Question: Nobody has ever seen Paul Carson go to church or participate in any religious activity. Therefore, probably Paul has no formal religious beliefs.
Answer Choices:
a. No fallacy
b. Division
c. Hasty generalization
d. Appeal to ignorance
e. Appeal to the people
Answer: a. No fallacy
Question: Stacy is a terrible poker player. But every poker player is a person. Therefore, Stacy is a terrible person.
Answer Choices:
a. Amphiboly
b. No fallacy
c. Suppressed evidence
d. Equivocation
e. Composition
Answer: d. Equivocation
Question: When Edward turned the key in his new BMW this morning, the car wouldn’t start. Thus, he should call a tow truck and have the car towed to the wrecking yard.
Answer Choices:
a. False cause
b. Missing the point
c. Accident
d. No fallacy
e. Begging the question
Answer: b. Missing the point
Question: Amy, since you know something about algebra, you can probably help me out with this. What is the value of x in the equation x² + 3x = 22?
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to unqualified authority
b. Appeal to ignorance
c. Begging the question
Answer: a. Appeal to unqualified authority
Question: You shouldn’t worry a minute about dropping these tabs of ecstasy. Absolutely everyone who is the least bit cool is doing it.
Answer Choices:
a. You, too (tu quoque)
b. Hasty generalization
c. No fallacy
d. Appeal to the people
e. False dichotomy
Answer: d. Appeal to the people
Question: Willie the Weasel could not possibly be responsible for burglarizing the jewelry store. Willie is an inept bungler who couldn’t steal a newspaper from a broken vending machine.
Answer Choices:
a. Argument against the person, circumstantial
b. Appeal to the people
c. Argument against the person, abusive
d. Appeal to pity
e. No fallacy
Answer: c. Argument against the person, abusive
Question: Max argues that we should upgrade our firefighting equipment by purchasing a fleet of new trucks with all the bells and whistles. But it’s only natural that he should argue this way. Max is a firefighter himself, and he just wants a fancy new truck to ride around in.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to unqualified authority
b. Argument against the person, circumstantial
c. Argument against the person, abusive
d. Appeal to ignorance
e. No fallacy
Answer: b. Argument against the person, circumstantial
Question: Clearly, the moral standards of our youth have decayed. Two doctors at Central Hospital appeared recently on a talk show, and both were convinced that the youth of today have no morals at all.
Answer Choices:
a. Argument against the person, abusive
b. Hasty generalization
c. Weak analogy
d. Appeal to unqualified authority
e. Missing the point
Answer: d. Appeal to unqualified authority
Question: Smith, Adams, and Harris all outlived their wives, and their wives were younger than they were. It must be the case that men outlive women these days.
Answer Choices:
a. False cause
b. Accident
c. Weak analogy
d. No fallacy
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: e. Hasty generalization
Question: A spokesman for the government has argued that our insistence on a twelve percent increase in pay for steel workers is inflationary. But the government’s own actions are far more inflationary than ours. The government just gave a fifteen percent increase to every single employee of the giant federal bureaucracy.
Answer Choices:
a. Tu quoque (you, too)
b. Argument against the person, circumstantial
c. Appeal to ignorance
d. Straw man
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: a. Tu quoque (you, too)
Question: No fish are mammals. Therefore, no mammals are fish.
Answer Choices:
a. Equivocation
b. Begging the question
c. No fallacy
d. Missing the point
e. Accident
Answer: c. No fallacy
Question: Gold Medallion wine is the finest wine in the United States. This is true because it’s preferred by more people of discriminating taste. Furthermore, we know that it’s preferred by more people of discriminating taste because it’s the finest wine in the United States.
Answer Choices:
a. Suppressed evidence
b. Slippery slope
c. Missing the point
d. False cause
Answer: c. Missing the point
Question: Twenty percent of the women attending Ponderosa College are beautiful. Since Charlotte attends Ponderosa College, it follows that twenty percent of her is beautiful.
Answer Choices:
a. Hasty generalization
b. Division
c. Amphiboly
d. Composition
e. Accident
Answer: b. Division
Question: Aspirin is an analgesic drug, and it is appropriately purchased over the counter. Morphine, like aspirin, is an analgesic drug. Therefore, it would be appropriate that morphine be available over the counter.
Answer Choices:
a. Weak analogy
b. Appeal to pity
c. Appeal to ignorance
d. No fallacy
e. Appeal to unqualified authority
Answer: a. Weak analogy
Question: You have been rather outspoken lately in your criticism of the administration; but I am sure that you will want to keep your mouth shut in the future, because several of those who have been critical in the past have now lost their jobs.
Answer Choices:
a. Tu quoque (you, too)
b. Argument against the person, abusive
c. Red herring
d. Complex question
e. Appeal to force
Answer: e. Appeal to force
Question: Dog owners have asked that they be allowed to bring their pets to the beach. This request will have to be denied. If dogs are allowed on the beach, then soon we will have horses and cows. Before long there will be sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. All that potential food will attract the owners of jaguars, lions, and tigers. In the end, the beach will be a war zone.
Answer Choices:
a. False dichotomy
b. Suppressed evidence
c. Begging the question
d. Slippery slope
e. Composition
Answer: d. Slippery slope
Question: Every patch in this patchwork quilt is some shade of green. Therefore, the entire quilt is green.
Answer Choices:
a. Division
b. No fallacy
c. Accident
d. Composition
e. False cause
Answer: d. Composition