HoganLovellsCriticalThinkingTest

Thesequestionsrepresentasmallsampleoftasksthatyoumaybeaskedtocompleteifyouwere undertakingaformalassessmentatHoganLovells.Theytakearound5minuteseach.Findouthow youperformedbyreadingthefeedbackthatfollowsthesamplequestions.Adviceisprovidedatthe conclusionofthefeedbacktoassistyouwhencompletingformalassessments.Althoughwrittenby authorsofformalassessmentsthesequestionsaresamplesonlyandwillnotbeusedtopredict futureperformance.Neitherwilltheyformpartofanyselectionprocessthatyoumayundertake withHoganLovellsinthefuture. TheWatsonGlaserCriticalThinkingAppraisalisanassessmenttooldesignedtomeasurean individual'scriticalthinkingskills.Ithasalonghistoryofuseineducationalandbusinesssettings.Itis usedtodetermineanindividual'sabilitytothinkcriticallyandasawayofassessingtheirsuitability foranorganisationoraspecificpositionwithinit. GoodLuck!

Section1:Inference
Aninferenceisaconclusionthatapersoncandrawfromcertainobservedorsupposedfacts.For example,ifthelightsareoninahouseandmusiccanbeheardcomingfromthehouse,aperson mightinferthatsomeoneisathome.Butthisinferencemayormaynotbecorrect.Itispossiblethat thepeopleofthehousedidnotturnthelightsandtheradiooffwhentheyleftthehouse.Inthis test,eachexercisebeginswithastatementoffactthatyouaretoregardastrue.Aftereach statementoffactyouwillfindseveralpossibleinferencesi.e.,conclusionsthatsomepersonsmight drawfromthestatedfacts.Examineeachinferenceseparately,andmakeadecisionastoitsdegree oftruthorfalsity.

Statement
Studieshaveshownthatthereisrelativelymuchmoreheartdiseaseamongpeoplelivinginthe northofEnglandthanpeoplelivinginthesouthofEngland.Thereislittleifanydifference,however, inrateofheartdiseasebetweennorthernersandsouthernerswhohavethesamelevelofincome. TheaverageincomeofsouthernersinEnglandisconsiderablyhigherthantheaverageincomeof northerners. Inference1 TheeasiestwaytoeliminateheartdiseaseinEnglandwouldbetoraisethegeneralstandardof living. Inference2 Peopleinhighincomebracketsareinabetterpositiontoavoiddevelopingheartdiseasethan peopleinlowincomebrackets. Thisistrue Thisisprobablytrue Thereisinadequatedata Thisisfalse Thisisprobablyfalse Thisistrue Thisisprobablytrue Thereisinadequatedatatosupportthisstatement Thisisfalse Thisisprobablyfalse

Inference3 Thereisalowerrateofheartdiseaseamongnorthernerswithrelativelyhighincomesthanamong northernerswithmuchlowerincomes. Thisistrue Thisisprobablytrue Thereisinadequatedata

Thisisfalse Thisisprobablyfalse

Inference4 Whethernorthernershavehighincomesorlowincomesmakesnodifferencetothelikelihoodof theirdevelopingheartdisease. Thisistrue Thisisprobablytrue Thereisinadequatedata Thisisfalse Thisisprobablyfalse

Section2:RecognitionofAssumption
Anassumptionissomethingpresupposedortakenforgranted.Whenyousay,'I'llbeaqualified solicitorintwomonths',youtakeitforgrantedthatyouwillbealiveintwomonths,thatyouwill passtherelevantexaminations,andsimilarthings.Belowareanumberofstatements.Each statementisfollowedbyseveralproposedassumptions.Youaretodecideforeachassumption whetheraperson,inmakingthegivenstatement,isreallymakingthatassumptioni.e.,takingitfor granted,justifiablyornot.

Statement
Theproperaimofeducationinafreesocietyistopreparetheindividualtomakewisedecisions. Inference1 Peoplewhohavebeeneducatedinafreesocietywillnotmakeunwisedecisions. Inference2 Someeducationsystemsinoursocietydonothavetheproperaim. Inference3 Somekindsofeducationcanhelpindividualsmakewisedecisions. Inference4 Inasocietythatisnotfree,theindividualcannotmakeanydecisions. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No

Section3:Deduction
Inthistest,eachexerciseconsistsofseveralstatements(premises)followedbyseveralsuggested conclusions.Forthepurposeofthistest,considerthestatementsineachexerciseastruewithout exception.Readthefirstconclusionbeneaththestatements.Ifyouthinkitnecessarilyfollowsfrom thestatementsgiven,mark'YES'under'Conclusionfollows'intheproperplaceontheAnswerSheet. Ifyouthinkitisnotanecessaryconclusionfromthestatementsgivenmark'NO'under'Conclusion follows',eventhoughyoumaybelieveittobetruefromyourgeneralknowledge.Similarly,readand judgeeachoftheotherconclusions.Trynottoletyourprejudicesinfluenceyourjudgementjust sticktothegivenstatements(premises)andjudgewhethereachconclusionnecessarilyfollows.

Statement
Noresponsibleleadercanavoidmakingdifficultdecisions.Someresponsibleleadersdislikemaking difficultdecisions.Therefore:

Deduction1
Somedifficultdecisionsaredistastefultosomepeople. Yes No

Deduction2
Irresponsibleleadersavoidthingstheydislike. Yes No

Dedication3
Someresponsibleleadersdothingstheydislikedoing. Yes No

Section4:Interpretation
Eachofthefollowingexercisesconsistsofashortparagraphfollowedbyseveralsuggested conclusions.Forthepurposeofthistest,assumethateverythingintheshortparagraphistrue.The problemistojudgewhetherornoteachoftheproposedconclusionslogicallyfollowsbeyonda reasonabledoubtfromtheinformationgivenintheparagraph.Ifyouthinkthattheproposed conclusionfollowsbeyondareasonabledoubt(eventhoughitmaynotfollowabsolutelyand necessarily),mark'YES'under'ConclusionFollows'intheproperplaceontheanswersheet.Ifyou thinkthattheconclusiondoesnotfollowbeyondareasonabledoubtfromthefactsgiven,mark'NO' under'ConclusionFollows'.Remembertojudgeeachconclusionindependently.

Statement
In1970,60.4%ofadults(people25yearsofageandolder)hadcompleted11yearsorlessof schooling,while4.6%hadcompletedthreeormoreyearsofuniversity.In1990,40.0%ofadultshad completed11yearsorlessofschooling,while7.1%hadcompletedthreeormoreyearsof university.

Interpretation1
In1970,mostadultshadnotenteredthesixthform. Yes No

Interpretation2
Ifthetrendtowardmoreeducationcontinuesattherateindicatedbytheabovefigures,thenby 2000morethan25%ofadultswillhavecompletedthreeormoreyearsofuniversity. Yes No

Interpretation3
In1990,foreveryadultwhohadcompletedthreeormoreyearsofuniversity,thereweremorethan fiveadultswhohadcompletednotmorethan11yearsofschooling. Yes No

Section4:EvaluationofArguments
Inmakingdecisionsaboutimportantquestions,itisdesirabletobeabletodistinguishbetween argumentsthatarestrongandargumentsthatareweak,asfarasthequestionatissueisconcerned. Foranargumenttobestrong,itmustbebothimportantanddirectlyrelatedtothequestion.An argumentisweakifitisnotdirectlyrelatedtothequestion(eventhoughitmaybeofgreatgeneral importance),orifitisofminorimportance,orifitisrelatedonlytotrivialaspectsofthequestion.

Statement
Shouldthegovernmentprovide'babygrants'tohelpsupporteachdependentchildinafamilyso thatthefamilystandardoflivingisnotloweredbyhavingchildren?

Interpretation1
Yes;manyfamilieswhocannotnowafforditwouldthenprovidebetterchildcare,andthiswould greatlyimprovethegeneralhealthofthenation. Strong Weak

Interpretation2
No;suchgrantswouldseriouslyundermineparents'senseofpersonalresponsibilityfortheirown families. Strong Weak

Interpretation3
No;governmentprovisionof'babygrants'wouldinvolveadditionalpublicexpenditureofmoney. Strong Weak

Answers
Section1:Inference
Inference1:Thereisinadequatedata Inference2:Thisisprobablytrue Inference3:ThisisTrue Inference4:ThisisFalse

Section2:Recognitionofassumption
Assumption1:No Assumption2:No Assumption3:Yes Assumption4:No

Section3:Deduction
Deduction1:Yes Deduction2:No Deduction3:Yes

Section4:Interpretation
Interpretation1:Yes Interpretation2:No Interpretation4:Yes

Section5:EvaluationofArguments
Argument1:Strong Argument2:Strong Argument3:Weak