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Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency
Critical Thinking
Sample Test Questions Booklet
©2008 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.
NOTE: This booklet is covered by Federal copyright laws that prohibit the
reproduction of the test questions without the express, written permission of ACT, Inc.

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Note to Users
Welcome to the CAAP Sample Critical Thinking Test!
You are about to look at some sample test questions as you prepare to take the
actual CAAP test. The examples in this booklet are similar to the kinds of test
questions you will see when you take the actual CAAP test. Since this is a
practice exercise, you won’t receive a real test score. The aim of this booklet is
to give a sense of the kinds of questions examinees will face and their levels of
difficulty. An answer key is provided at the end of the booklet.
We hope you benefit from these sample questions, and we wish you success
as you pursue your education and career goals!
CAAP Critical Thinking Test
The CAAP Critical Thinking Test is a 32-item, 40-minute test that measures
students’ skills at analyzing, evaluating, and extending arguments. An argu-
ment is defined as a sequence of statements that includes a claim that one of
the statements, the conclusion, follows from the other statements. The Critical
Thinking Test consists of four passages that are representative of the kinds of
issues commonly encountered in a postsecondary curriculum.
A passage typically presents a series of subarguments in support of a more
general conclusion or conclusions. Each passage presents one or more argu-
ments using a variety of formats, including case studies, debates, dialogues,
overlapping positions, statistical arguments, experimental results, or editorials.
Samples of test questions in the CAAP Critical Thinking Test are provided on
the following pages.

CRITICAL THINKING TEST
40 Minutes—32 Questions
DIRECTIONS: There are four passages in this test. Each
passage is followed by several questions. After reading a
passage, choose the best answer to each question by
circling the corresponding answer option. You may refer
to the passages as often as necessary.
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GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
CAAPCT

Passage I
Keepit, Givit, and Wait are discussing whether to
make regular voluntary donations to charitable
organizations.
Keepit: I ought not contribute to charities. What
good would it do? My contribution would never be
noticed as part of a million-dollar budget. But that same
amount of money would be very noticeable if kept in
my own family budget; that’s where it makes the
biggest difference, and hence does the most substantial
good. In any case, our first moral obligation is always
to the well-being of our own families. My family would
rightly resent my favoring strangers over them. Given
my level of income, any money of mine that is not
needed for their present well-being should be saved for
their future.