Critical Reasoning Inference Mock Tests

All members of a book club agree on the following: (1) If a book receives a starred review from Publishers Weekly, then at least one member will recommend it. (2) No book that is a memoir receives a starred review. (3) The book chosen for this month's discussion, "Echoes of Tomorrow," received a starred review. Which of the following must be true?

A pharmaceutical company invested heavily in developing a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. After ten years and $2 billion in research costs, the drug failed to show statistically significant improvement over a placebo in Phase III clinical trials. The company announced it would discontinue development of the drug but stated it would continue to study the data collected during the trials, as the findings might inform research into other neurological conditions. Which of the following can most properly be inferred from the passage?

Read the passage and answer the question that follows. The linguist Noam Chomsky argued that all human languages share a "universal grammar" — a set of structural principles hardwired into the human brain. Critics counter that the diversity among the world's roughly 7,000 languages is too vast to be explained by a single underlying framework. Yet, recent computational analyses of language families across six continents have revealed surprising convergences in syntactic ordering, particularly in the placement of subjects, objects, and verbs. These convergences persist even among languages that have no known historical relationship. Which of the following can be most reasonably inferred from the passage?

A recent analysis of academic publishing revealed that papers with statistically significant results are published at nearly twice the rate of papers with null or inconclusive findings. This publication bias means that the scientific literature presents a distorted picture of reality, overrepresenting positive findings and underrepresenting null results. Meta-analyses that aggregate findings from multiple studies are particularly susceptible to this distortion, as they may draw conclusions based on a body of literature that systematically excludes contradictory evidence. Which of the following, if true, would most likely be a consequence of the publication bias described in the passage?

Read the passage and answer the question. All known species of marsupials in South America are found only in the Andes mountains, while marsupials in Australia occupy a wide range of habitats from forests to deserts. Genetic evidence shows that South American marsupials diverged from their Australian relatives approximately 60 million years ago. If the presence of marsupials in South America is due to migration from Australia, then the migration must have occurred before the Andes formed. Which of the following must be true if the passage is correct?

A pharmaceutical company conducted a clinical trial for a new blood pressure medication. The trial included 2,000 participants aged 40 to 70, none of whom had a history of kidney disease. After six months, 85 percent of participants showed a significant reduction in blood pressure, and only 3 percent reported mild side effects. The company concludes that the medication is safe and effective for the general adult population. Which of the following can be most properly inferred from this passage?

Read the following passage carefully: "The debate over genetic engineering in agriculture has intensified as new CRISPR-based techniques allow for precise gene editing without introducing foreign DNA. Proponents argue this eliminates many safety concerns associated with traditional GMOs, while critics warn that even precise edits could have unintended ecological consequences. Regulatory bodies remain divided, with the European Union applying a precautionary approach and the United States favoring a more product-based framework." Which of the following best captures the main point of the passage?