed as cheap foreign-made
parts.

12. In a large residential building, there is a rule that no pets are allowed. A group of pet lovers tried to
change that rule but failed. The rule-changing procedure outlined in the building’s regulations states
that only if a group of tenants can obtain the signatures of 10 percent of the tenants on a petition to
change a rule will the proposed change be put to a majority vote of all the tenants in the building. It
follows that the pet lovers were voted down on their proposal by the majority of the tenants.
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The argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

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A. The pet lovers succeeded in obtaining the signatures of 10 percent of the tenants on their petition.
B. The signatures of less than 10 percent of the tenants were obtained on the pet lovers’ petition.
C. Ninety percent of the tenants are against changing the rule forbidding pets.
D. The support of 10 percent of the tenants for a rule change ensures that the rule change will be
adopted.

13. J. J. Thomson, the discoverer of the electron and a recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics, trained
many physicists, among them seven Nobel Prize winners, 32 fellows of the Royal Society of London,
and 83 professors of physics. This shows that the skills needed for creative research can be taught and
learned.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

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A. J. J. Thomson was an internationally known physicist and scientists came from all over the world to
work with him.
B. Scientists who go on to be the most successful researchers often receive their scientific education in
classes taught by renowned research scientists.
C. At least one of the eminent scientists trained by J. J. Thomson was not a creative researcher before
coming to study with him.
D. Creative research in physics requires research habits not necessary for creative research in other
fields.

14. Nutritionist: "Vitamins synthesised by chemists are exactly the same as vitamins that occur
naturally in foods. Therefore, it is a waste of money to pay extra for brands of vitamin pills that are
advertised as made of higher-quality ingredients or more natural ingredients than other brands are."

The nutritionist’s advice is based on which one of the following assumptions?

A. It is a waste of money for people to supplement their diets with vitamin pills.
B. There is no non-vitamin ingredient in vitamin pills whose quality makes one brand worth more
money than another brand.
C. All brands of vitamin pills contain some synthesised vitamins.
D. Some producers of vitamin pills are guilty of false advertising.

15. One of the requirements for admission to the Lunnville Roller Skating Club is a high degree of skill
in roller skating. The club president has expressed concern that the club may have discriminated
against qualified women in its admissions this year. Yet half of the applicants admitted to the club this
year were women. This proves that there was no discrimination against qualified women applicants in
the club’s admissions this year.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the conclusion of the argument depends?

A. Only a few applicants were found to be qualified and were admitted to the club this year.
B. No more than half of all the roller skaters in Lunnville are women.
C. No more than half of all the roller skaters in Lunnville are men.
D. This year no more than half of the applicants who met all the qualifications for admission to the
club were women.

16. The government has proposed a plan requiring young people to perform services to correct
various current social ills, especially those in education and housing. Government service, however,
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should be compelled only in response to a direct threat to the nation’s existence. For that reason, the
proposed program should not be implemented.

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Which one of the following is an assumption on which the government depends?

A. Some of the social ills that currently afflict the nation do not pose a direct threat to the nation’s
existence.
B. The nation’s existence is directly threatened only in times of foreign attack.
C. Crises in education and housing constitute a threat to the nation’s existence.
D. The nation’s young people believe that current social ills pose no direct threat to the nation’s
existence.

17. Since Mayor Drabble always repays her political debts as soon as possible, she will almost
certainly appoint Lee to be the new head of the arts commission. Lee has wanted that job for a long
time, and Drabble owes Lee a lot for his support in the last election.

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Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. Mayor Drabble has no political debt that is both of longer standing than the one she owes to Lee and
could as suitably be repaid by an appointment to be the new head of the arts commission.
B. There is no one to whom Mayor Drabble owes a greater political debt for support in the last
election than the political debt she owes to Lee.
C. Lee is the only person to whom Mayor Drabble owes a political debt who would be willing to accept
an appointment from her as the new head of the arts commission.
D. Whether Lee is qualified to head the arts commission is irrelevant to Mayor Drabble’s decision.

18. In their native habitat, amaryllis plants go dormant when the soil in which they are growing dries
out during the dry season. Therefore, if amaryllis plants kept as houseplants are to thrive, water
should be withheld from them during part of the year so that the plants go dormant.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. Most kinds of plants go dormant at some time or other during the year.
B. Amaryllis are more difficult keep as houseplants than other kinds of plants are.
C. Water should be withheld from amaryllis plants kept as houseplants during the exact time of year
that corresponds to the dry season in their native habitat.
D. Going dormant benefits amaryllis plants in their native habitat in some way other than simply
preventing death during overly dry periods.

19. Supporters of organic farming claim that using chemical fertilisers and pesticide in farming is
harmful to local wildlife. To produce the same amount of food, however, more land must be under
cultivation when organic farming techniques are used than when chemicals are used. Therefore,
organic farming leaves less land available as habitat for local wildlife.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the author’s argument depends?

A. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides pose no health threat to wildlife.

B. Land cultivated by organic farming methods no longer constitutes a habitat for wildlife.
C. The only disadvantage to using chemicals in farming is their potential effect on wildlife.
D. The same crops are grown on organic farms as on farms where chemicals are used.

20. When Cortez arrived in Mexico in A.D. 1519, he observed the inhabitants playing a ceremonial
game with a rubber ball. The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Mexico began to use rubber around A.D.
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1000. Thus we can be sure that the game must have originated sometime between approximately A.D.
1000 and Cortez's arrival.

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The conclusion reached above depends on which one of the following assumptions?

A. The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Mexico played games on all ceremonial occasions.

B. The making of rubber balls was one of the earliest uses of rubber by the inhabitants of Mexico.
C. The ceremonial game referred to was popular throughout Mexico.
D. The game had been played since its inception with a rubber ball.

21. In the open ocean, a shark will catch almost any small fish it decides to attack. The best chance a
small fish has, once it is spotted by a hungry shark, it that the shark will promptly find something else
to attack. Therefore, one of the benefits gained by small fish that swim in large groups known as
schools is a reduced chance of being attacked by a shark.

Which one of the following statements is an assumption on which the author’s argument depends?

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A. Sharks live primarily on a diet of small fish.
B. Sharks do not eat an entire school of fish at one time.
C. The sheer number of fish in a school prevents sharks from attacking.
D. Sharks are the main danger to small fish in the open ocean.

22. The introduction of symbols for numbers is an event lost in prehistory, but the earliest known
number symbols, in the form of simple grooves and scratches on bones and stones date back 20,000
years or more. Nevertheless, since it was not until 5,500 years ago that systematic methods for
writing numerals were invented, it was only then that any sort of computation became possible.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

A. Grooves and scratches found on bones and stones were all made by people, and none resulted from
natural processes.
B. Some kinds of surfaces upon which numeric symbols could have been made in the period before
5,500 years ago were not used for that purpose.
C. Grooves and scratches inscribed on bones and stones do not date back to the time of the earliest
people.
D. Computation of any sort required a systematic method for writing numerals.

23. Cafeteria patron: "The apples sold in this cafeteria are greasy. The cashier told me that the apples
are in that condition when they are delivered to the cafeteria and that the cafeteria does not wash the
apples it sells. Most fruit is sprayed with dangerous pesticides before it is harvested, and is dangerous
until it is washed. Clearly, the cafeteria is selling pesticide-covered fruit, thereby endangering its
patrons."

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. The apples that the cafeteria sells are not thoroughly washed after harvest but before reaching the
cafeteria.
B. Most pesticides that are sprayed on fruit before harvest leave a greasy residue on the fruit.
C. Many of the cafeteria’s patrons are unaware that the cafeteria does not wash the apples it sells.
D. Only pesticides that leave a greasy residue on fruit can be washed off.

24. John works five days each week except when on vacation or during weeks in which national
holidays occur. Four days a week he works in an insurance company; on Fridays he works as a
blacksmith. Last week there were no holidays, and John was not on vacation. Therefore, he must have
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worked in the insurance company on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

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A. John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length.
B. Every day last week that John worked, he worked for an entire workday.
C. John does not take vacations in weeks in which national holidays occur.
D. Last week John worked neither on Saturday nor on Sunday.

25. It has long been thought that lizards evolved from a group of amphibians called anthracosaurs, no
fossils of which have been found in any rocks older than 300 million years. However, a fossil of a
lizard was recently found that is estimated to be 340 million years old. Lizards could not have evolved
from creatures that did not exist until after the first lizards. Therefore, lizards did not have evolved
from anthracosaurs.

An assumption made in the argument is that there are no

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A. unknown anthracosaur fossils older than 340 million years.
B. unknown lizard fossils older than 340 million years.
C. known lizard fossils that predate some anthracosaur fossils.
D. known lizard fossils whose age is uncertain.

26. If a civilisation as technologically advanced as human civilisation existed on another planet and
that planet were within 50 light years of Earth, that civilisation would have found evidence of
intelligent life on Earth and could have easily contacted us. Scientists can thus rule out the possibility
of finding a civilisation as technologically advanced as our own within 50 light years of Earth.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

A. Scientists who are searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life forms generally focus their search
on evidence of technologically advanced life forms.
B. There is no reason to doubt the possibility that there are technologically advanced civilisations on
planets more than 50 light years from Earth.
C. If scientists received a message from a technologically advanced civilisation on another planet, they
would be able to decipher it fully.
D. A technologically advanced civilisation on another planet would want to communicate with
intelligent life that it detected on Earth.

27. Whenever an artist endowed with both a high level of artistic skill and a high degree of creativity
combines these two abilities in the process of creating an artwork, the resulting product is a great
work of art. Moreover, no work of art can be great unless both of these elements are combined in its
execution. Thus, great works of art are necessarily rare.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

A. Not every artist possesses a high level of artistic skill.

B. A high degree of creativity and a high level of artistic skill are seldom combined in the creation of a
work of art.
C. An artist endowed with a high degree of creativity and a high level of artistic skill will necessarily
produce great works of art.
D. Few artists are endowed with a high degree of creativity.

28. In 1893, an excavation led by Wilhelm Dorpfeld uncovered an ancient city he believed to be Troy,
the site of the war described in Homer's epic poem the Iliad. But that belief cannot be correct. In the
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Iliad, the Trojan War lasted ten years, but a city as small as the one uncovered by Dorpfeld's team
could not have withstood a siege lasting ten years.

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Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?

A. In 1893, scholars knew of no other ancient city that could have been Troy.
B. The Iliad accurately represents the duration of the Trojan War.
C. Dorpfeld's team found no evidence in the city they excavated that a siege had occurred there.
D. The city excavated by Dorpfeld's team had many features that scholars of the time believed Troy
had.

29. This comic book is probably highly valuable, since it exhibits a printing error on the cover. The
most important factors in determining a comic book’s value, assuming it is in good condition, are its
rarity and age. This is clearly a fine specimen, and it is quite old as well.

The conclusion is properly inferred if which one of the following is assumed?

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A. The older a comic book is, the more valuable it is.
B. Printing errors are always confined to a few individual comic books.
C. Most comic books with printing errors are already in the hands of collectors.
D. Rarity and age are of equal importance to a comic book’s value.

30. Consumers seek to purchase the highest quality at the lowest prices. Companies that do not offer
products that attract consumers eventually go bankrupt. Therefore, companies that offer neither the
best quality nor the lowest price will eventually go bankrupt.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. No company succeeds in producing a product that is both highest in quality and lowest in price.
B. Products that are neither highest in quality nor lowest in price do not attract consumers.
C. Any company that offers either the highest quality or the lowest price will avoid bankruptcy.
D. Some consumers will not continue to buy a product from a company purely out of brand loyalty.

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 Thinking Skills Lesson 4 Homework

1. Everything that is commonplace and ordinary fails to catch our attention, so there are things that
fail to catch our attention but that are miracles of nature.

The conclusion of the argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. Only miracles of nature fail to be ordinary and commonplace.

B. Some things that are ordinary and commonplace are miracles of nature.
C. Some things that are commonplace and ordinary fail to catch our attention.
D. Everything that fails to catch our attention is commonplace and ordinary.

2. Soccer players are faster than baseball players because soccer players use more strenuous training
programs. Baseball players should use the same training programs as soccer players to become more
athletic. More athletic baseball players will be more successful.

Which of the following, if assumed, would allow the conclusion above to be properly drawn?

A. Fast baseball players sometimes also play soccer.

B. Speed is important to success in baseball.
C. Players who become faster become more athletic.
D. Baseball players do not train very often during the season.

3. It is important that each driver has an insurance policy before driving on the road. Otherwise,
people may not be compensated when they are injured in car accidents. Everyone injured in car
accidents deserves to be compensated.

The argument assumes which of the following?

A. Compensation always requires monetary payment.

B. If every driver is insured, every person injured in an accident will be compensated.
C. Those who are injured in accidents are never at fault for those accidents.
D. No one who is in an accident but is uninjured deserves to be compensated.

4. The proposed coal-burning electric plant should be approved, since no good arguments have been
offered against it. After all, all the arguments against it have been presented by competing electricity
producers.
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Which one of the following is an assumption on which the reasoning above depends?

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A. Arguments made by those who have a vested interest in the outcome of a proposal are not good
arguments.
B. If a person’s arguments against a proposal are defective, then that person has a vested interest in
seeing that the proposal is not implemented.
C. Approval of the coal-burning electric plant would please coal suppliers more than disapproval
would please suppliers of fuel to the competing electricity producers.
D. If good arguments are presented for a proposal, then that proposal should be approved.

5. Miles has received criticism from fans and sportswriters as a second-rate basketball player because
he is considered too short and he cannot dribble effectively with his left hand. But this evaluation of
Miles’s virtues as a basketball player is unfair, since there have been successful players in professional
football who are short and who exhibited a strong preference for veering towards the right to evade
tacklers.
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Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. It is unfair to jump to conclusions about athletic prowess simply because a player is short.
B. Height and left-right preferences have comparable value in football and basketball.
C. Miles’s virtues as a basketball player should be determined by relevant statistics, such as shooting
percentage and steals.
D. Evaluation of basketball players must take into account what position they play on a team, and in
particular, what kind of role a coach assigns to them to effectuate the goals of the team.

6. It is wrong to condemn the eating of lobster. Lobsters do not have the kind of cognitive abilities that
permit meaningful self-awareness, and that sort of cognitive ability is essential to experience
suffering.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

A. Only sentient beings that can experience suffering ought to be considered outside the realm of
edible food for humans.
B. Any sentient being that can experience suffering must have highly developed cognitive abilities.
C. Any sentient beings that can experience suffering deserve to be treated respectfully.
D. If lobsters ought not to be eaten because they can experience suffering, then the same is true with
respect to pigs.

7. Explorers of the northern regions in the early 1700s observed the natives playing an instrument
similar to the mandolin. The instrument was strung with horse hair. Horses were not introduced into
the New World until the 1500s. Thus, we can conclude that natives developed the instrument
sometime between the introduction of horses to the New World and the time of the explorers in the
early 1700s.

Which one of the following assumptions is critical to the passage’s conclusion?

A. Natives used the mandolin-like instrument in all their religious events.

B. Using horse hair in the mandolin-like instrument was one of the natives’ earliest uses of horse hair.
C. This instrument was used by natives throughout North America.
D. Since it was first developed, the instrument was made with horse hair.

8. In the last decade, the use of bicycle helmets has increased tremendously, particularly among young
children. Although bicycle helmets appear to be as sturdy and safe as cricket helmets, they are exempt
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from the safety standards the government has imposed upon the manufacture of cricket helmets. As a
result, a child involved in a bicycle accident is more likely to suffer a serious head injury than is a child
injured while batting in a game of cricket.

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The argument depends upon which one of the following assumptions:

A. Youngsters ride their bicycles less carefully when they wear helmets.
B. The government has mandated a set of safety standards for manufacturers of bicycle helmets.
C. Bicycle helmets are less likely to meet the government’s helmet safety standards than are cricket
helmets, which are subject to the safety standards.
D. More children ride bicycles than play cricket.

9. Steve Cooper, senior sales officer, has trained many top salespeople in this company, including 14
who have become the top salespersons in their regions and 3 who have won the top salesperson
award. Although there is an art to selling, Mr. Cooper’s success at training top salespeople shows that
the skills required to become a top salesperson can be both taught and learned.

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The argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

A. Mr. Cooper stresses the professional- client relationship.

B. More than 50% of the people trained by Mr. Cooper went on to become successful salespeople.
C. At least one of the successful salespeople who trained under Mr. Cooper was not already an
accomplished salesperson before being trained by Mr. Cooper.
D. There is no one method with which to approach sales; a method that works for one person may not
for another person.

10. During the past year, nationwide membership in health and fitness clubs has declined by about 7
percent. These statistics clearly show that consumers have become decreasingly concerned about
their health and level of fitness during the past year.

The argument that consumers have become decreasingly concerned about their health and fitness
over the most recent one-year period depends most heavily on which of the following assumptions?

A. Concern about health is a major reason that consumers join fitness clubs and maintain their
memberships.
B. The overall level of health and fitness among consumers declined over the most recent one-year
period.
C. Consumers spent less money on health- and fitness-club memberships than on fast food during the
past year.
D. Fitness equipment designed for home use has become increasingly affordable over the past year.

11. Tyson rolls a regular six-sided die a total of four times. He manages to roll 3 odd numbers and 1 even number.
He never rolled the same number more than once.
What is the highest possible total of the four numbers he rolled?
A. 15
B. 21
C. 17
D. 14
12. Jodie is in the business of reselling furniture. She recently purchased three $125 chairs which were on a buy 2 get
1 free promotion. She then resells all three of the chairs for $100 each. What percentage profit did Jodie make?
A.
B.
C.
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10%
15%
20%

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D. 30%

13. “A garbage dump’s most important role is to contain and store unrecyclable materials away from the general
population.”
What statement, if true, would most strengthen this argument?
A. The general human population does not produce much garbage.
B. Many recyclable materials are reused in production to save on costs.
C. Most of human waste is unrecyclable and takes years to breakdown.
D. The majority of human waste is brought to garbage dumps.

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14. Fifth in line from the Sun, Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system – more than twice as massive as
all the other planets combined. Jupiter's familiar stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and
water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than
Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.
According to the information above, which of the following statements is not true?
A. Jupiter is the fifth planet in line from the sun.
B. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.
C. Jupiter is composed completely of ammonia, water, hydrogen and helium.
D. The Great Red Spot is larger than Earth.

15.Max: “Zoos should not be opened because they take wild animals out of their natural habitats.”
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Max’s argument?
A. Zoos create enclosures which replicate the appropriate habitat for the animals.
B. Zoos are extremely profitable amusements.
C. Wild animals require different diets.
D. If a wild animal is in the incorrect habitat, it may affect its ability to function.

16. A tame animal is an animal that is relatively tolerant of human presence. Tameness may arise naturally or due to
the deliberate, human-directed process of training an animal against its initially wild or natural instincts to avoid or
attack humans.
Melissa: “A species of cat was trained to be tolerant of human presence, therefore, it must be tame.”
Paul: “A species of dog is naturally tolerant to human presence, therefore, it must not be tame.”
If the information above is true, then whose reasoning is correct?
A. Melissa only.
B. Paul only.
C. Both Melissa and Paul.
D. Neither Melissa nor Paul.
17. A flower normally blooms with 8 purple petals. A rare genetic mutation occurs once in every 200 flowers, causing
the flower to bloom with an extra ninth petal. Another genetic mutation occurs once in every 40 flowers, causing the

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flower to bloom with pink petals instead. Out of an orchard with 2 million of these flowers, how many of these
flowers are expected to have 9 pink petals?
A. 500

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B.
C.
D.
250
125
1000
18. Injury rates at a water park are at an all-time high. The majority of these injuries occurred when there wasn’t a
park worker supervising one of the rides.
With reference to the information given, which of the following options could be a viable aid to the solution?
A. Employing more park workers so that all rides are supervised.
B. Forcing current park workers to undergo safety courses.
C. Closing down the water park for good.
D. Constructing more rides at the park.

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19. Amphibians are small vertebrates that need water, or a moist environment, to survive. All can breathe and
absorb water through their very thin skin.
If the above statement is true, then which of the following could describe an amphibian?
A. A vertebrate animal which lives completely in trees.
B. A small animal which commonly inhabits deserts.
C. A vertebrate which can breathe through their thin skin.
D. An invertebrate which requires water to survive.

20. The first signs of the common cold are fairly obvious: a stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, and a scratchy, sore
throat. Most people quickly recognize these early symptoms because the common cold is so ordinary. In fact, adults
have an average of 2 to 3 colds per year.
If the information above is true, then which of the following statements must not be true?
A. A sore throat could be an early sign of a common cold.
B. All adults have 3 colds every year.
C. The common cold is very ordinary to catch.
D. Having a stuffy or runny nose is a symptom of the common cold.

21. A cruise ship has the capacity for 2000 guests. 40% of the capacity is taken up by female guests. There are twice
as many female guests as male guests on the cruise ship. How many vacancies are there on the ship for more
guests?
A. 400
B. 600
C. 800
D. 500
22. The sum of the interior angles of any triangle is 180°. The sum of the interior of any quadrilateral is 360°.
Which one of the following shapes has an interior angle sum of 720°?

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A.

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B.

C.

D.

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23. Peter: “My sister is not very good at playing the piano because we don’t have one for her to practice on.”
Which of the following solutions could help Peter’s sister improve at piano?
A. Finding a better teacher for her.
B. Forcing her to change to a different instrument.
C. Taking her to an academy with practice pianos multiple times a week.
D. Making her learn more piano pieces.
24. Mary’s fridge is programmed to maintain the temperature inside within a certain range. When the fridge reaches
3°C or higher, the fridge will switch on to rapidly cool inside until the temperature reaches -2°C before switching off.
When the fridge reaches -5°C or lower, the fridge will switch on to rapidly heat inside until the temperature reaches -
2°C before switching off.
Alejandro: “The fridge is at 6°C so the fridge must be rapidly heating.”
Bella: “The fridge is at 2°C so the fridge must be rapidly cooling.”
If the information above is true, then whose reasoning is correct?
A. Alejandro only.
B. Bella only.
C. Both Alejandro and Bella.
D. Neither Alejandro nor Bella.

25. Teresa is converting her AUD into a cryptocurrency called ALE.

The ratio of the value of 1ALE to 1AUD is 200:1.
According to the statement above, which of the following statements must be true?
A. 20AUD is worth 10ALE
B. 5ALE is worth 40AUD
C. 200AUD is worth 0.1ALE
D. 0.25AUD is worth 50ALE

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zhouxiaocuimq@hotmail.com

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Logic Puzzle
Use the provided clues to match up all of the options. For a negative statement, put a cross in the grid,
and for a positive statement, put a tick. Keep going through the clues until you arrive at the solutions
and write them down in the bottom grid.

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zhouxiaocuimq@hotmail.com

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 S(5794)Adam Lu
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