Exam 1: Basic Concepts

There are two types of pension plan. In a defined contribution plan, a company contributes a specific amount of money, often based on profits, to a fund owned by its employees. In a defined benefit plan, the company promises to make specific lifetime payments to its employees when they retire. The payments depend on each employee's pay at retirement, years of service, and expected lifespan. Eugene F. Brigham, Financial Management: Theory and Practice

People everywhere recognize a category of people who are related to them biologically or through adoption-their relatives, we call them. But the principles by which certain kinds of relatives are placed in cultural categories vary between kinship systems. Thus, English speakers think of the sisters of both our mother and our father as a single kind of relative, and we call them by the same kinship term, aunt. But there are some cultural traditions in which the sister of one's mother is considered one kind of relative and the sister of one's father a different kind, and each is called by a separate kinship term. Garrick Bailey and James Peoples, Essentials of Cultural Anthropology

Which of the following is an inductive argument?

Which of the following are all conclusion indicators?

Liquids and gasses have the property of being fluid-that is, they flow-because their atoms, ions, or molecules are not so strongly attracted to each other as they are in solids. Not being confined to specific locations, the particles in a liquid can move past one another. Melvin D. Joesten and James L Wood, World of Chemistry, 2^nd edition

Amanda is taller than Jacqueline, and Jacqueline is shorter than Laura. Hence, it necessarily follows that Amanda is taller than Laura.

If you go to foreign films, if you go to documentaries, if you go to independent films, if you go to good films, you will become a better person because you will understand human nature better. Movies record human nature in a better way than any other art form. That's for sure. Roger Ebert

Which of the following are all nonarguments?

George is an egotist. Therefore, he has an inflated impression of his own importance.

As climate change continues, the temperature of the world's oceans will rise. As ocean temperatures rise, hurricanes will become more intense. Therefore, hurricanes in the Caribbean will intensify in the years ahead.

Since some politicians are honest people and some honest people are eloquent statesmen, it follows that some politicians are eloquent statesmen.

Which of the following is a conclusion indicator?

Graffiti painted on that vacant building says "Boycott Meat." Therefore, it's clear that we should all become vegetarians.

Given that A and B are the diagonals of a parallelogram. It follows that A and B have the same length.

Marketing to consumers via the Internet has many advantages for marketers. It allows products and services to be offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It allows products to be offered globally in an efficient manner. And it is cost efficient, saving the need for stores, paper catalogues, and sales people. J. Paul Peter and Jerry C. Olson, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy

The Chairman of Big Tex Oil Company stated that oil company executives are drastically underpaid. Therefore, it must be the case that oil company executives are indeed underpaid, just as the Chairman says.

There appears to be a growing happiness gap between men and women. Women today are working more and relaxing less, while men are working less and relaxing more. Forty years ago a typical woman spent 40 minutes more per week than the typical man performing an activity considered unpleasant. Today, with men working less, the gap is 90 minutes and growing.

An argument whose conclusion rests on a similarity between two things or situations is:

Today's edition of the New York Times ran a long article on the terrorist bombing in Israel. Therefore, probably the Los Angeles Times, which covers international news about as well as the New York Times, also has an article on that bombing.

The exchange of energy between an organism and its surroundings involves the transformation of one form of energy into another. For example, when a leaf produces sugar, it converts solar energy to chemical energy in sugar molecules. When an animal's muscle cells use sugar as fuel to power movements, they convert chemical energy into kinetic energy. All of the work of cells involves the transformation of chemical energy (which is ordered) into heat, which is the unordered energy of random molecular motion. Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece, Biology, 6^th edition