Question: Either you send Hallmark cards or you don’t care enough to send the very best. Surely you care enough to send the very best. Therefore, you will want to send Hallmark cards.
Answer Choices:
a. False dichotomy
b. No fallacy
c. Amphiboly
d. Equivocation
e. Complex question
Answer: a. False dichotomy
Question: Dr. Harrison has argued that the open position in the mathematics department should be given to Dr. George. But Harrison’s arguments should be discounted since Harrison and George are good friends.
Answer Choices:
a. Weak analogy
b. Argument against the person, abusive
c. Red herring
d. Straw man
e. Argument against the person, circumstantial
Answer: e. Argument against the person, circumstantial
Question: Oak trees are shady. Shady things are not to be trusted. Therefore, oak trees are not to be trusted.
Answer Choices:
a. Amphiboly
b. False cause
c. Missing the point
d. Begging the question
e. Equivocation
Answer: e. Equivocation
Question: Mr. Fuller, who is running for the U.S. Senate, was seriously wounded during the last war. Therefore, it is certain that he would make a great senator.
Answer Choices:
a. Argument against the person, circumstantial
b. False dichotomy
c. Weak analogy
d. Missing the point
e. Red herring
Answer: c. Weak analogy
Question: Stealing is wrong. Therefore, it would be wrong for me to steal the spark plug wires from that getaway car while the driver is busy robbing the First National Bank.
Answer Choices:
a. Hasty generalization
b. Accident
c. Appeal to pity
d. Division
e. Weak analogy
Answer: b. Accident
Question: Nobody has ever seen Mr. Fearnside drive a car. He does own a car, though, but his wife is the only one to drive it. Therefore, probably Mr. Fearnside doesn’t drive.
Answer Choices:
a. Begging the question
b. Suppressed evidence
c. No fallacy
d. Complex question
Answer: b. Suppressed evidence
Question: The Surgeon General recently issued a report arguing that one third of the cancer fatalities in the United States can be attributed to smoking. But this claim is ridiculous. Smoking produces a great deal of enjoyment for millions of Americans. What would life be like if you can’t enjoy something once in a while?
Answer Choices:
a. Slippery slope
b. Red herring
c. Appeal to unqualified authority
d. Complex question
e. No fallacy
Answer: b. Red herring
Question: Steve, I know that you’ve never been in a serious accident, but do you still drive your car like a madman?
Answer Choices:
a. Complex question
b. Accident
c. Argument against the person, abusive
d. No fallacy
e. Tu quoque (you, too)
Answer: a. Complex question
Question: Most elderly people who are hospitalized with cancer eventually die from the disease. Thus, if an elderly person wants to recover from cancer he or she must, at all costs, refuse hospitalization.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to ignorance
b. Appeal to the people
c. Accident
d. False cause
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: d. False cause
Question: Sparky the Weasel is clearly unqualified to operate the Paradise Day Care Center for young children. A few years ago Sparky was convicted of fifteen counts of child molestation and statutory rape.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to the people
b. Begging the question
c. Argument against the person, abusive
d. Argument against the person, circumstantial
e. No fallacy
Answer: e. No fallacy
Question: You have heard Congressman Doyle’s arguments in favor of reduced military expenditures. But surely you won’t take them seriously. Doyle, as you know, is an admitted alcoholic, and rumor has it that he abuses his wife and children.
Answer Choices:
a. Argument against the person, abusive
b. Argument against the person, circumstantial
c. Straw man
d. Missing the point
e. No fallacy
Answer: a. Argument against the person, abusive
Question: Each word in Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” is very ordinary. Therefore, the “Gettysburg Address” must be a very ordinary speech.
Answer Choices:
a. No fallacy
b. Appeal to the people
c. Composition
d. Division
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: c. Composition
Question: The Court Reporter said that after the jurors had heard the testimony of the convicts they were returned to their cells for the night. One can only conclude that the jurors’ rights have been violated, since jurors are not supposed to be locked up in cells.
Answer Choices:
a. Amphiboly
b. Equivocation
c. Appeal to force
d. Appeal to pity
e. Appeal to unqualified authority
Answer: a. Amphiboly
Question: Karen bought a new red Chevy Camaro, and she says she gets great gas mileage. Tony, who has the same driving habits as Karen, also bought a new Camaro—a yellow one, but with the same size engine and transmission. Probably he gets great gas mileage too.
Answer Choices:
a. Accident
b. No fallacy
c. Begging the question
d. Weak analogy
e. Composition
Answer: b. No fallacy
Question: More people in America drink Budweiser than any other beer. Clearly, then, if you drink beer, you should drink Bud.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to ignorance
b. Hasty generalization
c. Weak analogy
d. No fallacy
e. Appeal to the people
Answer: e. Appeal to the people
Question: No one has ever proved that smoking small amounts of marijuana over long periods of time is harmful. We can therefore conclude that this practice is completely safe.
Answer Choices:
a. Red herring
b. False cause
c. No fallacy
d. Appeal to ignorance
e. Slippery slope
Answer: d. Appeal to ignorance
Question: During the past two thousand years, no human being has ever set foot on Mars. Therefore, it is unlikely that any human being will set foot on Mars during the next two thousand years.
Answer Choices:
a. Appeal to unqualified authority
b. Composition
c. No fallacy
d. False cause
e. Hasty generalization
Answer: d. False cause