GMAT Sample Questions

GMAT Verbal Section : GMAT Sample Critical Reasoning Questions

41. Sales taxes tend to be regressive, affecting poor people more severely than wealthy people. When all purchases of consumer goods are taxed at a fixed percentage of the purchase price, poor people pay a larger proportion of their income in sales taxes than wealthy people do.

    It can be correctly inferred on the basis of the statements above that which of the following is true?

    1. Poor people constitute a larger proportion of the taxpaying population than wealthy people do.
    2. Poor people spend a larger proportion of their income on purchases of consumer goods than wealthy people do.
    3. Wealthy people pay, on average, a larger amount of sales taxes than poor people do.
    4. The total amount spent by all poor people on purchases of consumer goods exceeds the total amount spent by all wealthy people on consumer goods.
    5. The average purchase price of consumer goods bought by wealthy people is higher than that of consumer goods bought by poor people.

    Answer : B

42. Reviewing historical data, medical researchers in California found that counties with the largest number of television sets per capita have had the lowest incidence of a serious brain disease, mosquito-borne encephalitis. The researchers have concluded that people in these counties stay indoors more and thus avoid exposure to the disease.

    The researchers' conclusion would be most strengthened if which of the following were true?

    1. Programs designed to control the size of disease-bearing mosquito populations have not affected the incidence of mosquito- borne encephalitis.
    2. The occupations of county residents affect their risk of exposure to mosquito-borne encephalitis more than does television-watching.
    3. The incidence of mosquito-borne encephalitis in counties with the largest number of television sets per capita is likely to decrease even further.
    4. The more time people in a county spend outdoors, the greater their awareness of the dangers of mosquito-borne encephalitis.
    5. The more television sets there are per capita in a county, the more time the average county resident spends watching television

    Answer : E

43. The city's public transportation system should be removed from the jurisdiction of the municipal government, which finds it politically impossible either to raise fares or to institute cost-saving reductions in service. If public transportation were handled by a private firm, profits would be vigorously pursued, thereby eliminating the necessity for covering operating costs with government funds.

    The statements above best support the conclusion that

    1. the private firms that would handle public transportation would have experience in the transportation industry
    2. political considerations would not prevent private firms from ensuring that revenues cover operating costs
    3. private firms would receive government funding if it were needed to cover operating costs
    4. the public would approve the cost-cutting actions taken by the private firm
    5. the municipal government would not be resigned to accumulating merely enough income to cover costs

    Answer : B

44. To entice customers away from competitors, Red Label supermarkets have begun offering discounts on home appliances to customers who spend $50 or more on any shopping trip to Red Label. Red Label executives claim that the discount program has been a huge success, since cash register receipts of $50 or more are up thirty percent since the beginning of the program.

    Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the claim of the Red Label executives?

    1. Most people who switched to Red Label after the program began spend more than $50 each time they shop at Red Label.
    2. Most people whose average grocery bill is less than $50 would not be persuaded to spend more by any discount program.
    3. Most people who received discounts on home appliances through Red Label's program will shop at Red Label after the program ends.
    4. Since the beginning of the discount program, most of the people who spend $50 or more at Red Label are people who have never before shopped there and whose average grocery bill has always been higher than $50.
    5. Almost all of the people who have begun spending $50 or more at Red Label since the discount program began are longtime customers who have increased the average amount of their shopping bills by making fewer trips.

    Answer : E

45. Throughout the 1950's, there were increases in the numbers of dead birds found in agricultural areas after pesticide sprayings. Pesticide manufacturers claimed that the publicity given to bird deaths stimulated volunteers to look for dead birds, and that the increase in numbers reported was attributable to the increase in the number of people looking.

    Which of the following statements, if true, would help to refute the claim of the pesticide manufacturers?

    1. The publicity given to bird deaths was largely regional and never reached national proportions.
    2. Pesticide sprayings were timed to coincide with various phases of the life cycles of the insects they destroyed.
    3. No provision was made to ensure that a dead bird would not be reported by more than one observer.
    4. Initial increases in bird deaths had been noticed by agricultural workers long before any publicity had been given to the matter.
    5. Dead birds of the same species as those found in agricultural areas had been found along coastal areas where no farming took place.

    Answer : D