CR 1 – Live Session – Inference questions

(Foundation for RC Inference Questions)

1. Math Based (Numbers, Percentages, Ratios, Proportions, Averages, Overlaps)

Sample 1:

Airline Representative: The percentage of preventable flight delays decreased significantly this year. Although
delays caused by weather and other uncontrollable factors will always be part of travel, it is evident that the
number of preventable delays is clearly decreasing.
Which of the following most clearly points to a logical flaw in the representative's reasoning?
A. Airlines may be motivated by financial concerns to underreport the percentage of flight delays caused by
airline error.
B. Delays caused by weather and other uncontrollable factors could have increased dramatically during the
year under discussion.
C. The delays caused by uncontrollable factors could have led to an increase in complaints to airlines.
D. Complaints may not be the most reliable measure of how many errors occurred in a given year.
E. Airline customers might not believe that particular delays were caused by uncontrollable factors rather than
airline error.
Sample 2:

Five years ago, during the first North American outbreak of the cattle disease CXC, the death rate from the
disease was 5 percent of all reported cases, whereas today the corresponding figure is over 18 percent. It is
clear, therefore, that the number of cows dying from CXC has increased compared to the number five years ago.
Which one of the following, if true, most substantially weakens the argument?
A. Many recent cattle deaths that have actually been caused by CXC have been mistakenly attributed to another
disease that mimics the symptoms of CXC.
B. During the first North American outbreak of the disease, many of the deaths reported to have been caused
by CXC were actually due to other causes.
C. An inoculation program against CXC was recently begun after controlled studies showed inoculation to be
70 percent effective in preventing serious cases of the illness.
D. Since the first outbreak, farmers have learned to treat mild cases of CXC and no longer report them to
veterinarians or authorities.
E. Cattle that have contracted and survived CXC rarely contract the disease a second time.
Inference Questions in CR
1. Half of Metroburg's operating budget comes from a tax of 2 percent on salaries paid to people who work in
the city, which employs a substantial number of both public and private sector employees. Recently a
financial services company, one of Metroburg's largest private-sector employers, announced that it will be
relocating outside the city. All of the company's employees, amounting to 1 percent of all people now
employed in Metroburg, will be employed at the new location. The number of each of the other types of
employees will remain constant.
From the information given, which of the following can most properly be concluded?
A. The company's relocation will increase the proportion of jobs in Metroburg that are in the public sector.
B. Unless other employers add a substantial number of jobs in Metroburg, the company's relocation is likely to
result in a 1 percent reduction in the revenue for the city's operating budget.
C. The company's departure will not lead to any increase in the unemployment rate among city residents.
D. One of the benefits that the company will realize from its relocation is a reduction in the taxes paid by itself
and its employees in the new location.
E. Government’s tax revenue will decline by 1 percent if there is no increase in the number of jobs within the
city to compensate for the company's departure.
2. A library currently has only coin-operated photocopy machines, which cost 10 cents per copy. Library
administrators are planning to refit most of those machines with prepaid card readers. The library will sell
prepaid copy cards that allow users to make 50 copies at 9 cents per copy.
Assuming that the number of copies made in the library will remain unchanged after the refit, which
of the following predictions about the effect of the refit is most strongly supported by the information
given?
A. No library patrons will increase their usage of the library's photocopy machines once the refit has been
made.
B. If some of the copy cards sold in the library are used to their full capacity, the number of people using the
library's photocopy machines over a given period will fall.
C. Revenues from photocopying will increase if all copy cards that are purchased are always used to less than
90 percent of their capacity.
D. Library patrons will only purchase a copy card on days when they need to make 50 or more copies.
E. Revenues from photocopying will increase if none of the library patrons choose to use the remaining coin-
operated machines in preference to the card-reader equipped ones.
3. Most people invest in the stock market without doing any research of their own. Some of these people rely
solely on their broker’s advice, whereas some others make decisions based merely on hunches. Other people
do some research of their own, but just as often rely only on their broker or on hunches. Only a few always
do their own research before investing. Nonetheless, a majority of investors in the stock market make a
profit.
If the statements in the passage are true, which one of the following must also be true?
A. Most people who invest in the stock market either rely solely on their broker or make decisions based merely
on hunches.
B. Some people who do investment research on their own, while just as often relying on their broker or on
hunches, make a profit in the stock market.
C. Most people who invest in the stock market without doing any research of their own make a profit.
D. Most people who rely solely on their broker rather than on hunches make a profit in the stock market.
E. Some people who make a profit on their investments in the stock market do so without doing any research
of their own.
4. Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were minted from gold mined in West Africa, in the area
that is now Senegal. The gold mined in this region was the purest known. Its gold content of 92 percent
allowed coins to be minted without refining the gold, and indeed coins minted from this source of gold
can be recognized because they have that gold content. The mints could refine gold and produce other
kinds of coins that had much purer gold content, but the Senegalese gold was never refined.
Which one of the following inferences about gold coins minted in medieval Spain is most strongly
supported by the information the numismatist gives?
A. The source of some refined gold from which coins were minted was unrefined gold with a gold content
of less than 92 percent.
B. Coins minted from Senegalese gold all contained the same weight, as well as the same proportion, of gold.
C. Two coins could have the same monetary value even though they differed from each other in the
percentage of gold they contained.
D. No gold coins were minted that had a gold content of less than 92 percent.
E. The only unrefined gold from which coins could be minted was Senegalese gold.
5. Whenever the rate of inflation exceeds the rate of return on the most profitable investment available, the
difference between those two rates is the percentage by which the value of any investment declines. If in
such a circumstance the value of a particular investment declines by more than that percentage (as
defined in the first sentence), it must be true that ____________.
Which one of the following logically completes the argument?
A. the rate of inflation has decreased over time
B. the investment in question has become less profitable over time
C. the investment in question is less profitable than the most profitable investment available
D. the rate of return on the most profitable investment available has declined over time
E. over time, there has been a change in which particular investment happens to be the most profitable
available
6.
7. Mashika: We already know from polling data that some segments of the electorate support Ms. Puerta.
If those segments also support Mr. Quintana, then no segment of the electorate that supports Mr.
Quintana supports Mr. Ramirez.
Salim: But actually, as the latest polling data conclusively shows, at least one segment of the electorate
supports both Mr. Quintana and Mr. Ramirez.
Among the following statements, which is it most reasonable to infer from the assertions by
Mashika and Salim?
A. Some segments of the electorate support neither Mr. Quintana nor Mr. Ramirez.
B. Some segments of the electorate support Ms. Puerta but not Mr. Quintana.
C. Each segment of the electorate provides significant support to Ms. Puerta.
D. Each segment of the electorate provides significant support to Mr. Quintana.
E. Each segment of the electorate provides significant support to Mr. Ramirez.
8. If a garden does not receive plenty of water and sunlight and is not planted in rich soil, then it will not be
productive. Patricia has located her garden in an area that is ideal for receiving water and sunlight, and
has made sure the soil is rich by adding fertilizer and compost. Hence, Patricia’s Garden will be
productive.
The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument
A. fails to specify adequately the meaning in context of the term “ideal”
B. infers a cause from a correlation
C. confuses a cause with its effect
D. takes a set of necessary conditions as sufficient
E. relies on a sample that is unlikely to be Representative
9. Interior decorator: All coffeehouses and restaurants are public places. Most well-designed public places
feature artwork. But if a public place is uncomfortable, it is not well designed, and all comfortable public
places have spacious interiors.
If all of the interior decorator’s statements are true, then which one of the following must be true?
A. Any restaurant that has a spacious interior is comfortable.
B. Most public places that feature artwork are well designed.
C. Most coffeehouses that are well designed feature artwork.
D. Any well-designed coffeehouse or restaurant has a spacious interior.
E. Any coffeehouse that has a spacious interior is a well-designed public place.