Selective School – Thinking Skills Test 4

Australia has a public-funded universal health care system. This system is funded by imposing a Medicare levy (a tax) on the Australian public. A large number of Australians who pay this tax never visit a doctor. It is unfair to impose a tax on people for a service they do not use. Government-funded health care should be replaced with private health care.

Which of the following weakens the above argument the most?

There are thousands of asylum seekers in immigration detention in Australia, including a significant number of children. The Australian Government spends millions of dollars of public money to keep these people in detention. The conditions in detention centers are poor, and reports of abuse are common. The incidence of mental problems is very high among people in detention. There have been instances where people have committed or attempted to commit suicide.  Keeping children in detention hurts their mental health. In interviews, children have complained about feeling extremely sad and crying constantly. Australia should adopt a more humane immigration policy for asylum seekers.

What is the main conclusion of the above passage?

Regular school attendance is a reliable indicator of good academic achievement. Teachers are there to familiarize students with the subject matter. Schools have access to resources which students cannot access. Students  also learn from fellow students. Also, there is a competitive spirit that motivates everyone to work hard. Regular students perform much better then their irregular peers.

What is the statement/s implicit in the argument?

Leafy green vegetables should be part of our daily diet. They are full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Also, they are low in calories. They offer numerous health benefits and reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and mental decline¹. Many delicious dishes can be created with them to satisfy our taste buds. Most of us do not consume an adequate amount of these vegetables.

1-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29263222/

Which statement strengthens the argument the most?

There is another plan afoot for our teachers – that our best teachers can expect to be the principal of a school in 10 years. Please, let our best teachers do what they do best, that is, let them teach! Principals, primarily, do not teach. They administer the school’s finances; they manage their staff; they deal with tradespeople; they do a great job, but, unfortunately, they do not teach. Since they are identified as great educators, let students benefit from their expertise.

What is the main conclusion of the passage?

Victorian students are learning in classrooms with inferior air quality. Our year-long analysis of Victorian primary and secondary school classrooms has found the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) often far exceeds the maximum acceptable standard. Elevated CO₂ concentrations can cause headaches, drowsiness, and lethargy. Children under 15 are particularly vulnerable to poor air quality. Pollutant exposure during developmental stages may produce lifelong issues such as respiratory infections. Poor ventilation is the cause of high levels of CO2. The ventilation levels need to be improved in Victorian classrooms*.

Which statement strengthens the above argument the most?

https://theconversation.com/australian-children-are-learning-in-classrooms-with-very-poor-air-quality-154950

The manufacturing of an electric vehicle causes much more pollution than the manufacture of traditional vehicles. However, this increased pollution is set off in a few years of operating electric vehicles since they have zero emissions in the operational phase. Over the lifecycle of the vehicle, considerable environmental benefits accrue. Electric vehicles will replace traditional petrol and diesel vehicles in the future.

what is the flaw in the argument above?

Worry can have disastrous consequences on our health. Worry, contrary to popular belief,  also affects children and young adults. It can cause various medical conditions like stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, diabetes, and numerous other health problems. When we are worried, we cannot think, and this also affects our problem-solving ability. The inability to solve problems can affect our work and personal life. Hence, we should develop methods and strategies to live a worry-free life.

Which statement strengthens the argument the most?

There were 50 pallets of chocolates in the warehouse at 5.00 P.M. yesterday. When Nancy, the manager, arrived in the morning, there were only  30 pallets in the warehouse.

Nancy: “Only Bob and Harry, the security guards, were in the factory after 5.00 P.M. Both Bob and Harry have a forklift license. They also heavy driving licenses for heavy vehicles. There were two trucks in the parking lot. No one can enter or leave the warehouse without swiping their keycard. The keycard machine shows that no cards were swiped after 5.00 P.M. yesterday. Someone must know how to wipe off records on the keycard machine. Bob and Harry are not capable of wiping off entries on the keycard machine.”

What is Nancy implying by making the above statements?

Tom: “If a figure is a square, it must be a quadrilateral.”

Sally: “if a figure is a quadrilateral, it must be a  rectangle.”

Who is correct?

Jobs are likely to become scarce in the future. An increase in automation, progress in artificial intelligence, and mechanization will reduce the number of people needed to do a job. The trend has already started. Fewer workers are needed in warehouses. Self-driving cars and vehicles are likely to replace human drivers shortly. Automatic checkout counters have reduced the retail staff needed.  Numerous other examples can be given. Buying a robot with years of functional life is much cheaper than employing a worker and paying him every year. This phenomenon is likely to have a greater impact on workers doing manual jobs at low pay rates. Educated and highly skilled workers will not be impacted that much. Thus, getting a higher education and acquiring higher-order critical thinking and problem-solving skills has become more critical than ever before.

Which statement weakens the argument the most?

Jessie wants to borrow ten thousand dollars for one year. He has received the following offers from four different banks

Which bank should he borrow from?

The entry prices at Taronga Zoo are given below

A group consisting of 2 adults, 2 pensioners and 2 children (both four or above) want to visit the zoo.

How much can they save by buying their tickets online(rounded off to the nearest dollar?

A digital display consists of seven segments which light up in different combinations to produce digits. For example, to display the digit ‘1’ the two right-hand segments normally light up as shown:

The display is used to show the digits 0 to 9. However, the display is faulty, and two segments are not working. Two digits in a series are shown below

which is the next digit in the series?

Shown below are five different shapes made of small squares. 4 out of 5 of these shapes can be put together to make a square.

Which one does not fit?

When viewed from the side, an object looks like the picture shown below:

Which one of the following cannot be the side view?

Finch is a wholesaler of different kinds of nuts. The following pie charts made by his accountant are given to you.

Which nut is the most expensive?

Ping imports lawnmowers from China and sells them in Australia. The cost of the lawnmower delivered to his warehouse is $200. He sells the lawnmower for $500. The rent of the warehouse is 51,000 for a year. Also, he pays a website developer $1000 per month for maintaining his website and running ads on google and Facebook. How many lawnmowers does he need to sell every year to ensure that he does not make a loss?

Five people live in a row on the street numbered 1-5. The following information is given to you.

Neil lives immediately before Danny and drives a Ute.

Adam and Barry do not live in adjacent houses, and Adam drives a four-wheel drive.

Barry drives a station wagon, and Danny does not drive a large sedan.

One person Drives a large sedan, and another person drives a small sedan.

Only Adam lives before Harry.

Which one of the following is/ are correct sequences in which they live?

I am traveling between two towns 1500 km apart using the freeway, which requires me to pay tolls of $25. If I don’t use the freeway, I will have to drive 1800 km. My car gives a mileage of 10 liters/ 100 km on the freeway, but otherwise, the mileage is 15 liters/ 100 km. The fuel costs $1.50 per liter. I am on a month-long annual leave and don’t mind driving extra. My average speed on the freeway will be $100 km/hour and 80 km/hour on the other route. The time spent should be rounded up to the nearest hour.

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

Tom goes to a shop and Buys the following two items.

1)      A shaving razor for 30 dollars.

2)      A set of 6 shaving blades. Their regular price is 40 dollars per set, but they are being sold at a 50% discount under a promotion.

At the counter, the display shows that he has to pay $70.

Which of the following can be the mistake made?

One hundred people each were surveyed in four major cities in Australia. The results of the survey are shown below

How many people have a salary of $75000 or above?

John travels from Liverpool to Wollongong for his job. The working arrangements are flexible. He has to visit his workplace for a minimum of 12 days in any month. He uses a bus to commute. The ticket prices for the bus are given below.

All prices are for a two-way ticket.

Which of the following options should he use if he wants to minimize his costs?

Sixteen teams participate in a hockey tournament. Once a team loses a match, it is eliminated. A match lasts 60 minutes. The playing time is 50 minutes with a rest time 10 minutes after 25 minutes. If a team had a total rest time of 30 minutes in the tournament, in which round was it eliminated from the tournament?

The production of six companies between January and June is shown in the in the chart below

Which company has maximum variation in production?

The following graph shows the car owned in four suburbs of Sydney in 2010 and 2020.

In which suburb has car ownership has increased the most over the 10-Year period?

It is hard to get into a Medical school in Australia. First of all, you need an ATAR above 99.5%. Then you have to get a high enough score in the medical school entrance exam called UCAT. If you get a high enough score in UCAT, you are invited for an interview. After the interview, you may be given a seat in medical school.

Alan: “ Nancy got an ATAR of 99.99%, so she will certainly get admission to a medical school. ”

Cathy: “ Julie got invited for an interview after getting a very high score in UCAT. She told me her interview went well. She is likely to get admission to a medical school.”

Who is correct?

John works as a sales manager at an office furniture company selling goods to businesses.  Christine is his boss and has told him that his monthly sales target is  $100,000 . If the monthly sales target is not met, a warning will be given. Repeated failures to meet the sales target can result in dismissal. She has told John that she would consider him for the post of area manager if he makes sales of $1.5 Million or above. It is company policy to give a bonus of $25000 if anyone makes sales amounting to twice their monthly sales target.

Assuming that the above information is correct, which statement cannot be true?

Nearly 30,000 coastal properties worth $17 billion in New Zealand are likely to be become inhabitable due to rising sea levels in less than 25 years. Some experts have suggested that this can happen in the next 10 years. As the risk of flooding increases from 1% to 5% insurers will refuse to ensure such properties. The New Zealand government will only compensate house owners who have built there houses before 2009. However, councils are still allowing properties to be built in coastal areas subject to the risk of flooding.

If the above information is correct which of the following statements must be true?

The following sign is displayed in front of a park

which of the following statements cannot be true?

An employer has displayed the following sign at the entrance to the office

Which of the following statement/s is/are correct?

The following sign is placed in front of a stand in the stadium is shown below

which of the following statement/s  is/ are correct?

The following two statements are given to you

Statement 1- Nancy is a high achiever academically. She is about to complete her PhD from UNSW.

Statement 2- Nancy is beautiful, she is 30 years old but looks 20.

Tom runs a tutoring business and the number of students has grown exponentially. He cannot accept new students due to a lack of space. The space he currently uses to run his business has a low rental as he has been a tenant for many years.

Tom: ” I have no option other than moving my business to new premises with at least twice the number of rooms that we currently have. Otherwise, the new students will join my competitors.”

What is the flaw in Tom’s argument?

Sam: ” I am gaining weight very quickly. I have gained 10 kg during the last three months. I guess I will either have to go on a very low calorie diet or exercise vigorously twice a day.”

What is the flaw in Sam’s statement?

An Australian company ran an advertisement for a new product on Google, Facebook and Instagram. The following data was compiled at the end

The head of marketing Barry: ” So our advertisement was viewed by 5 million people. I think that is a great result.”

what one of the following is a likely flaw in Barry’s statement?

A family of six is sitting around a dining table. The table is shown below.

Grandpa and Grandma are sitting together. Mom and dad are facing each other. Suzie who is the  youngest is sitting to the left of Harry who is 4 years older than Suzie. How many such possible combinations are possible?

A cricket match is going on.

Larry: ” Whenever I open with Barry we put on a half-century or century partnership.”

Barry to Larry : ” The coach told me that we are opening today. We help each other bat better. Today also we will make a half- century partnership at least. “

What is the flaw in Barry’s argument ?

Alan: ” I read a report in the SMH that an American Staffordshire Terrier killed a newborn baby in its family home on the NSW central coast. Even though I am a dog lover, I will never go near this bread, let alone buying one. “

What is the flaw in Alan’s statement?

Mark, who is a cricketer: “Whenever I wear my Nike shoes in a game, I get at least three wickets. Today is the tournament’s final match, and I will wear my Nike shoes and get at least three wickets. Hopefully, we will win the tournament. “

What is the flaw in Mark’s reasoning?