Practice Critical Thinking Questions (post-CW1)
These questions are to be completed by Thursday 3 November. Please spend no longer than 15 minutes on this.
Instructions
This practice critical thinking test will assess your ability to make inferences and assumption and to reason logically with arguments. The test comprises the following five sections:
- Analysing Arguments
- Assumptions
- Deductions
- Inferences
- Interpreting Information
Read the instructions for each section below and answer the questions. There are a total of 15 questions in this test and you should aim to correctly answer as many questions as you can within 15 minutes.
Try to find a time and place where you will not be interrupted during the test.
Please note that we have extracted these questions from an online Assessment Day resource for critical thinking test practice. The full practice pack will be made available to you after the workshop.
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1. Analysing Arguments – Instructions
When making important decisions, it is useful to be able to distinguish between a strong argument and a weak argument. A strong argument is both important and directly related to the question. A weak argument is not directly related to the question, or is of minor importance or may be related to a trivial aspect of the question, or confuses correlation with causation (incorrectly assuming that because two things are related, they cause each other to happen).
In this section, a statement is presented to you with an agreeing or disagreeing argument below. You must regard each argument as true, regardless whether it is weak or strong, agrees or disagrees with the statement. The first and second statements will have three argument each and the third statement will have only two arguments.
If you consider an argument to be strong, select Strong argument, or if you consider an argument to be weak, select Weak argument. Judge each question and argument individually. Try not to take into account individual opinion or general knowledge since each argument is considered to be true.
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2. Assumptions – Instructions
An assumption is something which is presumed or taken for granted. When a person says “I will see you tomorrow”, it is taken for granted that they will be around tomorrow, and that they will not have last-minute plans which prevent them from seeing you tomorrow.
In this section, you will be provided with a number of statements. Each statement will be followed by a series of proposed assumptions. You must decide which assumptions are logically justified based on the evidence in the statement. If you think that the assumption is taken for granted in the statement, and is therefore logically justified, select Assumption made. If you think that the assumption is not taken for granted in the statement, and is not therefore logically justified, select Assumption not made. Remember to judge each question individually and base your responses on the statements provided.
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3. Deductions – Instructions
In this section, a statement will be provided followed by a series of suggested conclusions. Here, you must take the statement to be true. After reading each conclusion underneath the statement, you must decide whether you think it follows from the statement provided. If you agree that the conclusion exactly follows the statement, choose Conclusion follows. However, if you do not agree that the conclusion exactly follows then choose Conclusion does not follow. You must select your answer based only on the information presented; not using general knowledge. Similarly, you are advised not to let your own opinions or prejudices influence your decisions; stick to the statements and base your judgements on the facts presented.
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4. Inferences – Instructions
An inference is a conclusion drawn from observed or supposed facts. For example, if someone presses a light switch but the light does not turn on, they might infer that the filament has burnt out. However, inferences may or may not be correct. For example, in this case, the bulb could be missing, or a fuse could be blown.
The questions in this section of the test will begin with a statement of facts that must be regarded as true. After each statement, you will be presented with possible inferences which might be drawn from facts in the statement. Analyse each inference separately and decide on its degree of truth.
For each inference, you will be provided with 5 possible answers: True, Possible True, More Information Required, Probably False, and False.
Select:
True, if you believe the inference is definitely true, i.e. it correctly follows beyond a reasonable doubt.
Probably True, if, based on the facts at hand, you think the inference is probably true; that it is more likely to be true than false, but not true beyond a reasonable doubt.
More Information Require, if you decide that there is not enough data to make a decision based on the provided facts (or lack of facts).
Probably False, if, based on the facts presented, you think the inference is probably false, i.e. it is more likely to be false than true, but there is not enough evidence to suggest that it is definitely false.
False, if you think the inference is definitely false, i.e. it must be incorrect because it misrepresents the facts provided or contradicts the facts provided in the statement.
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5. Interpreting Information – Instructions
The following questions will consist of a passage of information, followed by a series of conclusions. You are instructed to assume all information in the passage is true. The task is to judge whether or not each of the proposed conclusions logically flows beyond a reasonable doubt from the information given in the paragraph.
If you think that a conclusion follows beyond a reasonable doubt (but perhaps not exactly, or necessarily, unlike in the Deductions section), select Conclusion follows. If you think that the conclusion foes not follow beyond a reasonable doubt based on the facts given, select Conclusion does not follow. Do not use general knowledge when answering, only use the information provided in the passage. Remember to judge each conclusion individually.
