Practice Test Three Spring 2015 True or False True = A, False = B 1. A sound argument is a valid deductive argument with true premisses. 2. A conclusion is a statement of support. 3. An easy way to determine that a person's solution is the correct one is to see that their motives are pure. For instance, if a person really cares about education, then their solution for education is most likely correct. 4. It s easy to spot a chain argument because they always have more than one if, or a variant like when. 5. In a valid deductive argument the conclusion could be true or false. 6. The education system tends to make propaganda more effective. 7. Two competing hypotheses cannot both be confirmed. 8. The inclusive "or" means "A or B or both A and B." 9. The terms hypothesis, theory, and law all mean the same thing in terms of logical structure. 10. Assuming a conditional claim is true, if the sufficient condition is present, then the necessary condition, necessarily follows. 11. Modus ponens is Latin for "affirming the consequent." 12. Ad hominem is Latin for to the man. 13. An invalid deductive argument could have all true statements in it. 14. Modus Ponens and Modus Tollens are always sound. 15. All sound arguments are valid. 16. You can safely assume that, if a person has a vested interest in an issue, any position that he or she takes on that subject must be false or weakly supported. 17. The term "hypothetical claim" describes the conclusion of a hypothesis. 18. Even if the premises of an inductive argument are known to be true, it is always possible that the conclusion is false. 19. When the conclusion of a deductive argument is true, the argument must be sound. Page 1, v2
20. One way to be certain that an opinion poll sample is reliable is to conduct a self-selecting sample. 21. When we misrepresent the arguments of others and then attack the misrepresentation rather than the actual position, we commit the straw man fallacy. 22. To think that what holds true of a group automatically holds true of the individuals in the group is known as the fallacy of composition. 23. The surest way to know that one event (A) is the cause of another (B), is to observe whether event A occurs directly before event B. 24. "If, then" statements are also called conditional statements. 25. Propaganda generally works because the target audience wants it to work. Multiple Choice Select the best available answer. 26. A hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit and released 61 megabytes of confidential files onto the internet. This information revealed a world-wide conspiracy to perpetuate a global warming hoax. When Senator Barbara Boxer was asked about this serious revelation, she responded that the information was gained illegally and there should be an investigation to bring the hacker to justice. This is an example of... A. Ambiguity B. Appeal to authority C. Begging the question D. Hasty generalization E. Red herring 27. "Support Governor Brown or your children will receive a poor education." This is an example of... B. Ad populum C. Circular reasoning (begging the question) D. Scare Tactics E. Straw man F. None of the above Page 2, v2
28. At any moment, there are people who are wealthy, others who are poor, and everything in between. But over time, people shift through economic strata. Poor people rarely stay poor. Rich people often lose their fortunes and have to build them up all over again. Most people end up better off financially than when they started out in life. Politicians often talk about the rich and the poor in static terms. It is assumed that the rich were always rich. Furthermore, they assume that the poor became poor because they were exploited by the rich. Arguing in this fashion commits what error? B. Fallacy of four terms C. Oversimplification D. Two wrongs make a right 29. The Associated Press and three of the nation's biggest newspapers are under pressure to stop referring to climate change "skeptics" in stories, and instead label those who question the science of global warming as "deniers." Those promoting the use of this term often make comparisons between global warming skeptics and Holocaust deniers. The use of the term "denier" best illustrates... A. Negative association B. Sneer words C. Ad populum D. Hasty generalization E. Both A and B 30. "If you touch that drink, then you will want another and other, until finally you become an alcoholic." This is an example of... A. Anecdotal evidence B. Ambiguity C. Appeal to ignorance D. False dilemma E. Slippery slope 31. Which of the following utilize a high modality? A. It is likely that a Democrat will become the next president. B. The Republican senators might not do what the president wants. C. There's no doubt that Republicans control Congress. D. It is possible that the president will put pressure on Congress. E. all of the above Page 3, v2
32. "New Ginger Snap costs less." The main problem is: A. The ad doesn't tell how much the soda costs. B. The ad doesn't tell how much other sodas cost. C. The ad doesn't tell what the soda costs less than. D. The ad is fine as it is. 33. Actual quote by Howard Dean, "One of the most disturbing things about the Republican Party of the last couple of decades is that they just don't believe in science any more." This is an example of: A. Appeal to authority B. A sound argument C. Appeal to popularity D. Straw man 34. If there is rain, the game will be canceled. But the game will not be canceled. So, there isn't any rain. A. Valid B. Invalid 35. ABC News suggested that we shouldn't listen to what Al Gore has to say about global warming because his electric bill is twenty times that of the average American ($30,000). This is an example of... B. Begging the question C. Faulty comparison D. Questionable cause E. Two wrongs make a right 36. Identify the euphemism in the following statement: Though there remain a good number of underpriveleged families in our nation, most people fare better than they would in most other countries. A. people in the country B. state of the economy C. underpriveleged families D. most other countries 37. "I am writing because I understand that I must maintain a grade-point average of 3.0. However, unlike my classmates, whose companies provide financial support, I am paying for my own education. If I am not allowed to continue, I will lose my entire investment to date. This is a substantial sum of money. It will be a great loss not only for me but also for my family and especially my children who will need to enter college shortly." This is an example of: A. Ad populum B. Ad hominem C. Appeal to pity D. Deductive reasoning E. Begging the question Page 4, v2
38. Joe Morgan, announcing a Giants-Marlins game and commenting on the Marlins pitcher: "He's been a little erratic, which explains why he hasn't been consistent." This is an example of... A. Appeal to authority B. Analogy C. Begging the question D. Innuendo E. Straw man 39. Perhaps the most common argument used to support global warming is that there is a consensus among scientists. This commits which fallacy? B. Faulty comparison C. Equivocation D. Ad populum E. Faulty analogy 40. "Men can't talk about abortion, because they can't get pregnant." This is an example of... A. Begging the question B. Appeal to authority C. A perfectly reasonable argument. D. Appeal to tradition E. Ad hominem 41. The circumstance where all the media affect a change in the culture s world view. This is called... A. vertical propaganda B. hypothesis testing. C. deductive reasoning. D. total propaganda. 42. In terms of logical structure, a hypothesis can be... A. proven true or proven false B. proven true, or but not proven false. C. never be proven true, but can be proven false. D. never be proven true, nor proven false. 43. Actual question in a poll done by the L.A. Times: "Do you want the continued decline of California schools or do you support an increase in taxes?" A. False Dilemma B. Loaded Question C. Straw Man D. Ad Hominen E. Both A and B Page 5, v2
44. When a representative of President Clinton was asked about the affair with Monica Lewinsky, they responded, "Well, a number of the senators participating in the impeachment trial also had affairs." This is an example of... A. Appeal to pity B. Appeal to popularity C. False dilemma D. Plain folks E. Two wrongs make a right 45. I know God exists, because the Bible says He does. And I know the Bible is true because God wrote it. This is an example of... A. an excellent argument that proves that God exists. B. begging the question. C. quotation out of context. D. an example of something that is a matter of opinion. E. both a) and c). 46. I've always reckoned that looking at the new moon over your left shoulder is one of the carelessest and foolishest things a body can do. Old Hank Bunker done it once, and bragged about it; and in less than two years he got drunk and fell off of the shot tower, and spread himself out so that he was just a kind of a layer, as you may say; and they slid him edgeways between two barn doors for a coffin, and buried him so, so they say, but I didn't see it. Pap told me. But anyway it all come of looking at the moon that way, like a fool. (Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) A. Ambiguity B. Anecdotal evidence C. Plain folks D. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc 47. "In 1990, there were 100 unemployed people in Boone County. In 2000, there were 250. That's an increase of 150 percent in just ten years. Unemployment in this country is becoming an epidemic!" This is an example of... A. Appeal to pity B. Causal fallacy C. Division D. Faulty comparison E. Slippery slope Page 6, v2
48. p or q ~p q A. Valid B. Invalid 49. A car salesman who starts by showing the customer the worst cars on the lot, then systematically moving to better and better cars. This exemplifies: B. Testimonial C. Card stacking D. Questionable causal relationship E. Appeal to motives 50. We may have good reason to doubt the credibility of a source if... A. the source is not a genuine expert or authority on the topic he or she is discussing. B. the issue is not one that can be settled by expert opinion. C. both a and b D. none of the above Page 7, v2
Answer Key for Test COA_Logic_Practice_Fina#202DDC3, 5/15/15 No. in Q-Bank No. on Test Correct Answer 20.1 106 1 True 12 6 2 F 2 277 3 F 2 10 4 T 20.1 114 5 True, the truth of the conclusion would depend of the truth value of the premisses. 2 288 6 T 2 287 7 F 2 83 8 T 2 286 9 T 2 14 10 T 2 219 11 F 2 4 12 T 20.1 115 13 True, the conclusion could just be true by coincidence. For example, "The sky is blue and grass is green, so you're working this problem now. 12 3 14 F 12 1 15 T 2 126 16 F 2 217 17 F 2 204 18 T 20.1 110 19 It's false, since nothing is said about the truth of the premises or the validity of the argument. 2 157 20 F 2 127 21 T 3 79 22 F 2 141 23 F 12 5 24 T 2 2 25 T 15 10 26 Red herring 15 1 27 False dilemma 20.1 181 28 Oversimplification 2 291 29 Both A and B 15 6 30 Slippery slope 2 19 31 There's no doubt that Republicans control Congress. 15 18 32 C 2 290 33 Straw man 2 150 34 Valid 15 9 35 Ad hominem 2 113 36 Underpriveleged families instead of poor. 2 59 37 Bppeal to pity 15 7 38 Begging the question 2 293 39 Dd populum 2 292 40 Cd hominem 2 17 41 Total propagada 2 285 42 Never be proven true, but can be proven false. 2 282 43 False dilemma The press reported that 63% of Californians favor increasing taxes. This is the question that got that response. 15 8 44 Two wrongs make a right 2 29 45 Begging the question Page 1, v2
Answer Key for Test COA_Logic_Practice_Fina#202DDC3, 5/15/15 No. in Q-Bank No. on Test Correct Answer 15 16 46 Post hoc, ergo propter hoc 15 15 47 Faulty comparison. "Did somebody change the subject?" 2 147 48 Valid 2 71 49 Bard stacking 2 145 50 Both a and b Page 2, v2