Week 01 (How to spot an argument?) - Quiz 01

(1) Arguments are explicit ways to formulate reasons

a. True b. False

(2) Arguments are verbal fights.

a. True b. False

(3) Every argument includes a conclusion.

a. True b. False

(4) All arguments are made up of (or expressed in) language

a. True b. False

(5) Every argument is intended to establish a conclusion that the audience did not believe before.

a. True b. False

(6) Every argument succeeds in giving good reasons for its conclusion.

a. True b. False


For questions below, indicate whether the following sentences are arguments.

(7) Megafauna: n. very large animals.

a. Yes, this is an argument
b. No, this is not an argument

(8) Reptiles include turtles, alligators, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and the tuatara.

a. Yes, this is an argument
b. No, this is not an argument

(9) World War II occurred after World War I occurred.

a. Yes, this is an argument
b. No, this is not an argument

(10) World War II occurred because World War I occurred.

a. Yes, this is an argument
b. No, this is not an argument


(11) The sides of this right triangle are 1 meter long, so its hypotenuse is 2 meters long.

a. Yes, this is an argument
b. No, this is not an argument

Answers
Highlight the text below to see and validate your answers
1. A 
2. B (People in fights are trying to hurt each other, but people who give arguments are often trying to help each other)
3. A (Arguments are defined so that they must always have a conclusion)
4. A (Premises are sentences, statements, or propositions. Sentences and statements are made up of language, and propositions are expressed by language. Notice that no particular language is required, so it would be false to say that all arguments are in English)
5. B (Sometimes the conclusion is already both believed and established as true, and the point of the argument is only to explain WHY it is true. Hence, Monty Python is not always right)

6. B (Although people who give arguments always intend to give some kind of reason, they often fail to fulfill that intention. Bad arguments fail to give good reasons)

7. B (The defined term is not a full sentence, statement, or proposition, so it cannot be a conclusion. The definition is not a reason for the term that is defined)

8. B (One word in a list does not give a reason for the other words. One could argue, “This is a turtle, so it is a reptile,” but the list by itself does not explicitly state that argument or any argument)

9. B (This sentence is about historical or chronological order rather than rational order. It does not explicitly claim that World War I gives a reason for World War II)

10. A (The word “because” makes this sentence claim that World War I gives a reason why World War II occurred)

11. A (The word “so” indicates that the first sentence is supposed to be a reason for the second sentence. This argument is very bad, since the hypotenuse must be square root of 2 meters long instead of 2 meters long. But bad arguments are still arguments)