Section I, Critical Reasoning


Questions 6 - 10

Diagram 1 -

This graph shows -

Below are some sentences. Determine which are true according to the data in the graph, and then answer the question which follows.

1. During the period ’78-’93 inclusive, the number of fatalities from vehicle accidents in the UK dropped year to year six more times than it rose year to year.

2. If there is any period where the increase in vehicle use in the UK was negligable (between ’78 and ’02), there were certainly no years during that time when the number of fatalities from vehicle accidents were greater in a given year than in the previous year.

3. In no year between ’93 and ’02 has there been a drop in number of fatalities per year as great as there was between ’92 and ’93.

Question 6
Which of these statements are true according to Diagram 1?

A Statements 1 and 3.
B Statements 2 and 3.
C Statement 2.
D None of the above.

Question 7
Which is false according to Diagram 1?

A Fatalities per vehicle km have been decreasing steadily.
B There was a jump in vehicle usage around 1989.
C Actual fatalities reached a plateau about 10 years after a temporary plateau in vehicle usage.
D Trend as illustrated by ABD is unrealistic since it implies a reduction to zero of fatalities in under 30 years.

Question 8
Identify the years where there were the largest rise in fatalities (1), the largest drop in fatalities (2), the two years when the fatality numbers dropped for the third year running before 1993 (3 and 4), and the smallest rise in fatalities from one year to the next within the 80s (5). Which of the following orders events 1-5 in correct chronological sequence?

NB - assume a “year” when a rate of fatality has dropped or fallen counts as both the year before and after this drop, so a drop from ‘91-‘92 would be considered as chronologically occuring in ‘91 AND ‘92 (so that an event occuring only in ‘91 would be considered to happen first).

A 3, 5, 1, 2, 4.
B 5, 1, 4, 2, 3.
C 4, 2, 5, 1, 3.
D None of the above.

Question 9
Calculate the number of exceptions to the following “rules”.

NB Don’t include the first or last years, and consider ’84 to be the last year.

1. Every even numbered year had less fatalities than the previous year.

2. Every odd numbered year had less fatalities than the previous year.

3. Every even numbered year had less fatalities than the following year.

4. Every odd numbered year had more fatalities than the following year.

If you sum the numbers of exceptions in “rules” 2 and 3, and if you then minus the number of exceptions to “rule” 1 from the number of exceptions to “rule” 4, you arrive at two numbers. Multiply these numbers, and what result do you get (i.e. [“exceptions to 2” + “exceptions to 3”] / [“exceptions to 4” - “exceptions to 1”] ) ?

A 7.
B 6.
C 42.
D 0.

Question 10
During the five year period in which the increase in vehicle km driven per year plateaued in diagram 1…

A … fatalities per year dropped by more than it had in the last ten years.
B … fatalities dropped more after the third year in this period than they did up until it.
C … fatalities dropped less after the third year than they did up until it.
D Both A and C.

Answers for questions 6-10