GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions: 12 Practice Problems with Answers
Twelve original questions in the real five-option format, spanning all eight critical reasoning question types the GMAT actually tests — from weaken and assumption through boldface and paradox. Answers marked as you go, every explanation names the trap.
0 / 12 answered
Q1
RetailCo: Holders of our loyalty card spend 40 percent more per visit than non-holders. Clearly, the card program causes customers to spend more.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
Q2
Airline planner: Boarding delays make our departures late. By boarding window-seat passengers first, we will cut boarding time, and on-time departures will therefore increase.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the planner's argument?
Q3
City official: Since we introduced curbside composting last year, food waste sent to the landfill has fallen 18 percent. The composting program is working.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the official's argument?
Q4
HR director: In the six months after we introduced standing desks, back-pain complaints fell 30 percent. The desks are the reason.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the director's argument?
Q5
Publisher: E-book sales have grown 20 percent annually for the past three years while print sales have stayed flat. Therefore, within five years, our e-book revenue will overtake our print revenue.
The argument depends on which of the following assumptions?
Q6
Store manager: Checkout lines are too long. We will install self-service kiosks; once they are in, waiting times will fall.
The manager's plan assumes which of the following?
Q7
At Meridian Bank, every loan of $1 million or more requires credit-committee approval, and the bank never issues a loan lacking a required approval. No loan under $1 million has ever defaulted.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?
Q8
MallCorp: Extending our Sunday opening hours will increase our total weekly sales.
The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating MallCorp's claim?
Q9
Some analysts predicted that remote work would hollow out downtown retail. Downtown foot traffic has indeed fallen 20 percent since 2023. Yet retail vacancy downtown has not risen. Retailers have converted floor space into click-and-collect pickup hubs, which depend far less on passing trade.
The two statements in boldface play which of the following roles?
Q10
Hospital A has a higher rate of post-surgery complications than Hospital B. Nevertheless, surgeons in the region overwhelmingly describe Hospital A as the better surgical hospital.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?
Q11
SoftCo doubled its advertising budget this year, yet its sales fell 10 percent.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain this outcome?
Q12
The warehouse's three shifts share a single loading dock, and each shift's throughput is limited by dock availability rather than by the number of workers. Therefore, hiring additional workers for each shift would ______
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Answer all 12 questions to see your result 👆
The eight GMAT CR question types (cheat sheet)
- Weaken
- Find the fact that breaks the link between evidence and conclusion — usually by exposing a rival cause.
- Strengthen
- Find the fact that closes off the best rival explanation.
- Assumption
- The unstated claim the argument needs. Test by negation: if negating it kills the argument, it's the one.
- Inference
- What must be true from the statements — nothing more than the premises force.
- Evaluate
- Which question's answer would most help judge the argument, whichever way it came out.
- Boldface
- Name the role each bolded statement plays: evidence, conclusion, objection, or explanation.
- Paradox
- Two facts seem to clash; find the fact that makes both expected at once.
- Complete the argument
- Choose the ending the premises force — not sensible-sounding advice.
How GMAT critical reasoning is tested
Critical reasoning questions appear in the GMAT's verbal section alongside reading comprehension. Each one gives you a short argument — usually business-flavored — and one job: weaken it, strengthen it, find its assumption, draw its inference, or describe its structure. The eight types on this page cover what the exam actually asks, and recognizing the type from the question stem before reading the options is the single highest-leverage habit you can build.
GMAT CR and LSAT logical reasoning test the same underlying skill, with GMAT stimuli running shorter and more commercial. The classic study path uses GMAT-length questions to learn each move, then LSAT-length ones to stress-test it — which is why the practice links below point both ways.
Every question above is original, written for this page in the five-option format. The explanations do the part answer keys skip: naming the trap each wrong option was built from, because on this exam wrong answers are engineered, not accidental.
GMAT critical reasoning — FAQ
How many critical reasoning questions are on the GMAT?
The verbal section of the GMAT Focus Edition runs 23 questions in 45 minutes, mixing reading comprehension and critical reasoning — CR is typically around ten of them. That leaves just under two minutes per question, which is why type recognition and answer prediction matter as much as accuracy.
Are these official GMAT questions?
No — all twelve are original questions written for this page in the official five-option format. That means no copyright issues, and none of them can appear in your real exam, so practicing here spoils nothing.
Is GMAT critical reasoning the same as LSAT logical reasoning?
Same skill, different tuning. GMAT stimuli are shorter, business-themed, and the answer choices somewhat less treacherous; LSAT runs longer arguments with finer distinctions. GMAT-level mastery transfers directly, and LSAT questions make excellent overtraining — our LSAT page is linked below the quiz.
What is the best way to improve at CR?
Predict before you peek: read the stem first to identify the type, find the conclusion, state in your own words what the answer must do — then read the options. Most wrong answers are true statements that do a different job than the one asked. The explanations here train exactly that discrimination.
Is this quiz free?
Yes — all twelve questions, marked as you go, with full explanations and no sign-up. If you want a timed paper afterwards, the 20-minute logical reasoning test linked below runs the same skills against a clock.