Gen 499 Critical Thinking Quiz Simplified Q&A

1. Question : 21{1[1(01)01]} Since Jessica’s participation in local politics increased significantly after she joined her school’s political science club, it is clear that her involvement in that club led her to take an interest in politics. The argument above is flawed because: it’s possible that an interest in politics caused Jessica to join the political science club. Question 2 . Question : 21{1[1(13)13]} 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: relies on a sample that is too small to represent the entire corporate workforce. Question 3 . Question : 11{1[4(17)17]} 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 Student Answer: does not suggest that Catherine goes to see every romantic comedy that plays at her local movie theater. Question 2 . Question : {1[1(13)13]} A recent study of 100 employees from epartments 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: relies on a sample that is too small to represent the entire corporate workforce. Question 3 . Question : {1[1(01)01]} Since Jessica’s participation in local politics increased significantly after she joined her school’s political science club, it is clear that her involvement in that club led her to take an interest in politics. The argument above is flawed because: it’s possible that an interest in politics caused Jessica to join the political science club. Question 4 . Question : 11{1[1(19)19]} 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? Just because Dasha satisfied two requirements of being a sage doesn’t necessarily mean that she satisfies all the requirements of being a sage. Question 5 . Question : 21{1[2(24)24]} 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 an average for the individuals that make up that average. Question 6 . Question : 11{1[4(17)17]} 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: more students may have taken the test in the afternoon than in the morning. Question 7 . Question : 11{2[3(11)35]} 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?