Categorical Syllogisms sample questions

Question: For Syllogism 2G, the minor premise is:

Answer Choices: a. No C are A. b. Some A are not F. c. All A are C. d. Some C are not F. e. Some F are not C.

Answer: a. No C are A.

Question: After translating Syllogism 3G into standard form, the major premise is: “Your diamond is valuable, because diamonds are valuable unless they are flawed, and your diamond is not flawed.”

Answer Choices: a. Some valuable stones are unflawed diamonds. b. Some of your diamonds are valuable. c. All unflawed diamonds are valuable stones. d. No things identical to your diamond are flawed diamonds. e. All things identical to your diamond are valuable stones.

Answer: c. All unflawed diamonds are valuable stones.

Question: For Syllogism 3G, the minor premise is:

Answer Choices: a. All things identical to your diamond are valuable stones. b. All unflawed diamonds are things identical to your diamond. c. All unflawed diamonds are valuable stones. d. All things identical to your diamond are unflawed diamonds. e. Some things identical to your diamond are unflawed diamonds.

Answer: d. All things identical to your diamond are unflawed diamonds.

Question: For Syllogism 3G, the conclusion is:

Answer Choices: a. No things identical to your diamond are flawed diamonds. b. All unflawed diamonds are valuable stones. c. Some of your diamonds are valuable stones. d. Some valuable stones are unflawed diamonds. e. All things identical to your diamond are valuable stones.

Answer: e. All things identical to your diamond are valuable stones.

Question: After translating Syllogism 4G into standard form, the major premise is: “Only registered voters are called for jury duty, so Joann must not be a registered voter, since she was not called for jury duty.”

Answer Choices: a. No persons identical to Joann are persons called for jury duty. b. All persons called for jury duty are registered voters. c. No registered voters are persons called for jury duty. d. All registered voters are persons called for jury duty. e. All persons identical to Joann are unregistered voters.

Answer: b. All persons called for jury duty are registered voters.

Question: For Syllogism 4G, the minor premise is:

Answer Choices: a. All registered voters are persons called for jury duty. b. All persons identical to Joann are not registered voters. c. No persons identical to Joann are persons called for jury duty. d. No persons identical to Joann are registered voters. e. All persons called for jury duty are registered voters.

Answer: c. No persons identical to Joann are persons called for jury duty.

Question: For Syllogism 4G, the conclusion is:

Answer Choices: a. No persons identical to Joann are registered voters. b. All persons identical to Joann are persons not called for jury duty. c. All registered voters are persons called for jury duty. d. No unregistered voters are persons called for jury duty. e. All persons identical to Joann are not registered voters.

Answer: a. No persons identical to Joann are registered voters.

Question: Given the following enthymeme: “Harold must be guilty. After all, he was arrested.” The statement needed to convert the enthymeme into a valid syllogism is:

Answer Choices: a. Harold was convicted. (Premise) b. Everyone who was arrested is guilty. (Premise) c. Everyone who is guilty was arrested. (Premise) d. Some guilty people were arrested. (Conclusion) e. A few people who were arrested are guilty. (Conclusion)

Answer: b. Everyone who was arrested is guilty. (Premise)

Question: Given the following enthymeme: “Wherever freedom of expression exists, there is pornography, and freedom of expression exists in the United States.” The statement needed to convert the enthymeme into a valid syllogism is:

Answer Choices: a. There is no pornography in the United States. (Conclusion) b. All places identical to the United States are places there is pornography. (Premise) c. Freedom of expression requires pornography. (Premise) d. There is pornography in the United States. (Conclusion) e. Pornography requires freedom of expression. (Conclusion)

Answer: d. There is pornography in the United States. (Conclusion)

Question: Given the following enthymeme: “Only domestic corporations are sensitive to workers’ needs, and Hitachi is not domestic.” The statement needed to convert the enthymeme into a valid syllogism is:

Answer Choices: a. Hitachi is sensitive to workers’ needs. (Conclusion) b. Hitachi is a corporation. (Premise)

Answer: b. Hitachi is a corporation. (Premise)

Question: Which of the following sentences is a statement?

Answer Choices: a. What is the density of gold? b. Look!

Answer: (No answer provided) Proposed Correct Answer: a. What is the density of gold?

Question: Which of the following is a deductive argument?

Answer Choices: a. An expository passage. b. An argument from authority. c. A casual inference. d. A disjunctive syllogism. e. A command.

Answer: d. A disjunctive syllogism.

Question: Which of the following is an inductive argument?

Answer Choices: a. An argument from analogy. b. A categorical syllogism. c. A consequent. d. A piece of advice. e. An argument from definition.

Answer: a. An argument from analogy.

Question: Which of the following is a necessary condition for cooking an egg?

Answer Choices: a. Boiling it. b. Raising its temperature. c. Frying it. d. Poaching it. e. Breaking its shell.

Answer: b. Raising its temperature.

Question: Which of the following is a sufficient condition for being a bird?

Answer Choices: a. Having a tail. b. Being a canary. c. Laying eggs. d. Being able to fly. e. Having a brain.

Answer: b. Being a canary.

Question: If a deductive argument has a false premise and a true conclusion, then we know:

Answer Choices: a. It is sound. b. It is strong. c. It is valid. d. It is invalid. e. Nothing as such about its validity.

Answer: e. Nothing as such about its validity.

Question: If a deductive argument has all true premises and a false conclusion, then we know:

Answer Choices: a. It is invalid. b. It is cogent. c. It is valid. d. It is sound.

Answer: a. It is invalid.

Question: Which of the following statements has primarily cognitive meaning?

Answer Choices: a. Private insurance companies regularly overbill the Medicare program. b. From what I saw last night, it’s clear that your little brother is a brat. c. Justin Timberlake’s latest CD is positively stunning. d. Professor Gibson delivered a moronic lecture today on Plato’s metaphysics. e. Everyone with a functioning brain rejects religious fundamentalism.

Answer: a. Private insurance companies regularly overbill the Medicare program.

Question: Which of the following statements expresses a value claim?

Answer Choices: a. Animal rights groups argue that live animals should not be used as mascots. b. The recent jobs report raised fears of a recession among Wall Street investors. c. Piracy continues to be a drag on the motion picture industry. d. The Los Angeles Times is a better paper than the San Francisco Chronicle. e. Diabetes poses a serious threat to the health of the elderly.

Answer: d. The Los Angeles Times is a better paper than the San Francisco Chronicle.

Question: Which of the following statements is vague?

Answer Choices: a. Tahiti is located in French Polynesia. b. American workers are more productive than the workers in any other country. c. Art work at the Genesis gallery tends to be expensive. d. Mabel shot her husband while taking a bath. e. Polar bears are threatened by global warming.

Answer: c. Art work at the Genesis gallery tends to be expensive.

Question: Which of the following statements is ambiguous?

Answer Choices: a. Anniversaries are usually occasions for celebration. b. Homes in the new River Front development are reasonably priced. c. The Thanksgiving holiday always occurs in November. d. Boalt Hall is part of the University of California. e. Professor Hays talked about sex in the seminar room.

Answer: e. Professor Hays talked about sex in the seminar room.

Question: The following dispute: Jane: Professor Barker said he spent the entire day teaching. He must be exhausted. Ken: That’s impossible. Professor Barker’s students are incapable of learning, and if there’s no learning, then there’s no teaching. is best described as:

Answer Choices: a. Factual. b. Verbal arising from ambiguity. c. Legal. d. Fundamental. e. Verbal arising from vagueness.

Answer: b. Verbal arising from ambiguity.

Question: The following dispute: Bill: Finally our football team seems to be on track. They beat their opponents last night by 14 points. Greg: That’s not right. They beat them by only 10 points. is best described as:

Answer Choices: a. Verbal arising from vagueness. b. Emotional. c. Verbal arising from ambiguity. d. Factual. e. Dispositional.

Answer: d. Factual.

Question: Which of the following words is a term?

Answer Choices: a. Opportunity. b. Again. c. Beyond the horizon. d. Everywhere but here. e. Sloppily reasoned.

Answer: a. Opportunity.