Exam 1: What Is Critical Thinking,anyway

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? The burden of proof is on the critics of capital punishment.Capital punishment is accepted widely as an effective deterrent,and if you are against what is accepted widely,it is up to you to make a case.

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 arrogance of some State Department and U.S.Information Agency employees who took luxury cruises at government expense is shameful." "Instead of flying by economy class to and from their overseas assignments,some traveled on the Queen Elizabeth or other cruise ships." Costs of the ocean voyages averaged $6,084,nearly four times the average airline cost of $1,665. "One family of four billed the government $21,956 for a 26-day voyage along the eastern coast of South America.A couple were paid $13,761 for a 24-day trip from Bangkok to Honolulu." One official sent in a bill for $12,270 for a Mississippi River cruise on the Delta Queen. "That's not all.The time spent on the cruises was considered by the department to be duty-not vacation." "General Accounting Office" investigators said they were told by foreign service officers that ocean travel was considered 'a fringe benefit.' "If that is the case,the fringes are due for a good trimming." -Omaha World-Herald

The reasons that appear in arguments may be either good or bad reasons-if they are bad reasons,we still have an argument;it's just a bad argument.

"Should welfare recipients repay the state before they collect their winnings from the lottery? On the one hand,if you borrow money from somebody and win the lottery with it,you should repay the loan out of your winnings.But on the other hand,welfare is not a loan.It is a payment to people to help them improve their lives in the best way they can." 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. "It is usual for the law to prescribe a lesser penalty for the attempt than for the completed crime.The reason is plain enough.Doing harm is a more serious matter than simply doing what might have ended up as that but didn't.It seems,therefore,that one who does harm does something that is more wrong than one who does something harmful but with no one harmed." -H.Gross,A Theory of Justice

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains)an argument. Right now there are as many as half a million military-style assault guns in the hands of private citizens in the United States.These small,light,easy-to-handle weapons are exemplified by the Israeli UZI,the American MAC-10 and AR-15,and the KG-99.All of these are sophisticated weapons manufactured for the single purpose of killing human beings in large numbers very quickly.

Claims may serve any of several purposes,but never more than one purpose at a time.