Exam 1
"The financial cost of the death penalty is less than that of life in prison. Also, it does not deter crime."What is needed to make this into an argument?
A conclusion
Who among the following will be considered an interested party in a hearing on providing added benefits to educational institutions?
A lawyer who also gives guest lectures at universities
Which of these can be considered a premise?
A propositional statement
"Once you remove the engine from the car you can have it." What type of ambiguity is present in this sentence?
Ambiguous pronoun reference
Which of these is not usually an important factor in a source's credibility?
Appearance
Which of the following is true about arguments in the context of critical thinking?
Arguments do not always need two people.
Who devised the theory of persuasion and the three modes of rhetoric?
Aristotle
Who is considered the father of logic?
Aristotle
What type of reasoning involves weighing considerations for or against making a certain decision?
Balance of Considerations
Identify the kind of inductive argument that inductively supports a claim that asserts or implies cause-and-effect, or, alternatively, use such a cause-and-effect claim as a premise in an argument to establish that something happened or is the case.
Causal arguments
Which of the following is an argument in which one inductively concludes that particular members of a population have an attribute because some high proportions of all the population's members have that attribute?
De-generalizing
"I believe Aristotle's argument because he is a renowned philosopher." This is an example of
Ethos
Which type of persuasion involves personal attributes, reputation, or accomplishments
Ethos
Which type of persuasion involves personal attributes, reputation, or accomplishments?
Ethos
"John could not have stolen the car because he wasn't in town when it was stolen." Is "because" used in this case an explanation or evidence in a conclusion?
Evidence
can be established as more authoritative
Experts sometimes disagree, especially when the issue is complicated and many different interests are at stake. In these cases, a critical thinker is obliged to suspend judgment about which expert to endorse, unless one expert
"I was late to class because my car broke down." In this case, is "because" used to indicate an explanation or a premise?
Explanation
What is not a source of obscurity in a claim?
Explicit definitions
My father is fair." What word potentially causes semantic ambiguity?
Fair
True or false: All "if ... then ..." sentences are considered an argument.
False
True or false: In logic, an argument is a feud or conflict
False
True or false: There are premises in a piece of pure rhetoric.
False
When evaluating an argument, what is generally the first step?
Find the conclusion
"I have an allergic reaction to nuts so I couldn't eat the cake. Further, I don't like chocolate. Hence, I skipped dessert." What word indicated the conclusion?
Hence
I am against stricter gun control. Criminals don't pay attention to the law, and citizens need to defend themselves. It's true that in most massacres, the weapons used were legal. However, I'm still opposed to stricter control." What is the counterargument?
In most massacres, the weapons were legal
The groundhog saw his shadow. It is said that if a groundhog sees his shadow, winter will probably extend for six more weeks. We will have six more weeks of winter." Is this argument inductive or deductive
Inductive
What do claims lack if they are not believable upon hearing?
Initial plausibility
Why might it be difficult to understand an argument?
It may be embedded in nonargumentative material.
"The death penalty does not deter crime and is financially expensive. Therefore it is wrong." This is an example of
Logos
Which type of persuasion relies on information or arguments?
Logos
Which type of rhetoric is often least effective in trying to persuade an audience?
Logos
Which type of rhetoric is rarely used by advertisers and is often the least effective way of winning someone to one's point of view?
Logos
"Marijuana has been used for medical purposes for years. Compared to other substances, marijuana's effects are mild. I think marijuana should be legalized." What is a premise?
Marijuana is used for medical purposes.
Which of the following can be used to check the veracity of a news report and the credibility of a source? (Check all that apply.)
New York Times PolitiFact
"As a senator, I'm opposed to rezoning this neighborhood. I grew up here. I'm part of the community. This issue is important to me, my parents, and my grandparents!" Does the speaker present an argument?
No
Can a picture or photograph be an argument?
No
All cars out of the United States are built badly.
One highway has many more accidents than the others.
Which type of rhetoric appeals to emotions? Multiple choice question.
Pathos
The parents scolded the children and they screamed a lot." What type of ambiguity is this?
Pronoun reference
Which of the following is least important in considering a source's educational qualifications?
Publications in unrelated fields
ambiguity arises when a word or phrase has more than one meaning.
Semantic
Joe has a wad of dough." Which of the following is seen in this sentence?
Semantic ambiguity
In an essay, where should you ensure you have closure?
Sentences, paragraphs, and the essay as a whole
What principle are you following when you ensure that your essay does not have irrelevant or dangling thoughts?
Sticking to the issue
ambiguity results when there is a structural problem in a claim.
Syntactic
What is the first step in evaluating an argument?
Test if the premises support the conclusion.
"The legal age for drinking alcohol should be 18. An 18 year old is a legal adult. Further, 18 year olds can get jobs and have responsibility." What is the conclusion of the argument?
The drinking age should be 18.
Identify a true statement about premises.
They are absent in a piece of pure rhetoric.
which of these are reasons why arguments are sometimes difficult to understand?
They can be complicated in structure.
Why are movies, photos, or songs not considered arguments?
They cannot be considered true or false.
True or false: People frequently use arguments when they try to persuade others.
True
True or false: When a premise is unstated, it is sometimes impossible to decipher if it is a deductive or inductive argument.
True
Making a point before clarifying it
Using examples before clarifying a point
Can balance of considerations arguments involve both deductive and inductive reasoning
Yes
This park is the most lovely in the state. It has more visits per year than most other parks. It has been part of the community for years. I don't think it should be rezoned into commercial land." Does the speaker present an argument?
Yes
"Usually, when a tire slowly leaks air, there is a small hole in the tire. You drove through a construction site with many small nails scattered around." What is the likely conclusion?
You have a nail in your tire.
The truth part of evaluating an argument involves
analyzing whether the premises are true
Emotions, feelings, gestures, or outbursts ____ arguments
are not
When what follows the word "because" is a reason for accepting a contention, we have a/an
argument
The immense body of justified beliefs that consists of facts people learn from their own direct observations and facts they learn from others is known as their
background information
Sometimes you must infer the components of an argument using
background knowledge
A kind of deductive argument that relates categories is referred to as
categorical. logic or argument
When what follows "because" states the cause of something, we have a(n)
cause-and-effect explanation
We should be skeptical of a claim itself when a credibility problem is presented by its
content
Accomplishments are an important indicator of someone's expertise only when those accomplishments are _______.
directly related to the question at hand
An inference to the best explanation is a type of _____ argument.
inductive
chronological order
logical sequence
The quality of persuasiveness in an argument is generally
more a function of psychology than logic.
Concentration of ownership of major news outlets into a mere handful of media conglomerates raises concerns that
most of the news will become homogenized in content
"If you study hard, then you will get good grades." Is this an argument
no
"Marijuana can have health effects such as loss of short term memory. However, some experts state that the effects of marijuana are less severe than that of alcohol." Is this an argument?
no
A movie can be considered as a/an:
none of the options
"He should be our representative. He was brought up in our neighborhood, and he understands and loves each and every one of us." This is an example of
pathos
He should be our representative. He was brought up in our neighborhood, and he understands and loves each and every one of us." This is an example of
pathos
Caution is appropriate when looking at videos of newsworthy events when presented by _
people who have a stake in the subject
The first and essential step in understanding an argument is to
spot the conclusion
The conclusion of an argument is also called the
thesis
Movies and pictures cannot be arguments because
they cannot be either true or false
True or false: When there is an unstated premise, you should use the context and content to clarify if the argument is deductive or inductive.
true
The kind of deductive argument that relates propositions, which can be or have been compounded from simpler propositions by means of logical "operators" such as "not," "and," "or," and "if...then...," is known as
truth-functional logic
A person would be said to be a disinterested party regarding a given decision just in case he or she
would not benefit regardless of the decision.
