Exam 1: Basic Concepts

Our attitudes and values inevitably affect how we act, and it is the same with politics. The functioning of political institutions at least partly reflects the attitudes, norms, and expectations of the citizenry. Thus the English use their constitutional institutions to sustain their liberty, while the same institutions were turned into instruments of repression in South Africa and Northern Ireland. Gabriel Almond, et al., Comparative Politics Today, 7^th ed.

A few winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been women. Therefore, it is likely that the next Nobel Peace Prize winner will be a woman.

High school health clinics across the nation should be permitted to dispense Norplant, the new birth control medication. Teenage pregnancy today is at an all time high, and Norplant is 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. Furthermore, a single dose ensures protection for a full five years.

In the expression "The twin towers of the World Trade Center no longer exist because they were destroyed by terrorists," the statement "They were destroyed by terrorists" is called the:

If an inductive argument has all true premises and a probably true conclusion, then we know:

The mineral source of many manufactured items is not commonly known. For example, few people are aware that pencil lead does not contain lead metal but is really made of the soft black mineral called graphite. Talcum powder is ground-up rock made from the mineral talc. And the common mineral quartz is the main ingredient in ordinary glass and is the source of silicon for computer chips. Frederick K. Lutgens, et al., Foundations of Earth Science, 6^th ed.

PART A Some entertainers are not magicians, for some comedians are not magicians and some magicians that are not comedians are entertainers. Which of the following correctly expresses the form of this argument? PART B Which of the following substitutions proves the argument invalid? A) M = mammals, C = animals, E = dogs. B) M = cats, C = trees, E = animals. C) M = mammals, C = cats, E = animals. D) M = animals, C = trees, E = cats. E) M = fish, C = dogs, E = mammals.

If interest rates rise, then home sales will decline. Thus, if interest rates rise, then real estate prices will drop, because if home sales decline, then real estate prices will drop.

PART A All college professors are teachers, so all teachers are educators, since all college professors are educators. This argument is correctly symbolized as follows: PART B Which of the following substitutions proves the argument invalid? A) C = mammals, E = animals, T = fish. B) C = cats, E = mammals, T = animals. C) C = animals, E = mammals, T = cats. D) C = dogs, E = animals, T = mammals. E) C = cats, E = dogs, T = mammals.

Given square A inscribed in circle B. It follows that the area of A is less than the area of B.

If the dietary guidelines promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, which recommend two servings of fruit, three servings of vegetables, and two servings of milk products every day, are to have any real effect, then fundamental cultural changes will have to occur, and people will have to rethink their inherited notions about the purpose of eating-whether we should eat for pleasure or for health-and what is necessary for a meal to be satisfying.

Valerie Nelson's last three novels sold well over a million copies each. She's now finished a new novel, and it has gotten better reviews than the earlier ones. Hence, her new novel should sell over a million copies, too.

The earliest models of the solar system employed what Aristotle, and Plato before him, had taught was the perfect form: the circle. The simplest possible arrangement-uniform motion around a circle having Earth as its center-provided a fairly good approximation to the orbits of the Sun and the Moon. But it could not account for the observed variations in planetary brightness or their retrograde motion. Thus, a more complex model was needed to describe the motion of the planets. Eric Chaison and Steve McMillan, Astronomy Today, 3^rd ed.

The parallel concepts of the element and the atom constitute the very foundations of chemical science. An element is a substance that cannot be broken down into a simpler form capable of an independent existence as observable matter. As such, the concept of the element is a macroscopic one that relates to the world that we can observe with our senses. The atom is the microscopic realization of this concept. That is, it is the actual physical particle that is unique to each chemical element. Stephen Lower, Chem 1 Virtual Textbook

If prisoners are discharged without any skills, then they will return to a life of crime. If prisoners are unable to get jobs, then they will return to a life of crime. Thus, if prisoners are discharged without any skills, then they will be unable to get jobs.

The right to healthcare has become a consumer issue. Historically, the poor either had to be satisfied with a decreased quality of care or to do without healthcare entirely. Today many citizens view equal access to healthcare as everyone's right. An ongoing debate centers on who should pay for this care. Ruth F. Craven and Constance J. Hirnle, Fundamentals of Nursing

In an explanation, the statement or statements that purport to do the explaining are called:

The print at the bottom of this full box of Cheerios says NET WT 15 OZ. Therefore, the contents must weigh about 15 ounces.

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule, says that Charles Darwin is the most important person to have ever lived. Therefore, it must be the case that Charles Darwin is indeed the most important person to have ever lived.

If Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is correct in her assessment that "people who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty," then the disparate skills of defense attorneys in capital cases throughout America guarantees that defendants who are legally innocent will continue to be executed and that manifest justice dictates that the death penalty be abolished.