【正文】 Practice QuestionsEach of thecritical reasoningquestions is based on a short argument, a set of statements, or a plan of action. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.1. Snowmaking machines work by spraying a mist that freezes immediately on contact with cold air. Because the sudden freezing kills bacteria, QuickFreeze is planning to market a wastewater purification system that works on the same principle. The process works only when temperatures are cold, however, so municipalities using it will still need to maintain a conventional system.Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest grounds for a prediction that municipalities will buy QuickFreeze’s purification system despite the need to maintain a conventional purification system as well?(A) Bacteria are not the only impurities that must be removed from wastewater.(B) Many municipalities have old wastewater purification systems that need to be replaced.(C) Conventional wastewater purification systems have not been fully successful in killing bacteria at cold temperatures.(D) During times of warm weather, when it is not in use, QuickFreeze’s purification system requires relatively little maintenance.(E) Places where the winters are cold rarely have a problem of water shortage.2. Homeowners aged 40 to 50 are more likely to purchase ice cream and are more likely to purchase it in larger amounts than are members of any other demographic group. The popular belief that teenagers eat more ice cream than adults must, therefore, be false.The argument is flawed primarily because the author(A) fails to distinguish between purchasing and consuming(B) does not supply information about homeowners in age groups other than 40 to 50(C) depends on popular belief rather than on documented research findings(D) does not specify the precise amount of ice cream purchased by any demographic group(E) discusses ice cream rather than more nutritious and healthful foods3. Suncorp, a new corporation with limited funds, has been clearing large sections of the tropical Amazon forest for cattle ranching. This practice continues even though greater profits can be made from rubber tapping, which does not destroy the forest, than from cattle ranching, which does destroy the forest.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain why Suncorp has been pursuing the less profitable of the two economic activities mentioned above?(A) The soil of the Amazon forest is very rich in nutrients that are important in the development of grazing lands.(B) Cattleranching operations that are located in tropical climates are more profitable than cattleranching operations that are located in coldweather climates.(C) In certain districts, profits made from cattle ranching are more heavily taxed than profits made from any other industry.(D) Some of the cattle that are raised on land cleared in the Amazon are killed by wildcats.(E) The amount of money required to begin a rubbertapping operation is twice as high as the amount needed to begin a cattle ranch.4. According to a prediction of the notsodistant future published in 1940, electricity would revolutionize agriculture. Electrodes would be inserted into the soil, and the current between them would kill bugs and weeds and make crop plants stronger.Which of the following, if true, most strongly indicates that the logic of the prediction above is flawed?(A) In order for farmers to avoid electric shock while working in the fields, the current could be turned off at such times without diminishing the intended effects.(B) If the proposed plan for using electricity were put into practice, farmers would save on chemicals now being added to the soil.(C) It cannot be taken for granted that the use of electricity is always beneficial.(D) Since weeds are plants, electricity would affect weeds in the same way as it would affect crop plants.(E) Because a planting machine would need to avoid ing into contact with the electrodes, new parts for planting machines would need to be designed.5. A pany is considering changing its policy concerning daily working hours. Currently, this pany requires all employees to arrive at work at 8 . The proposed policy would permit each employee to decide when to arrive—from as early as 6 . to as late as 11 .The adoption of this policy would be most likely to decrease employees’ productivity if the employees’ job functions required them to(A) work without interruption from other employees(B) consult at least once a day with employees from other panies(C) submit their work for a supervisor’s eventual approval(D) interact frequently with each other throughout the entire workday(E) undertake projects that take several days to plete6. Parland’s alligator population has been declining in recent years, primarily because of hunting. Alligators prey heavily on a species of freshwater fish that is highly valued as food by Parlanders, who had hoped that the decline in the alligator population would lead to an increase in the numbers of these fish available for human consumption. Yet the population of this fish species has also declined, even though the annual number caught for human consumption has not increased.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the decline in the population of the fish species?(A) The decline in the alligator population has meant that fishers can work in some parts of lakes and rivers that were formerly too dangerous.(B) Over the last few years, Parland’s mercial fishing enterprises have increased the number of fishing boats they use.(C) The main predator of these fish is another species of fish on which alligators also prey.(D) Many Parlanders who hunt alligators do so because of the high market price of alligator skins, not becau