Question: It would not be a good idea to hire Mr. Larson as a bus driver for the school district. Larson has huge cataracts in both eyes, and he hates children.
Answer Choices:
a. Argument against the person, abusive.
b. No fallacy.
c. Tu quoque (you, too).
d. False cause.
e. Division.
Answer: a. Argument against the person, abusive.
Question: Either you enlist in the Marine Corps or you’ll be a baby for the rest of your life. The choice is yours.
Answer Choices:
a. Composition
b. Appeal to force
c. Suppressed evidence
d. False dichotomy
e. No fallacy
Answer: d. False dichotomy
Question: People don’t have to go to college to make a lot of money. Look at Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. He’s a billionaire, yet he was a terrible student, and he dropped out of school when he was sixteen.
Answer Choices:
a. False dichotomy
b. Hasty generalization
c. Argument against the person, circumstantial
d. No fallacy
e. Weak analogy
Answer: b. Hasty generalization
Question: Lake Michigan contains fish. Therefore, every cubic foot of Lake Michigan contains fish.
Answer Choices:
a. Division
b. Accident
c. No fallacy
d. Composition
e. Missing the point
Answer: a. Division
Question: None of Mr. Konrad’s friends has ever seen him smoke a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Therefore, probably Mr. Konrad is a nonsmoker.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to ignorance
b. Complex question
c. No fallacy
d. Appeal to unqualified authority
e. Straw man
Answer: c. No fallacy
Question: Betty’s argument for universal health care is ridiculous. Betty dropped out of school after the seventh grade, and the most responsible job she has ever held is working as a clerk in a grocery store.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to unqualified authority
b. Hasty generalization
c. No fallacy
d. Argument against the person, circumstantial
e. Argument against the person, abusive
Answer: e. Argument against the person, abusive
Question: The last three times I invested money in the stock market, stock prices declined. Therefore, to prevent further declines, I must stop investing any more money.
Answer Choices:
a. Missing the point
b. No fallacy
c. Straw man
d. False cause
e. Amphiboly
Answer: d. False cause
Question: Frank argues that it’s not a good idea for underage people to drink alcoholic beverages. Apparently Frank wants everyone to be a teetotaler. Bring back prohibition for good—that’s what Frank wants. But prohibition was a complete failure in the thirties. Obviously Frank’s argument is misguided.
Answer Choices:
a. Accident
b. Begging the question
c. No fallacy
d. Hasty generalization
e. Straw man
Answer: e. Straw man
Question: Bill, I saw you at the party the other night. You were with a beautiful redhead. Level with me, are you still cheating on your wife?
Answer Choices:
a. Begging the question
b. Tu quoque (you, too)
c. Complex question
d. Division
e. No fallacy
Answer: c. Complex question
Question: Jason is a terrible chess player. But every chess player is a human being. Therefore, Jason is a terrible human being.
Answer Choices:
a. Division
b. Equivocation
c. Amphiboly
d. No fallacy
e. Argument against the person, abusive
Answer: b. Equivocation
Question: Every thread in this shirt is pure silk. Therefore, this shirt is pure silk.
Answer Choices:
a. No fallacy
b. Division
c. Accident
d. Composition
e. Weak analogy
Answer: a. No fallacy
Question: The FBI and the CIA failed to prevent the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Therefore, these government agencies should be abolished immediately.
Answer Choices:
a. Missing the point
b. Red herring
c. False cause
d. No fallacy
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: a. Missing the point
Question: Stem cell research is clearly immoral because any activity that destroys human beings is immoral.
Answer Choices:
a. Complex question
b. Appeal to the people
c. No fallacy
d. Appeal to ignorance
e. Begging the question
Answer: e. Begging the question
Question: Barbara argues that we should develop fuel cell cars that run more efficiently with less pollution. But look at what Barbara drives. It’s one of those gas-guzzling SUVs that pollute like a steam locomotive. Obviously Barbara’s argument is worthless.
Answer Choices:
a. No fallacy
b. Missing the point
c. Appeal to unqualified authority
d. Tu quoque (you, too)
e. Argument against the person, circumstantial
Answer: d. Tu quoque (you, too)
Question: During the four years that Allison has been president of the Westridge Retirement Club, five members have contracted diabetes. Therefore, to prevent any more cases of this disease, we must elect a new president immediately.
Answer Choices:
a. Begging the question
b. False cause
c. Accident
d. Slippery slope
e. No fallacy
Answer: b. False cause
Question: During the past two hundred years, no one has been cured of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, it is unlikely that anyone will be cured in the next two hundred years.
Answer Choices:
a. Equivocation
b. Amphiboly
c. Suppressed evidence
d. No fallacy
e. Appeal to pity
Answer: c. Suppressed evidence
Question: Members of the jury, surely defendant Jones is not guilty of kidnapping the little girl. Jones loves children dearly, and during the first ten years of his marriage, he prayed every day for a child. Finally, his wife gave birth to a little boy, but then she and the boy were killed in a car accident.
Answer Choices:
a. Slippery slope
b. No fallacy
c. Appeal to pity
d. Appeal to the people
e. Appeal to force
Answer: c. Appeal to pity