Dragnet Verbal Reasoning Questions and Answers


Nobody knows what life forms may exist outside our own planet. The search for extra-terrestrial life in the universe took a step nearer to fruition with the discovery in June of what are believed to be traces of water on the surface of Mars. Life on our planet requires water and its presence on Mars may point towards the existence of past life on the planet. The Phoenix Mars Lander robot landed on the plains of Mars on May 25 2008, searching for signs that the Martian environment might once have been habitable to life. When it dug a ditch in the planet?s surface, photos revealed small patches of bright material. Four days later those patches had disappeared, causing scientists to speculate that they were water ice that had previously been buried and which vaporised when exposed to the air. Scientists insisted that if the patches had been salt, they wouldn't have disappeared and if they had been solid carbon dioxide, then they wouldn't have vaporised.


16)

Life forms on Mars require water in order to survive

Cannot say - The passage states that “Life on our plant requires water”. The passage also says that we do not know about every single life form: “Nobody knows what life forms may exist outside our own planet”. Given that the passage does not tell us whether all life on Mars (or any planet other than our own) does or does not require water, we cannot say whether or not this statement is true or false, therefore we have to answer Cannot Say.
17)

The Phoenix Mars Lander has provided proof that life once existed on Mars.

Cannot say - The passage states that scientists speculate that there were ice patches on Mars, which is needed for life. We are told about the Phoenix Mars Lander and its discovery but we are not told what the Phoenix Mars Lander has proved, disproved, or failed to prove. For illustration: this passage could be reporting on just one aspect of what Phoenix has discovered. So we cannot say if this is true or false without further information.

Tip: this statement would have been False if the passage had said something to the effect that this is everything the Phoenix Mars Lander has ever done or found.

In an effort to preserve fishing stocks, the European Union uses a quota system to regulate the amount of fish that can be taken out of the North Sea. This involves defining the tonnage of the various types of North Sea fish that each EU member country can take. As soon as the catch is landed - but not before – fishermen can be fined for landing more fish at their port than their quota permits.
Each year fishermen dump thousands of tonnes of fish back into the sea either because they have reached their quota and don?t want to be fined or because the fish are too small to be caught legally. Some environmental groups feel that existing approaches are not working since these fish are already dead and throwing them back serves no real purpose. They believe that other steps need to be taken to conserve North Sea fishing stocks and avoid depletion.


18)

Fishermen can be fined for catching too many fish.

False - The passage states that fishermen can be fined “as soon as the catch is landed -but not before-?” so they cannot be fined for catching too many fish.
19)

Some environmental groups think new fish conservation methods are required.

True - The passage states that environmental groups believe “existing approaches are not working” and “other steps need to be taken”. So if measures other than existing are called for, this must mean new methods are called for.
20)

Fish stocks in the North Sea are nearly exhausted.

Cannot say - The passage tells us only that the EU are seeking to preserve existing stocks and environmentalists wish to avoid depletion. The passage does not tell us if fish stocks are near to depletion or indeed if they are plentiful, so we must answer Cannot Say.

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