Verbal Reasoning - (3)

Dean   Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:35 pm GMT
RULES:
Read the passage carefully and then, using ONLY the information given in the passage, for each statement choose whether it is definitely true (A), definitely untrue (B), or you have insufficient information to answer (C).

1:
''The project was ambitious in its size, complexity, triparty nature, and in its pioneering of the Private Finance Initiative. This difficulty was unavoidable and contributed to the project's failure. However, a more prudent estimation of the unknown difficulties and timescales would have enabled the Department to better assess the merits of the project.

In December 1997 XSoft indicated they needed more time, which should have been inevitable. If the Department knew from the start how long the project would take, it is questionable whether they would have considered inception; especially considering the implications of delay on their business case for the project.''

Q1.1: The Department's profits were dependent upon how long the project took.
A,B or C?

2:
''A well-nourished child can be more likely to be a studious one. But food has been seen as a cost to be cut, rather than an ingredient of good schooling. That may now be changing: as the government worries about obesity -which is fast rising among children- and urges everyone to eat less salt, fat and sugar, and more fruit and vegetables, the deficiency and unhealthiness of most school meals is striking. But cash constraints make change hard.''

Q2.1: Children who eat healthily will perform better in exams.
Q2.2: Nowadays, more children are obese than in previous years.
Q2.3: School meals would improve if schools had more money.
Lazar   Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:56 pm GMT
Q1.1: Wow. I was considering A, but after some reflection I've decided on C.

Q2.1: C. The article doesn't say whether the relationship between eating well and doing well in school is causative or merely correlative; so we can't say with certainty whether we can improve a student's exam scores merely by improving his diet.

Q2.2: A. The article says that obesity is rising among children, and it's clear from the text that this assessment includes the number of obese children. Only in a tortuous misreading, I think, could you take that sentence to mean that only the children who were already obese are getting more obese, while the number of non-obese children has stayed the same.

Q2.3: I'm torn between A and C; I guess I'll tentatively go with A.
Guest   Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:02 pm GMT
I personally think that you are having us doing your homework. if that is the case, please provide your answers first then native speakers will double check them otherwise you are not going to improve your reading comprehension and not learning a damn thing.
Dean   Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:07 pm GMT
Hi Lazar, you have got Q2.2 right only.
Dean   Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:12 pm GMT
Hi, just let everyone know this is not the first time I'm posting this kind of Qs., and it's nothing to do with homework. I'll encourage everyone to try especially native speakers, it'll be a good fun. I'll confirm to anyone who has got it right.
Thanks
Lazar   Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:15 pm GMT
<<Hi Lazar, you have got Q2.2 right only.>>

According to whom? I'm sorry to disagree with you, but I am completely sure that I got Q2.1 correct.
Dean   Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:35 pm GMT
Hi Lazar, I agree with your, and infact I thought the same as you did. I've got this from a reputative website which used this as an example question for such tests. Those tests are known as "critical reasoning". I can't guarteen if the website had given a correct answer. But since the website has been so pupolar and had a very good reference/feedback, let's say it's right for now see what others might want to say. ^^ Thanks Dean

BTW: I'll give out the weblink for the questions later on.
Lazar   Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:31 am GMT
Oh, okay.