Exam 1: What Is Critical Thinking,anyway

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. "What is the best move to begin a game [of chess]? At one time the masters began automatically with 1 P-K4;then they switched to 1 P-Q4.Paul Morphy,considered by many critics the greatest chess genius that ever lived,never played 1 P-Q4.In contrast,Ernest Gruenfeld,one of the greatest living authorities on opening play,ventured on 1 P-K4 only once in his entire tournament career (against Capablanca at Karlsbad 1929).When asked why he avoided 1 P-K4,he answered,'I never make a mistake in the opening.'" -Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld,The Fireside Book of Chess

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for her position in the following passage. mother:If you are looking for a wise investment,try real estate.The price of housing has always risen faster than the rate of inflation. daughter:Maybe,but I'm skeptical.What's risen faster than the rate of inflation is the cost of land,not the cost of the structures put on it.Since the population isn't growing and the demand for land is declining,real estate may not be such a great investment any more.

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. Trout do feed on mosquito larvae,but they seldom feed on adult mosquitoes.So it is not likely that fish take an imitation mosquito because they are fooled into thinking it is a real one.Most likely they take the mosquito fly for a midge or a gray caddis. -Adapted from Jack Dennis,Western Trout Fly Tying Manual

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage. first manager:I think it is time to change our policy on return items.From now on,let's just give customers their money back,no questions asked. second manager:Frankly,I don't think that will be such a good policy.Why,just last week you yourself said we should ask people why they want to return things.

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:Have you seen those advertisements for striptease dancers for private parties? That's exploitative and insulting,if you ask me. b:Oh,take it easy.They have male strippers for women's parties as well as female strippers for men's parties.So it's not as bad as you thought.

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. "Here's why big animals stay warm easier:An elephant is ten thousand times heavier than a rabbit and produces body heat one-tenth as rapidly.But still the elephant keeps warmer because it has much less skin area per pound and much more body heat per square inch of skin." -Adapted from Robert Bakker,The Dinosaur Heresies

If poor reasons have been given for a claim's acceptance,the claim should always be rejected.

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage. first citizen:There has been a lot of talk in favor of having civilian police-review boards monitor law enforcement activities.That's better than letting internal-affairs units try to do that job. second citizen:Right.The ethics of law enforcers is as important as the ethics of lawmakers.Letting the police themselves is like having the foxes guard the henhouse.

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. "The California State University trustees showed considerable foresight in their recent unanimous decision to strengthen the system's admission standards...." "Public high school curricula deteriorated to such a degree throughout the state during the last two decades that English literature included courses in science-fiction and detective stories." "That's not all.Social studies courses often were reduced to consciousness-raising sessions complete with rock music and feature films." Foreign-language requirements were abandoned,along with several advanced courses in science and math. "And students could generally earn credits for working after school...." "[The new standards are] certain to raise the level of education among would-be college students.And that has to be a good thing." -Chico (Calif. )Enterprise-Record

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. "It is indeed said that the Japanese work more than 2,000 hours a year,but this is not so.At Sony-and at Sanyo or Matsushita-the total is somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900 hours." -Akio Morita,chairman of Sony

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. Because men admire muscle and physical force,they assume that women do too.

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. "No person can possess an employment either in England or Ireland unless he be ranked among the faithful,that is,professes himself a member of the Church of England.This reason,which carries mathematical evidence with it,has converted such numbers of Dissenters of all persuasions,that not a twentieth part of the nation is out of the pale of the Established Church.The English clergy have retained a great number of the Romish ceremonies,and especially that of receiving,with a most scrupulous attention,their tithes.They also have the pious ambition to aim at superiority." -Voltaire,On the Church of England

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. "For about $200 a ticket you can take a breathtaking flight through the Grand Canyon by helicopter.Fine,unless you are one of the two million people who visit the canyon each year on the ground.For these millions,the pleasures of the canyon's solitude are destroyed by the almost uninterrupted noise from the air.That fact in itself demonstrates that air traffic in the canyon must now be banned-or at least heavily regulated.If the enjoyment of those on the canyon's floor is not enough reason for banning air traffic,then this is:the vibrations may destroy Indian ruins and the noise may drive the peregrine falcon and bighorn sheep out of their normal habitat in the canyon."

"The Justice Department recently reported that the Immigration and Naturalization Service allowed more than 180,000 immigrants to become American citizens just before the last presidential election without completing background checks.The INS did this in hopes that most of the new immigrants would vote for Democrats.This political chicanery is an outrage,and Congress should demand accountability from the responsible officials." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

"With genetically different animals,there's always the possibility that the results of experiments are due to variations among animals rather than to whatever is being tested.Genetically identical research animals would therefore be a boon to research because scientists could be more confident of their research results." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

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. "Ruben Salazar couldn't possibly have been the victim of a conscious,high-level cop conspiracy to get rid of him by staging an 'accidental death.' The incredible tale of half-mad stupidity and dangerous incompetence on every level of the law enforcement establishment was perhaps the most valuable thing to come out of the inquest.Nobody who heard that testimony could believe that the Los Angeles County sheriff's department is capable of pulling off a delicate job like killing a newsman on purpose." -Hunter S.Thompson,The Great Shark Hunt

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Some would prefer to say that every human being is both a body and a mind.Bodies are in space and subject to the mechanical laws that govern all other bodies in space.But minds are not in space,nor are their operations subject to mechanical laws.Bodily processes and states can be inspected by external observers,but the workings of one mind are not witnessable by other observers.And so a person lives through two collateral histories;but the actual transactions between the episodes of the private history and those of the public history remain mysterious,since by definition they can belong to neither series. -Adapted from Gilbert Ryle,The Concept of Mind

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Computers will never be able to converse intelligently through speech.A simple example proves that this is so.The sentences "How do you recognize speech?" and "How do you wreck a nice beach?" sound just the same when they are spoken,but they mean something different.A computer could not distinguish the two.

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. It is obvious why some men have trouble understanding why women become upset over pornography.Pornography depicts women as servants or slaves,and men cannot conceive of themselves in this role.

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument;if it does,identify the main issue. "And he went from there,and entered their synagogue.And behold,there was a man with a withered hand.And they asked him,'Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?' so that they might accuse him.He said to them,'What man of you,if he has one sheep,and it falls into a pit on the sabbath,will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.'" -Matthew 12:9-12