Critical Reasoning Questions and Answers


16)

Fiona visits either her mother or her sister every day. Sometimes she has use of the car and sometimes her son takes it. If it is a Monday & she has the car then Fiona visits her mother. If it is a public holiday and she does not have the car then Fiona visits her sister. Sometimes it can be a Monday and a public holiday.

Which of the following statements must be true?

Explanation: 

The question statement can be summarized as follows:
Monday + Car = Visits Mother
Public Holiday + No Car = Visits Sister
A. May not be true because there is no mention of car.
B. May not be true because it may not be a Monday.
C. May not be true because it may not be a Monday.
D. Must be true because Monday + Car = Mother.
E. May not be true because there is no mention of car.

Option D is the correct answer.
17)

Of the teams competing in the world archery championships, forty percent are from Europe. Three quarters as many are from the United States and one tenth are from Africa.

What fraction of teams are from neither Europe, the US or Africa.

Explanation: 

The fractions are calculated as follows:
Europe = 40% United States = 30% Africa = 10%
40% + 30% + 10% = 80% of teams are from Europe, the US or Africa.
Therefore 20% must be from other countries. 20% equates to 1/5.
Option C is correct.
18)

The price of both the Sony VM1 and the LG VX2 video monitors were reduced in the annual sale. Which item was reduced by the larger amount?
Statement 1 - The price of the Sony VM1 was reduced by 20%.
Statement 2 - The price of the LG VX2 was reduced by 50%.

Which of the statements above make it possible to answer the question.

Explanation:

Statement 1 is not sufficient as it says nothing about the reduction of the LG VX2.
Statement 2 is not sufficient as it says nothing about the reduction of the Sony VM1.
Statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient because they give only the percentage
reduction and the initial prices are not known. It is therefore not possible to say
which monitor was reduced by the larger amount.
Option E is the correct answer.
19)

There are two standing stones in a field. The first casts a shadow 4 metres long and the second casts a shadow 5 metres long. How tall is the second standing stone?
Statement 1 - The first standing stone is 3 meters tall.
Statement 2 - The stones are 20 metres apart.

Which of the statements above make it possible to answer the question.

Explanation : 

Statement 1 alone is sufficient. Since we now have both, the height of the first stone and the length of its shadow, the height of second stone can be found using the same ratio.
Second 2 alone is insufficient. The distance between the stones does not provide any information about their heights.
Therefore Statement 1 alone is sufficient to answer the question and statement 2 alone cannot answer the question.

Option A is the correct answer.
Note that you do not need to actually calculate the result – only to deduce that you need both pieces of information to do so.
20)

The principality of Angora has a population of 100,000. Exactly 60% of the population are citizens of the principality and 50% are over 21 years of age. How many people are eligible to vote?
Statement 1 - Exactly 80% of citizens complete their national service.
Statement 2 - Only citizens over 21 years of age who have completed their national service are permitted to vote.

Which of the statements above make it possible to answer the question.

Explanation :

The first statement alone is insufficient because the question statement does not specify the relevance of national service.
The second statement alone is insufficient because the question statement does not specify the proportion of citizens who have completed their national service.
Taking the first and second statements together it is still not possible to answer the question of eligibility. This is because even though we know the percentage of citizens and the percentage of people over 21 years of age, it is not stated what percentage of the population are citizens of the principality and are also over 21 years of age.
Therefore Statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient.
Option E is correct.

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