Exam 1: Basic Concepts

Which of the following are all deductive arguments?

Given a right triangle with one 30° angle. It follows that the other angle is 55°.

The 2004 Olympic games were held in either Athens or Salt Lake City. But they were not held in Athens. Therefore, they were held in Salt Lake City.

Either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush was president when the World Trade Center towers were destroyed. But Bush was not president at that time. Therefore, Bill Clinton was president when those buildings were destroyed.

The bumper sticker on that car says "Don't Waste Your Vote. Vote Libertarian." Therefore, it's clear that you should vote for Libertarian candidates in the next election.

Which of the following is a premise indicator?

To focus on the performance of the stock market is to zero in on an economic indicator that can do well even as the country does poorly. In 2006, for instance, the Dow Jones industrial average hit highs. According to the just released census data, however, median earnings fell one percent, and millions more Americans entered the ranks of the uninsured. Indeed, from 2000 to 2007 the S&P 500 gained more than 500 points. Meanwhile, the median household income fell by more than $900. Ezra Klein, "Stock Split"

Authoritarian states are characterized by strong central governments that fairly stringently limit the range of political activity. More often than not, they are one-party states, which means that only one party, that which supports the government, is allowed to engage in political activity. Free discussion and association are strictly curtailed in these systems. Anyone who might dare to criticize the government or to express ideas that are not in conformity with its policies can be severely punished, even by death. Robert A. Heineman, Political Science

Which of the following is a necessary condition for graduating from college?

Figure A is a right triangle, and two of its sides have a length of 1 foot. Therefore, its area is ¹/₂ square foot.

Most Hollywood stars have a criminal dark side. Look at Robert Blake. He killed his wife. And Winona Ryder ripped off stuff worth thousands of dollars from Saks Fifth Avenue.

Tobacco smoke is a much deadlier carcinogen and triggers a broader variety of cancers than previously believed. A new study provides definitive evidence that secondhand smoke increases the risk of those exposed by 20%. Also, the study firmly links smoking to stomach, liver, cervical, and kidney cancer, as well as to myeloid leukemia. Such links were previously suspected but not proved. Thomas Maugh II, "Smoking Goes from Bad to Worse"

In some ways biology is the most demanding of all sciences. This is partly because living systems are so complex and partly because biology is a multidisciplinary science that requires a knowledge of chemistry, physics, and mathematics. And of all the sciences, biology is the most connected to the humanities and social sciences. Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece, Biology, 6^th edition

Claire Connors and Melanie Howard cannot be one and the same person, because Claire was in Berlin during the entire month of January, and at that time Melanie was in Chicago.

The Washington Post carried an article on the huge hurricane that struck the Caiman Islands. The Chicago Tribune is similar in its coverage to the Washington Post. Thus, the Chicago Tribune must have carried an article on that hurricane.

Which of the following is not an inductive argument?

The field of economics is divided into two major branches: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics studies the behavior of individual economic agents and how they interact with each other in markets. Macroeconomics focuses on the overall level of economic activity in a society. It studies such topics as unemployment, inflation, and the rate of economic growth. Don E. Waldman, Microeconomics

Because the properties of life emerge from complex organization, scientists seeking to understand biological processes confront a dilemma. One horn of the dilemma is that we cannot fully explain a higher level of order without breaking it down into its parts, but this inevitably kills it. The other horn is the futility of trying to analyze something as complex as an organism or a cell without taking it apart. Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece, Biology, 6^th edition

Sandra is older than Florence, and Florence is younger than Carl. Therefore, it necessarily follows that Sandra is older than Carl.

According to a two hundred year old tradition, the president of the Apex Club has always been a woman. Therefore, the next president will most likely be a woman.