Course Title: Critical Thinking

1. Statement:

“We shouldn’t hire John, because our company has a policy against hiring drug users, and I saw
John take aspirin, which is a drug,” says the manager of ABC company.

(Equivocation-the word “drug” illegal and legal drugs)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Lexical Ambiguity
Explanation:

We are not sure whether the meaning of the word ‘drug’ refers to legal or illegal drugs or even
both as most people interpret drug users as people who are addicted to illegal drugs while those
medically approved drugs are perceived to be more positive items.

Improvement:

The statement could specify the exact category of drugs like this “We shouldn’t hire John,
because our company has a policy against hiring drug users both of illegal and legal drugs, and I
saw John take aspirin, which is a legal drug,”

2.Statement:

Peter stored his antique books in the safe deposit box in the bank, but the fire burned down the
bank and the books were destroyed.

(No correction)

Answer:

Type of misuse: No correction

3.Statement

Mr. Bianchi approached the reception counter of a ride in a theme park, but did not know
whether his child fulfilled the height requirement. Mr. Bianchi asked, and the counter officer
told him, “Tall children are okay, but short children are not allowed.”

(Vagueness- “tall” and “short”)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Vagueness

Explanation:
We are still not sure about the height requirement of the ride as the words ‘tall’ and ‘short’ still
have no clear indication of the precise cut-off points in centimeters like exactly how tall in
centimeters is considered for tall children to get on the ride.

Improvement:

The sentence should be rewritten with the specific height requirements as “Mr. Bianchi
approached the reception counter of a ride in a theme park, but did not know whether his child
fulfilled the height requirement. Mr. Bianchi asked, and the counter told him, “The children have
to be 140cm tall and children below that height are not allowed on the ride.”

4.Statement

“Killer sentenced to die for third time in 5 years,” says a news headliner.

(Syntactic ambiguity- three different killers are going to die or one killer sentenced third time in
5 years)

Answer:

Type of misuse: No correction

5.Statement

“Eight is an odd number of legs for a dog. Odd numbers cannot be divided by two. Therefore, six
cannot be divided by two,” says a primary school student in a mathematic class.

(Equivocation- “odd”)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Equivocation

Explanation:
The word “Odd” has two different meanings in this statement. The first meaning of the word
“odd” is implying strange or weird while the second meaning of the word “odd” refers to the
mathematics definition of odd numbers like 1,3,5.

Improvement:

We would replace the first meaning of the word “odd” with another synonym to avoid confusion
like this “Eight is a strange number of legs for a dog. Odd numbers cannot be divided by two.
Therefore, six cannot be divided by two,”

6.Statement

When the school principal of River East Primary School in Hong Kong was asked why he chose
to form sister schools with River West Primary School on mainland, he answered that the two
schools were highly similar so the students could benefit from sharing with one another.

(Incomplete meaning- “highly similar”)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Incomplete meaning

Explanation:

We are not sure exactly how the two primary schools are similar, like in what aspects or
standards. It could mean that the teaching methods are similar, the school rules are similar, or the
students’ abilities are similar.

Improvement:

We could specify the aspect of similarity between the two primary schools as follows, “When the
school principal of River East Primary School in Hong Kong was asked why he chose to form
sister schools with River West Primary School on mainland, he answered that the two schools
were highly similar regarding their teaching methods so the students could benefit from sharing
with one another.”

7.Statement
“Our organic soymilk is healthier with 20% less sugar,” says the shopkeeper.

(Incomplete)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Incomplete meaning

Explanation:

We are not sure exactly how much healthier is the organic soymilk. There is no comparison with
other products or how is it more beneficial to the customer’s health.

Improvement:

We could include a more detailed explanation as to why this soymilk is healthier by rewriting the
statement like this “Our organic soymilk is healthier when being compared to other soymilk with
20% less sugar.

8.Statement

Kathrine gave Kelly’s laptop to her sister.

(Referential)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Syntactic ambiguity

Explanation:

We are not sure who “her sister” is being referred to. It could be that Kathrine gave the laptop to
her own sister or that Kathrine gave the laptop to Kelly’s sister.

Improvement:

It could be rewritten as “Kathrine gave Kelly’s laptop to her own sister” or “Kathrine gave
Kelly’s laptop to Kelly’s sister”
9.Statement

“I’ll submit my essay to you very soon,” says a student of CGEXXXXX.

(Vague)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Vagueness

Explanation:

The word “soon” doesn’t give a precise indication about when exactly the student would be able
to give his/her assignment. They could have included the estimated days/date they would be able
to hand in the essay.

Improvement:

The statement could be rewritten with a specified deadline date for the submission as follows,
“I’ll submit my essay to you within the next 2 days.”

10.Statement

“I am glad I am a graduate of ABC University, and so is my wife,” says a graduate of ABC

University.

(Syntactic)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Syntactic ambiguity

Explanation:
We are not sure whether the statement means that the graduate is glad that he is a graduate of
ABC University and his wife is just as glad that he is a graduate or that his wife is also a
graduate of ABC University.

Improvement:

It could be rewritten as” I am glad I am a graduate of ABC University, and my wife is just as
glad as I am” or “I am glad I am a graduate of ABC University just like my wife,”

11.Statement

“The ladies of Oxford Street Mission have thrown away their clothes. You are welcome to come
and inspect them,” says a spokesman of the Mission.

(Referential)

Answer:

Type of misuse:

Referential ambiguity

Explanation:

We are not sure whether the pronoun “them” refers to “the ladies of Oxford Street Mission” or
refers to “their clothes,”

Improvement:

The statement could be rewritten as “The ladies of Oxford Street Mission have thrown away
their clothes. You are welcome to come and inspect them clothing by clothing.

12.Statement

“Stolen antique watch found by tree,” says a news headliner

(Lexical- “by”)
Answer:

Type of misuse:

Syntactic ambiguity

Explanation:

We are not sure whether the meaning of the statement is that the antique watch was found near
the tree or that the antique watch was found by a tree itself.

Improvement:

We could rewrite the statement as “Stolen antique watch found near tree” or “Stolen antique
watch was found by a tree,”