Literature Expert: Great pieces of literature have often caused outrage among the public when first published; for example, Ulysses by James Joyce was banned for years due to its alleged obscenity, and Walt Whitman's poetry collection. Leaves of Grass was banned for its use of explicit language. So, since literature often causes outrage and shock, we should not limit the use of public funds to support books that many people find obscene.
Which of the following is an assumption that the literature expert's argument requires in order to properly come to his or her conclusion?
Important Questions on Analytical Reasoning
A city poll of the community showed that Percent of respondents believe that an appropriate amount of the city budget is being spent on parks and recreation. It seems, then, that any significant increase in the city budget should be spent on something other than parks and recreation.
Which one of the following describes a flaw in reasoning in the above argument?
Having endured a tumultuous childhood, Theresa has no conception of the moral difference between right and wrong, only between what is legally permitted and what is not. When Theresa committed her offence, she did not recognize the fact that it was a morally wrong act, despite knowing that it was illegal.
From the statements above, which one of the following can be properly inferred?
Jill: Hale-Bopp Comet, now in a part of its orbit relatively far from the Sun, recently flared brightly enough to be seen by telescopes. No comet has ever been observed to flare so far from the Sun before, so such a flare must be highly unusual. Sara: Hogwash. Usually, no one bothers to try to observe comets when they are so far from the Sun. This flare was observed only because an observatory was tracking Hale-Bopp Comet very closely.
Sara challenges Jill's reasoning by
Psychologist: There are theories that posit completely different causal mechanisms from those posited by the Smith psychological theory and that are more successful at predicting human behavior. Therefore, the Smith theory of behavior, no matter how elegant or complex it is, ought to be abandoned in favour of these other theories.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the psychologist's argument depends?
Several legislators claim that the public finds many current movies so sexually explicit as to be morally offensive. However, these legislators have misrepresented public opinion. In a survey conducted by a movie industry guild, only percent of respondents think that movies are too sexually explicit, and only percent found any recent movie to be morally offensive. These low percentages are telling because the respondents see far more current movies than does the average moviegoer.
The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument:
Children who are educated at Evans High School tend to do better than children who are educated at Gilbert T. Sloan High School. Since.Samuel achieved higher grades than any of his classmates in his first year at the university, he was probably educated at Evans.
Wlhich one of the following most closely parallels the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
Frustration in response to insults is unreasonable, for insults are merely assertions that someone has undesirable characteristics. If such an assertion is false, the insulted party ought to pity the ignorance prompting the insult. If it is true, the insulted party should be thankful for such useful information.
Which one of the following, if assumed, enables the argument's conclusion to be properly drawn?
