1. (TCO 1) "Thinking about thinking" is the definition of what?
a Development of arguments
b Measure of good sense
c Development of critical skills
d Writing for clarity
e Critical thinking
2. (TCO 1, 2, 4) What is the principle concern when handling an issue?
a Whether a given claim is true or not
b Whether the claim at issue attaches to the conclusion or not
c Whether the claim at issue is clearly understood
d Whether the claim is not ambiguous
e Whether the claim at issue is open for discussion and resolution
3. (TCO 1, 2, 3) What are the two conditions needed for a premise to offer support for a conclusion?
a It is ethical and justifies an action
b It provides knowledge and defines terms
c It provides reasons and analyzes data
d It specifies what caused something and how it works
e It is true and relevant to the conclusion
4. (TCOs 2, 3) If it is not possible for a premise to be true and the conclusion to be false, what does that indicate about an argument?
a It is validated by background information.
b It is sound.
c It is complete.
d It is valid.
e It is sensible.
5. (TCO 1, 2) The mode of persuasion that Aristotle defined as ethos refers to arguments based on what?
a Whether a decision is ethical
b Being alert to influences in one’s thinking
c The speaker’s personal attributes
d The audience’s emotions
e Using information and reasoning
6. (TCO 6) What is the first step in trying to understand arguments?
a To isolate the argument from nonargumentative materials attached to it
b To find and eliminate elements of confusion
c To find and identify the conclusion or thesis of the passage
d To determine the intentions of the author
e To research background information on the issues
7. (TCOs 6, 7, 8, 9) Which of the five items below is usually NOT a part of a good argumentative essay?
a A statement of one's position on the issue
b Arguments that support one's position on the issue
c Rebuttals of arguments that support contrary positions on the issue
d An author's claim to speak with respected expertise based on qualifications or experience
e A statement of the issue
8. (TCOs 6, 8, 9) What is the precise meaning of syntactic ambiguity?
a A statement is vague
b It is not clear to what a pronoun is supposed to refer
c A statement contains an ambiguous word or phrase
d A claim is open to two or more interpretations because of its structure
e It is not clear whether a word is being used to refer to a group collectively or to members within the group individually
9. (TCOs 2, 6, 7, 8) Which of the following would suggest a lack of credibility in a claim?
a When it is accompanied by other claims that have credibility
b The claim conflicts with what we have observed
c When the person presenting the claim has something to gain by our believing it
d When it brings something we have not learned before
e When it comes from an interested party
10. (TCOs 1, 6, 7, 9) What is the purpose of the rhetorical device called a euphemism?
To replace ambiguous terms with clearer ones
a To hide the agenda of interested parties
b To replace another term with a neutral or positive expression instead of one with negative associations
c To replace vague terms with others that communicate more information
d To replace other expressions with new ones that are expected to be more acceptable
11. (TCOs 1, 7) What factor identifies a loaded question?
a It has a true premise and an untrue conclusion.
b It requires an answer from you.
c It is very persuasive based on true and accepted premise claims.
d It disguises the correct answer.
e It is based on one or more unwarranted or unjustified assumptions.
12. (TCOs 1, 2) What is the circumstantial ad hominem fallacy?
a Attack on an argument based on the events coinciding with its presentation
b Support of an argument based on the professional role of the person presenting it
c Support of an argument based on the courage of the presenter
d Attack on an argument based on internal consistencies
e Attack on an argument based on the personal requirements and obligations of the person presenting it
13. (TCOs 6, 7, 8) To the overall topic of burden of proof, what is the purpose of the rule called affirmative/negative plausibility?
a Other things being equal, the burden of proof falls automatically on those supporting it affirmatively.
b Other things being equal, the burden of proof is shared by all parties that have a shared interest in the outcome.
c Other things being equal, the burden of proof rests with the parties with the most to lose.
d Other things being equal, the burden of proof rests with neither party automatically.
e Other things being equal, the first decision must be who must bear the burden of proof.
14. (TCOs 1, 2) What are the two terms that go into the standard-form categorical claim?
a Initial term and background term
b Plain term and common sense term
c Category term and individual term
d Subject term and predicate term
e First term and second term
15. (TCOs 3, 4) For what purpose were Venn diagrams created?
a To show the primary characteristics of things
b To show how nouns and noun phrases relate
c To demonstrate the orderly processes of biology.
d To give a graphic illustration of standard-form claims
e To illustrate the classes of things
16. (TCOs 3, 4, 8, 9) What circumstances are necessary for two claims to be equivalent?
a They would be true in all and exactly the same circumstances.
b They match perfectly in form but address differing topics.
c They match but one of the issues cannot be affirmed as true.
d They both give a graphic illustration of standard-form claims.
e They express differing relations within the same class or category.
17. (TCOs 2, 3, 4) Logical relationships between corresponding claims of standard-form categorical logic are illustrated in the graphic square of opposition. What is known about two claims when they are called subcontrary claims?
a They would share the same predicate term.
b They would share the same subject term.
c They need not be in the same standard form of translation.
d They can both be true, but they cannot both be false.
e Only one of them can be true.
18. (TCOs 2, 3, 4) How do we accomplish the logical operation called contraposition?
a By changing both predicates of their obversion
b By switching the places of subject and predicate terms and then replacing both of them with complementary terms
c By seeking out a new noun that replaces the subjects in both of two claims
d By moving both claims outside of their class into a new one that will include both
e By moving the argument to a new universe of discourse
19. (TCOs 2, 5) What is meant by the term random sample?
a Every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
b The size of the sample has not been predetermined.
c There is no systematic way of choosing the sample.
d The sample has been validated by the considerations by which it was chosen.
e Nobody has been excluded from the sample for reasons of prejudice.
20. (TCOs 2, 5) In studying a sample, what is meant by the term error margin?
a Underlying assumptions about the choice of the sample itself
b The range of random variation from sample to sample
c Factors that reduce the diversity of the sample
d The randomness of the sample population
e The size of the sample itself
21. (TCOs 1, 5, 8, 9) What is the inductive "fallacy of hasty generalization"?
a The acceptance of a lowered error margin
b A rush to judgment
c A conclusion based on the earliest results of a sample
d Letting one's own biases impact interpretation of results
e Overestimating the strength of an argument based on a small sample
22. (TCOs 1, 2) What is an analogue?
a A version of hasty generalizing where the sample is just a story
b The idea that one can understand predictability and overcome its randomness
c Telling personal experiences
d The idea that sequences of occurrences can be predicted
e A thing that has similar attributes to another thing
23. (TCOs 1, 2, 3) What is the purpose of explanations?
a Describing natural phenomena
b Elucidating something in one way or another
c Providing ethical justifications for actions
d Providing knowledge
e Providing reasons to believe claims
24. (TCOs 2, 6) The utilitarian ethics are best summarized as
a if an act will produce more happiness than will alternatives, it is the right thing to do.
b good acts produce good outcomes.
c hedonic pleasure is the highest good.
d what is good is determined by what is useful in a practical sense.
e pain is to be avoided at all costs.
25. (TCOs 1, 6) "If separate cases are not different in any relevant way, then they should be treated the same way, and if separate cases are treated in the same way, they should not be different in any relevant way." What is this principle called?
a Aesthetic principle
b Confluence principle
c Consistency principle
d Distributive justice
e Categorical imperative.