剑桥Thinking Skills Assessment 真题NO1 2004a

Monday

3 For years environmentalists have been tellingus that becausehuman activity damagesthe planet, there is adanger that human life will be wiped out. They have made many predictions which they say will provide us withevidence that the planet cannot recover from our destructive activities, and thus that it will beunable to sustain human existence. Everyone agrees that this would be a disaster. But the things which environmentalists have predicted have not happened,so we can concludethat our activities do not pose a threat to human existence.

Which of the following states the flawin the above argument?

A       The fact that a prediction has not been fulfilled is not evidencethat it will not occur.

B       The fact that human activity is damaging is notevidence that a disaster will soon occur.

C       The fact that environmentalists are wrong is evidence that we should ignore all their predictions.

D       The fact that it would be a disaster if human life were wiped out is not evidencethat this will nothappen.

E       The fact that the planetcannot recover from our destructive activities is not evidence that humanlife will be wiped out.

Monday

5       According to a recent survey,many people believe that about a quarter of the population will become victims of a violent crime in thenext year, whereas crime statistics show that it is only about 1 per cent. Furthermore, those with the greatest fear ofcrime, namely the elderly, are the least likely to be affected (since most victimsare young men). The increasing number of television programmes which showre-enactments of crimes add to people's fears about violent crime by making it seem more common thanit is. It is time that we stopped making suchprogrammes.

Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A       TV crime re-enactments are made much more realistic than they used to be.

B       Most elderly people are unawareof the statistics of violentcrime.

C       Some types of violent crimehave declined over the last few years.

D       The elderly are the group least likelyto watch crimere-enactments on television.

E       The figures on the amount of violentcrime vary from area to area.

Monday

6        The cost of framing a picture at Blake’s Art Shop is made up of a number of elements:

1.        The cost of labour and fittings is a fixed charge of $25, independent of the size of the picture.
2.        The cost of the frame is equal to the perimeter of the picture multiplied by the cost of framing material (6 cents per centimetre).
3.        The cost of the backing and glass is equal to the area of the picture multiplied by the cost of these materials (0.8 cents per square centimetre).

How much would it cost to have a picture framed with an overall size of 40 x 30 cm?

A        $18.00
B        $38.80
C        $43.00
D        $106.60
E        $129.40

Monday

7        Susan is having a party for 36 people. She has asked her guests to bring some food with them, but in addition she will provide bread and cheese. She looks at her book on entertaining and it gives the following guideline for quantities:

1.        If catering for a bread and cheese party, each guest will need 1/6 of a French stick and 40g of cheese.

2.        If the guests are to bring some food themselves, the host should provide 1/3 of the total food required as calculated above.

How much bread and cheese should she provide?

A        2 French sticks and 240g cheese. B        2 French sticks and 480g cheese. C        3 French sticks and 720g cheese. D        6 French sticks and 1.44kg cheese. E        12 French sticks and 480g cheese.

Monday

8        When I visited Cryptos, I discovered that the Cryptic currency consists of four different coins known as trulls, yimps, klooks and dwoins.

I had no idea, at first, of the relative value of each coin. However, shortly after my arrival I was asked if I could exchange a klook and a yimp for two trulls, and a short time later a similar request involved the exchange of a klook and a dwoin for three trulls.

Based on my encounters, which of the following statements is the only one that must be true?

A        A trull is worth more than a yimp.
B        A yimp is worth more than a look.
C        A klook is worth more than a dwoin.
D        A dwoin is worth more than a yimp.
E        A yimp is worth more than a trull.

Monday

10        Jimmy’s portable CD player takes 8 AA size batteries. He has tried using both standard and alkaline batteries. He finds that the alkaline batteries last for 6 hours and the standard batteries last for 4 hours. The alkaline batteries cost $3.60 for a pack of 4 and the standard batteries cost
$2.00 for a pack of 4.

What will be the relative costs of using the two types of battery for a typical month’s use of 24 hours?

A        The standard batteries will be $12.80 cheaper. B        The standard batteries will be $4.80 cheaper.
C        The alkaline batteries will be $4.80 cheaper.
D        The alkaline batteries will be $12.80 cheaper.
E        The alkaline batteries will be $27.20 cheaper.

Monday

13        Eating too much salt is very bad for your health, in that it causes strokes and heart attacks. It is easy to reduce your salt intake by avoiding adding salt to your food. Processed foods such as potato crisps and canned soups contain a lot of salt. The contents are listed on the labels of these foods, but it is still very difficult to work out how much salt each serving contains. But, since we all know what salt tastes like, we can judge whether something is too salty. Thus we can easily avoid these over-salty foods altogether. So if you have too much salt in your diet, you have only yourself to blame.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the above argument?

A        Some processed foods which contain salt do not taste salty.
B        Processed foods are not necessary for a healthy diet.
C        Foods which do not contain salt have very little flavour.
D        Surveys show that most people consume more salt than they need.
E        Salt is added to processed foods in order to help to preserve them.

Monday

14        The outstanding success of Ted's company, which was launched against the advice and without the support of bankers, business consultants and financiers, just goes to show that one person's vision can prove all the experts in the world wrong. Anyone thinking of setting up a business, therefore, should trust their own judgement and not be influenced by the advice of others.

Which one of the following is the best statement of the flaw in the above argument?

A        It claims that bankers, business consultants and financiers don't know what they're talking about.
B        It implies that Ted would have been less successful if the experts had given him their support.
C        It fails to tell us whether Ted had any business experience before launching the company.
D        It suggests that to be successful in life you have to go into business.
E        It takes the single example of a successful company, and makes an unwarranted generalisation from it.

Monday

15        In many countries, there are particular roads that have an unusually high rate of car accidents, for example roads with sharp bends. People think these are 'dangerous' roads and call for them to be rebuilt. However, a road cannot be dangerous. The reason why these roads have high rates of traffic accidents is not because they are dangerous but because people drive on them in an inappropriate way, for example by driving too fast. If standards of driving improved then the accident rate would fall to average levels for roads generally and there would be no need for expensive road improvements.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the above argument?

A        The number of accidents has increased in proportion to the increase in traffic.
B        The accident rate for drivers who are familiar with these roads is not unusually high.
C        The accident rate on these roads increases in wet weather.
D        The number of fatal car accidents has decreased in many countries.
E        The number of accidents has fallen where such roads have been improved.

Monday

16        A farmer has a perfectly circular field with a radius of 100m. A new bypass for the local village is built which cuts off part of his field with a straight fence.

Which one of the following must be true?

A        The fence is more than 100m long.
B        The distance from the centre of the circle to the closest point of the fence is more than 50m.
C        The distance from the centre of the circle to the farthest point of the fence is 100m.
D        The perimeter of the field is more than it was before it was cut.
E        The longest distance one can walk in a straight line within the field is less than it was before it was cut.