Examination and Revision

CGE14411
Lecture 13

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About the Examination
 Date: December 22, 2018
 Time: 2 hours
 Closed book
 Two parts
 Multiple choice questions (45 questions)
 Short answer questions (3 questions)

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About the Examination
 45 Multiple Choice Questions
 6 on key basic concepts (Lect. 1 & 2)
 11 on misuses of language (Lect. 3)
 5 on necessary conditions & sufficient
conditions (Lect. 4)
 13 on informal fallacies (Lect. 9 & 10)
 10 on cognitive bias (Lect. 11 & 12)

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 Answer ALL 3 short answer questions
 1 (consisting of 10 sub-questions) on
indicating whether the given statements are
true or false
 1 (consisting of 2 sub-questions) on hidden
assumption(s)
 1 (consisting of 5 sub-questions) on deductive
reasoning

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Examples of Questions on
Components of Arguments
 In this argument, which is the specific facts of the
argument? – “When learning a foreign language, there is
no substitute for real speech practice (or conversation). It
is a vital part of the language acquisition process and
should not be ignored. Many non-natives lack the
opportunities to converse regularly in English. Therefore,
while these non-natives may claim to “know” English,
they are actually poor at speaking and listening.”
A. When learning a foreign language, there is no substitute for
real speech practice (or conversation).
B. It is a vital part of the language acquisition process and
should not be ignored.
C. Many non-natives lack the opportunities to converse
regularly in English.
D. While these non-natives may claim to “know” English, they
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are actually poor at speaking and listening.”
Example of Questions on the
definitions of key concepts
 Which of the following is a deductive
argument?
A. Jenny leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. and she is
always on time. Jenny assumes, then, that she will
always be on time if she leaves at 7:00 a.m.
B. The chair in the living room is red. The chair in the
dining room is red. The chair in the bedroom is red.
All chairs in the house are red.
C. September has 30 days. This is September. This
month has 30 days.
D. Peter is a man. Paul is a man. Mary is a woman.
They were members of a singing group.

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 Which of the following is an example of Modus
Ponens (valid argument)?
A. Adam loves Beth. Beth loves Cathy. So Adam loves
Cathy.
B. If he loves me then he gives me flowers. He gives
me flowers. So he loves me.
C. If there is life on Mars then Mars contains water. But
there is no life on Mars. Therefore Mars does not
contain water.
D. All whales have wings. Vladimir Putin is a whale. So
Vladimir Putin has wings.

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Example of Questions on
Necessary & Sufficient Conditions
 “The evil genius that Descartes postulates may
be all-powerful and all-knowing but it is not all-
good and so it is clear that this genius cannot
be God.” In the preceding statement, the
speaker is arguing that absolute goodness.
A. A necessary condition for God.
B. A sufficient condition for God
C. Both a necessary and a sufficient condition for
God.
D. Neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for
God.
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 X’s being a grandfather is a _______ for
X’s being a male.
 Necessary condition
 Sufficient condition
 Necessary and sufficient condition
 None of the above

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Examples of Questions on
Misuse of Language
 Which of the following statements has
the problem of syntactic ambiguity?
A. The last time I saw them they were sitting
near the court.
B. Happiness is the end of life.
C. An intense depression swept over the East
Asia this week.
D. They were exposed to someone who was
infected with the virus a week ago.

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What kind of misuse of language
did the speaker commit?
 Which of the following statements has
the problem of lexical ambiguity?
 We shall discussing violence on TV.
 She is looking for a match.
 Will this year’s final exam be similar to the
one last year?
 Is the final exam going to be difficult?

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Examples of Questions on
Informal Fallacies
 “You have to invite Jenny to your party
because it would not be nice not to invite
Jenny.”
 Red herring
 Circular reasoning
 Self-contradiction
 None of the above

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 “I don’t care what you believe. It’s none of my
business. All I have to say is that your beliefs
should not harm others.”
 Red herring
 Circular reasoning
 Self-contradiction
 Straw person

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Exercise
 Last time I wore these red pants I got
hit by a car. It must be because they
brought bad luck.
Name the informal fallacy committed in the
above statement.

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 In the final exam, you will be given
statements. And you are asked to
identify the fallacy committed (if any).

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Examples of Questions on
Cognitive Biases
 Peter wandered in an old town and was
amazed at the architecture left over
from ancient times. He thought, “How
come the architecture in the past was
even better than that nowadays? The
old monuments were all strong and
beautiful.” What may be the cognitive
bias in his thinking?

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A. Survivorship bias
B. Availability bias
C. Confirmation bias
D. Outcome bias

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 “After plane crashes, people cancel their
flights and drive instead.”
A. Survivorship bias
B. Availability bias
C. Confirmation bias
D. Outcome bias

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Exercise
 A pregnant mum with 5 daughters:
“Hubby, this time it’s going to be boy.”
Name the cognitive bias committed in the
above statement.

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 In the final exam, you will be given a
person’s thinking. You will be asked to
point out which answer reflects what the
problem is.
 You need to find out what bias the
speaker has committed.

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Fallacies and Cognitive Biases
 The exam questions cover ALL kinds of
informal fallacies and cognitive biases covered
in class.

For example:
 Circular reasoning  Survivorship bias
 Red herring  Sunk cost fallacy
 Slippery slope  Gambler’s fallacy
 Causal fallacy  Anchoring
 Fallacy of composition  Fundamental
 Fallacy of division attribution error
 Outcome bias

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SHORT ANSWER
QUESTIONS
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What is the hidden assumption of the
following statement?
 “Mr Beckham is a native English
speaker. Therefore, Mr Beckham can
write good English.”
 What is the assumption in this argument?
(2.5 mark)

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 “I passed the exam because I prayed to
God.”
 What is the assumption in this argument?
(2.5 mark)

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 Only democracies are fair political
systems. Algeria’s political system was
not fair. Algeria’s political system was
not a democracy.
a) Is this argument valid? (2 marks)
b) What is the pattern of this argument? (3
marks)
c) Give a brief explanation why it is valid or
invalid (2 marks).

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 Make sure that you understand the
questions in
 The tutorial exercises
 In-class exercises
 Take-home assignments

 For more practice, please refer to the

supplementary reading!

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