Practice Questions

Please come to class prepared with answers to these questions.

Argument, Explanation or Neither?
1. I was late to class because my car wouldnt start.
2. You really need to get your car repaired because your car often doesnt start.
3. We hired another member for the night shift because the crew that is on cannot keep
up with the workload.
4. The sight of the Indian woman, Sacajawea, convinced the Indians of our friendly
intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter.
William Clark
5. Mustangs are the hottest cars on the road today.
6. Physician-assisted suicide is always wrong because it involves killing human beings.
And killing humans is wrong.
7. The number of miles driven per year on Americas highways has risen every year
since the statistics were first tracked in the 1950s.
8. Three explanations have been offered for the extinction of the dinosaurs. First, a
global rise in temperature caused the testes of male dinosaurs to stop functioning.
Second, certain flowering plants (namely, angiosperms) evolved after the dinosaurs
evolved; these plants were toxic for the dinosaurs, which ate them and died. Third, a
large comet struck the earth, causing a cloud of dust that blocked out the sunlight,
which in turn created a frigid climate for which the dinosaurs were ill suited. Now,
there is no way to get any evidence either for or against the first hypothesis. And the
second hypothesis is unlikely because it is probable that angiosperms were in
existence 10 million years before the dinosaurs became extinct. There is, however,
some evidence in favor of the third hypothesis. If the earth was struck by a large
comet at the time the dinosaurs became extinct (some 65 million years ago), then
there should be unusually large amounts of iridium (a rare metal) in the sediments of
that period, for most of the iridium on Earth comes from comets and other objects
from outer space. And, as a matter of fact, unusually large amounts of iridium have
been found in the sediments of that period. So, the third explanation seems best.
9. Global oil demand still lies well below the peak level of 1979. Improved energy
efficiency and the expanding role of natural gas in many countries is cutting into
petroleums market. But oil is still the worlds leading source of energy, supplying 40
percent of the total . . .
10. The good dont always die young because Mother Teresa was a good person.

Identify the premises, conclusion and issue for each passage.

1. If you want to pass your Chemistry class, you really have to do your homework. But
you are not doing any of your homework.
2. Student fees have been raised every year for the past decade. You can figure out
whats going to happen next year, cant you?
3. Which program should you choose? The one that will make you happiest over the
long haul. This is because no amount of money will make up for a boring,
unsatisfying career.
4. Will you stop being so squeamish? Surely, you have seen blood before, and besides
that, youre wearing gloves.
5. Stop staying up late studying; its ruining your health.
6. Radioactive fallout isnt the only concern in the aftermath of nuclear explosions. The
nations of planet Earth have acquired nuclear weapons with an explosive power equal
to more than a million Hiroshima bombs. Studies suggest that explosion of only half
these weapons would produce enough soot, smoke, and dust to blanket the Earth,
block out the sun, and bring on a nuclear winter that would threaten the survival of
the human race.
7. Contrary to the tales of some scuba divers, the toothy, gaping grin on the mouth of an
approaching shark is not necessarily anticipatory. It is generally accepted that by
constantly swimming with its mouth open, the shark is simply avoiding suffocation.
This assures a continuous flow of oxygen-laden water into their mouths, over their
gills, and out through the gill slits.
8. College is the time in which a young mind is supposed to mature and acquire
wisdom, and one can only do this by experiencing as much diverse intellectual
stimuli as possible. A business student may be a whiz at accounting, but has he or she
ever experienced the beauty of a Shakespearean sonnet or the boundless events
composing Hebrew history? Most likely not. While many of these neoconservatives
will probably go on to be financially successful, they are robbing themselves of the
true purpose of collegiate academics, a sacrifice that outweighs the future salary
checks.
9. It is not always moral to save five lives at the cost of one life. For if it is always moral
to save five lives at the cost of one life, then it is moral to remove the organs of a
healthy person against his wishes and transplant them in five people who need organ
transplants. But it is not moral to perform such transplants because doing so violates
the rights of the healthy person. Therefore, it is not always morally right to save five
lives at the cost of one life.
10. Will power, the kind that, if need be, makes us set our teeth and endure suffering, is
the principal weapon of the apprentice engaged in manual work. But, contrary to the
usual belief, it has practically no place in study. The intelligence can only be led by
desire. [And] for there to be desire, there must be pleasure and joy in the work.