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

Criticize the following claim based on the material from Chapter 3 of the text. "Bruce Sutter has been around for a while and he's pretty old.He's thirty-five years old.That will give you some idea of how old he is."-Ron Fairly,San Francisco Giants broadcaster (quoted in Ross and Petras,The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said)

Determine whether the following claim is best classified as semantically ambiguous (and whether this contains grouping ambiguities),syntactically ambiguous,or free from ambiguity:Headline:Retired priest may marry Springsteen.

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. General Colin Powell was the first black army officer to have achieved the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Classify the following definition according to its use:to reduce vagueness,to introduce or explain a new or unusual word,to evoke an attitude about something,or to accomplish some other purpose. "Subduction zone:In interpretations of plate tectonic theory,a belt along the under-margin of a continental plate,where the colliding oceanic plate descends toward or into the mantle."-Robert M.Norris and Robert W.Webb,Geology of California

For the following,indicate whether the definition given is by example,by synonym,or analytical:A loquacious person is a talkative one.

Using a name or description of an item that you can't point to,provide a definition by example for "education." If you have difficulty doing so,try to identify the source of the trouble.

Classify the following:"If you want to know what corruption is,just look at the Democratic senator from this state."

Classify the following:"Aqua,the color,is blue-green."

Which item in the following set of claims has the most negative emotive meaning? a.The Raiders gave the ball game away. b.All the breaks went against the Raiders. c.The Raiders couldn't buy a piece of good luck. d.The Raiders were having a bad day.

The word "centaur" could be defined by example.

Arrange the lettered items below in order of increasingly favorable emotive meaning.Instructor and/or students may want to fuss about some of our rankings in these problems.We've said (a)= (b)when (a)and (b)seem equally favorable to us. What a thing to wake up to each morning! All you hear are birds a.chirping. b.cheeping. c.chattering. d.screeching. e.making a racket. f.singing.

Determine whether the following claim is best classified as semantically ambiguous (and whether this contains grouping ambiguities),syntactically ambiguous,or free from ambiguity:Laughter was heard at Grace Cathedral last week when it was announced that next week would be the blessing of the animals followed by a barbeque.

Rank the claims in the following set from general to least vague. a.Smoking is hazardous to your health. b.Smoking is linked with lung disease. c.Smoking has been demonstrated to cause lung cancer and emphysema. d.Smoking is not good for you. e.Smoking is linked with lung cancer and emphysema.

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

Determine whether the following claim is best classified as semantically ambiguous (and whether this contains grouping ambiguities),syntactically ambiguous,or free from ambiguity:"A lot of people are living to 100 who never used to."-Herb Caen,San Francisco Chronicle

Classify the following definition according to its use:to reduce vagueness,to introduce or explain a new or unusual word,to evoke an attitude about something,or to accomplish some other purpose. The "HO" in "HO gauge" stands for "half-O," which refers to an older scale for model trains.HO gauge is one-half the scale of O-gauge,or one-sixty-fourth of full size.

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. Congressmen George Thurlow and Shirley Chisholm first ran for public office during the same year.

Determine whether the claim in the following is too vague in the context that is stated or implied:My aunt lost most of her possessions when her house burned down last month.

Evaluate the following claim,paying particular attention to problems of clarity.Note that claims may also present problems of knowability,though we don't address knowability per se in this chapter. My liberal colleagues in Congress are all big spenders.

Using a name or description of an item that you can't point to,provide a definition by example for "the color red." If you have difficulty doing so,try to identify the source of the trouble.