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Critical Reasoning Midterm (20 questions, 5 points each).

Please Define and Give an Example of each of the following terms.

1. argument.

2. Issue

3. Vague claim

4. Ambiguous Claim

5. Credible Claim

6. Hyperbole

7. Proofs Surrogate

8. Rhetoric

9. Loaded Question

10. Slippery Slope

Argument or not? If “yes,” state the conclusion and the premise(s).

1. Can it be established that genetic humanity is sufficient for moral humanity? I think that there are very good reasons for not defining the moral community this way.

2. Is the author really entitled to assert that there is a degree of unity among these essays which makes this a book rather than a congeries? I am inclined to say that he is justified in this claim, but articulating this justification is a somewhat complex task.

3. Recent surveys for the National Science Foundation report that two of three adult Americans believe that alien spaceships account for UFO reports. It, therefore, seems likely that several million American may have been predisposed to accept the report on NBC’s Unsolved Mysteries that the U.S. military recovered a UFO with alien markings.

Rewrite the following so they aren’t ambiguous.

1. “We heard that he informed you of what he said in his letter.”

2. “We promise Nothing” (Aquafina water Ad).

Determine whether the following is an analytic Definition, Definition by example, or Definition by Synonym.

1. Bifocals are glasses with two different prescriptions ground into each lens, making it possible to focus at two different distances for the wearer.

2. Data, in our case, is raw information collected from survey forms which is then put in tabular form and analyzed.

Who is more credible?

1. Issue: What is the original intent of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and does it include permission for every citizen to possess handguns?

a. a representative of the National Rifle Association.

b. A justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

c. A Constitutional Historian.

d. A U.S. Senator

e. The President of the United States.

Identify any Fallacies.

1. Right, George Bush “won” the election in 2000, didn’t he?

a. weaseler

b. dysphemism

c. downplayer

d. rhetorical explanation

e. no slanter

2. Studies confirm what everyone knows: smaller classes make kids better learners.

a. Proof surrogate

b. weaseler

c. hyperbole

d. innuendo

e. not a slanter.