GMAT (Verbal Critical Reasoning) Sample Questions Set-1
Categories: GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test)
Question: Manufacturers of mechanical pencils make most of their profit on pencil leads rather than on the pencils themselves. The Write Company, which cannot sell its leads as cheaply as other manufacturers can, plans to alter the design of its mechanical pencil so that it will accept only a newly designed Write Company lead, which will be sold at the same price as the Write Company's current lead.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the Write Company's projection that its plan will lead to an increase in its sales of pencil leads?
A. First-time buyers of mechanical pencils tend to buy the least expensive mechanical pencils available.
B. Annual sales of mechanical pencils are expected to triple over the next five years.
C. A Write Company executive is studying ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing pencil leads.
D. A rival manufacturer recently announced similar plans to introduce a mechanical pencil that would accept only the leads produced by that manufacturer.
E. In extensive test marketing, mechanical-pencil users found the new Write Company pencil markedly superior to other mechanical pencils they had used.
Answer: (e)
Question: Reviewer: The book Art's Decline argues that European painters today lack skills that were common among European painters of preceding centuries. In this the book must be right, since its analysis of 100 paintings, 50 old and 50 contemporary, demonstrates convincingly that none of the contemporary paintings are executed as skillfully as the older paintings.
Which of the following points to the most serious logical flaw in the reviewer's argument?
A. The paintings chosen by the book's author for analysis could be those that most support the book's thesis.
B. There could be criteria other than the technical skill of the artist by which to evaluate a painting.
C. The title of the book could cause readers to accept the book's thesis even before they read the analysis of the paintings that supports it.
D. The particular methods currently used by European painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used by painters in other parts of the world.
E. A reader who was not familiar with the language of art criticism might not be convinced by the book's analysis of the 100 paintings.
Answer: (a)
Question: Correctly measuring the productivity of service workers is complex. Consider, for example, postal workers: they are often said to be more productive if more letters are delivered per postal worker. But is this really true? What if more letters are lost or delayed per worker at the same time that more are delivered?
The objection implied above to the productivity measure described is based on doubts about the truth of which of the following statements?
A. Postal workers are representative of service workers in general.
B. The delivery of letters is the primary activity of the postal service.
C. Productivity should be ascribed to categories of workers, not individuals.
D. The quality of services rendered can appropriately be ignored in computing productivity.
E. The number of letters delivered is relevant to measuring the productivity of postal workers.
Answer: (d)
Question: To prevent some conflicts of interest, Congress could prohibit high-level government officials from accepting positions as lobbyists for three years after such officials leave government service. One such official concluded, however, that such a prohibition would be unfortunate because it would prevent high-level government officials from earning a livelihood for three years.
The official's conclusion logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
A. Laws should not restrict the behavior of former government officials.
B. Lobbyists are typically people who have previously been high-level government officials.
C. Low-level government officials do not often become lobbyists when they leave government service.
D. High-level government officials who leave government service are capable of earning a livelihood only as lobbyists.
E. High-level government officials who leave government service are currently permitted to act as lobbyists for only three years.
Answer: (d)
Question: According to the Tristate Transportation Authority, making certain improvements to the main commuter rail line would increase ridership dramatically. The authority plans to finance these improvements over the course of five years by raising automobile tolls on the two highway bridges along the route the rail line serves. Although the proposed improvements are indeed needed, the authority's plan for securing the necessary funds should be rejected because it would unfairly force drivers to absorb the entire cost of something from which they receive no benefit.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the effectiveness of the authority's plan to finance the proposed improvements by increasing bridge tolls?
A. Before the authority increases tolls on any of the area bridges, it is required by law to hold public hearings at which objections to the proposed increase can be raised.
B. Whenever bridge tolls are increased, the authority must pay a private contractor to adjust the automated toll-collecting machines.
C. Between the time a proposed toll increase is announced and the time the increase is actually put into effect, many commuters buy more tokens than usual to postpone the effects of the increase.
D. When tolls were last increased on the two bridges in question, almost 20 percent of the regular commuter traffic switched to a slightly longer alternative route that has since been improved.
E. The chairman of the authority is a member of the Tri State Automobile Club that has registered strong opposition to the proposed toll increase.
Answer: (d)