1-4: Identifying Arguments: Premises & ConclusionsIn the following passages:

(a) determine whether or not an argument is present

(b) if an argument is present, identify the premises and the conclusion.

Question 1 (1 point)

"I don't like Facebook. And I can't stand Twitter either"

Question 1 options:

No argument.

Argument.     

Premise: I don't like Facebook.

Conclusion: I don't like Twitter.

Argument.     

Premise: I don't like Twitter.

Conclusion: I don't like Facebook.

None of the above.

Question 2 (1 point)

Steve has seen 1,000 swans, and all of them are white. Therefore, most swans are white."

Question 2 options:

No argument.

Argument.     

Premise: Most swans are white.

Conclusion: Steve has seen 1,000 swans and all of them are white.

Argument.

Premises: Steve has seen 1,000 swans and all of them are white.

Conclusion: Most swans are white.

None of the above.

Question 3 (1 point)

"You say that all famous philosophers are men. But look at Mary Wollstonecraft—she's a famous philosopher, so some famous philosophers are women."

Question 3 options:

No argument.

Argument.

Premise: Some famous philosophers are women.

Conclusion: Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman and a famous philosopher.

Argument.

Premises: Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman and a famous philosopher.

Conclusion: Some famous philosophers are women.

None of the above.

Question 4 (1 point)

"Murata has more experience and better communication skills than Johnson. The hiring committee should hire Murata."

Question 4 options:

No argument.

Argument.                 

Premise: The hiring committee should hire Murata.

Conclusion: Murata has more experience and better communication skills than Johnson.

Argument.      

Premises: Murata has more experience and better communication skills than Johnson.

Conclusion: The hiring committee should hire Murata.

None of the above.

1-5: Things that are not arguments

For the following two passage, determine whether the passage contains an argument, an assertion, a question, a command, or a description.

Question 5 (1 point)

The patient presents with fever, sweating, and a cough but claims that she has no pain in the throat or the ears.

Question 5 options:

Argument

Assertion

Question

Command

Description

Question 6 (1 point)

"Oh! you gods, why do you make us love your goodly gifts, and snatch them straight away?" (Shakespeare, Pericles, Act 3, Sc. 1)

Question 6 options:

Argument

Assertion

Question

Command

Description

1-6: Putting Arguments into Standard Form

Determine whether each of the following passages contains an argument(s). If it contains an argument(s), determine which is the correct standard form. (Note: "Tf" stands for "Therefore".)

Remember: ( ) correspond to stated premises and [ ] correspond to unstated premises.

Question 7 (1 point)

Look, commuters need to take I-285 instead of I-75. At this time of day I-75 is always a mess, and I read in the newspaper this morning that they were repaving part of I-75 today.

Question 7 options:

No argument.

(1) I-75 is always a mess.

(2) They are repaving part of I-75 today.

Tf,

(3) Commuters should take I-285 instead of I-75.

(1) Commuters should take I-285 instead of I-75

Tf,

(2) I-75 is always a mess and they are repaving part of I-75 today.

Question 8 (1 point)

Background information: Amphibians are cold-blooded. They draw all the heat they need to live from their environment.

"New fossilized remains of an amphibian which roamed the Earth more than 245 million years ago have been discovered in Antarctica, suggesting that its [climate] during much of the Triassic, the epoch when dinosaurs and the first primitive mammals emerged, was remarkably warm. The 60-cm (24-inch) piece of skull was dug out from thick sandstone at Fremouw Peak in the Transantarctic Mountains, just six degrees away from the South Pole. The mixed team of European-American paleontologists has assessed the creature as a Parotosuchus, a 2-m (6.5-ft)-long giant crocodile-like predator (but it was related to modern salamanders) that lived 40 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared, inhabiting lakes and rivers." (Anitei 2007)

Question 8 options:

No argument.

(1) A 60-cm skull has been found at Fremouw Peak, close to the South Pole.

(2) The creature has been named "Parotosuchus."

Tf,

(3) It was a 2-m long crocodile-like predator.

(1) A fossil of an amphibian that lived in the Triassic period has been found in Antarctica.

[2] Amphibians can only live in warm climates.

Tf,

(3) During the Triassic period, the climate of Antarctica was remarkably warm.

(1) Amphibians are cold-blooded.

(2) Amphibians draw all the heat they need to live from their environment.

Tf,

(3) Amphibians can only live in warm climates.

None of the above.

Question 9 (1 point)

Don't cry. Your toy dinosaur's around here somewhere. You were playing with it in the kitchen less than an hour ago, and you haven't been out of the house since then. We'll find it.

Question 9 options:

No argument.

[1] A child was playing with their dinosaur in the kitchen less than an hour ago.

[2] The child has not been out of the house in the last hour.

Tf,

[3] The child's dinosaur is in the house.

(1) The child was playing with their dinosaur in the kitchen less than an hour ago and they have not been out of the house in the last hour.

Tf,

(2) The child's dinosaur is in the house.

(1) The child was playing with their dinosaur in the kitchen less than an hour ago.

(2) The child has not been out of the house in the last hour.

Tf,

(3) The child's dinosaur is in the house.

None of the above.

Question 10 (1 point)

Determine whether each of the following passages contains an argument(s). If it contains an argument(s), determine which is the correct standard form. Tf = Therefore

I got angry. Then I told him, "Listen, I don't want kumquats! I want oranges!"

Question 10 options:

No argument.

(1) Person A got angry.

(2) Person A said "I don't want kumquats."

Tf,

(3) Person A said "I want oranges."

(1) Person A said "I don't want kumquats."

(2) Person A said "I want oranges."

Tf,

(3) Person A got angry.

(1) Person A said "I don't want kumquats."

(2) Person A got angry.

Tf,

(3) Person A said "I want oranges."

None of the above.