Critical Analysis Texts

Respuesta correcta: A) Against building more roads

• A) Against building more roadsEvery point listed counts against new roads, which reveals an opposing position.
• B) In favour of building more roadsAn author arguing for roads would list benefits rather than costs.
• C) Neutral, because the author never takes a sideThe consistent direction of the arguments shows a position, even though the word 'oppose' is absent.
• D) In favour of replacing roads with railwaysRailways are never mentioned, so the author is not proposing an alternative transport mode.

Respuesta correcta: C) The city spends money without checking whether the spending is useful

• A) The city has too many traffic accidentsNo accident figures appear anywhere in the text.
• B) The city should remove all traffic signsRemoving signs is a conclusion the text does not draw; it questions placement rather than existence.
• C) The city spends money without checking whether the spending is usefulSpending is presented as routine while the question of its value is raised but ignored, which is the criticism.
• D) The city spends too little on traffic signsThe text criticises unchecked spending, not the amount spent.

Respuesta correcta: D) It reports reactions rather than results, and reactions prove nothing about effectiveness

• A) It proves the proposal works, because the room responded wellA favourable reaction does not establish an outcome that the text never reports.
• B) It shows that the proposal was rejected laterThe text records approval rather than rejection.
• C) It shows that farmers were present in the roomThe room is not identified as containing farmers, so that cannot be concluded.
• D) It reports reactions rather than results, and reactions prove nothing about effectivenessA smile measures approval in the moment, which is a different question from whether a policy improves incomes.

Respuesta correcta: D) Without a cost, the value of the programme cannot be assessed

• A) The cost is unimportant for judging a social programmeCost is precisely what makes efficiency measurable, so dismissing it removes the only comparison available.
• B) The cost was zeroNothing in the text states that no money was spent.
• C) The cost was considered too sensitive to publishThe reason for the omission is not given, and inventing one would go beyond the text.
• D) Without a cost, the value of the programme cannot be assessedA programme's value depends on what it achieved against what it required, so a missing cost blocks any assessment of efficiency.

Respuesta correcta: D) A text presenting two opposed positions without choosing one

• A) A text arguing strongly for the stadiumNeither view is endorsed, so the passage is not an argument for the stadium.
• B) A text reporting the outcome of the stadium projectThe stadium is still a proposal here, so no outcome is reported.
• C) A text explaining how stadiums are financedNo financing mechanism appears in the text.
• D) A text presenting two opposed positions without choosing oneTwo statements joined by opposing framing present a debate and settle nothing.

Respuesta correcta: C) A comparison between treated and untreated places over the same period

• A) A calculation of how much the scheme costCost is not mentioned and would not be evidence of effectiveness.
• B) A description of how the scheme was designedDesign describes how the scheme works rather than showing that it worked.
• C) A comparison between treated and untreated places over the same periodComparing two groups that differed in exposure but not in time is the structure of an experimental comparison.
• D) A list of official opinions supporting the schemeNo opinions are quoted anywhere in the text.

Respuesta correcta: B) The experts rely on one aspect, so the general agreement covers only that aspect

• A) No experts were consulted at allExperts are quoted throughout, so the last reading contradicts the passage.
• B) The experts rely on one aspect, so the general agreement covers only that aspectIf every justification rests on the design, the claim of expert agreement is agreement about one narrow point presented as a general verdict.
• C) The experts disagree among themselves about the designThe text reports agreement rather than disagreement.
• D) The design is not impressive in factThe text presents the design as the basis of the praise, so this reverses its content.

Respuesta correcta: B) It sets a stated preference against an opposite trend in practice

• A) It argues that nobody should rent in the regionNothing in the text suggests that anyone should avoid renting.
• B) It sets a stated preference against an opposite trend in practiceThe opening states a lack of demand while the second reports three openings and rising rents, producing an unresolved contradiction.
• C) It shows that village rents caused the shopping centres to openThe second sentence reports an outcome of the openings rather than their cause.
• D) It confirms that the first sentence is factually wrongThe text leaves the contradiction open rather than resolving it against the first sentence.

Respuesta correcta: C) It builds a consistent picture of the market as something alive and communal

• A) It criticises the market as chaoticThe word 'record' is neutral and the description is affectionate rather than critical.
• B) It compares the market with a written archive onlyThe image is an extended metaphor about a whole way of life, not a simple comparison with a written archive.
• C) It builds a consistent picture of the market as something alive and communalA phrase about eating, trading and arguing makes the market a living presence, and repetition reinforces that image.
• D) It gives the market a literal documentary purposeThe expression is figurative and does not describe a documentary function.

Respuesta correcta: D) The explanation is offered without the baseline or the alternatives it would need

• A) The article is written in an unsuitable registerRegister is not the issue described in the text.
• B) The article is too short to be publishedLength does not determine whether an argument is adequately supported.
• C) The disease is not mentioned often enoughFrequency of mention is not a measure of argumentative adequacy.
• D) The explanation is offered without the baseline or the alternatives it would needWithout a before-and-after comparison and a consideration of other causes, the explanation cannot be evaluated.

Respuesta correcta: C) They are evaluative and carry opposite judgements depending on the standard applied

• A) They are factual descriptions with no evaluative contentBoth are judgements rather than measurements, so they are not merely factual.
• B) They show that the author changed his mind about the planApplying two standards to one plan is not the same as changing an opinion about it.
• C) They are evaluative and carry opposite judgements depending on the standard applied'Unambitious' judges the plan against a maximal standard and 'realistic' judges it against what was achievable, so the difference lies in the criterion.
• D) They are synonyms and reinforce the same judgementThe two words convey opposite evaluations rather than the same one.

Respuesta correcta: A) The caption describes the scene accurately but the image may not represent conditions now

• A) The caption describes the scene accurately but the image may not represent conditions nowA precise caption paired with an old photograph can mislead a reader about the present, because the description sounds current.
• B) The caption was written ten years ago and is therefore worthlessAn old caption remains informative about its own time, so it is not worthless.
• C) The photograph proves that conditions have not changedThe date cannot prove that conditions are unchanged; the opposite reading is equally available.
• D) The date was added later to make the image look recentThe text gives no basis for accusing anyone of manipulating the date.

Respuesta correcta: B) The newspaper published an allegation without giving the other party a chance as it presents the story

• A) The newspaper believed the reply was unimportantThe text describes an omission, not a judgement that the reply was unimportant.
• B) The newspaper published an allegation without giving the other party a chance as it presents the storyPublishing a damaging allegation and leaving a published reply unreported shows a one-sided presentation.
• C) The newspaper was not interested in the story at allReporting a claim indicates interest in the story rather than the absence of it.
• D) The reply must have supported the factory completelyThe content of the reply is unknown, so its supposed support cannot be inferred.

Respuesta correcta: D) Those who would be affected by the recommendations helped write them

• A) The committee was too small to be representativeSize is a separate question from independence, and the text does not raise it.
• B) The recommendations were written in an informal registerNothing in the text concerns the register of the recommendations.
• C) The industry has no legal obligation to follow themNo legal obligation is mentioned anywhere in the passage.
• D) Those who would be affected by the recommendations helped write themWhen the people deciding what to recommend are among the people who gain or lose from it, the assessment of benefit is not independent.

Respuesta correcta: C) Better than what, and measured how?

• A) Where was it published, and by whom?Publication details identify the source rather than test the substance of the claim.
• B) Is it long, and is it expensive?Length and cost are irrelevant to the meaning of a comparative claim about performance.
• C) Better than what, and measured how?A sweeping comparative claim requires a comparison and a criterion, and the text supplies neither.
• D) Who wrote it, and how long is it?Authorship and length bear on credibility and presentation, not on whether the comparison holds.

Respuesta correcta: A) The people surveyed had already selected the arrangement being praised

• A) The people surveyed had already selected the arrangement being praisedPeople who chose a mode of work are not a neutral sample for judging whether everyone should adopt it, so the group is biased from the start.
• B) The survey was conducted too recentlyRecency is not the weakness; the problem lies in how the sample was formed.
• C) The blog post is too shortLength does not determine the validity of evidence.
• D) Remote work is not mentioned often enoughFrequency of a term is not a measure of argumentative strength.

Respuesta correcta: B) Promotional language that overstates what the experience delivers

• A) Satirical language mocking the touristsThere is no mocking tone in either the text or the description.
• B) Promotional language that overstates what the experience deliversA brochure is an advertisement, and 'visits' implies a contact that the actual itinerary does not deliver.
• C) Legal language designed to bind the companyLegal obligation would require reference to terms or conditions, and none appears.
• D) Technical language describing a research methodNo method is being described in a brochure.

Respuesta correcta: B) Its meaning depends on which parts of it each reader emphasises

• A) The ruling has no text that can be readA written ruling exists and is precisely what both commentators read.
• B) Its meaning depends on which parts of it each reader emphasisesTwo readings of the same document producing opposite descriptions shows that its operative language leaves room for interpretation.
• C) One of the two commentators must be lyingDisagreement between commentators is common on contested rulings and does not establish deception.
• D) The ruling was issued by two different courtsThe passage describes one ruling discussed by two people, not two courts.

Respuesta correcta: A) As unsupported evaluations rather than as descriptions that can be verified

• A) As unsupported evaluations rather than as descriptions that can be verified'Quiet' and 'authentic' are value judgements presented as descriptions, and neither is measurable as stated.
• B) As precise technical terms with agreed definitionsNeither word is a technical term with an agreed definition in this context.
• C) As quotations from residents that require no supportNo one is quoted, so the adjectives are not attributable to a speaker.
• D) As evidence that the article favours the neighbourhoodThe presence of favourable words does show a preference, but the item asks how to treat them as evidence.

Respuesta correcta: A) The reviewer's claim of priority is contradicted by an existing earlier book

• A) The reviewer's claim of priority is contradicted by an existing earlier bookA claim of being the first is checkable, and a documented earlier book of the same kind defeats it.
• B) The reviewer must have misread the earlier bookThe reviewer's claim is unsupported, but no reason exists to assume a misreading rather than an error of information.
• C) The publisher's page must be wrongNothing in the description favours the publisher's page over the reviewer's statement.
• D) Both books may be useful despite the disagreementThe usefulness of the books is beside the point, because the issue is a verifiable claim about priority.