Deck 1: Accounting As a Tool for Management

Question 1

"The president's basic problem, in my opinion, is that she is too unemotional. She makes all her decisions on cold logic and seems to ignore the human dimension. If you don't believe me, I offer as proof the way she withdrew her support for her brother-in-law when he was charged with tax evasion. After that, he couldn't get elected dog catcher." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether the president should have withdrawn support for her brother-in-law
B)whether you should believe me about the president
C)whether the president has a serious problem
D)whether the president is too unemotional

Answer 1

D

Question 2

"With genetically different animals, there's always the possibility that the results of experiments are due to variations among animals rather than to whatever is being tested. Genetically identical research animals would therefore be a boon to research because scientists could be more confident of their research results." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether scientists need to be more confident of their research results
B)whether genetically identical research animals would be a boon to research
C)whether results of experiments are due to variations among animals or to whatever is being tested
D)whether experimentation on animals should continue

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Identifying the issue is very simple in all real-life situations.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Which of the following is of cognitive biases?

A)They evaluate conclusions based on evidence.
B)They help process information accurately.
C)They interfere with one's ability to think clearly.
D)They help people reason objectively.

Question 5

"Tommy has great fashion sense" is an objective claim.

Question 6

The first order of business when it comes to thinking critically about an issue is to

A)determine whether the issue is objective.
B)determine what, exactly, the issue is.
C)identify the premise of the issue.
D)identify the conclusion of the issue.

Question 7

When an opinion is expressed in a declarative statement, the result is a claim.

Question 8

Which of the following is an objective claim?

A)Sailing is the most soothing activity.
B)Yellow is the most pleasant color to look at.
C)Jason has great dressing sense.
D)Driving while drowsy is dangerous.

Question 9

"The Justice Department recently reported that the Immigration and Naturalization Service allowed more than 180,000 immigrants to become American citizens just before the last presidential election without completing background checks. The INS did this in hopes that most of the new immigrants would vote for Democrats. This political chicanery is an outrage, and Congress should demand accountability from the responsible officials." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether the INS allowed 180,000 immigrants to become American citizens without completing background checks
B)whether the INS allowed 180,000 immigrants to become American citizens without background checks in hopes that the new immigrants would vote for Democrats
C)whether this political chicanery shows that Congress should demand accountability from the responsible officials
D)whether Congress should demand accountability from the responsible officials

Question 10

"I think there should be a speed limit for the 'spandex' bicycle racers that feel the need to run those of us that don't ride or walk as fast off the road and into the bushes in Bidwell Park. The park is for everyone's pleasure and enjoyment, and more often than not it is spoiled by those few who feel they are superior to the rest of us. Approximately eight out of ten times when my family and I have ridden our bikes through the park at least one of us has just about been plowed over by one of those egotistical speeders."-From a letter to the editor Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether there should be a speed limit for bicycle racers
B)whether bicycle racers are egotistical
C)whether the park is for everyone's pleasure
D)whether outings to the park are frequently spoiled by bicycle racers

Question 11

Some opinions are not subjective, because their truth or falsity is independent of what people think.

Question 12

Which of the following is a subjective claim?

A)Staring at the sun will damage your eyes.
B)You shouldn't buy that car because it is ugly.
C)On a baseball field, the center of the pitcher's mound is 59 feet from home plate.
D)Pit vipers can strike a warm-blooded animal even when it is pitch dark.

Question 13

General rules people unconsciously follow in estimating probabilities are known as

A)subjective claims.
B)objective claims.
C)biases.
D)heuristics.

Question 14

A belief cannot be expressed in a declarative sentence.

Question 15

"The Republicans' proposal to cut taxes on capital gains (profits from selling real estate, stocks, and bonds) is not a sop for the wealthy. It is a way to stimulate investment and ultimately to create jobs. That's why it is in everyone's interest to support the proposal." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether the proposal is a sop for the wealthy
B)whether the proposal is a way to stimulate investment and ultimately to create jobs
C)whether stimulating investment and creating jobs is a good thing
D)whether it is in everyone's interest to support the proposal

Question 16

"Gina has swag" is a subjective claim.

Question 17

Which of the following is a subjective claim?

A)Leno tells better jokes than Letterman.
B)Yellow is Jennifer's favorite color.
C)Pit vipers can strike a warm-blooded animal even when it is pitch dark.
D)There is life on Mars.

Question 18

Whether a subjective claim is or is independent of whether people think it is or .

Question 19

The tendency to attach more weight to evidence that supports our viewpoint is known as

A)confirmation bias.
B)belief bias.
C)negativity bias.
D)availability bias.

Question 20

"Should welfare recipients repay the state before they collect their winnings from the lottery? On the one hand, if you borrow money from somebody and win the lottery with it, you should repay the loan out of your winnings. But on the other hand, welfare is not a loan. It is a payment to people to help them improve their lives in the best way they can." Which of the following best states the primary issue discussed in the passage?

A)whether welfare is a loan
B)whether welfare should be used to play the lottery
C)whether welfare recipients should repay the state before they collect winnings from the lottery
D)whether the fact that welfare is a loan means that welfare recipients should repay the state before they collect winnings from the lottery

Question 21

If you know how to do it, you can get your set to pick up the current given off by the twister. So your television set can be your warning device that tells you when to dive for the cellar.
-Adapted from Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope

Question 22

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
It is obvious why some men have trouble understanding why women become upset over pornography. Pornography depicts women as servants or slaves, and men cannot conceive of themselves in this role.

Question 23

The inclination that people may have to assume that their attitudes and those held by people around them are shared by society at large is known as

A)the fundamental attribution error.
B)the false consensus effect.
C)negativity bias.
D)confirmation bias.

Question 24

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question."
-John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism

Question 25

Which of the following involves unconsciously assigning a probability to a type of event on the basis of how often one thinks of events of that type?

A)Factual claim
B)In-group bias
C)Availability heuristic
D)Obscure issue

Question 26

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
You'd better not pet that dog. She looks friendly, but she's been known to bite.

Question 27

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Right now there are as many as half a million military-style assault guns in the hands of private citizens in the United States. These small, light, easy-to-handle weapons are exemplified by the Israeli UZI, the American MAC-10 and AR-15, and the KG
-99. All of these are sophisticated weapons manufactured for the single purpose of killing human beings in large numbers very quickly.

Question 28

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
I don't care how well Thompson played last week. If he misses practice one more time, he's not going to play in the tournament, and that's that.

Question 29

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Computers will never be able to converse intelligently through speech. A simple example proves that this is so. The sentences "How do you recognize speech?" and "How do you wreck a nice beach?" sound just the same when they are spoken, but they mean something different. A computer could not distinguish the two.

Question 30

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"Gene splicing is the most awesome and powerful skill acquired by man since the splitting of the atom. If pursued humanistically, its potential to serve humanity is enormous. We will use it to synthesize expensive natural products-interferon, substances such as insulin, and human endorphins that serve as natural painkillers. We will be able to create a second 'green revolution' in agriculture to produce new high-yield, disease-resistant, self-fertilizing crops. Gene splicing has the potential to synthesize new substances we can substitute for oil, coal, and other raw materials-keys to a self-sustaining society."
-John Naisbitt, Megatrends

Question 31

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"The main danger of war, even of a war fought with conventional weapons, lies in its unpredictability."
-Anatoly Gromyko, "Security for All in the Nuclear Age," in Breakthrough

Question 32

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.

Question 33

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"The argument advanced at a recent government hearing-that because we will not be dependent on plutonium for more than a few hundred years it 'will not be an important problem indefinitely'-entirely misses the point. Though we may rely on plutonium for only a relatively brief period, the plutonium produced during that period may be with us indefinitely, and it may jeopardize the lives of many times the number of generations that profit from its use."
-Ronald M. Green, "International Justice and Environmental Responsibility"

Question 34

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Except maybe for finance and business law, schools of business really don't have very much of their own subject matter to teach to students. All the rest is really mathematics, psychology, English, speech, and other standard subjects that business schools call by other names.

Question 35

The bandwagon effect is potentially a powerful source of cognitive distortion.

Question 36

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Will a beverage begin to cool more quickly in the freezer or in the regular part of the refrigerator? Well, of course it'll cool faster in the freezer! There are lots of people who don't understand anything at all about physics and who think things may begin to cool faster in the fridge. But they're sadly mistaken.

Question 37

An unconscious tendency to align one's thinking with that of other people is known as the

A)bandwagon effect.
B)availability heuristic.
C)confirmation bias.
D)belief bias.

Question 38

The tendency to not appreciate that others' behavior is as much constrained by events and circumstances as our own would be if we were in their position is known as the

A)false consensus effect.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)bandwagon effect.
D)overconfidence effect.

Question 39

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Some of these guys who do Elvis Presley imitations actually pay more for their outfits than Elvis paid for his! Anybody who would spend thousands just so he can spend a few minutes not fooling anybody into thinking he's Elvis is nuts.

Question 40

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"The personal computer revolution is marked by accidental discoveries. The entire market for these things was a big surprise to all the pioneers who put simple ads in hobbyist magazines and were stunned by an onslaught of eager customers."
-John
C.Dvorak

Question 41

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
The president has the morals of an alley cat, his critics say. Shows you what they know. He'll still be reelected.

Question 42

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Worried Athletic Supporter: I'm particularly concerned with the proposed cuts in the university athletic program. If something has to be cut, let's start with something like dance or basket weaving.
Unworried Athletic Supporter: Oh, don't worry. The university isn't going to kill its cash cow. A strong athletic program is good publicity and brings in lots of contributions. The trustees aren't going to let anything happen to a first-rate program like ours.

Question 43

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
Some would prefer to say that every human being is both a body and a mind. Bodies are in space and subject to the mechanical laws that govern all other bodies in space. But minds are not in space, nor are their operations subject to mechanical laws. Bodily processes and states can be inspected by external observers, but the workings of one mind are not witnessable by other observers. And so a person lives through two collateral histories; but the actual transactions between the episodes of the private history and those of the public history remain mysterious, since by definition they can belong to neither series.
-Adapted from Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind

Question 44

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"Today, there is strong evidence-not only in theory but in practice-that families who try to protect dying children from knowing they're dying rarely serve the child's best interests. This conspiracy of silence, however well-meaning, often puts nurses, relatives, and others who spend the most time with the patient, especially in their lonely moments, on the spot."
-Thomas Scully and Celia Scully, Playing God: The New World of Medical Choices

Question 45

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"[Lionel L.] Lewis discovered that, in recommendations of merit written by administrators and faculty themselves, although they put much emphasis (two-thirds) upon student related activities-teaching, advising, course planning, and popularity-no one argues from any supporting evidence other than, 'Everyone knows.'"
-David
A.Downes, "The Merit Muddle in the University"

Question 46

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Terry: You don't need to spend a lot of money on a home stereo system. Just buy a good car stereo. They're just as good as home stereos, and they're cheaper. All you need is an AC to DC power converter, and you're in business.
Larry: Fine, except who says a car stereo is cheaper? Car speakers cost more than home speakers. Also, it isn't exactly cheap to replace your car system if it gets stolen, as often happens.

Question 47

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Larry: Before we go to Hawaii, let's go to a tanning salon and get a tan. Then we won't look like we just got off the plane, plus we won't get sunburned while we're over there.
Laurie: I don't know . . . I read that those places can be dangerous. And did you ever check out how much they cost? Let's let it go.

Question 48

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"If American business is to regain an advantageous position in the international marketplace, it must recreate a climate of flexibility and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, the trend is to seek personal success not through entrepreneurship but through professionalism, as a continued climb in the number of advanced degrees in business and law confirms. If this tendency to seek personal security and prestige by joining the ranks of the professionally comfortable continues, the real winners will be America's overseas competitors."
-Irving Greenberg

Question 49

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
She: When you think about it, there's every reason why women soldiers shouldn't serve in combat.
He: Well, I don't think anyone should have to serve in combat. I wouldn't make anyone serve who doesn't want to.

Question 50

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his position in the following passage.
Father: The governor should reduce government spending before he starts increasing taxes. Taxes just reduce our incomes, and there is plenty of waste in government. For example, a fire department doesn't need a chief, an assistant chief, and a captain. All it needs is one administrator and however many firefighters.
Son: Who takes charge if the administrator is sick or injured?

Question 51

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Student A: My family is very conservative. I don't think they'd like it if they found out that I was sharing an apartment with two males.
Student B: But sooner or later you have to start living your own life.

Question 52

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Insurance Exec: Insurance costs so much because accident victims hire you lawyers to take us insurers to court and soak us for all we're worth. There should be limits on the amounts insurance companies may be required to pay out on claims.
Attorney: Limits? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. What if someone's medical expenses exceed those limits? Do we just say, "Sorry, Charlie?"

Question 53

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
First Manager: I think it is time to change our policy on return items. From now on, let's just give customers their money back, no questions asked.
Second Manager: Frankly, I don't think that will be such a good policy. Why, just last week you yourself said we should ask people why they want to return things.

Question 54

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for her position in the following passage.
Mother: If you are looking for a wise investment, try real estate. The price of housing has always risen faster than the rate of inflation.
Daughter: Maybe, but I'm skeptical. What's risen faster than the rate of inflation is the cost of land, not the cost of the structures put on it. Since the population isn't growing and the demand for land is declining, real estate may not be such a great investment any more.

Question 55

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"Here's how you make chocolate milk. Warm up a cup of milk in the microwave for two minutes, then add two tablespoons of the chocolate. Stir it up, then stick it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Then enjoy it."

Question 56

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
First Citizen: There has been a lot of talk in favor of having civilian police-review boards monitor law enforcement activities. That's better than letting internal-affairs units try to do that job.
Second Citizen: Right. The ethics of law enforcers is as important as the ethics of lawmakers. Letting them police themselves is like having the foxes guard the henhouse.

Question 57

Identify each speaker that gives an argument for his or her position in the following passage.
Republican: If taxes absolutely must be raised, raise the sales tax. Raising taxes on corporations or income taxes just drives businesses out of state, and that's bad for the economy. The net result is less tax revenue for government.
Democrat: If you raise the sales tax, people buy less, and that's even worse for the economy. Besides, the sales tax hits poor people the hardest, and they are the ones who least can afford a tax hike.

Question 58

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"The recent failure of a Drake University student to halt his former girlfriend's plan for an abortion focuses light on a seldom considered situation: While a woman's right to an abortion should not be weakened, the idea of 'fathers' rights' raised in this case should be discussed."
-The Daily Iowan

Question 59

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"I seriously doubt many people want to connect up their TV to the Internet. For one thing, when people watch TV they don't want more information. For another thing, even if they did, they wouldn't be interested in having to do something to get it. They just want to sit back and let the TV tell them what's happening."

Question 60

Determine whether the following passage is (or contains) an argument.
"The Federal Reserve Board is normally the Stealth bomber of government agencies, zooming in without warning to raise or lower interest rates and confirming weeks later what action was taken. But last Friday, in an extraordinary pre-emptive strike against a possible surge of inflation, the Federal Reserve Chairman declared that the Central Bank had raised short-term rates that very day."

Question 61

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"Can you believe it? Tight-fitting polyester clothes are making a comeback. They've even brought back bell-bottoms. Next thing you know, the professors around here will be dragging out their leisure suits."

Question 62

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
"A witty experiment by Philip Goldberg proves what everyone knows, having internalized the disesteem in which they are held, women despise both themselves and each other. This simple test consisted of asking women undergraduates to respond to the scholarship in an essay signed alternately by one John McKay and one Joan McKay. In making their assessments, the students generally agreed that John was a remarkable thinker, Joan an unimpressive mind. Yet the articles were identical; the reaction was dependent on the sex of the supposed author."
-Kate Millett, Sexual Politics

Question 63

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
Obviously the commission should prepare regulations that are consistent with the law. We admit that isn't always easy. But there's no reason for the commission to substitute its judgment for that of the people.

Question 64

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"Pretzels are pretty good for a snack food. But it's wise to keep in mind that they are high in sodium, at least if you eat the salted kind."

Question 65

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
"It is indeed said that the Japanese work more than 2,000 hours a year, but this is not so. At Sony-and at Sanyo or Matsushita-the total is somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900 hours."
-Akio Morita, chairman of Sony

Question 66

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"The reason nobody buys sports cars anymore is because everyone wants a sports utility vehicle with four-wheel drive. But people will start buying sports cars again sooner or later; just watch and see."

Question 67

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
It's wise to let states deny AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits to unmarried kids under eighteen who live away from their parents. This would discourage thousands of these kids from having children of their own in order to get state-subsidized apartments.

Question 68

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"Should I go to class today? We're probably just going over the test; I can afford to miss that. Besides, I haven't cut a single class all semester. I guess it won't hurt to stay home this once."

Question 69

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"Your jacket looks a little tattered, there, Houston. Time to get a new one, I'd say."

Question 70

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"You've got every reason to add another telephone line, despite the cost. The way it is now, you tie up your phone for hours while you're on your computer. If people need to reach you in an emergency, they can't do it."

Question 71

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
"Those who accept evolution contend that creation is not scientific; but can it be fairly said that the theory of evolution itself is truly scientific?"
-Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?

Question 72

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
"And he went from there, and entered their synagogue. And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, 'Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?' so that they might accuse him. He said to them, 'What man of you, if he has one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.'"
-Matthew 12:9-12

Question 73

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"People who drive SUVs with American flags flying from them are just pretending to be patriots. The real patriots are people who drive cars that get decent mileage, since that actually accomplishes something-it lessons our dependence on foreign oil."

Question 74

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"You should stop doing that; it's hurting him."

Question 75

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
A judge's finding that the FBI discriminated against its Hispanic agents is the second time in less than a year that the bureau has been embarrassed by its treatment of minority employees. Last November, black FBI agent Donald Rochon filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court accusing the bureau of racial harassment when he was an agent in Omaha. The suit is pending.
Increasing the hiring of minorities and treating them equally for promotions must become a matter of greater concern to the FBI. Currently, there are only 423 Hispanic agents and 412 black agents out of a total of about 9
,400. The statistics speak for themselves.

Question 76

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
That American schools have finally been integrated is a myth. The vast majority of African American students attend schools whose student bodies are almost entirely African American. And most whites attend schools where only a tiny minority are African American, Latino, or Asian.

Question 77

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
"Because real estate is a local investment, I recommend investing within an hour's drive from your home.
Personally, I invest within a half-hour drive because then I can properly manage the property and watch it to be sure it is not declining in market value."
-Real estate columnist Bob Bruss

Question 78

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
TV's coverage of the Olympics was not very exciting. The anchorman was cool and detached, and, except for basketball, they never zeroed in on a single event long enough for anyone to care. Plus, there was just too much coverage. Anytime you turned on TV, there was the Olympics. It was like air-always there. And what's so exciting about air?

Question 79

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument; if it does, identify the main issue.
Because men admire muscle and physical force, they assume that women do too.

Question 80

Determine whether the following passage contains an argument and, if it does, identify that argument's final conclusion.
"The P/E ratio is the number of dollars of stock you have to buy to get one dollar of profit. Any stock with a ratio greater than 15:1 is overpriced. That's why it's not a good idea to invest in stocks right now. P/E ratios are way too high."