Critical Thinking Test 1

Questions Booklet

Instructions

This practice critical thinking test will assess your ability to make inferences and assumptions
and to reason logically with arguments. The test comprises the following five sections:

1. Analysing Arguments
2. Assumptions
3. Deductions
4. Inferences
5. Interpreting Information

Read the instructions preceding each section and answer the questions. There are a total of
40 questions in this test and you should aim to correctly answer as many questions as you can
within 40 minutes. An extra 10 minutes are included in the 40 minutes for time to read the
instructions.

Try to find a time and place where you will not be interrupted during the test. The test will
begin on the next page.

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Practice Aptitude Tests
 Section 1: Analysing arguments
Instructions:

When making important decisions, it is useful to be able to distinguish between a strong argument
and a weak argument. A strong argument is both important and directly related to the question. A
weak argument is not directly related to the question, or is of minor importance or may be related
to a trivial aspect of the question, or confuses correlation with causation (incorrectly assuming that
because two things are related, they cause each other to happen).

In this section, a statement is presented to you with an agreeing or disagreeing argument below. You
must regard each argument as true, regardless whether it is weak or strong, agrees or disagrees with
the statement. The first and second statements will have three arguments each and the third
statement will have only two arguments.

If you consider an argument to be strong, select Strong argument, or if you consider an argument to
be weak, select Weak argument. Judge each question and argument individually. Try not to take into
account individual opinion or general knowledge since each argument is considered to be true.

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 Statement One:

Is the law requiring all large shops in England to charge 5p for single-use plastic bags
beneficial for the environment?

Q1
Argument One: Yes; the scheme encourages people to re-use plastic bags and thereby reduce the
litter associated with them.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

Q2
Argument Two: Yes; the current economy means that most consumers have more money to spend
on grocery shopping.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

Q3
Argument Three: No; charging does not affect the fact that plastic bags are still non-biodegradable.
Large shops should minimise their availability in favour of greener alternatives.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

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 Statement Two:

Would it be beneficial to UK public health to introduce a tax on sugar?

Q4
Argument One: No; sugar is a vital ingredient in many cake and baking recipes.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

Q5
Argument Two: Yes; it has been proposed that the money generated can be used to combat
childhood obesity, and fund primary school sport.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

Q6
Argument Three: No; consumption taxes would hit those living below the poverty line the hardest,
as they typically eat very sugary foods.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

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 Statement Three:

Is the expansion of short-haul budget air travel a good thing?

Q7
Argument One: No; motion-sickness is often associated with travelling on aeroplanes.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

Q8
Argument Two: No; budget flights come with a large carbon footprint – they may become
increasingly more chosen instead of less carbon-intensive alternatives.

Strong Argument
Weak Argument

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 Section 2: Assumptions
Instructions:

An assumption is something which is presumed or taken for granted. When a person says “I will see
you tomorrow”, it is taken for granted that they will be around tomorrow, and that they will not
have last-minute plans which prevent them from seeing you tomorrow.

In this section, you will be provided with a number of statements. Each statement will be followed
by a series of proposed assumptions. You must decide which assumptions are logically justified
based on the evidence in the statement. If you think that the assumption is taken for granted in the
statement, and is therefore logically justified, select Assumption made. If you think that the
assumption is not taken for granted in the statement, and is not therefore logically justified, select
Assumption not made. Remember to judge each question individually and base your responses on
the statements provided.

See the example questions below with the correct answers given.

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 Statement Four:

A franchise usually grows at a much faster rate than a business that is not a franchise. A
franchise licenses its trade name and its operating methods to a person or group for a
percentage cut of profits earned.

Q9
Assumption One: A franchise is often less profitable than a non-franchise.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

Q10
Assumption Two: Franchise arrangements can be mutually beneficial to both the main business
and the person or group operating it.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

Q11
Assumption Three: A trade name is valued.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

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 Statement Five:

The football team requires a better game plan than the one they already have if they want a
better chance at winning against their superior rivals.

Q12
Assumption One: The team’s rivals have a better game plan than they do.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

Q13
Assumption Two: The team don’t currently have a good chance at winning against their rivals.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

Q14
Assumption Three: The team cannot win with the current game plan they have.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

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 Statement Six:

My friend should have less sugary drinks in his diet to protect his teeth.

Q15
Assumption One: The friend has too many sugary drinks in his diet.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

Q16
Assumption Two: Consuming too much sugar can be bad for your teeth.

Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made

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 Section 3: Deductions
Instructions:

In this section, a statement will be provided followed by a series of suggested conclusions. Here, you
must take the statement to be true. After reading each conclusion underneath the statement, you
must decide whether you think it follows from the statement provided. If you agree that the
conclusion exactly follows the statement, chose Conclusion follows. However, if you do not agree
that the conclusion exactly follows then chose Conclusion does not follow. You must select your
answer based only on the information presented; not using general knowledge. Similarly, you are
advised not to let your own opinions or prejudices influence your decisions; stick to the statements
and base your judgements on the facts presented.

See the example questions below with the correct answers given.

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 Statement Seven:

Every website correlates to a set of numbers known as a unique IP address. This set of
numbers is read by DNS, which translates them into the web page we see on our screens.
Without DNS, we would have to type the numbers of the IP address into our browsers.

Q17
Conclusion One: IP addresses can be used for more than one website.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q18
Conclusion Two: Each IP address has its own DNS.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q19
Conclusion Three: DNS is vital to the way we look up websites.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 Statement Eight:

Some people’s private data is stored online. Others prefer to keep their private data
separate from the web. There are some people who are unaware their private data is
stored online.

Q20
Conclusion One: Most people would prefer to keep their data private but are unaware that it is
online.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q21
Conclusion Two: Some people’s private data is not stored online.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q22
Conclusion Three: Everyone has their private data stored online.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 Statement Nine:

Websites that do not load within three seconds lose out on potential customers. A half
second difference in page load times can make can make a 10% difference in sales, yet
retail websites have actually been getting slower.

Q23
Conclusion One: People do not buy as much from slower websites than faster ones.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q24
Conclusion Two: A fast website is good for business.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 Section 4: Inferences
Instructions:

An inference is a conclusion drawn from observed or supposed facts. For example, if someone
presses a light switch but the light does not turn on, they might infer that the filament has burnt out.
However, inferences may or may not be correct. For example, in this case, the bulb could be missing,
or a fuse could be blown.

The questions in this section of the test will begin with a statement of facts that must be regarded as
true. After each statement, you will be presented with possible inferences which might be drawn
from facts in the statement. Analyse each inference separately and decide on its degree of truth.

For each inference, you will be provided with 5 possible answers: True, Probably True, More
Information Required, Probably False, and False.

Select:

True, if you believe the inference is definitely true, i.e. it correctly follows beyond a reasonable
doubt.

Probably True, if, based on the facts at hand, you think the inference is probably true; that it is more
likely to be true than false, but not true beyond a reasonable doubt.

More Information Required, if you decide that there is not enough data to make a decision based
on the provided facts (or lack of facts).

Probably False, if, based on the facts presented, you think the inference is probably false; i.e. it is
more likely to be false than true, but there is not enough evidence to suggest that it is definitely
false.

False, if you think the inference is definitely false; i.e. it must be incorrect because it misrepresents
the facts provided or contradicts the facts provided in the statement.

Have a look at the example questions below with the correct answers given.

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 Statement Ten:

Mark has to commute to and from the office every day, for five days a week. He has to
travel in if he wants to work, because he cannot work from home. Mark’s quickest journey
takes about 75 minutes and costs him £4.50 each way. Mark’s salary fluctuates each
week depending on how much work he does, but it is usually within £40 of £320.

Q25
Inference One: Mark is paid more when he works harder.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

Q26
Inference Two: Mark could get to work within 15 minutes.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

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 Statement Ten:

Mark has to commute to and from the office every day, for five days a week. He has to
travel in if he wants to work, because he cannot work from home. Mark’s quickest journey
takes about 75 minutes and costs him £4.50 each way. Mark’s salary fluctuates each
week depending on how much work he does, but it is usually within £40 of £320.

Q27
Inference Three: Mark’s journeys always cost him at least £2.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

Q28
Inference Four: Mark has previously been paid £560 in a week.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

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 Statement Eleven:

Sally would spend five hours every day with a small group of friends, so they could study
together in preparation for their upcoming exams in a month’s time. Sally would have very
little free time as she also wanted to study on her own. She achieved very high grades;
even better than what she was expecting.

Q29
Inference One: Sally studied with her friends on the weekend.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

Q30
Inference Two: The group of friends Sally studied with were motivated to do well in the upcoming
exams.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

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 Statement Eleven:

Sally would spend five hours every day with a small group of friends, so they could study
together in preparation for their upcoming exams in a month’s time. Sally would have very
little free time as she also wanted to study on her own. She achieved very high grades;
even better than what she was expecting.

Q31
Inference Three: Sally was expecting to get the best marks possible.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

Q32
Inference Four: Sally travelled around to different parts of the country to study in different places.

True
Probably True
Insufficient Data
Probably False
False

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 Section 5: Interpreting Information
Instructions:

The following questions will consist of a passage of information, followed by a series of conclusions.
You are instructed to assume all information in the passage is true. The task is to judge whether or
not each of the proposed conclusions logically flows beyond a reasonable doubt from the
information given in the paragraph.

If you think that a conclusion follows beyond a reasonable doubt (but perhaps not exactly, or
necessarily, unlike in the Deductions section), select Conclusion follows. If you think the conclusion
does not follow beyond a reasonable doubt based on the facts given, select Conclusion does not
follow. Do not use general knowledge when answering, only use the information provided in the
passage. Remember to judge each conclusion individually.

Read the example questions below then answer the questions which follow.

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 Statement Twelve:

The Social Housing Regulator investigates complaints stemming from all parties involved
in public housing. It responds to issues raised rather than providing a continuous oversight
role. It can only intervene when it finds that a failure to meet consumer standards has
caused or has potential to cause harm to tenants.

Q33
Conclusion One: The Social Housing Regulator can investigate an issue raised by a local council.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q34
Conclusion Two: The Social Housing Regulator can intervene in any situation where consumer
standards are not met.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q35
Conclusion Three: The Social Housing Regulator is a reactive organisation.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 Statement Thirteen:

The Mathematics Teacher Exchange is a highly innovative programme that aims to foster
a radical shift in improving primary mathematics teaching in England. It aims to learn from
the Shanghai mastery approach to teaching mathematics by sending and receiving
delegations to and from the city. Subsequently, the English schools have made changes in
practices.

Q36
Conclusion One: The Mathematics Teacher Exchange is similar to other programmes.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q37
Conclusion Two: The Shanghai mastery system is seen as a better way to teach mathematics.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q38
Conclusion Three: Mathematics results in England have improved.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 Statement Fourteen:

Productivity growth in the UK is currently sluggish. Matching productivity in the US would

make each family in the UK £21,000 better off. To boost productivity, the UK needs to pay
due attention to improving the skills of the workforce and to putting them to better use.
Productivity relies on a dynamic economy where good ideas spread rapidly, workers are
well-matched to jobs, and firms are able to scale up.

Q39
Conclusion One: Productivity growth in the UK lags behind most other nations.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

Q40
Conclusion Two: Productivity could be improved by giving extra training to the workforce.

Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow

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 -- END OF CRITICAL THINKING TEST --

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