EXAM for Critical Thinking
Fatimah95
ctfinalexamf16-2.docxCritical Thinking
Phil 1020
Fall 2016
Final Exam
Name_____________________________________________________
For Questions 1-6, please indicate whether the passages are or are not arguments. If it is an argument, please underline the conclusion.
1. All unsupported claims ought to be rejected. The statement, “I believe this is true because that’s what I believe,” is an unsupported claim.
a. Argument
b. Not an argument
2. Jones must be sleeping. His eyes are closed and he is snoring.
a. Argument
b. Not an argument
3. Your stomach is growling. You must be hungry!
a. Argument
b. Not an argument
4. Not all birds fly. Penguins are birds but they can’t fly.
a. Argument
b. Not an argument
5. If you’re taking a final exam, then you’re a student. You’re taking a final exam.
a. Argument
b. Not an argument
6. Everyone toots. Someone toots.
a. Argument
b. Not an argument.
For questions 7-19:
A. Put the argument into formal structure identifying the premise(s) and conclusion,
B. If the argument contains a logical fallacy, identify that fallacy,
C. If the argument fits the pattern of a logic rule, identify that rule,
D. State whether or not the conclusion is well supported based on the information presented,
E. If the conclusion is not well supported, state why.
For Extra Credit:
F. State whether or not the argument is valid,
G. State whether or not the argument is sound.
7. Tanya is older than Eric. Cliff is older than Tanya. Eric is older than Cliff.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
8. A toothpick is useful. Useful things are valuable. A toothpick is valuable.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
9. No brass instruments use reeds, and flutes don't use reeds, so flutes must be brass instruments.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
10. Betty will be angry unless someone else brings the music stands. But if Ann doesn't bring them, no one will. So either Ann will bring the music stands or Betty will be angry.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
11. Every dog is a mammal. No pets are mammals. So no dogs are pets.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
12. Since all doctors have degrees, and anyone who has a degree has attended school, every doctor must have attended school.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
13. Never let your neighbor borrow anything. First it's a cup of sugar, then your favorite scarf, and the next thing you know she’ll want to borrow your spouse to do some jobs around the house.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
14. If an argument is valid, then it is sound. The argument presented in question #14 of this final exam is valid, so the argument presented in question #14 of this final exam is sound.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
15. If I break a mirror, I will have bad luck and if I find a four-leaf clover, I will have good luck, so if I break a mirror, I will have good luck.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
16. A physician named Helisaeus Roeslin stated that the world would end in 1654. Physicians are pretty smart so he must be right.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
17. Jack Kerouac is a cool cat. Chester Cheetah is a cool cat. Jack Kerouac is Chester Cheetah.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
18. Information on Wikipedia is more reliable than information on The Onion. Information on a peer-reviewed journal is more reliable than information on Wikipedia. Information on a peer-reviewed journal is more reliable than information on The Onion.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
19. If knowledge is sensation, then pigs have knowledge. Pigs don’t have knowledge, so knowledge isn’t sensation.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
For Questions 20-24, please state whether or not the information provided in the text is reliable and why.
20. Paper Money Carries Thousands of Types of Bacteria WebMD News from HealthDay
April 23, 2014 -- A study gives new meaning to the term "dirty money."
Researchers found that dollar bills from a Manhattan bank carried 3,000 types of bacteria. Most were the kind found on people's skin, while others were similar to those found in mouths, ABC News reported.
While most of the bacteria detected on the dollar bills were associated with mild conditions such as acne, there were some antibiotic resistant types, including the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to the researchers at the New York University's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.
They said their study suggests that paper money could be a way for bacteria to pass between people. For example, they found that bills analyzed in winter were more likely than those tested in summer to carry bacteria that can cause pneumonia, which suggests that money could play a role in its spread, ABC News reported.
The study authors said people shouldn't be overly concerned about their findings.
"Microbes are so important, are very ubiquitous and they surround us all the time," lead investigator Jane Carlton, director of genome sequencing at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, told ABC News.
"We did find certain microbes that we might be a little concerned about, but that doesn't mean that people should be unduly concerned," she said.
http://www.webmd.com/news/20140422/paper-money-carries-bacteria
21. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Policy Statement: Climate Change Policy
Summary
Science requires that all aspects of theory be investigated and that assumptions be tested.
Human-induced global temperature influence is a supposition that can be neither proved nor disproved. It is unwise policy to base stringent controls on energy consumption through taxation to support a supposition that cannot be substantiated.
Climate naturally varies constantly, in both directions, at varying rates, and on many scales. Warming events have been historically good for most human society, while cold events have been deleterious to much of society. It is vital that climate research to examine the effects of a colder climate also be supported. Critical target areas of this research should include the potential impact of climate change on food production. Further research should concentrate on mitigation techniques to combat any serious effects of either colder or warmer climate, naturally or artificially caused, on the ability of the world to feed itself.
The AAPG urges that any actions to implement or to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and any future declarations of climate policy be delayed until there is better understanding of present climate and the impacts of policy implementation, as well as some provision for mitigating errors in policy. There is no current viable substitute for petroleum-based fuels in the world’s energy budget and economy.
http://web.archive.org/web/20040707111507/http://dpa.aapg.org/gac/papers/climate_change.cfm
22. DEP Manipulates Law On Complaint, Leaves Family Without Water
Posted by Joshua B. Pribanic on March 5, 2014
Part 1: Complaint #302587
It’s day one and Christine Pepper’s family has no water. There’s no water for the family to drink or wash their clothes so they’re making calls to inlaws and saving single gallon plastic jugs. It’s day one, and the Pepper family has 45 days until they know what’s happened.
It started when Christine splashed water on her face from the kitchen faucet and a burning sensation shot through her skin. “It felt like my face was on fire for 20 minutes,” she said. Later red bumps developed.
Not shortly after there was no water at all. The Pepper’s spring-fed well, which had produced water for more than 50 years, went completely dry.
“I’m not saying we’ve never had low water,” explains Christine’s husband Cory, “but it always comes right back, but it’s stayed dry for two weeks. And… I’ve never seen it! I’m 42, I’ve lived here 42 years, and my Dad was 18 when he bought this house.”
The Peppers live on Southside Road in Leroy Twp. Bradford County, where Public Herald reported on drinking water problems in the documentary Triple Divide . The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has pending Gas Migration Investigation (GMI) cases throughout the area, with Leroy Twp. being famous for two GMI’s in the last three years: the Atgas 2H well blowout in April 2011, and the Morse 5H well subsurface problems in 2012. Both wells are within three miles of each other.
http://www.publicherald.org/archives/19008/fracking-2/
23. Skyward Grill
3.0 star rating
8 reviews
$$ Delis, American
http://www.yelp.com/biz/skyward-grill-columbus
24. Best new cars for under $25,000
Good cars with your budget in mind
Last updated: February 2014
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/best-new-cars-for-under-25-000/index.htm
Some Common Rules of Logic
Modus Ponens (mp): P1 If p, then q Modus Tollens (mt): P1 If p, then q
P2 p P2 Not q
C1 q C1 Not p
Conjunction (conj): P1 p
P2 q
C1 p and q
Simplification (simp): P1 p and q -or- P1 p and q
C1 p C1 q
Elimination (elim): P1 p or q -or- P1 p or q
P2 not p P2 not q
C1 q C1 p
Transitivity (trans): P1 If p, then q -or- P1 p = q -or- P1 p > q -or- P1 p < q
P2 If q, then r P2 q = r P2 q > r P2 q < r
C1 If p, then r C1 p = r C1 p > r C1 p < r
