LOGICAL REASONING

DIRECTIONS. In this section you will be given brief statements or passages and be required to
evaluate the reasoning involved. In some instances, more than one choice will appear
to be a possible answer. You are to choose the best answer. Use common sense and
reasonableness in making your selection.

For Questions 1 – 2
Probability is a curiously unstable concept. Semantically speaking, it is an assumption, a pure
artifice, a concept that may or may not be true, but nevertheless facilitates a logical process. It is
not a hypothesis because, by its very nature, it cannot be proved. Suppose we flip a coin that
has a distinguishable head and tail. In our ignorance of the coming result we say that the coin
has one chance in two of falling heads up, or that the probability of a head turning up is one-to-
one. Here it must be understood that the one-to-two is not “true” but is merely a species of the
genus probability.

1. The author of this passage assumes that

A. nothing about our coin influences its fall in favor of either side or that all influences are
counterbalanced by equal and opposite influences
B. probability can be dealt with without the use of logic
C. an assumption must be plausible
D. the probability of the coin’s landing on an edge is counterbalanced by the probability of its
not landing on an edge
E. probability can be precisely calculated

2. The last sentence implies that

A. probability is not adequate D. truth is not important
B. one-to-two is merely a guess E. genus is a category of species
C. one-to-two is a worthless ratio

3. Self-confidence is a big factor in success. The person who thinks he can, will master most of the
things he attempts. The person who thinks he can’t, may not try.
The author of these statements would agree that
A. nothing is impossible D. self-confidence is of most importance
B. no task is too large E. trying is half the battle
C. success relies on effort

4. Booker T. Washington was criticized by members of his own race for rationalizing the fate of
African-American people with the following assertion: “No race shall prosper ‘till it learns there is
as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.”
Which one of the following, if true, would strengthen the criticism of Washington’s assertion?
A. Most African-American people during Washington’s time were denied access to a liberal arts
education.
B. African-American landowners who worked hard running a farm were often able to pay for the
artistic or professional education of their children
C. White people had respect for both African-American poets and African-American farmers
D. The economically dominant countries of the world are mainly agricultural.
E. Most of Washington’s critics had never tilled a field.
 5. If no test has no easy questions, then all of the following must be true EXCEPT
A. every test has some easy questions
B. some tests have some easy questions
C. no test has all hard questions
D. easy tests have easy questions
E. every test has some hard questions

For Questions 6 – 7
Because college-educated men and women as a group earn more than whose without college
educations, and because in Eastern Europe and Latin America. 105 women are enrolled in
colleges for every 100 men, the total earnings of college women in these areas should be equal
to, if not greater than, the earnings of college men. But college women in Eastern Europe and in
Latin America earn only 65% of what college men in these countries earn.

6. Which one of the following, if true, is most useful in explaining this discrepancy?
A. The earning power of both men and women rises sharply in accord with their level of
education.
B. In some countries of Western Europe, the earning power of college-educated women is
higher than that of men in Eastern Europe and Latin America.
C. In Eastern Europe, more men than women who enter college fail to complete their
educations.
D. The largest percentage of women in Eastern European and Latin American universities study
to become teachers; the largest percentage of men study engineering.
E. In Eastern Europe and Latin America, about 60% of the total workforce is college educated.

7. Which of the following is a faulty assumption based on the statistics of the passage?
A. The passage assumes all of the college women enter the workforce.
B. The passage assumes conditions in Eastern Europe and in Latin America are the same.
C. The passage assumes that men and women should be paid equally.
D. The passage assumes that college-educated women outnumber women who have not
attended college in Eastern Europe and Latin America.
E. The passage assumes that all college-educated workers will be paid more than workers who
do not have college educations.
8. When consumers are in a buying mood, and the cost of money is low, a shrewd retailer with a
popular product will reduce prices of items that are selling slowly and make up for any loss by
raising prices on the product or products that are popular.
In which one of the following situations are these recommendations observed?
A. At Easter, John’s Markets offered one dozen eggs at half their usual price, hams and turkeys
at a 40% discount, but because of heavy rains, raised the price of many green vegetables.
B. This Christmas Arrow Clothiers is offering six-month interest free charge accounts to any
customers who purchase $50 or more of merchandise from their stock of discounted summer
wear and the fashionable new op-art neck wear.
C. Since interest rates have reached a yearly low, the price of tax-free bonds is near an all-time
high. Discount Brokerage has launched a campaign to sell off all of its holding in precious
metals mutual funds that are now at a their lowest price in years.
D. Angus Jewelry is offering special savings for customers who make purchases in May. With
graduations coming soon, they are offering engraved gold Swiss watches, as well as lower
prices on heart-shaped jewelry items that were featured in Valentine’s Day.
E. Travel agents in Orlando are capitalizing on the lowered air-fares to lure tourists by offering
special rates on hotel accommodations and discounted admission tickets to two of the large
theme parks in the area.

9. While some cities impose tough, clear restrictions on demolitions of older buildings, our city has
no protection for cultural landmarks. Designation as a landmark by the Cultural Heritage
Commission can delay a demolition for only one year. This delay can be avoided easily by an
owner’s demonstrating an economic hardship. Developers who simply ignore designations and
tear down buildings receive only small fines. Therefore, _________.
Which one of the following best completes the passage above?
A. the number of buildings protected by Cultural Heritage Commission designation must be
increased
B. developers must be encouraged to help preserve our older buildings
C. the designation as landmark must be changed to delay demolition for more than one year
D. developers who ignore designations to protect buildings must be subject to higher fines
E. if our older buildings are to be saved, we need clearer and more rigorously enforced laws

10. In ballet school throughout the country, 95% of the students and teachers are female, and 5% are
male, but professional dance companies need at least 45% male dancers.
Which one of the following, if true, would help to explain these statistics?
A. The social acceptance of dancing as a profession is much higher for females than for males.
B. Modern choreographers can create dances that can be performed by companies with more
female than male dancers.
C. There are fewer dances than songs in most films and stage musicals.
D. Men who have classical ballet training develop the same muscles as are used in track events
such as the hurdles and the high jump.
E. Women’s bodies are more likely to mature at an earlier age than men’s.
For Questions 11 – 12
Sixty percent of the American people, according to the latest polls, now believe that inflation is the
nation’s most important problem. This problem of inflation is closely related to rising prices. The
inflation rate has been 10% or more most of this year. Undoubtedly, our gluttonous appetite for
high-priced foreign oil has been a major factor. We have been shipping billions of dollars
overseas, more than foreigners can spend or invest here. Dollars are selling cheaply and this
has forced the value of the dollar down. Government programs now being inaugurated to slow
this trend are at best weak, but deserve our support, as they appear to be the best our
government can produce. Hopefully, they won’t fail as they have in the past.

11. The author of this passage implies that

A. inflation cannot be stopped or slowed, because of a weak government
B. the fear of inflation is not only unwarranted, but also detrimental
C. 40% of non-Americans believe inflation is not the most important problem
D. foreign oil is the sole reason for the sudden increase in inflation
E. the present programs will probably not slow inflation

12. Which one of the following contradicts something in the preceding passage?
A. Foreign oil is actually underpriced.
B. The inflation rate has not risen for most of this year.
C. Overseas investors are few and far between.
D. Our government is trying a new approach to end inflation.
E. The weakness of the programs stems from lack of support.

13. Sales of new homes in Arizona fell almost 20% in the month of February, compared to last year.
Analysis attribute the decline to several factors. Record rainfalls kept both builders and buyers
indoors for most of the month. The rise in the interest rates have brought mortgage rates to a
ten-month high. Both the sales of new homes and housing starts have reached new lows. With
every indication that mortgage rates will remain high for the rest of the year. Arizona home-
builders foresee a very grim year ahead.
Which one of the following would add support to the conclusion of this passage?
A. Last year’s sales increased in the second half of the year, despite some increase in interest
rates.
B. Last year’s sales were accelerated by good weather in January and February.
C. Widespread advertising and incentives to attract buyers this February were ineffective.
D. Rain in Arizona usually ends late in February.
E. Home sales and building starts throughout the country are about the same this year as last
year.

14. No one reads Weight-Off magazine unless he is fat. Everyone reads Weight-Off magazine
unless he eats chocolate.
Which one of the following is inconsistent with the above?
A. No one is fat and only some people eat chocolate.
B. Some people are fat and no one eats chocolate.
C. Everyone is fat.
D. No one is fat and no one reads Weight-Off.
E. No one who is fat eats chocolate.
 15. JERRY: Every meal my wife cooks is fantastic.
DAVE: I disagree. Most of my wife’s meals are fantastic, too.
Dave’s response shows that he understood Jerry to mean that
A. Dave wife does not cook fantastic meals.
B. Only Jerry’s wife cooks fantastic meals.
C. Every one of Jerry’s wife’s meals is fantastic.
D. Not every one of Jerry’s wife’s meals is fantastic.
E. No one cooks fantastic meals all the time.

For Questions 16 – 17
Commentators and politicians are given to enlisting the rest of America as allies, sprinkling such
phrases as “Americans believe” or “Americans will simply not put up with” into their
pronouncements on whatever issue currently claims their attentions. They cite polls showing
60% or 80% or 90% support for their wives. There may (or may not) have been such polls, but
even if the polls are real, their finer points will not be reported because they usually contradict the
speaker’s point. The alleged 80% support for a balanced budget amendment, for example,
plummets to less than 30% if the pollster so much as mentions an enlistment program like social
security. People do have opinions, but they are rarely so specific or so unequivocal as your news
broadcaster or your senator would lead you to believe.

16. The argument of this passage would be less convincing if it could be shown that
A. In a recent poll, 80% of the Americans responding supported a balanced budget
amendment.
B. Most polls used by television commentators are conducted by telephone calls lasting less
than 35 seconds.
C. Far more Americans are indifferent to or badly informed about current affairs than are well
informed.
D. The polls’ predictions of who will be elected president have been correct about every
presidential election since Truman defeated Dewey.
E. many polls are based in samples that do not accurately represent the demographics of an
area.

17. The argument of this passage proceeds by using all of the following EXCEPT
A. supporting a general point with a specific example
B. questioning the honesty of politicians and commentators
C. reinterpreting evidence presented as supporting a position being rejected
D. pointing out inherent inconsistencies in the claims of the politicians and commentators
E. exposing the limitations of arguments based on statistics
18. The most often heard complaint about flights on Scorpio Airlines is that there is insufficient room
in the cabin of the plane to a accommodate all of the passengers’ carry-on baggage. The number
of passengers who carry on all of their luggage rather than checking it at the ticket counter has
increased so much that on more than half of the flights on Scorpio Airlines passengers have
difficulty finding space for their bags in the cabin of the plane. The company is considering ways
to alleviate this problem.
All of the following are plausible ways of dealing with the problem EXCEPT
A. Reducing the allowable size of carry-on luggage.
B. Charging passengers who carry on more than one bag a fee.
C. Increasing the fares of flights on lightly traveled routes.
D. Reducing the seating capacity of the cabins to provide more space for luggage.
E. Offering a price reduction to ticket buyers who check their bags.

19. X: “We discover new knowledge by the syllogistic process when we say, for example, ‘All men
are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore Socrates is mortal.”
Y: Yes, but the fact is that if all men are mortal we cannot tell whether Socrates is a man until
we have determined his mortality –– in other words, until we find him dead. Of course, it’s a
great convenience to assume that Socrates is a man because he looks like one, but that’s
just a deduction. If we examine its formulation –– Objects that resemble men in most
respects are men; Socrates resembles men in most respects; therefore Socrates is a man’
–– it’s obvious that if he is a man, he resembles men in all necessary respects. So it’s
obvious we’re right back where we started.”
X: “Yes, we must know all the characteristics of men, and that Socrates has all of them, before
we can be sure.”
Which one of the following best expresses X’s concluding observation?
A. In deductive thinking we are simply reminding ourselves of the implications of our
generalizations.
B. It is often too convenient to arrive at conclusions simply by deduction instead of induction.
C. Socrates’ mortality is not the issue; the issue is critical thinking.
D. Socrates’ characteristics do not necessarily define his mortality.
E. The key to the syllogistic process is using theoretical, rather than practical, issue of logic

20. It takes a good telescope to see the moons of Neptune. I can’t see the moons of Neptune with
my telescope. Therefore, I do not have a good telescope.
Which one of the following most closely parallels the logic of this statement?
A. It takes two to tango. You are doing the tango. Therefore, you have a partner.
B. If you have a surfboard, you can surf. You do not have a surfboard. Therefore, you cannot
surf.
C. You need gin and vermouth to make a martini. You do not have any gin. Therefore, you
cannot make a martini.
D. If you know the area of a circle, you can find its circumference. You cannot figure out the
circumference.
E. You can write a letter to your friend with a pencil. You do not have a pencil. Therefore, you
cannot write the letter.
For Questions 21 – 22
Over 90% of our waking life depends on habits which for the most part we are unconscious of,
from brushing our teeth in the morning, to the time and manner in which we go to sleep at night.
Habits are tools which serve the important function of relieving the conscious mind for more
important activities. Habits are stored patterns of behavior which are found to serve the needs of
the individual that has them and are formed from what once was conscious behavior which over
years of repetition can become an automatic behavior pattern of the unconscious mind.

21. It can be inferred that the author bases his beliefs on

A. the testimony of a continued group of students
B. biblical passages referring to the unconscious state
C. an intense psychological research
D. extensive psychological research
E. recent findings of clinical psychologists

22. The last sentence implies that

A. all repetitious patterns become unconscious behavior
B. conscious behavior eventually becomes habit
C. the unconscious mind causes repetitive behavior
D. automatic behavior patterns of the conscious mind are not possible
E. habits can be good or bad

For Questions 23 – 24
It should be emphasized that only one person in a thousand who is bitten by a disease-carrying
mosquito develops symptoms that require hospitalization, according to Dr. Reeves. But it is a
potentially serious disease that requires close collaboration by citizens and local government to
prevent it from reaching epidemic proportions.
Citizens should fill or drain puddles where mosquitoes breed. They should repair leaking
swamp coolers and be sure swimming pools have a good circulating system. Make sure drain
gutters aren’t clogged and holding rainwater. Keep barrels and other water-storage containers
tightly covered. Use good window screens.

23. Which one of the following statements, if true, would most strengthen the advice given in the
second paragraph above?
A. Leaking swamp coolers are the primary cause of mosquito infestation.
B. It is possible to completely eliminate mosquitoes from a neighborhood.
C. No one can completely protect herself from being bitten by a mosquito.
D. Tightly covered water containers do not ensure the purity of the water in all case.
E. Window screens seldom need to be replaced.

24. What additional information would strengthen the clarity of the second sentence above?
A. The names of some local governments that have fought against disease.
B. The name of the disease under discussion.
C. The names of those bitten by disease-carrying mosquitoes.
D. The full name of Dr. Reeves.
E. A description of the symptoms that a bitten person might develop.
25. That which is rare is always more valuable than that which is abundant. And so we are
continually frustrated in our attempts to teach young people how to use time wisely; they have too
much of it to appreciate its value.
Which one of the following statements, if true, would most weaken the argument above?
A. Appreciation is not the same as obedience.
B. “Abundant” is a term whose definition varies widely.
C. Currency that is based on rare metals is more valuable than currency that is not.
D. Many young people possess an intuitive knowledge of what time is, a knowledge they lose
around middle age.
E. The leisure time of people aged 18 – 24 has decreased by 80% over the last 10 years.

26. Many theories now believe that people cannot learn to write if they are constantly worrying about
whether their prose is correct or not. When a would-be writer worries about correctness, his
ability for fluency is frozen.
With which one of the following statements would the author of the above passage probably
agree?
A. Writing theorists are probably wrong.
B. Writing prose is different from writing poetry.
C. Literacy is a function of relaxation.
D. Fear blocks action.
E. Most good writers are careless.