GMAT Critical Reasoning Practice Test 04

1.

Photography is no longer an art form. Nowadays everyone has access to digital cameras that only need to be pointed at the subject in order to generate a perfect image.

The writer of the argument apparently assumes that

A. the selection of the subject is not an important artistic factor in photography
B. digital cameras will continue to improve in quality
C. digital cameras can never go wrong
D. photography with all other types of camera is an art form
E. art is not perfect

2.

The enormous distances between stars are not spaces entirely devoid of matter. The interstellar spaces are filled with ‘dust’: very low density matter. This miniscule amount of matter, spread over almost infinite distances, acts like a curtain obscuring the stars that lie behind. If it were not for this material we would see no dark patches in the sky at night: the sky would be entirely covered with stars.

The two parts in boldface play what roles in the argument above?

A. The first is a suggestion that the author wishes to dispute. The second is hypothesis that the author wishes to explain.
B. The first is the main point the author wishes to make. The second is a hypothetical result of accepting that point.
C. The first is a fact that the author thinks is important in explaining a certain phenomenon. The second is a result that the author would expect if that fact were not true.
D. The first is a speculation that the author wishes to justify. The second is a consequence that would result if that speculation is not true.
E. The first is an established fact that the author wishes to explain. The second is a consequence of accepting this fact.

3.

The number of people diagnosed with dengue fever (which is contracted from the bite of an infected mosquito) in North India this year is twice the number diagnosed last year. The authorities have concluded that measures to control the mosquito population have failed in this region.

All of the following, if true, would cast doubt on the authorities’ conclusion except

A. more cases are now reported because of increases in administrative efficiency
B. a very high proportion of the cases were in people who had recently returned from neighboring countries
C. an effective diagnostic test was introduced about nine months ago
D. the disease is prevalent only in some industrialized areas which have shown a dramatic increase in population due to migration
E. the incidence (number of cases per thousand) of malaria, also contracted from mosquito bites, has increased

4.

Questions 4-5 refer to the following:

In a recent study of responses to visual images, researchers found that women most frequently gave the rating ‘most attractive’ to images of male faces that were more feminine in contour, and rated more masculine faces, on average, ‘less attractive’. The researchers concluded that modern women prefer men who are less obviously masculine in their facial features.

The conclusion would be most severely weakened if which of the following were true?

A. Facial features are not the criterion that most women use to decide whether a man is attractive.
B. The visual images were computer generated composites of photographs and not pictures of actual men.
C. The rating scale was a ten point scale with most attractive scoring 1-2 and least attractive scoring 8-10.
D. Most popular male actors have the features that the study allocated to the more masculine category.
E. The faces with the more masculine features were all significantly older than those with the feminine features.

5.

Refer to the extract in the previous question

Which is the following is an assumption that the researchers apparently made in this study?

A. The women who participated in the study were sufficiently representative of modern women in general.
B. Male faces are, in general, attractive to women.
C. Visual images are important to women.
D. It is impossible to predict what features an ideal face would have.
E. Women in previous ages would have preferred more masculine men.

6.

Red is a color which has powerful effects on human beings as well as animals. A group of psychologists carried out an experiment which confirms the subconscious effects of this color on human behavior. They provided selected sports teams at school and college level with either red or blue shorts and recorded the outcome of the games. The teams wearing red won in a disproportionate number of matches. The psychologists suggested that either the teams wearing red subconsciously felt themselves more powerful, or that the non-red teams were subconsciously intimidated by the red color.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the psychologists’ suggestion?

A. Each team wore red in some matches and blue in others.
B. The color blue has the subconscious effect of making human beings less competitive.
C. The effect was only observed if all the team members wore white shirts.
D. Red signifies danger in some cultures whereas it signifies happiness in others.
E. In a subsequent study, teams with all-red outfits were more likely to report that they thought they would win no matter what color the opponents wore.