CRITICAL REASONING

Critical Reasoning is an analytical way of thinking about issues for analyzing and
evaluating information gathered from observation and experience in order to come to
conclusions. Critical Reasoning clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden
values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions. Critical as used in the
expression critical reasoning denotes the importance of thinking to an issue, uestion or
problem of concern.
Critical thinking can occur whenever one !udges, decides, or solves a problem" in
general, whenever one must figure out what to believe or what to do, and do so in a
reasonable and reflective way. #n C$% CR uestions test the candidates ability to think
in a rational manner. &aced with a hypothetical situation, critical reasoning tests your
understanding and the strength of your logical powers.
'reparation for CR
(evelop skills like observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation and
explanation. )et familiar with the different type of CR uestions. #t can saves time
during the exam and reduce errors.
$pproach to CR uestions
CR uestions need to be tackled in a structured manner.
a* #dentify arguments+ $rgument means a statement. #t contains observations based on
premises and conclusions. 'remises are those facts that help to support the conclusion
in an argument. ,ometimes there is a gap between the premises and the conclusions.
%his gap can be filled with an assumption.
'remises - $ssumptions . Conclusions
/ords0phrases used to identify conclusions.
/e can infer that1
,o1
%his shows that1
%herefore1
2ence1
#t follows that1
%his indicates that1
Conseuently1
/ords0phrases used to identify 'remises
%he reason is that1
#n view of1
,ince1
3vidence1
4ecause1
#t follows from1
/e may infer from1
5n the basis of1

b* 6nderstand the different types of arguments+ (eductive 0 #nductive
(eductive $rguments+ %here is a strong connection between the premises and the
conclusion. #f the premises are true then the conclusion is true.
7
#nductive $rguments 8 %hese are based on experiences0experiments and here the
connection between premise and conclusion may not be very strong. #f the premise is
true then there is a chance that the conclusion is true. ,uch types of arguments can be
weakened or strengthened with additional data.

c* Rephrase the argument in your own words+ $ll CR uestions can be broken down into
two parts
%he stimulus which provides the premises and conclusion
%he uestion stem which asks you to carry out a task.
/hen you finish reading the stimulus, try to summarize in your mind what the argument
in the stimulus is about 9premises, conclusions, and assumptions*. /hen you put the
argument in your own words, you can usually identify where the uestion is heading and
what kind of ueries could come. 5nce you put it into your own words, the uestion
becomes much easier to understand.
d* 3valuate the strength0validity of an argument+ ,ome of the following points could be
used to check this validity.
Check for any circular reasoning. 96nproved assertion used to prove another
unproved claim*
Check if the conclusion has been drawn from a sample that is not big enough to
warrant the conclusion
Check if there is a faulty extension of an analogy. 94ecause two things0people are
alike in various ways that it is likely they will share another uality*
Check if there is any non8seuester reasoning. 9Conclusion does not follow from the
premise*
(ifferent types of CR uestions
:uestions that ask you to arrive at a conclusion0inference
:uestions that ask you to identify an assumption
:uestions that ask you to strengthen0 weaken an argument
:uestions that ask you to detect a flaw in the argument
:uestions that ask you to identify a paradox0contradiction0inconsistency
:uestions that ask you to identify a parallel situation
Techniques for tackling CR questions
7. Questions that ask you to arrive at a conclusioninference! %hese uestions
reuire you to choose the answer that is a summary of the argument. %he summary
is a logical ending of the chain of reasoning started in the stimulus argument. %hus,
once you are able to form a logical chain using the premises to arrive at the
conclusion, your task is accomplished.
The "ifferent for#s in $hich these questions #ay %e aske"&
#f the above statements are true, which of the following must be true;
/hich of the following conclusions is best supported by the statements above;
%he statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions;
%he author is arguing that
/hich of the following conclusions can be drawn from the information given
<
<. Questions that ask you to i"entify an assu#'tion! ,ometimes there may be a
gap between the premises and the conclusion. =our task is to fill this gap with the
assumption and for this purpose you have to identify the correct assumption.
The "ifferent for#s in $hich these questions #ay %e aske"+
%he conclusion logically depends on which of the following assumptions;
/hat additional premise is reuired to support the above conclusion;
%he conclusion drawn in the first sentence depends on which of the following
assumptions;
%he conclusion of the above argument cannot be true unless which of the following is
true;
>. Questions that ask you to strengthen $eaken an argu#ent! #dentify the
conclusion of the argument. %hen identify the stated evidence. ?ext, look for missing
links that must be completed in order to create a strong chain of reasoning. #f you are
looking for the choice that weakens the argument, you need an answer choice that
makes that assumption less likely to be true. Conversely, if you are trying to
strengthen the argument, you need a choice that makes the assumption more likely
to be true.
%he different forms in which these uestions may be asked+
/hich of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the conclusion drawn
in the passage;
/hich of the following, if true, would most significantly strengthen the conclusion
drawn;
/hich of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the accuracy of the
claim;
/hich of the following, if true, would most support the claims above;
/hich of the following, if it were discovered, would be pertinent evidence against the
contentions above;
3ach of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above 3@C3'%
A. Questions that ask you to "etect a fla$ in the argu#ent. $nother type of
uestion that you will encounter asks you to identify a flaw in the stimulus argument.
%he uestion tells you that there is a problem with the logic of the argument. =ou !ust
have to choose the answer that describes the flaw.
%he different forms in which these uestions may be asked+
/hich of the following points to the most serious logical flaw in the authors
argument;
%he argument is flawed in that it ignores the possibility that
/hich of the following indicates a flaw in the reasoning above;
B. Questions that ask you to i"entify a 'ara"o(contra"ictioninconsistency!
,ometimes there is a visible contradiction in the situation described in the uestion
argument. %wo assertions which both seem to be true but are in direct conflict with
each other. =ou have to identify the source of this consistency or a reason which
could have contributed to this paradox.
%he different forms in which these uestions may be asked+
/hich of the following, if true, best reconciles the seeming discrepancy described
above;
/hich of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox;
>
C. Questions that ask you to i"entify a 'arallel situation! #n this type of uestion you
will be given a particular situation in the argument. =ou have to study the different
aspects of the situation and from among the answer choices select the situation
which can be described as a parallel to the problem situation. #n other words you
have to find the argument that is analogous to the given argument in that it includes
the same relationship between the evidence presented and the conclusion.
%he different forms in which these uestions may be asked+
/hich of the following arguments proceeds in the same way as the above argument;
/hich of the following conclusions is supported in the same way as the above
conclusion;
/hich of the following has the most similar structure to the argument above;
3ach of the following is similar in structure to the above 3@C3'%
)ARAGRA)* +OR,ING -)ARA ./,0LE1 Q/ESTIONS2
'ara Dumbled :uestions consist of a group of sentences that have been !umbled up.
%he goal in these types of sentences is to rearrange the sentences in the original
seuence.
The s#artest a''roach& %he best approach to solving 'D uestions is the free fall
one. %hat is, develop a high reading speed and scan all A8B sentences. %ry to get a feel
of what the passage is about. $t this point you need to decide whether this particular
paragraph is one which you are comfortable with or not. #f you decide to go ahead, then
scan the answer options.
#f, for example the options are+ a* 4($C b* 4C$( c* C$4( d* C4($
%hen you know for sure that this paragraph has to start either with 4 or C. $ uick look
at 4 and C will tell you which one looks like a better opening sentence and already your
choices will be halved.
,imilarly, with options+ a* 4(C$ b* C(4$ c* (C$4 d* $C(4
/e know that it has to end with either 4 or $. ,o browse sentences $ and 4 and see if
any one of them looks like a concluding sentence.
%here might be other indicators to keep an eye out for. &or example if three of the five
options start with $ and the other two with C040( there is a good probability that $ is the
starting sentence.
#f, say, a link C4 occurs in more than < options then it is something worth paying
attention to.
). strategies to save ti#e an" increase accuracy
A''roach 3& 5nce upon a time long ago1 0 1and they lived happily after+ #dentify the
opening0closing sentence using what we discussed above. 6se either the tone of the
paragraph or the option elimination method.
A''roach 4& #dentify links between two sentences and try to see if that link exists in
multiple answer options 9a sure way to know that you are on the right track*. $
combination of 7 and < will take you home most of the time.
A''roach 4a& Eake it personal. Fook out for personal pronouns 9he, she, it,
him, her, you, and they*. 'ersonal pronouns always refer to a person, place or
thing. %herefore, if a sentence has a personal pronoun without mentioning the
person, place or ob!ect it is referring to, scan the paragraph for the original
person, place or ob!ect that it refers to.
A
&or example if you go back to the opening !umbled paragraph of this article, the
third sentence starts with it. &igure out what it refers to and the sentence
containing the original it will come before this sentence.
A''roach 4%& Fook for change. Certain words called transition words help the
author to shift from one thought flow to another. #n other words, they usher in
change. ,ome transition words that appear regularly are+ hence, besides,
simultaneously, in conclusion, etc. Eake a list of transition words.
A''roach 4c& Fook for demonstrative pronouns+ this, that, these, those, etc.
$gain, if you look at our opening paragraph, the first line starts with for this G
now we know that we need to figure out what this refers to and the sentence
containing the original this will come before this sentence.

A''roach 5& ,ometimes the events mentioned in the paragraph can be arranged in a
chronological order making it easy for you to identify the seuence. 3xample,
$lexander 4ain, ,cottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock.
%he next development in accuracy occurred after 7CBC with the invention of the
pendulum clock.
Clocks have played an important role in mans history.
,pring8driven clocks appeared during the 7Bth century, although they are often
erroneously credited to ?uremberg watchmaker 'eter 2enlen around 7B77.
A''roach 6+ %he $bbreviation $pproach. #n cases where both the full form as well as
the abbreviation is present in different sentences, the sentence containing the full form
will obviously come before the sentence containing the abbreviation.
A''roach 7& #f there are two sentences, one containing an idea and another giving
example of the same idea then the sentence containing the idea should come before the
sentence containing the examples. 3xample+
Russia possesses the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world.
AHI missiles carrying up to 7,JHH warheads and 7< submarines carrying up to CKI
warheads form a looming threat.
$ will come before 4 in this case, even though there might be sentences in between.
A''roach 8& #t is highly unlikely that the definite article the will be part of an opening
sentence. #f a0an and the both are used for the same noun then the sentence
containing the will come after the sentence containing a0an.
B