Workforce Verbal Reasoning Past Questions and Answers

Workforce Verbal Reasoning Past Questions and Answers

111)

Time and again it has been shown that students who attend colleges with low faculty/student ratios get the most well-rounded education. As a result, when my children are ready to attend college, I'll be sure they attend a school with a verysmall student population.Which of the following, if true, identifies the greatest flaw in the reasoning above?

A. A low faculty/student ratio is the effect of a well-rounded education, not its source.
B. Intelligence should be considered the result of childhood environment, not advanced education.
C. A very small student population does not by itself, ensure a low faculty/student ratio.
D. Parental desires and preferences rarely determine a child's choice of a college or university.
E. Students must take advantage of the low faculty/student ratio by intentionally choosing small classes.

View answer

Answer: C

Explantion:

The evidence says that students who attend colleges with low faculty/student ratios get well-rounded educations, but the conclusion is that the author will send his kids to colleges with small student populations. Since colleges can have the second without necessarily having the first, (C) is correct.

112)

The increase in the number of newspaper articles exposed as fabrications serves to bolster the contention that publishers are more interested in boosting circulation than in printing the truth. Even minor publications have staffs to check
such obvious fraud. The argument above assumes that

A. Newspaper stories exposed as fabrications are a recent phenomenon.
B. Everything a newspaper prints must be factually verifiable.
C. Fact checking is more comprehensive for minor publications than for major ones.
D. Only recently have newspapers admitted to publishing intentionally fraudulent stories.
E. The publishers of newspapers are the people who decide what to print in their newspapers.

View answer

Evidence: more newspaper articles exposed as fabrications. Conclusion: Publishers want to increase circulation, not print the truth. This conclusion makes sense only if we assume (E), that the publishers are the ones who decide what to print. If (E) weren't true and this decision was up to someone other than the publisher, the argument would fall apart.

113)

The rate of violent crime in this state is up 30 percent from last year. The fault lies entirely in our court system: Recently our judges' sentences have been so lenient that criminals can now do almost anything without fear of a long prison
term. The argument above would be weakened if it were true that

A. 85 percent of the other states in the nation have lower crime rates than does this state.
B. White collar crime in this state has also increased by over 25 percent in the last year.
C. 35 percent of the police in this state have been laid off in the last year due to budget cuts.
D. Polls show that 65 percent of the population in this state opposes capital punishment.
E. The state has hired 25 new judges in the last year to compensate for deaths and retirements.

View answer

Answer: C

Explantion:

C is the right option
If we can show that something besides the court system may explain the increase in crime we would weaken the argument. The author assumes that there is no other cause. Tackle the choices, looking for another cause besides the allegedly lenient court sentences.
(A) Does not compare one state to another. The argument's scope is the crime rate increase in this particular state only. In (B), the fact that white collar crime is also on the rise strengthens rather than weakens the argument. (C) presents an alternative explanation for the increase in crime (reduction in police). As for (D), what if 65percent of people in the state oppose capital punishment? This provides little insight into why crime has gone up since last year. (E) tells us that numerous judges have been replaced in the last year. It is possible that the new judges are more lenient,
but this would only strengthen the author's argument.

114)

In Los Angeles, a political candidate who buys saturation radio advertising will get maximum name recognition. The statement above logically conveys which of the following?

A. Radio advertising is the most important factor in political campaigns in Los Angeles.
B. Maximum name recognition in Los Angeles will help a candidate to win a higher percentage of votes cast in the city.
C. Saturation radio advertising reaches every demographically distinct sector of the voting population of Los Angeles.
D. For maximum name recognition a candidate need not spend on media channels other than radio advertising.
E. A candidate's record of achievement in the Los Angeles area will do little to affect his or her name recognition there.

View answer

Answer: D

Explantion:

An L.A. political candidate who buys saturation radio advertising will get maximum name recognition. In other words, such advertising is sufficient for maximum name recognition. If so, then it must be true that, as (D) says, a candidate can get such recognition without spending on other forms of media.

The merits of single-sex education have long been debated in the United States, where demand for single-sex schools is on the rise. Title IV, a 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, was amended in 2006, allowing for the establishment of single-sex state schools so long as a coeducational alternative is available. While critics view single-sex schools as
discriminatory and inadequate preparation for adult life, advocates claim that children, and particularly girls, benefit from a single-sex education. Some American research shows that girls attending single-sex schools have higher self-esteem, participate more in class, and score higher on aptitude tests than their counterparts in co-educational schools. A 2005 study claimed that both girls and boys attending single-sex schools spent more time on homework and had less disciplinary problems. Single-sex schools subvert stereotypical course-taking patterns and results. Advocates of single-sex schooling argue that educators can teach more effectively by
tailoring their tuition to reflect current research about gender-based brain development. Many experts, however, believe that research into single-sex education is inconclusive, and that so long as the education provided is gender-fair, both girls and boys can thrive in a co-educational environment.

115)

Proponents of single-sex education believe there are neurological differences between the two genders.

True
False
Cannot say

View answer

Answer: A

Explantion:

True – the seventh sentence states that educators can tailor their tuition to
reflect current research about gender-based brain development