Exam 3: Clear Thinking,critical Thinking,and Clear Writing

Determine whether the following claim is best classified as semantically ambiguous (and whether this contains grouping ambiguities),syntactically ambiguous,or free from ambiguity:"I want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States in the worst way."

Any definition by example of the word "dog" would also be a definition by example of the word "animal."

Determine whether the following claim is best classified as semantically ambiguous (and whether this contains grouping ambiguities),syntactically ambiguous,or free from ambiguity:"Corporate executives outspend working families 11 to 1 in politics."-Center for Responsive Politics & Federal Elections Commission

Considering the context in which it was most likely uttered,would you say the following claim is ambiguous,too vague,or neither? The girls played with the boys.

Determine whether the claim in the following is too vague in the context that is stated or implied:Instructions for a lawn mower:"For best service,crankcase oil should be replaced at least once each season."

Rank the claims in the following set from general to least vague. Joanna a.is left of center in her political views. b.has voted for the socialist candidate for president in the last four elections. c.usually doesn't vote for Republicans. d.is a liberal.

Criticize the following claim based on the material from Chapter 3 of the text. "In terms of arting,where the reference condition is not fixed or even known conceptually but rather something coming to being,what can we hope through our formative hermeneutic movement? To make the 'otherness' of the arting process more other,more 'objective' in a newer sense and less 'subjective' in the older sense,so that the arting process itself speaks more purely?"-Kenneth R.Beittel,Penn State University (quoted in Edwin Newman,Strictly Speaking)

For "conservative (noun)," provide an analytical definition that is unflattering.

Determine whether the claim in the following is too vague in the context that is stated or implied:Advertisement:"The Aquaclear water filter-it really will improve the taste and odor of your water."

Considering the context in which it was most likely uttered,would you say the following claim is ambiguous,too vague,or neither? The comet is visible in our area one hour before dawn.

Rank the claims in the following set from general to least vague. When Louis returned from his trip,he told me a.that the airline had lost his bags twice. b.that it had been a nightmare. c.that all the clothes except those on his back spent the weekend in Miami and Cleveland while he was in New Orleans and Detroit. d.that he had to wear the same clothes for three straight days because of airline foul-ups with his luggage.

Which item in the following set of claims has the most negative emotive meaning? Professor Henderson's class a.doesn't require much studying. b.is a gut. c.is easy. d.doesn't require a prefrontal cortex to pass.

Exercise:Are you familiar with the word,"parvenu"? Provide a definition.If the term is unfamiliar,make a guess about its meaning based on its appearance or sound,and create your own definition.Then look the word up,and find out how close you got.(We provide a thumbnail meaning as answer. )

Classify the following:"Military intelligence.A contradiction in terms."-Groucho Marx

For the term,"Republican," invent a persuasive definition (either positive or negative).Remember,persuasive definitions can be analytical definitions,definitions by example,or definitions by synonym.

Classify the following:"You can use 'recreant' nearly anywhere you can use 'cowardly,' but nobody does anymore."

Which item in the following set of claims has the most negative emotive meaning? That novel you gave me to read a.put me to sleep. b.was dull. c.wasn't as interesting as most things I've read lately. d.was tedious work to trudge through.

Which item in the following set of claims has the most negative emotive meaning? When he told others what he thought of them,he was a.honest. b.blunt. c.ruthless. d.rude.

Identify any unnecessary and potentially offensive references to gender,race,or other features in the following passage and,as necessary,rewrite the passage in neutral language. The Speaker of the House gave a pretty good speech,but he did not answer any questions afterward.

Criticize the following claim based on the material from Chapter 3 of the text. "My position on Vietnam is very simple.And I feel this way.I haven't spoken on it because I haven't felt there was any major contribution that I had to make at the time.I think that our concepts as a nation and that our actions have not kept pace with the changing conditions,and therefore our actions are not completely relevant today to the realities of the magnitude and the complexity of the problems that we face in this conflict."-New York governor Nelson Rockefeller,when asked by a reporter about his position on the Vietnam War