Critical Thinking Test Week 4 Essay

1. Question : Reporter: A new campaign finance reform bill being considered by Congress would limit the amount of campaign contributions that political candidates can receive. However, a survey of candidates running for mayor, governor, and senate seats shows that not one of them favors the bill. Clearly, there is no desire among politicians to limit campaign contributions. Which one of the following points out the flaw in the reporter’s argument above? Student Answer: The reporter doesn’t indicate the amount that the new bill would limit campaign contributions. The evidence provided by the reporter suggests that most politicians are in favor of the new bill. The reporter wrongly assumes that no politician has ever supported a bill intended to limit campaign contributions CORRECT The views of candidates currently running for office do not necessarily represent the views of all politicians. 2. Question : Mrs. Orlof teaches two history classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yesterday she gave the same test to both classes. Anyone who failed the test must take a retest. Since a greater percentage of students who took the morning test failed the test than students who took the afternoon test, more of Orlof’s morning history students than afternoon history students will have to take the retest. The conclusion above is not necessarily valid because Student Answer: more students in the morning class may have passed the test than failed the test some students may have been absent from both classes some of the students who passed the afternoon test may have received information about the test from morning students CORRECT more students may have taken the test in the afternoon than in the morning 3. Question : All sages provide both wisdom and inspiration. Since Dasha’s speech contained wisdom and greatly inspired her audience, Dasha is a sage. Which one of the following points out the flaw in the argument above? Student Answer: Just because Dasha is a sage doesn’t mean that she is always wise and inspirational. Just because Dasha’s speech provided wisdom and inspiration doesn’t mean that it provided more wisdom than inspiration. CORRECT Just because Dasha satisfied two requirements of being a sage doesn’t necessarily mean that she satisfies all the requirements of being a sage. INCORRECT Just because Dasha provided wisdom and inspiration in a speech doesn’t mean that all sages use speeches to provide wisdom and inspiration. 4. Question : The average height of members of the high school basketball team is six feet, three inches. Jerry is on the high school basketball team, so Jerry must be taller than six feet. The argument above is flawed because it confuses Student Answer: Jerry with other members of the team the members of one team with the members of another team INCORRECT people who are six feet three inches tall for people who are exactly six feet tall CORRECT an average for the individuals that make up that average. 5. Question : Catherine goes to her local movie theater only to see romantic comedies. Since Catherine did not go to the movies yesterday, there is not a romantic comedy playing at her local theater. The reasoning above is flawed because the evidence Student Answer: CORRECT does not suggest that Catherine goes to see every romantic comedy that plays at her local movie theater implies that Catherine is uninterested in most types of movies does not indicate whether Catherine watches only romantic comedies at home suggests that Catherine’s local movie theater hardly ever shows romantic comedies 6. Question : A recent study of 100 employees from six departments of a major corporation found 65% to be sleep deprived. The researchers concluded that the majority of corporate employees are sleep deprived. The researcher’s conclusion is suspect because it Student Answer: assumes that corporate employees are more sleep deprived than other people is based on evidence that is statistically impossible fails to describe the effects the sleep deprivation has CORRECT relies on a sample that is too small to represent the entire corporate workforce 7. Question : Some politicians claim to support the environment in speeches they make around the country. However, to get to those speeches they ride in gas guzzling, pollution creating private planes. They therefore clearly don’t believe a word of what they say and are actually making the environmental problem worse. Which one of the following, if true, would best weaken the argument above? Student Answer: Some of the politicians try to hide the fact that they travel by private plane to their speeches around the country. Most people who hear the politicians’ speeches on the environment are unconvinced by their arguments. A majority of voters surveyed agree that politicians sometimes make society’s problems worse. CORRECT Improvements to the environment brought about through the politicians’ public support of environmental regulations more than offset the damage done to the environment by the politicians’ private planes. 8. Question : Career counselor: It is best for artists to build a practical and safe career that will guarantee them a secure income, and then pursue their art in their spare time. That way, they will be motivated to work hard at their day jobs to support their art making, and both their career and their art will thrive. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument? Student Answer: Some forms of art making are expensive and require a good deal of money to pursue. INCORRECT Many people who aren’t artists prefer to pursue practical and safe careers. Having the time and money to make art doesn’t guarantee an artist commercial success. CORRECT Splitting time between two pursuits in life often causes both to suffer. 9. Question : The untimely death of Professor Hathaway halted his groundbreaking research into the uses of solar power. It therefore appears that Hathaway’s research will not result in practical applications. Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? Student Answer: CORRECT Professor Hathaway’s research can be used by other scientists to create useful applications. Not all professors at Professor Hathaway’s university knew that he was conducting research into the uses of solar power. Officials at Professor Hathaway’s university have refused requests to make Professor Hathaway’s research public. INCORRECT Researchers at other universities are conducting research into the potential applications of solar power. 10. Question : Surveys show that people who use calorie information to decide which foods to eat consume on average 100 calories less than they would if they didn’t check calorie information before eating. Strangely though, people who use calorie information in this way weigh more on average than people who don’t check calorie information before eating. Which one of the following, if true, best explains the surprising statistic stated above? Student Answer: There are fewer people who check calorie information before eating than people who don’t check calorie information before eating. People who usually check calorie information before eating consume more calories if they stop checking. INCORRECT Some people who check calorie information before eating don’t consume any fewer calories than they would if they didn’t check. CORRECT People with a weight problem are most likely to check calorie information before eating. 11. Question : As part of its reorganization, co mpany X created five new positions within the company. However, after the reorganization was complete, company X had fewer employees than before the reorganization. Which one of the following, if true, would best explain the result described above? Student Answer: Some employees of the company were switched into new departments to fill the new positions. Some employees who quit over dissatisfaction with the reorganization were immediately replaced by new hires. The new positions were created to respond to a greater demand for company X’s products. CORRECT Some employees were laid off as a number of old positions were eliminated in the reorganization. 12. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. building : blueprint Student Answer: ship : sea CORRECT cake : recipe bridge : island guitar : song 13. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. gavel : judge Student Answer: CORRECT baton : conductor symphony : composer stop sign : driver ruler : math 14. Question : Choose the pair of words/phrases among the choices that exhibits the same logical relationship as the words/phrases in the following pair. conductor : orchestr Student Answer: skater : rink teacher : principal producer : movie CORRECT director : cast 15. Question : Arthur: The solutions to most mystery novels I read are not believable. However, my enjoyment of a mystery novel depends only on its suspenseful mood and colorful characters. Norton: Roughly 80% of the mystery novels I read have believable solutions, which is good since I do not enjoy mystery novels that don’t have believable solutions. The speakers above Student Answer: agree that most mystery novels do not have believable solutions agree that a suspenseful mood and colorful characters add  to the enjoyment of a mystery novel CORRECT disagree on whether a believable solution is required for the enjoyment of a mystery novel disagree on whether an author’s enjoyment in creating a mystery novel influences whether that novel will have a believable solution 16. Question : Memmie: The greater the population near a restaurant, the more potential customers it has and the greater chance its popularity will spread through word-of-mouth. O’Sullivans Restaurant just opened in the very densely populated town of Redville, so its chances for success are great. Sam: But the more people living in an area, the more restaurants there are in that area, so the more competition each one faces. There are twelve other restaurants serving the people of Redville. Memmie and Sam seem to disagree about whether Student Answer: O’Sullivans will fail in its first few months O’Sullivans will serve a different kind of food than the other restaurants in Redville CORRECT the high population of Redville ensures O’Sullivan’s a great chance for success word-of-mouth about a restaurant can spread in a densely populated town like Redville 17. Question : Only circus animals with a clean bill of health will perform in today’s exhibition. A monkey, a poodle, and a horse will perform in today’s exhibition. No circus animals with a clean bill of health were prescribed medications this week. If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them? Student Answer: The monkey, poodle, and horse are the only animals performing in today’s circus exhibition. No circus animals were prescribe medications this week. INCORRECT No more than two circus animals have a clean bill of health. CORRECT Neither the monkey nor the horse performing in today’s circus exhibition were prescribed medications this week. 18. Question : The higher the price of an antique, the greater people’s expectation that the object is rare. That, in turn, makes the antique appear more valuable. If the statements above are correct, then offering an antique for sale at a bargain price Student Answer: will likely increase people’s expectations that the antique is valuable will guarantee that the antique will not sell at a profit should be encouraged because it increases the likelihood that antique will be sold CORRECT should be discouraged because it lessens a quality that makes that antique desirable 19. Question : Some drugs combat obesity or alcohol addiction by turning off pleasure centers in the brain. However, if the dosage is too high, there’s a risk that people taking them will be plunged into depression. The statements above, if true, support which one of the following assertions? Student Answer: It is useless to try to treat obesity or alcohol addiction through drugs. All drugs, if taken at too high a dosage, pose the risk that the people taking them will be plunged into depression. CORRECT The benefits of a medication may be at least somewhat offset by its side effects. INCORRECT Drugs that affect pleasure centers in the brain are often taken at dosages considered to be too high. 20. Question : Detective: The robbery at the mall was carried out by a mall employee acting alone roughly one hour after the mall closed last Saturday night. The only employees present at the mall at the time of the robbery were security guards Evans and Clark. Since the mall’s surveillance system was disabled by the thief just before the robbery, the thief must be Evans. The argument above would be valid if Student Answer: CORRECT Clark is incapable of disabling the mall’s surveillance system both Evans and Clark are capable of disabling the mall’s surveillance system INCORRECT Evans and Clark are the mall’s only security guards the mall’s surveillance system is usually used 24 hours a day, seven days a we 21. Question : A company can either invest in employee training seminars or update its computer network. Since updating the computer network would result in more  measurable benefits, the company would be best off updating its computer network. The argument above assumes that Student Answer: INCORRECT investing in employee training seminars would yield negative results for the company CORRECT the more measurable a benefit, the greater value that benefit has to a company the employee training seminars would focus on teaching employees to use the updated computer network the benefit of the company investing in employee training seminars cannot be measured at all 22. Question : The president spoke to 19 congressmen from Texas to encourage them to vote for a bill. Since four of the 19 congressmen went on to vote for the bill, it is clear that the president persuaded those four to vote the way they did. The argument above assumes that Student Answer: the bill will not pass because a majority of Texas congressmen did not vote for it the Texas congressmen who voted against the bill were persuaded by someone other than the president to vote the way they did the president did not try to influence the votes of any congressmen outside of Texas CORRECT the four Texas congressmen who voted for the bill were against it before they spoke to the president 23. Question : The very large increase in allergies over the last thirty years is due to the great success of immunizations administered over this time period. Since immunizations have nearly eliminated life-threatening diseases such as polio, the human immune system increasingly targets other environmental substances in order to keep working properly. Allergy symptoms such as runny nose and itchy eyes result when the immune system attacks pollen that is breathed in from the air. Which one of the following best expresses the main point of the passage above? Student Answer: Immunizations often have surprising side effects. Immunizations have been very successful in eliminating life-threatening diseases. INCORRECT Viruses that once caused polio now cause allergies. CORRECT The use of immunizations has led to an increase in allergies. 24. Question : Political science professor: Many people insist that the Internet is revolutionizing the political process. They argue that Internet debates and online political polls and chat rooms give people greater access to political information. And they’re right that online political chatter increases daily. But offering or reading anonymous online opinions does not by itself make for active political participation. In the past one would attend a rally, protest, or town meeting to engage in real politics. Today, people sit passively in front of computer screens under the illusion that they are connecting with their fellow citizens. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the professor’s argument? Student Answer: Internet debates and online political polls and chat rooms give people greater access to political information. INCORRECT Political organizations of the past bear no resemblance to the political organizations of today. CORRECT While the Internet has made more political content available, meaningful political involvement has decreased. The Internet has revolutionized the political process because it has allowed many more political viewpoints to be expressed. Points Received: 0 of 1 Comments: 25. Question : Whereas many industries suffer during economic recessions, the art industry does well. Some think the reason is that artists feed off the anxiety and uncertainty during recessions to produce inspired works. Others think that recessions, while harmful to most people, produce a handful of very rich people willing to pay very high prices for artworks, driving up the value of the art market as a whole. The author of the passage above is primarily interested in Student Answer: providing evidence that the art industry does well during recessions CORRECT presenting reasons for why the art industry does well during recessions discussing the types of artworks that sell  best during recessions describing the effect that art has on the economy