Exam 1: What Is Critical Thinking,anyway

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage. larry:Before we go to Hawaii,let's go to a tanning salon and get a tan.Then we won't look like we just got off the plane,plus we won't get sunburned while we're over there. laurie:I don't know ...I read that those places can be dangerous.And did you ever check out how much they cost? Let's let it go.

The quality of a discussion often depends on how closely the parties attend to the same issue.For the passage below,determine whether the speakers are clearly disputing the same issue,or whether somebody is missing the point. a:Most cases of date rape happen when the couple has been drinking.That's another good reason for getting booze off the campus. b:Yes,well,most of the cases of date rape happen because the girl is encouraging the guy and he just goes with it.

The quality of a discussion often depends on how closely the parties attend to the same issue.For the passage below,determine whether the speakers are clearly disputing the same issue,or whether somebody is missing the point. a:A woman in Tennessee was charged with a felony for not warning rescuers that her fiancé,who had suffered a heart attack,had tested positive for AIDS.That's a good law,since people ought to know when they're stepping into a dangerous situation to help somebody else. b:Well,I don't think it's such a good law,because the likelihood of catching AIDS from somebody while trying to resuscitate them is very,very small.

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. "Those who accept evolution contend that creation is not scientific;but can it be fairly said that the theory of evolution itself is truly scientific?" -Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?

The quality of a discussion often depends on how closely the parties attend to the same issue.For the passage below,determine whether the speakers are clearly disputing the same issue,or whether somebody is missing the point. a:Look,it's just good business sense to foreclose on a piece of property when the mortgage defaults.We can't sit around here and carry these loans month after month. b:The people who owe on these properties are out of work because of the recession,not because of any fault of their own.If we foreclose on them,many will be financially ruined and may never be able to afford a home of their own again.

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "I seriously doubt many people want to connect up their TV to the Internet.For one thing,when people watch TV they don't want more information.For another thing,even if they did,they wouldn't be interested in having to do something to get it.They just want to sit back and let the TV tell them what's happening."

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "The P/E ratio is the number of dollars of stock you have to buy to get one dollar of profit.Any stock with a ratio greater than 15:1 is overpriced.That's why it's not a good idea to invest in stocks right now.P/E ratios are way too high."

"The Republicans' proposal to cut taxes on capital gains (profits from selling real estate,stocks,and bonds)is not a sop for the wealthy.It is a way to stimulate investment and ultimately to create jobs.That's why it is in everyone's interest to support the proposal." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Except maybe for finance and business law,schools of business really don't have very much of their own subject matter to teach to students.All the rest is really mathematics,psychology,English,speech,and other standard subjects that business schools call by other names.

Identify for which claims,if any,support has been given in the following passage;and state in your own words the reasons that have been offered for these claims. "Flamenco and the Fiesta (spectacle of bullfighting)are deeply related.This connection is undeniable,and vital for an understanding of either.Both stem basically from the common people,and they stir the same basic emotions and passions.Both are given flashes of erratic genius by gypsies,and a sense of indomitable steadiness and responsibility by the Andalusians.And they have in common another important factor:they are the two most probable ways that the commoner can break out of his social and economic level." -Donn Pohren,The Art of Flamenco

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Will a beverage begin to cool more quickly in the freezer or in the regular part of the refrigerator? Well,of course it'll cool faster in the freezer! There are lots of people who don't understand anything at all about physics and who think things may begin to cool faster in the fridge.But they're sadly mistaken.

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage. student a:My family is very conservative.I don't think they'd like it if they found out that I was sharing an apartment with two males. student b:But sooner or later you have to start living your own life.

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. Obviously the commission should prepare regulations that are consistent with the law.We admit that isn't always easy.But there's no reason for the commission to substitute its judgment for that of the people.

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Some of these guys who do Elvis Presley imitations actually pay more for their outfits than Elvis paid for his! Anybody who would spend thousands just so he can spend a few minutes not fooling anybody into thinking he's Elvis is nuts.

Identify the main point or issue in the following passage,and decide whether the rest of the passage offers reasons for the main point (such as,whether the passage contains an argument),whether it illustrates (provides examples for)the main point,whether it explains the point,is irrelevant to the point,and so on. "With little experience in homicide cases,the Greenwich Police Department made a number of critical mistakes.One was not insisting on a speedy autopsy:because the forensic examination of Martha's body was delayed for nearly a day,the time of death is unusually imprecise.Another was the failure to get a search warrant for the Skakel home." -Newsweek

If no reasons have been given for a claim's acceptance,the claim should always be rejected.

Identify for which claims,if any,support has been given in the following passage;and state in your own words the reasons that have been offered for these claims. "A pine cut down,a dead pine,is no more a pine than a dead human carcass is a man.Can he who has discovered only some of the values of whalebone and whale oil be said to have discovered the true use of the whale? Can he who slays the elephant for his ivory be said to have 'seen the elephant'? These are petty and accidental uses;just as if a stronger race were to kill us in order to make buttons and flageolets of our bones;for everything may serve a lower as well as a higher use.Every creature is better alive than dead,men and moose and pine trees,and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it." -Henry David Thoreau,"Chesuncook"

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. A judge's finding that the FBI discriminated against its Hispanic agents is the second time in less than a year that the bureau has been embarrassed by its treatment of minority employees.Last November,black FBI agent Donald Rochon filed a lawsuit in U.S.District Court accusing the bureau of racial harassment when he was an agent in Omaha.The suit is pending. Increasing the hiring of minorities and treating them equally for promotions must become a matter of greater concern to the FBI.Currently,there are only 423 Hispanic agents and 412 black agents out of a total of about 9,400.The statistics speak for themselves.

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "Should I go to class today? We're probably just going over the test;I can afford to miss that.Besides,I haven't cut a single class all semester.I guess it won't hurt to stay home this once."

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his position in the following passage. father:The governor should reduce government spending before he starts increasing taxes.Taxes just reduce our incomes,and there is plenty of waste in government.For example,a fire department doesn't need a chief,an assistant chief,and a captain.All it needs is one administrator and however many firefighters. son:Who takes charge if the administrator is sick or injured?