Exam 1: What Is Critical Thinking,anyway

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage. insurance exec:Insurance costs so much because accident victims hire you lawyers to take us insurers to court and soak us for all we're worth.There should be limits on the amounts insurance companies may be required to pay out on claims. attorney:Limits? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.What if someone's medical expenses exceed those limits? Do we just say,"Sorry,Charlie"?

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. "Because real estate is a local investment,I recommend investing within an hour's drive from your home.Personally,I invest within a half-hour drive because then I can properly manage the property and watch it to be sure it is not declining in market value." -Real estate columnist Bob Bruss

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. It's true that you can use your television set to tell when a tornado is approaching.The reason is that tornadoes make an electrical disturbance in the 55 megahertz range,which is close to the band assigned to channel 2.If you know how to do it,you can get your set to pick up the current given off by the twister.So your television set can be your warning device that tells you when to dive for the cellar. -Adapted from Cecil Adams,The Straight Dope

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. "The Federal Reserve Board is normally the Stealth bomber of government agencies,zooming in without warning to raise or lower interest rates,and confirming weeks later what action was taken.But last Friday,in an extraordinary pre-emptive strike against a possible surge of inflation,the Federal Reserve Chairman declared that the central bank had raised short-term rates that very day."

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. "The main danger of war,even of a war fought with conventional weapons,lies in its unpredictability." -Anatoly Gromyko,"Security for All in the Nuclear Age," in Breakthrough

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "Your jacket looks a little tattered,there,Houston.Time to get a new one,I'd say."

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. The president has the morals of an alley cat,his critics say.Shows you what they know.He'll still be reelected.

Identify the main issue in the following passage.If two or more issues are present,indicate how they are related-that is,does the settlement of one depend upon the settlement of the other? Three-strikes laws work.Once they take effect,prisoners begin asking for copies of the law,parolees from other states stay away,and first- and second-time offenders leave the state.

Identify the main issue in the following passage.If two or more issues are present,indicate how they are related-that is,does the settlement of one depend upon the settlement of the other? We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that whatever qualifies someone as an expert in one field automatically qualifies that person in other areas....Even if the intelligence and skill required to become an expert in one field could enable someone to become an expert in any field-which is doubtful-having the ability to become an expert is entirely different from actually being an expert.Claims put forth by experts about subjects outside their fields are not automatically more acceptable than claims put forth by nonexperts. -From Chapter 4 of the text

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. TV's coverage of the Olympics was not very exciting.The anchorman was cool and detached,and,except for basketball,they never zeroed in on a single event long enough for anyone to care.Plus,there was just too much coverage.Anytime you turned on TV,there was the Olympics.It was like air-always there.And what's so exciting about air?

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. It's wise to let states deny AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)benefits to unmarried kids under eighteen who live away from their parents.This would discourage thousands of these kids from having children of their own in order to get state-subsidized apartments.

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:The banking industry is going the same direction as the savings and loan industry.If the government deregulates banks the way it did the S&Ls,taxpayers will have another financial disaster on their hands. b:The whole regulatory system is archaic,and it oppresses innovation and initiative.If the banks aren't deregulated,they're going to be creating a financial disaster anyway.

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. "The recent failure of a Drake University student to halt his former girlfriend's plan for an abortion focuses light on a seldom considered situation:While a woman's right to an abortion should not be weakened,the idea of 'fathers' rights' raised in this case should be discussed." -The Daily Iowan

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "The reason nobody buys sports cars anymore is because everyone wants a sports utility vehicle with four-wheel drive.But people will start buying sports cars again sooner or later;just watch and see."

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and,if it does,identify that argument's final conclusion. "People who drive SUVs with American flags flying from them are just pretending to be patriots.The real patriots are people who drive cars that get decent mileage,since that actually accomplishes something-it lessons our dependence on foreign oil."

"The president's basic problem,in my opinion,is that she is too unemotional.She makes all her decisions on cold logic and seems to ignore the human dimension.If you don't believe me,I offer as proof the way she withdrew her support for her brother-in-law when he was charged with tax evasion.After that,he couldn't get elected dog catcher." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

Identify the main issue in the following passage.If two or more issues are present,indicate how they are related-that is,does the settlement of one depend upon the settlement of the other? Dear Desperate:I urge you to get counseling at once.Unless you resolve the conflicts in your feelings and get rid of the hostility toward your husband's first wife,your marriage is doomed. -from a newspaper advice column

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. "[F]ast food and national restaurant chains..... that serve it have long been the object of criticism by nutritionists and dietitians.Despite the attention,however,fast-food companies,most of them publicly owned and sprinkled into the stock portfolios of many striving Americans....,have grown more aggressive in their targeting of poor inner-city communities.One of every four hamburgers sold by the good folks at McDonald's,for example,is now purchased by inner-city consumers who,disproportionately,are young black men." -Greg Critser,"Let Them Eat Fat," in Harper's Magazine

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. "Luckily,most decisions can be reassessed.Even decisions that seem monumental can often be altered.Suppose you decided to live off campus because it offered more privacy and independence as well as a change from campus residential living.However,you discovered that your expenses were greater,you didn't like to cook for yourself,and you got lonely.Or suppose you chose to major in nursing because you thought you would always be able to find a job in that career.But halfway through your coursework,you found you didn't like science,practicum labs interfered with your family time,and the sight of blood made you ill." -D.G.Longman et al. ,Strategic Thinking and Reading First sentence states main point;the remainder provides examples of (and thus evidence for)the main point.

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. "I am a Korean War veteran,and I just want to say that our commander-in-chief is a lying,cheating,draft-dodging,gay-loving hypocrite who thinks sucking up to the military can make us forget what he did during Vietnam.He can't,as he'll learn when we impeach him." -Adapted from a newspaper call-in column